Blacksmiths make the best knife makers. They know metal. You actually make excellent knives and you make the coolest darned handles. If you were given just a file, hacksaw, and sandpaper, I'm betting you'd still make a decent knife. I like this one because it looks old and obviously like a re purposed tool.
cool project Tim, i once made a sawknive, took a band saw blade, keep the teeth on the one side, welded the other side with ferron rod, ground down and formed a knife edge, served me well for many years.
To me Tim its what I can learn from techniques or different materials. I know it is hard to please every one, but this one you hit the nail on the head for me. Thanks for sharing.
Nice knife. I really liked the that you used the old wood on it . Would really like to get some of that metal. Keep up the cool videos. I'm Robert at funktion art forge.
Not sure about your other viewers but I for one don’t mind long videos as long as I’m learning something as I do watching your keep up the good work Mr.Tim
You can make Ulus from old saw blades. Plus quite a few of us West Coast Carver's use saw blades into carving knives. I'm going to have to learn to make my own carving knives as they're getting so expensive to buy. Especially spoon knives.
I know this is an old video but, it was at the top of my suggestion screen and yeah that knife looks like something someone in WW1 would have used to kill someone else, very cool.
Great video Tim I love your work. As for the saw blades, I know a friend that test harden it and done some spark testing. He says it is most Mickey 15n20 he has been using it for quite some time for blade making. Good luck to you sir.
Hey Tim! I strongly believe its 15n20 I've used it quite a bit and it does seem to have a lot of nickel content within it. One way to tell is simply by etching it next to some 1084 and the nickel won't etch anything like the carbon steel because the nickel is much more resistant to corrosion. Hope this helps and love your videos I watch live every Sunday morning before church
22:35 It's fascinating how different Blacksmithing and Goldsmithing are. when buffing, we never use sandpaper thats coarser than 250 grit. we finish off with 1200 grit before polishing
Dude this was a really interesting build. Came out very nice to. I get what you are saying about belt grinding. I've done it but lately I prefer a good old fashion set of files and a stool at the vice. My time fore " zen. " if that makes sense.
That was a long Video??? It was interesting, and interesting videos Never feel long. Your finished item looks like a well maintained 100 + year old knife. You could have fooled me after a casual view. Thank you.
Really nice, like the step at the hilt and keeping the old handle suits the overall look. The saw blades are usually cold rolled high carbon but it's hard to judge those, sparks test should identify.
Very interesting project. But what I'm curious about is, what is that bat like thing hanging on your wall behind you. Looks like the steel could be L6 or L7, or 15N20. Some scrap yard shops have a hand held analyzer that can tell what kind of steel it is.
Hey, I hope you realized my comment about tongs in the last video was a compliment! There is no way someone who hasn't mastered tong making could create the tooling you have invented. But yeah, schleps like me who don't have a power hammer do suffer from envy. Very cool repurposing of that wrench. I didn't know they were made of wrought iron. Thanks for the education again!
Hi Louis I did not take that in a bad way at all, I appreciate all comments I actually set aside all the fabrication for the day got behind the anvil with my hammer and had a great time. I put together a little video and it will be posted soon I read your comment on it because I believe people should be questioned and it helped me get back to the basics, sometimes I leave that stuff behind and when you're running a blacksmithing channel occasionally to you should probably pick up a hammer. All is good my friend, I hope my video does not come across badly as well it's not intended that way. Thanks again and have a good one.
BIG DOG FORGE glad to hear I wasn't insulting! I'll see you on the next video...or on IFI some time soon. Thanks for the information you share and have a great new year.
..All in all, You made a knife. A Perty Good one too. The only thing i could say about those sawmill blades is that they could make some Good wood scrapers. You have proven they can be used in knifemaking. I'll leave that to the Experts like you Tim. I do like the Fit & Finish of it, Rustic and Ready to use...
Thanks Ol James I hadn't thought about using them for what scrapers that's a great idea I occasionally builds stick bows for the local medieval reactors and I can never seem to find my scraper thanks for the idea man. thanks for checking it out take care and have a good one.
Thanks Wade wrought iron is my favorite material as well it's just getting a lot harder to find in my area. Thanks for checking it out and I appreciate it.
Hi Tim! I just found your channel and I’ve been binge watching your videos! I love the contrast of the materials. I am a knife maker and I think that knife is AWESOME! From my experience, the mill saw blades tend to be 15N20 nowadays. However, depending on the age they could also be high carbon tool steel. That being said, they make fantastic blades! If you still have any extra material around, I would love to get some
Hello Marc I'm going to be sending some of this material out to some of the subscribers I'll be sorting that out and putting it out in a video soon if you would like some send me an E mail at bigdogforging@Gmail.com thanks for the kind words and thanks for checking out.
Nice concept for a knife! Especially love the story of what it's made from. As for the saw blades, I have access to Woodmizer blades and even called them and couldn't get a straight answer on the alloy except that it's "a secrete proprietary" blend. BS, if need be you can send a sample off for spectral analysis and know exactly what elements are in the mix. From what I've seen, pretty much all band saw blades, at least the ones that are not bi metal, have a lot of nickel in them as nickel is a fatigue reducer. There's still a few L6 band saw blades out there, but most are a variation of 15&20. Easy way to test, heat a couple small pieces up to critical temp, let one air cool, quench the other in warm oil. Try breaking, if the air cooled one breaks it's likely it is a variation of L6 and air hardens, if the not and the quenched piece breaks like glass then it's got enough carbon and is likely a variation of 15&20. Only way to know for 100% sure is to send a sample out, but with a little detective work you can get close enough to get a good heat treat on it. The main thing is enough carbon to harden, and high nickel content for contrast. One of the reasons 1084/15&20 is so popular for damascus is that there basically the same steel except for the nickel which gives a good contrast, so heat treat is super easy.
Hello forge52100 thank you for the interest in the video, I did the air cool test and the material did not harden on its own however the quenched material broke like glass so I'm inclined to agree with your assessment, I sent in e-mail to the manufacturer stamped on the metal, I have not received a reply yet but I believe that I am dealing with a variation of 15N20. I've ordered some 1084 but currently all I have in my shop is 1095 so I'm going to continue to experiment with the sawmill blades out of curiosity, I'll be posting some of those videos so if you have any further input along the way I would like to know what you think. Thanks again for the input and thank you for watching.
1095 will work just fine, reason most people use 1084 and 15&20 is 15&20 is approximately .75ish carbon if I remember rite, so it's basically 1084 with nickel added. 1095 just means a little more carbon and you have less time to get it below the nose on quenching, but nothing major and still makes an excellent blade. Might even get a slightly darker etch using 1095 in the mix vs 1084. Good luck getting info from the manufacture, too many of them play there blades as some secret NASA alloy only they have, never mind they buy it by the truck load in rolls from a steel mill.
Gotta love a rustic knife, no matter what it's forged from and the handle looks great. I wonder what it would be like to longitudinally split one of those spanner shafts, and insert a spring steel or damascus piece into it to make a knife? I think your bandsaw blades are probably L-7 or L-6 high carbon steel, they also make great knives. Thanks Tim, great video.
Looks like 15N20 as you said. But a suggestion on the knife if you decide to make another one.Since you have the power hammer, I would add one more complete layer of leaf spring (which should be 5160) and 3 more layers of the 15N20. Make your billet and do a slow twist then flatten it out and do another slow twist. Then bring this billet to the size you wish and weld to the monkey wrench. You will get a much better pattern in your blade. Just a suggestion. Have a great day, Tim.
I do have plans to do another one of the soon Phillip I was wondering if twisting might help out the situation, now I'm convinced that that's what I'm going to do the next time actually like making the Damascus I just need to adjust my attention span to make it better knife. Thanks again and take care.
Hello Jonathon I will definitely give that a try, I've seen other people do it but I've never tried it myself it sounds interesting. Thanks for watching.
Awesome video. I really like the knife. I have used saw blades like the ones you have, they make great knives. Not sure what they are exactly but they do have high carbon.
I'll bet ya that light light spot, was probably some welding material, no big deal. I like how you mentioned HOJ forge, I really admire that guy, he don't have a ton of money, and he makes damascus style by hand, and makes killer stuff. I don't pretend to be an expert, but I have seen the Green Beetle guy say he will anneal metal before he does the bulk of his grinding on the belt sander, because if he hardens his knives first, they take forever at the belt sander / grinder. But he leaves enough so that it doesn't crack or warp in the quench. Also, to really get the most out of your pattern, don't hammer your bevel, you want to grind it. It's a little bit of an argument for the guys that have it in their blood to forge big and grind small, but for damascus style stuff, I've seen the consensus is generally grind the bevel. I think it was cool you kept the wrought iron spine in there and the old handle. I love to see old things that have new life given to them. Nice work man. I'll bet that Green Beetle guy or the HOJ Forge guy would take them saw blades with a smile. Alec Steele would take some, but he's in England and the shipping is spendy.
Thanks for your reply Tim,, keep the videos, coming,,, not sure if i have subscribed or not,,, i think i did,,,anyway,, i will be embarking on a log splitter forge press such as yours when time and funds permit, looks like it works well cheers.
looks like a decent steel to make blades with. i like the simpler more patterned damascus billets. super high layer count is cool, but the lower ones look really cool. i think i may use my angle grinder to rough grind my bowie from Christmas weekend with my brother... im not a huge fit and finish kinda guy... my brothers knife turned out awesome, but he enjoys taking something rough and refining it, making it perfect... i think its pretty tedious haha. i was thinking about building an anvil version of your tong jig haha :P i still struggle with the dowel part haha!
If you need any help with the jig let me know, I would be interested to see how that works it sounds like an awesome idea but if anyone can do and I think you can you're pretty crafty, buy the way the knives you made on the Christmas videos we're pretty cool, good job keep up the good work man.
BIG DOG FORGE thank you Tim :) i may start working on the jig when i get home haha, ive got a ton of steel drops from the scrap yard. they charge 0.50 per pound, so im always picking up stock. im just waiting for them to get a piece similar to what you used as your power hammer anvil so i can start my build haha! but i suppose i could just do what you did originally, until i find what im looking for... cheers Tim!
Form my knowledge of metals and testing it's close to 15n20 butt its has some nickel it's like nickel mixed high speed steel to deal with the heat that generated through wood nickel to resist rusting and sticking to wood and adds toughness
sorry that I carried on and wrote a lot or posted a lot but I watch every one of your posting and videos that you put out very informative very interesting still follower
Not all knife makers can forge weld or even hand forge a blade, I'll give credit to you for this blade and I like your shop blade with the bottle opener Damn good work
Great project I make blades out of smaller bandsaw blades as you said it's very hard . I got some m goin to forge with 1084 and nickle and see what happen . Finding the blades you have there are nonexistance around me we don't have many sawmills. As the one guy said contract the supplier they should no the content of the material. Well good forging.
Thanks whitefishbay43 I'm going to be doing a giveaway on my channel soon I'll be sending some of this material out keep an eye out I might be able to send some to you. Thanks for checking out the video and thanks for the comment.
Tim I think you are way to hard on yourself. You are obviously a very clever Blacksmith. Seems to me that a lot of Knife makers are more developed in grinding skills and do the work there instead of doing it at the anvil. It is a great knife and clever use of old material. Well done Mate!
That turned out great. I agree, it kind of has an older military-type look to it. I just found your channel and really appreciate your videos. I am building a power hammer, but have never even used one. I'm wondering if I could ask a few questions about spacing between dies, etc. Keep doing what you're doing! Bill
Hello Bill I can certainly answer any questions that you have about my hammer, if you'd like to send me an e-mail with your particular questions I would be happy to get the information you need, if you'd like to send along some photos of your hammer I'd love to see them. My e-mail address is bigdogforging@Gmail.com thanks for checking out the video and thank you for your comment look forward to hearing from you have a great new year.
Tim, I liked your video re-purposing the monkey wrench. The handle was really a great adaptation. As to what the saw blade material is I can only suggest what you already know and probably did. Try the file hardness scratch test. Bring a piece up to critical temperature and quench it. Does a file scratch it now? Next you can spark test it to see if it showers bright, sparkles on the grinder. It look good on the grinder in your video. Maybe check the lumber mill's website for where they sourced the steel, maybe they have a spec for steel used in the band saw blades on their website. It would be cool to find the manufacturer's spec for the specific blades you have. If they sell them at the lumber mill, then maybe you could call the mill and ask. Some sleuthing might pay off. Best of luck. By the way, keep the videos coming! Nice work. Thanks, Keith
Hello Keith thanks for checking out the video to do appreciate the input I've been playing detective and I found a few things the name of the manufacturer is printed on one of the blades I went to their website and it looks as if this particular group of blades is 15n20 thanks for the help your suggestion worked out quite well. Take care and thank you for the comment
Loved the final version of the knife. Did you find out what the saw blade metal was? It's almost 2018 now so don't think you'll have any left lol but if you had I'd love to try some out. Thanks Tim Anthony Kent HAWK woodlore knives UK. Take care bro
I love the way the wrench knife turned out, you did a great job forging the blade to a nice profile. The bandsaw blades are almost certainly 15n20, especially if they are all steel teeth, as opposed to carbide brazed teeth, although even then it would still be possible for it to be 15n20 as its such a tough steel and ideal for just the body of the blade as well. I'm curious, did you harden the blade? When you harden the steel you tend to get more contrast than when it's left "soft". Also, when making a Damascus blade is best to not forge the bevels down all that much, as it is the grinding away of the material that exposes the layers, even though your billet only had about 10 layers, this may help you on any future knives. regarding your leaf spring material, the older the better is usually the case as in the 40's 50's and 60's they used 5160 more often, where as now days there are so many different types of alloys used in leaf springs which can complicate the heat treating process. So yea, an old Ford for example is an ideal source for such material. I do hope to see you do some more pattern welding. I would also suggest setting your first weld by hand on your anvil. The reason is because it's best to forge down the center of the billet first, and work your way to the edges. This way all the flux is able to be squeezed out and not become trapped inside due to the sides welding up before the center has, which is one possible reason you had that bubble in your billet. Another way to insure you get a clean, no scale weld is by pouring kerosene over the billet before putting it in the forge. This will do two things. First it will act as a "glue" for flux to stick to before you even put it in the forge, thus protecting the billet before it even gets hot enough to begin to form scale, and two, it actually covers the surfaces of the steel layers in the billet with a layer of carbon (soot) when the kerosene burns off which protects the steel from oxygen and creates a carbon rich atmosphere around the billet... or something along those lines anyway lol. Some smiths just soak their billets in a small bucket of kerosene for a few minutes or so before putting it into the forge and don't even use borax anymore. If you hot cut and fold this will only work for the very first forge weld, as you obviously can't pour kerosene on an red/orange hot billet, so it's still a good idea to use borax when folding. I think this technique is called hydrocarbon forge welding, it's pretty interesting! Hope you find this so what helpful. 😉👍
Very cool thank you for all the information I'm definitely going to be doing more pattern welding in the future and I will definitely try some of the techniques that you've outlined here, yes I did harden and heat treat the blade but I think you're right I hammered out the bevel too thin I didn't even think about how the grinding affects the pattern, that's why you're the knife maker and I'm just the goofy blacksmith and I do love learning new things thank you so much for your help it's very much appreciated. Thanks again and have a good one.
only important thing on that knife is this "Does it take a keen edge and does it hold it?". I ain't never cared how a knife looks. function is the only thing that is truly important.
Why not do the spark test? If you got a known steel videotape the sparks and the saw blade. I do believe either Chandler or Green Beetle did a saw blade forge welded knife and said the steel was 15n20. For not being a knife maker, that knife came out great! Was wondering if having the leaf spring on the outside would make the edge of the blade last longer, since it's a harder steel? I like the pattern of the forge welded layer, with it not being twisted it's pretty cool seeing the layers Great video!
Thanks Phillip I am going to be doing more Damascus in the near future and I'll give it a shot with the leaf spring on the outside. I haven't tried this part test yet but that's my next step I did find a manufacturer's name on one of the blades and checked it out on their website it looks like they're probably 15n20 but I think a spark test will verify that. thanks for the input
+BIG DOG FORGE you could twist the billet once or twice as well if you want more of the "wood grain" pattern look. With the leaf spring on the outside you may need three pieces of leaf spring. The pattern should be more pronounced with the leaf spring on the outside since it has the bulk to lose metal from forging. Good luck can't wait for the next video
1 part ferric chloride and 2 parts distilled water. It works better if it's kept warm if it gets too cold it doesn't seem to attach as well. Thanks for watching take care.
I am no expert but I believe most saw mill steel is made by Uddenholm and is 15 LM if under 1mm thick and 15n20 if over 1mm thick. I have some and you can barely see the acid or laser etched UDDENHOLM 000 marking
I Gas point UDDENHOLM is the manufacturer I found the markings on the steel I'm putting together a little grind test video to see if some of you folks can give me a better idea of what I'm dealing with some of it is just over one MM but has carbide keys welded to it and I've been told that could indicate that it's just high carbon steel, so keep an eye out for the video and let me know what you think, thanks for your input I do appreciate it have a great new year
hi Tim I see you use an Alex Steele hammer I use a Jim Keith hammer just shy of three pounds it's hand made and all American I'm an English man and jims is the best it cost me £234 pounds worth every penny
I have to tell you roy when you find a hammer that works for you it really doesn't matter the cost, the right hammer is worth its weight in gold, take care and thanks for watching.
Yet it was a bit of a mistake I should have forged the tip up a little more and it would've worked out fine, but it came out OK for what it is, thanks for watching Jibran Khan and take care.
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I’m new here, Sir you have a Bob Ross quality. Your tone of voice and quality of work is greatly appreciated. Have a blessed day
Thank you kindly
Blacksmiths make the best knife makers. They know metal. You actually make excellent knives and you make the coolest darned handles. If you were given just a file, hacksaw, and sandpaper, I'm betting you'd still make a decent knife. I like this one because it looks old and obviously like a re purposed tool.
Thank you so much and thanks for watching.
That white line along the weld seam was decarburisation. Awesome video, thanks for sharing.
cool project Tim, i once made a sawknive, took a band saw blade, keep the teeth on the one side, welded the other side with ferron rod, ground down and formed a knife edge, served me well for many years.
Glad to see you back Tim I enjoy your videos
Thanks 👍
I am no knife maker, not my thing, but I do enjoy each and every one of the videos you make and learn a little extra every time! Thanks for the work!
Thank you and thanks for watching.
One of my favorite thing you have made is this Wrench Knife......So cool looking.
To me Tim its what I can learn from techniques or different materials. I know it is hard to please every one, but this one you hit the nail on the head for me. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Scott I appreciate that, thanks for the comment
Tim just great as always
I'm a knife maker and I like it!!!
Thank you very much.
Nice knife. I really liked the that you used the old wood on it . Would really like to get some of that metal. Keep up the cool videos. I'm Robert at funktion art forge.
hi well done on your wrench knife i loved it Tim
Thanks to Roy I do appreciate that. And thanks for checking out.
Not sure about your other viewers but I for one don’t mind long videos as long as I’m learning something as I do watching your keep up the good work Mr.Tim
You can make Ulus from old saw blades. Plus quite a few of us West Coast Carver's use saw blades into carving knives. I'm going to have to learn to make my own carving knives as they're getting so expensive to buy. Especially spoon knives.
Tim, awesome idea. I like it and may try myself. Also great score on the saw blades.
I know this is an old video but, it was at the top of my suggestion screen and yeah that knife looks like something someone in WW1 would have used to kill someone else, very cool.
Picked up a lot from this. Great as always thank you for all of your time to give us these videos look forward to the next one
Very cool. Looks like the KaBar's ancestor.
Great video Tim I love your work. As for the saw blades, I know a friend that test harden it and done some spark testing. He says it is most Mickey 15n20 he has been using it for quite some time for blade making. Good luck to you sir.
Hey Tim! I strongly believe its 15n20 I've used it quite a bit and it does seem to have a lot of nickel content within it. One way to tell is simply by etching it next to some 1084 and the nickel won't etch anything like the carbon steel because the nickel is much more resistant to corrosion. Hope this helps and love your videos I watch live every Sunday morning before church
22:35 It's fascinating how different Blacksmithing and Goldsmithing are. when buffing, we never use sandpaper thats coarser than 250 grit. we finish off with 1200 grit before polishing
I hate to break it to you, but that's an AWESOME KNIFE! Cool to me!
Dude this was a really interesting build. Came out very nice to. I get what you are saying about belt grinding. I've done it but lately I prefer a good old fashion set of files and a stool at the vice. My time fore " zen. " if that makes sense.
That was a long Video??? It was interesting, and interesting videos Never feel long.
Your finished item looks like a well maintained 100 + year old knife. You could have fooled me after a casual view. Thank you.
Really nice, like the step at the hilt and keeping the old handle suits the overall look.
The saw blades are usually cold rolled high carbon but it's hard to judge those, sparks test should identify.
Thanks Liam, that knife was a fun build, and thanks for tuning in I appreciate it.
Dude. That's flipping sweet man. Love it.
Thanks Jeff much appreciated. Thanks for tuning in.
Awesome blade
That is very cool! Nice job.
Very interesting project. But what I'm curious about is, what is that bat like thing hanging on your wall behind you. Looks like the steel could be L6 or L7, or 15N20. Some scrap yard shops have a hand held analyzer that can tell what kind of steel it is.
The thing on the wall is a prop i made for a photo shoot for a commercial years ago. Thanks for watching
Hey, I hope you realized my comment about tongs in the last video was a compliment! There is no way someone who hasn't mastered tong making could create the tooling you have invented. But yeah, schleps like me who don't have a power hammer do suffer from envy. Very cool repurposing of that wrench. I didn't know they were made of wrought iron. Thanks for the education again!
Hi Louis I did not take that in a bad way at all, I appreciate all comments I actually set aside all the fabrication for the day got behind the anvil with my hammer and had a great time. I put together a little video and it will be posted soon I read your comment on it because I believe people should be questioned and it helped me get back to the basics, sometimes I leave that stuff behind and when you're running a blacksmithing channel occasionally to you should probably pick up a hammer. All is good my friend, I hope my video does not come across badly as well it's not intended that way. Thanks again and have a good one.
BIG DOG FORGE glad to hear I wasn't insulting! I'll see you on the next video...or on IFI some time soon. Thanks for the information you share and have a great new year.
I like the look of that knife cool
..All in all, You made a knife. A Perty Good one too. The only thing i could say about those sawmill blades is that they could make some Good wood scrapers. You have proven they can be used in knifemaking. I'll leave that to the Experts like you Tim. I do like the Fit & Finish of it, Rustic and Ready to use...
Thanks Ol James I hadn't thought about using them for what scrapers that's a great idea I occasionally builds stick bows for the local medieval reactors and I can never seem to find my scraper thanks for the idea man. thanks for checking it out take care and have a good one.
great looking blade wrought iron is my favorite material and makes a tough blade
Thanks Wade wrought iron is my favorite material as well it's just getting a lot harder to find in my area. Thanks for checking it out and I appreciate it.
Awesome knife. Good job
Thanks Tim, and thank you for watching.
Hi Tim! I just found your channel and I’ve been binge watching your videos! I love the contrast of the materials. I am a knife maker and I think that knife is AWESOME! From my experience, the mill saw blades tend to be 15N20 nowadays. However, depending on the age they could also be high carbon tool steel. That being said, they make fantastic blades! If you still have any extra material around, I would love to get some
That was a great build! Sorry I could not tell you what the blades are made of. I would love to take a shot at making something with that material.
Hello Marc I'm going to be sending some of this material out to some of the subscribers I'll be sorting that out and putting it out in a video soon if you would like some send me an E mail at bigdogforging@Gmail.com thanks for the kind words and thanks for checking out.
Great video, thank you for the time and sweat it took to make that knife.
Thanks Carl and thanks for watching.
Man that is awesome,I love it...great job!
Thank you blacksmith 76. And thanks for watching.
Nice concept for a knife! Especially love the story of what it's made from.
As for the saw blades, I have access to Woodmizer blades and even called them and couldn't get a straight answer on the alloy except that it's "a secrete proprietary" blend. BS, if need be you can send a sample off for spectral analysis and know exactly what elements are in the mix. From what I've seen, pretty much all band saw blades, at least the ones that are not bi metal, have a lot of nickel in them as nickel is a fatigue reducer. There's still a few L6 band saw blades out there, but most are a variation of 15&20. Easy way to test, heat a couple small pieces up to critical temp, let one air cool, quench the other in warm oil. Try breaking, if the air cooled one breaks it's likely it is a variation of L6 and air hardens, if the not and the quenched piece breaks like glass then it's got enough carbon and is likely a variation of 15&20. Only way to know for 100% sure is to send a sample out, but with a little detective work you can get close enough to get a good heat treat on it. The main thing is enough carbon to harden, and high nickel content for contrast. One of the reasons 1084/15&20 is so popular for damascus is that there basically the same steel except for the nickel which gives a good contrast, so heat treat is super easy.
Hello forge52100 thank you for the interest in the video, I did the air cool test and the material did not harden on its own however the quenched material broke like glass so I'm inclined to agree with your assessment, I sent in e-mail to the manufacturer stamped on the metal, I have not received a reply yet but I believe that I am dealing with a variation of 15N20. I've ordered some 1084 but currently all I have in my shop is 1095 so I'm going to continue to experiment with the sawmill blades out of curiosity, I'll be posting some of those videos so if you have any further input along the way I would like to know what you think. Thanks again for the input and thank you for watching.
1095 will work just fine, reason most people use 1084 and 15&20 is 15&20 is approximately .75ish carbon if I remember rite, so it's basically 1084 with nickel added. 1095 just means a little more carbon and you have less time to get it below the nose on quenching, but nothing major and still makes an excellent blade. Might even get a slightly darker etch using 1095 in the mix vs 1084.
Good luck getting info from the manufacture, too many of them play there blades as some secret NASA alloy only they have, never mind they buy it by the truck load in rolls from a steel mill.
A 30 min video is great. It is a lot better than 3-5 min videos..
Very new subscriber here: I started binging your channel a few days ago. Love your work!!
I love this channel! You give me some great ideas my friend!👍
Gotta love a rustic knife, no matter what it's forged from and the handle looks great. I wonder what it would be like to longitudinally split one of those spanner shafts, and insert a spring steel or damascus piece into it to make a knife? I think your bandsaw blades are probably L-7 or L-6 high carbon steel, they also make great knives. Thanks Tim, great video.
Hey I would love to get my hands on some of that
Hey Hey cool idea and nice video as always. Congrats on the big-score on the bandsaw blade - that is huge!. Wishing you a nice New Years!
Looks like 15N20 as you said. But a suggestion on the knife if you decide to make another one.Since you have the power hammer, I would add one more complete layer of leaf spring (which should be 5160) and 3 more layers of the 15N20. Make your billet and do a slow twist then flatten it out and do another slow twist. Then bring this billet to the size you wish and weld to the monkey wrench. You will get a much better pattern in your blade. Just a suggestion. Have a great day, Tim.
I do have plans to do another one of the soon Phillip I was wondering if twisting might help out the situation, now I'm convinced that that's what I'm going to do the next time actually like making the Damascus I just need to adjust my attention span to make it better knife. Thanks again and take care.
If you put the wrought iron in vinegar it will bring out the grain of the iron and could give it a neat look! I like that knife tho!
Hello Jonathon I will definitely give that a try, I've seen other people do it but I've never tried it myself it sounds interesting. Thanks for watching.
love your work
Thank you Ken. And thanks for tuning in.
Nice Stout littler sticker!
Well Done!
I appreciate that very much thank you. And thank you for checking out.
BIG DOG FORGE
Your Shop brings me Great Joy!
Thank You Tim!
Have you ever done any stainless steel Damascus?
Awesome video. I really like the knife. I have used saw blades like the ones you have, they make great knives. Not sure what they are exactly but they do have high carbon.
I'll bet ya that light light spot, was probably some welding material, no big deal. I like how you mentioned HOJ forge, I really admire that guy, he don't have a ton of money, and he makes damascus style by hand, and makes killer stuff. I don't pretend to be an expert, but I have seen the Green Beetle guy say he will anneal metal before he does the bulk of his grinding on the belt sander, because if he hardens his knives first, they take forever at the belt sander / grinder. But he leaves enough so that it doesn't crack or warp in the quench. Also, to really get the most out of your pattern, don't hammer your bevel, you want to grind it. It's a little bit of an argument for the guys that have it in their blood to forge big and grind small, but for damascus style stuff, I've seen the consensus is generally grind the bevel. I think it was cool you kept the wrought iron spine in there and the old handle. I love to see old things that have new life given to them. Nice work man. I'll bet that Green Beetle guy or the HOJ Forge guy would take them saw blades with a smile. Alec Steele would take some, but he's in England and the shipping is spendy.
Thanks for your reply Tim,, keep the videos, coming,,, not sure if i have subscribed or not,,, i think i did,,,anyway,, i will be embarking on a log splitter forge press such as yours when time and funds permit, looks like it works well cheers.
looks like a decent steel to make blades with. i like the simpler more patterned damascus billets. super high layer count is cool, but the lower ones look really cool. i think i may use my angle grinder to rough grind my bowie from Christmas weekend with my brother... im not a huge fit and finish kinda guy... my brothers knife turned out awesome, but he enjoys taking something rough and refining it, making it perfect... i think its pretty tedious haha.
i was thinking about building an anvil version of your tong jig haha :P i still struggle with the dowel part haha!
If you need any help with the jig let me know, I would be interested to see how that works it sounds like an awesome idea but if anyone can do and I think you can you're pretty crafty, buy the way the knives you made on the Christmas videos we're pretty cool, good job keep up the good work man.
BIG DOG FORGE thank you Tim :) i may start working on the jig when i get home haha, ive got a ton of steel drops from the scrap yard. they charge 0.50 per pound, so im always picking up stock. im just waiting for them to get a piece similar to what you used as your power hammer anvil so i can start my build haha! but i suppose i could just do what you did originally, until i find what im looking for...
cheers Tim!
Great stuff!
Thank you and thanks for watching.
Form my knowledge of metals and testing it's close to 15n20 butt its has some nickel it's like nickel mixed high speed steel to deal with the heat that generated through wood nickel to resist rusting and sticking to wood and adds toughness
Butt if you wanted higher nickel use inconel so thoughts blades less nickel then 15n20 witch made specifically for knife makers
sorry that I carried on and wrote a lot or posted a lot but I watch every one of your posting and videos that you put out very informative very interesting still follower
Not all knife makers can forge weld or even hand forge a blade,
I'll give credit to you for this blade and I like your shop blade with the bottle opener
Damn good work
Thank you very much James I appreciate that. Thanks again and take care.
Most likely is 1080 high carbon steel excellent for Knife making
Spark test it with known steel. I would love to have some steel. Awsome videos by the way. Keep up the fantastic work.
Great project I make blades out of smaller bandsaw blades as you said it's very hard . I got some m goin to forge with 1084 and nickle and see what happen . Finding the blades you have there are nonexistance around me we don't have many sawmills. As the one guy said contract the supplier they should no the content of the material. Well good forging.
Thanks whitefishbay43 I'm going to be doing a giveaway on my channel soon I'll be sending some of this material out keep an eye out I might be able to send some to you. Thanks for checking out the video and thanks for the comment.
NIce one Tim.
Thanks Sarge. Good to hear from you man I hope your holidays are going well take care
Great job I’ll take 2
Sweet!! I'm doin this
Badass dude!
Tim I think you are way to hard on yourself. You are obviously a very clever Blacksmith. Seems to me that a lot of Knife makers are more developed in grinding skills and do the work there instead of doing it at the anvil. It is a great knife and clever use of old material. Well done Mate!
That turned out great. I agree, it kind of has an older military-type look to it. I just found your channel and really appreciate your videos. I am building a power hammer, but have never even used one. I'm wondering if I could ask a few questions about spacing between dies, etc. Keep doing what you're doing!
Bill
Hello Bill I can certainly answer any questions that you have about my hammer, if you'd like to send me an e-mail with your particular questions I would be happy to get the information you need, if you'd like to send along some photos of your hammer I'd love to see them. My e-mail address is bigdogforging@Gmail.com thanks for checking out the video and thank you for your comment look forward to hearing from you have a great new year.
Really cool
Thank you
Tim, I liked your video re-purposing the monkey wrench. The handle was really a great adaptation. As to what the saw blade material is I can only suggest what you already know and probably did. Try the file hardness scratch test. Bring a piece up to critical temperature and quench it. Does a file scratch it now? Next you can spark test it to see if it showers bright, sparkles on the grinder. It look good on the grinder in your video. Maybe check the lumber mill's website for where they sourced the steel, maybe they have a spec for steel used in the band saw blades on their website. It would be cool to find the manufacturer's spec for the specific blades you have. If they sell them at the lumber mill, then maybe you could call the mill and ask. Some sleuthing might pay off. Best of luck. By the way, keep the videos coming! Nice work. Thanks, Keith
Hello Keith thanks for checking out the video to do appreciate the input I've been playing detective and I found a few things the name of the manufacturer is printed on one of the blades I went to their website and it looks as if this particular group of blades is 15n20 thanks for the help your suggestion worked out quite well. Take care and thank you for the comment
I like that also!
Thanks
Loved the final version of the knife. Did you find out what the saw blade metal was? It's almost 2018 now so don't think you'll have any left lol but if you had I'd love to try some out. Thanks Tim Anthony Kent HAWK woodlore knives UK. Take care bro
very cool.
I love it
I love the way the wrench knife turned out, you did a great job forging the blade to a nice profile. The bandsaw blades are almost certainly 15n20, especially if they are all steel teeth, as opposed to carbide brazed teeth, although even then it would still be possible for it to be 15n20 as its such a tough steel and ideal for just the body of the blade as well.
I'm curious, did you harden the blade? When you harden the steel you tend to get more contrast than when it's left "soft". Also, when making a Damascus blade is best to not forge the bevels down all that much, as it is the grinding away of the material that exposes the layers, even though your billet only had about 10 layers, this may help you on any future knives. regarding your leaf spring material, the older the better is usually the case as in the 40's 50's and 60's they used 5160 more often, where as now days there are so many different types of alloys used in leaf springs which can complicate the heat treating process. So yea, an old Ford for example is an ideal source for such material.
I do hope to see you do some more pattern welding. I would also suggest setting your first weld by hand on your anvil. The reason is because it's best to forge down the center of the billet first, and work your way to the edges. This way all the flux is able to be squeezed out and not become trapped inside due to the sides welding up before the center has, which is one possible reason you had that bubble in your billet.
Another way to insure you get a clean, no scale weld is by pouring kerosene over the billet before putting it in the forge. This will do two things. First it will act as a "glue" for flux to stick to before you even put it in the forge, thus protecting the billet before it even gets hot enough to begin to form scale, and two, it actually covers the surfaces of the steel layers in the billet with a layer of carbon (soot) when the kerosene burns off which protects the steel from oxygen and creates a carbon rich atmosphere around the billet... or something along those lines anyway lol. Some smiths just soak their billets in a small bucket of kerosene for a few minutes or so before putting it into the forge and don't even use borax anymore. If you hot cut and fold this will only work for the very first forge weld, as you obviously can't pour kerosene on an red/orange hot billet, so it's still a good idea to use borax when folding. I think this technique is called hydrocarbon forge welding, it's pretty interesting! Hope you find this so what helpful. 😉👍
Very cool thank you for all the information I'm definitely going to be doing more pattern welding in the future and I will definitely try some of the techniques that you've outlined here, yes I did harden and heat treat the blade but I think you're right I hammered out the bevel too thin I didn't even think about how the grinding affects the pattern, that's why you're the knife maker and I'm just the goofy blacksmith and I do love learning new things thank you so much for your help it's very much appreciated. Thanks again and have a good one.
what did you cut that with
only important thing on that knife is this "Does it take a keen edge and does it hold it?". I ain't never cared how a knife looks. function is the only thing that is truly important.
I agree, and yes it does hold a keen edge, thanks for the comment and thanks for checking out the video.
I like it! :)
Thanks Charis, and thanks for tuning in. BTW I checked out your YT channel and I love it I had to subscribe. Very creative keep up the good work.
You can spark test it
Why not do the spark test? If you got a known steel videotape the sparks and the saw blade. I do believe either Chandler or Green Beetle did a saw blade forge welded knife and said the steel was 15n20.
For not being a knife maker, that knife came out great! Was wondering if having the leaf spring on the outside would make the edge of the blade last longer, since it's a harder steel? I like the pattern of the forge welded layer, with it not being twisted it's pretty cool seeing the layers
Great video!
Thanks Phillip I am going to be doing more Damascus in the near future and I'll give it a shot with the leaf spring on the outside. I haven't tried this part test yet but that's my next step I did find a manufacturer's name on one of the blades and checked it out on their website it looks like they're probably 15n20 but I think a spark test will verify that. thanks for the input
+BIG DOG FORGE you could twist the billet once or twice as well if you want more of the "wood grain" pattern look. With the leaf spring on the outside you may need three pieces of leaf spring. The pattern should be more pronounced with the leaf spring on the outside since it has the bulk to lose metal from forging. Good luck can't wait for the next video
what does your etching solution consist of??
1 part ferric chloride and 2 parts distilled water. It works better if it's kept warm if it gets too cold it doesn't seem to attach as well. Thanks for watching take care.
Perhaps it may be average peices of steel just plain old regular steel.
12:50 that's what she said.
PS some of the bandsaw blade material maybe L6
Thank you I will check into it.
Spark test?
That would certainly do the trick.
I am no expert but I believe most saw mill steel is made by Uddenholm and is 15 LM if under 1mm thick and 15n20 if over 1mm thick. I have some and you can barely see the acid or laser etched UDDENHOLM 000 marking
I Gas point UDDENHOLM is the manufacturer I found the markings on the steel I'm putting together a little grind test video to see if some of you folks can give me a better idea of what I'm dealing with some of it is just over one MM but has carbide keys welded to it and I've been told that could indicate that it's just high carbon steel, so keep an eye out for the video and let me know what you think, thanks for your input I do appreciate it have a great new year
I saw............. What you did there
hi Tim I see you use an Alex Steele hammer I use a Jim Keith hammer just shy of three pounds it's hand made and all American I'm an English man and jims is the best it cost me £234 pounds worth every penny
I have to tell you roy when you find a hammer that works for you it really doesn't matter the cost, the right hammer is worth its weight in gold, take care and thanks for watching.
the only problem I could see is the tip of the knife being wrought instead of damascus
Yet it was a bit of a mistake I should have forged the tip up a little more and it would've worked out fine, but it came out OK for what it is, thanks for watching Jibran Khan and take care.
Perhaps you what appeared to be a few pieces of steel.
If you boogered-up the threads doesn't that mean you ran a "Die" over it and not a "Tap"???
Where's the wrench....?
Never mind...I see it
it is 15n20
I would have just made a bigger knife lol
Thanks for watching men take care.
So, are you saying you are a "Knife-maker"???.......No? lololol