I actually love the fact that this failed. Why? There's people like me who are learning this trade, though I haven't gotten equipment to start yet, that hears stories of things like this happening. They may or may not believe it. By showing this, they get shown proof it can happen even to people with more experience. That makes this a great learning experience.
That is exactly why I became a dedicated Green Beetle fan. In fact, now that I am working metal as a hobby, I learn so much more from watching people’s mistakes than their successes. I am incredibly grateful to those who are willing to share their “fails” with the rest of us.
Sorry that the piece failed but your posting it for others to see really does help those like myself who are much lesser skilled than yourself realize that failures d ok happen. Thank you for posting.
Thanks for sharing John 👍🏻 makes alot of sense when you explain about the time between heat treatment and tempering , cooling stress may have been a factor in some of my failures. Keen to see prt 3 🍻😎👍
John, It was great watching you forge this axe, Seeing your process was mesmerizing. It sucks that it was flawed, but as you said, it happens. Can't wait for the next video. Army SE Oregon
Guten Tag John Danke für das Video und vielen Dank für Deine Ehrlichkeit. Genau das ist ein Teil den ich sehr an Dir schätze . Du zeigst auch die Fehlschläge Deiner Arbeit . Das machen nicht viele Menschen Aus den Fehlschlägen lernen ist sehr wichtig nützlich und man lernt sie zu seinem Vorteil zu nutzen. Es ist ehrlich und das fehlt heute leider all zu oft. Danke für Deine Arbeit Danke für die lehrreiche Zeit Dir und Deiner Familie einn schönen Sonntag und eine gute neue Woche Viele Grüsse Frank Galetzka
Thank you John. Flight instructor said: "Learn from others mistakes, you won't live long enough to do them all by yourself". You're my favourite channel
Finally someone else that quenches in water. I will say brine Is actually safer than plain water. Salt water with dish soap, as it reduces surface tension resulting in a faster safer quench. Also recommend heating it to 150*f. Parks 50 is the safest option and works perfectly. You will wish you bought it years ago.
Awesome little axe my friend and would never call it trash I prefer to hag my mistakes as a reminder where I can improve and not copy something that’s perfect 👍
I love that you include the failures in your videos, part of what makes you such a great teacher. If nothing else, I would go ahead and put a handle in it, make it a wall decoration for the shop or in the house somewhere, since the one side is still intact and it came out looking great.
As a professional arc welder of multiple processes, I am impressed by your forge welding. The growing together of grain structure is the same in all processes. Your emprise on the base metal being clean is true for all welding processes and the key to success. I love watching your videos and use your teaching in my shop.
I don't do any blacksmithing but a video like this makes me appreciate what the pioneers went through and emphasizes the importance of the smithy in those days. Bill
My great-grandfather was an iron worker for the railroad in Alabama in the 1870s to the 1890s. He had his own forge. During the Great Depression my grandfather and his brother reopened the forge to repair the farm implements of their neighbors. Dad said they mostly welded broken tools and plows.
This is why I watch your videos John , You don't hide the things that can go wrong and to me that means more than success every time . And I personally would be proud to hang that little axe on my wall . Cheers . :)
This channel has been a godsend for me getting started. As much as I enjoy the energy of Alec Steele and the others, sometimes you just need that Bob Ross energy to make you less anxious about stuff not coming out the way it was supposed to and actually get you in the shop whackin away
Very good idea for an axe. Thanks for showing the failure since that is a real life part of what we like to do. Sometimes there is more to be learned from failure than success. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for this video. To a rank novice like me, “fails” teach more than watching the flawless execution of a master smith’s work. Thanks for being willing to talk us through it. The humility to share one’s failed efforts has true value in the world. You’re a prince among men.
That axe was looking good. I hate that it failed. But thanks for taking the time to discuss reasons why it would have failed. Some years ago, I heat treated a meat cleaver made out of industrial sawblade steel. It was late so I decided to temper it the next day. It was sitting on the kitchen table and my wife and I heard that nasty little ping sound. I looked at the cleaver and there was an inch and a half crack from the edge into the body of the blade. Since then, I temper immediately after heat treat.
So good to know… I didn’t know that tempering right away was important. That’s exactly why examination of failures and explanations from people with this kind of experience are so valuable.
Hi John! Each of us sometimes does something wrong as we would like. Great respect you showed it! For me, a great movie and I'm waiting for the third part. All the best!
It is OK John. We live and learn an learn to live my friend. Very nice video this week. Can't wait to see more videos soon. Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friend. Forge On. Keep Making. God bless.
I was going to say, from the research I've done w1 and 2 and 1095 are water quenching when they're giant industrial parts. It's really just too risky in water for such small parts like axes and knives. Made a chef's knife out of some w2 and got somewhere between 60 and 65 HRC in a 130 degree canola oil quench.
Just goes to show you can know what you're doing, have a good plan and still not get the desired result. You are a great teacher John and I learned a lot from this video. Thanks.
One of your best videos yet. Too many times, you never get to see reality on TH-cam. Thank you for the teaching moment. One of the reasons I have followed you is because of the time and patience you exhibit, showing all aspects, so that we can learn.
That is a great educational tool for some hands on, find the problems. Thanks John, nice to see you can still make 'em like I do. I'm still trying to make like you!
I feel your pain on the crack John! I spent hours forging and grinding a camp knife from 1065 - after the quench, I was checking out the blade in my bare hands - room temp steel, I was evaluating a mild warp in the blade and thinking about reheating and straightening it, or trying to ease it straight in the tempering oven...when suddenly... *PING*...took care of that. I kept the blade to use as a template as I was really happy with the profile. Happy ending is I forged another one and it's 100% good - didn't warp, it's nice and hard even after tempering a little higher than ideal, and all's I need to do now is make up some denim micarta scales from some old blue jeans. As many others here, I really appreciate your contributions to the blacksmithing community and applaud your efforts and humility in sharing your failures along with your successes - that's the reality of blacksmithing.
Wow it was starting to look like they’re really nice throwing ax too bad it failed learning experience you explained it very well as usual great video thank you Al from Vt 👍
John, I really appreciate the fact that you show, and explain, your failures, when you have them. Too often we get the idea that forge welding should just happen, with no failures, as shown by other blacksmiths channels. You are, and always have been, honest.
Mistakes like this aren’t truly failures , just valuable lessons and reminders , I’ve got a wall full of them , and a couple buckets. It’s still a nice looking piece and will look good on the wall
Yeah too bad that it didn't turn out as a axe. Glad to see even more experienced smiths have the same problem as the rest of us. One thing i like about blacksmithing is that can I always make something else out of my mystakes. Maybe a video on making a cable damascus axe coat hook or candle holder!😀
I have been watching and learning great deals from your videos and i love that you also post the videos where u have made real mistakes, they have helped me learn so much and since i dont get much time to work on my projects you have saved me a lot of time too. Many thanx man and keep it up👍🏼
Thanks, John! Beautiful pattern on the Damascus! Too bad it failed but, we learn! I say we because your fail was a fail for all of us that watch! So, we will all do better next time! I've seen others make cable Damascus knives but, I don't recall seeing an axe made of it! Thanks so much for all that you do for us! You are a Master!
Love your videos. Its not a fail. As i have heard. " its just a little bit of a happy accident" its been a long time since i watched his painting show.
I've quenched W1 and W2 in oil with very good success. The caveats are that these were knives, so pretty thin cross sections and I also preheated my oil up to a pretty high temperature of 140 to 150 degrees F. I tried a bunch of knives in water with these steels and every single one cracked on me. Maybe my normalizing cycles weren't good enough I don't know but quenching in hot oil got the blades VERY hard.
I would hang that on my wall in my house next to my wood stove. I think it would be a great decorative piece. This is a great video since it proves even the greatest of skills still make mistakes, and uses it to educate your audience. Keep up the great video content.
Hope we see better results next time. Most of the hardcore bladesmiths I've watched seem to swear by Parks 50 as their go-to quenching oil, so that is probably the best option. I've been told about a solution called Superquench, which if I recall right was a solution of brine and dish soap, which is supposed to be better for the 10-- series high-carbon steels than straight water, but I've never actually tried making it... I'm just starting to mess with blade-making at this point. I think I might just invest in a bucket of Parks when the time comes.
My understanding is the water quench for 1095 is for a thicker cross section. When you forge it thin, oil will be a better option. The 1095 knives I've made are all oil quench and come out with good hardness when tested with my files. Your experience far exceeds mine, but that's what I've read and my experience.
Another great video! Really cool Damascus pattern and axe profile. Very helpful to see your process in diagnosing the failure cause. I know I jump to conclusions sometimes when I really should make more effort to look at a broader view. Thanks for walking us through it.
Been there, done that! Had some 1095 fracture on me the other day and no idea why. Maybe the water was too cold. Maybe the moon was out of phase. Could have been a gremlin in the shop!
Just found you and subscribe. You admitting your failures and showing them and explaining how it failed is fantastic. Shows a lot about you and makes you a great teacher in this art. Thanks to you my friend and God bless. You'll get it right next time I'm sure if it.
John, you are such an inspiration. I love your videos and they have made me decide to join a local creative center so I can learn blacksmithing. You seem like such a peaceful, kind soul. Keep doing what you're doing.
A good honest video depicting failure and trying to improve a tool because like my daughter, I'm learning all the time except my being a hobbyist. I'd like to know about the various oils, such as Canola oil or other vegetable oils, plus mineral oil quenchants which I realize tend to be expensive. A big thank you John for this video. ~Wendi UK
I don't know if I would call this a fail. I have never learned so or got so much from a mistake. Never seen a fail video especially from you. But if by any chance you ever have a " Fail" video please post....🔥🔨
Thanks so much for letting us follow along and learn from your set backs. It would be interesting to go ahead and hang the head, then do some destructive testing on it. Do a bunch of throwing, and use it to split wood like a froe. See if you can get the bit or eye to fail. It might fall apart on the first throw, or we may learn how far we can push the thickness of the cheeks and how well a bit can hold on with only one side welded. Take care and God bless
I have no experience with blacksmithing, but I've been watching your videos for a while now, John. Your videos are really interesting. Just wanted to make a comment about how interesting the mistakes were and love the axe-series!
absolutely love this. mistakes happen and i love that we got to see all the work that goes into something that failed, and still, you have learned from it (us too), and its amazing. cant wait to see the next video! thank you
Hi John! Sorry to see the axe fail, but I'm also impressed that you share your failures. I did have to check though, and 1095 is spec'ed as an oil hardening steel.
As always I really appreciate you showing off your mistakes as well as successes, especially since that corner of the eye is exactly where my last few attempts have gotten too thin.
Sure is a shame it cracked because it looked awfully nice. Better luck next time. I use parks 50 and it works great with 1095 I haven't cracked anything while using it yet.
Dear Most Excellent Blacksmithing Teacher, Please move from the Mentions&Intentions stage to the BuyitAlready stage of a couple of Go-Pro cameras. Set them up in those semi-permanent spots you've talked about so you don't have to keep fiddlin' and fussin' with the recording device relocation problems. Not having them is an efficiency hindrance to your most excellent work and teaching. Please Sir and Thank You for Your videos. 😊😊
All apart of it. You showed me that lol. I have a whole shelf of fails right next to my forge. I look at em all the time, find where I messed up, or see that my material was just to small, or short or whatever.🍻 And watching this I can see where I mess up alot on welding. I need to do more heats. And maybe a slower blower. I'm always starting to get it to stick, then I pull it back out and the blade end(most of the time, sometimes the flat side?) Will start to spark and burn. Last edit lol. Something else I've noticed is that I see you get the white heat quite alot and no sparks or burn. Is that just a difference in my forge and yours or the fact my blower is a little shop vac? I can get the bright orange easy. Maybe my eyes lol.. Thanks alot John!
To bad you already bought the Parks 50. Believe it or not Canola oil is also nearly as fast as water , make sure you preheat to 150*.Running a class with Don Fogg and teaching how to get a Hamon we used Canola oil with great success on 1095. We were both very surprised at how fast a quench it was.
I am definitely NOT a knife maker, but a couple years ago I had an idea for a nice little camp cleaver for cooking while out camping..... Got a chunk of 1095 and used stock removal to get it to shape. Then got a hair up my rear and decided I wanted to try to get a good Hamon. Clayed the blade and after it was all set up brought it over to a friends house that had a forge and fired it up and quenched in preheated canola.... Tempered in the oven at home and ended up with a beautiful Hamon.. It's been a tough little blade that turned out better then I even first thought!! And has been abused most everyday since in the kitchen at home and many many camps from fields to mountains...
I actually love the fact that this failed. Why? There's people like me who are learning this trade, though I haven't gotten equipment to start yet, that hears stories of things like this happening. They may or may not believe it. By showing this, they get shown proof it can happen even to people with more experience. That makes this a great learning experience.
That is exactly why I became a dedicated Green Beetle fan. In fact, now that I am working metal as a hobby, I learn so much more from watching people’s mistakes than their successes. I am incredibly grateful to those who are willing to share their “fails” with the rest of us.
We learn more from our failures than our successes. :)
spent 6 hours drawing out a head out of 4140 round stock. got done saw a crack 😢 it was my fault.
Same I got my forge and tongs from Amazon I did test with it with rebar made a half hook with a chisel edge
Thank you for taking the time to evaluate and explain what happened to us noobs. You are a great teacher!
I appreciate you posting/ talking about your mistakes as well as your positive builds.
Sorry that the piece failed but your posting it for others to see really does help those like myself who are much lesser skilled than yourself realize that failures d ok happen. Thank you for posting.
Thanks for sharing John 👍🏻 makes alot of sense when you explain about the time between heat treatment and tempering , cooling stress may have been a factor in some of my failures. Keen to see prt 3 🍻😎👍
John,
It was great watching you forge this axe,
Seeing your process was mesmerizing.
It sucks that it was flawed, but as you said, it happens.
Can't wait for the next video.
Army
SE Oregon
Guten Tag John
Danke für das Video und vielen Dank für Deine Ehrlichkeit.
Genau das ist ein Teil den ich sehr an Dir schätze .
Du zeigst auch die Fehlschläge Deiner Arbeit .
Das machen nicht viele Menschen
Aus den Fehlschlägen lernen ist sehr wichtig nützlich und man lernt sie zu seinem Vorteil zu nutzen.
Es ist ehrlich und das fehlt heute leider all zu oft.
Danke für Deine Arbeit Danke für die lehrreiche Zeit
Dir und Deiner Familie einn schönen Sonntag und eine gute neue Woche
Viele Grüsse Frank Galetzka
Thank you John. Flight instructor said: "Learn from others mistakes, you won't live long enough to do them all by yourself". You're my favourite channel
THANK you for keeping your videos true and honest. That way we don't feel so bad when things don't go as planned.
Finally someone else that quenches in water.
I will say brine Is actually safer than plain water. Salt water with dish soap, as it reduces surface tension resulting in a faster safer quench. Also recommend heating it to 150*f. Parks 50 is the safest option and works perfectly. You will wish you bought it years ago.
Awesome little axe my friend and would never call it trash I prefer to hag my mistakes as a reminder where I can improve and not copy something that’s perfect 👍
I love that you include the failures in your videos, part of what makes you such a great teacher. If nothing else, I would go ahead and put a handle in it, make it a wall decoration for the shop or in the house somewhere, since the one side is still intact and it came out looking great.
How important it is for us Students of BBF to learn from mistakes or just unfortunate failures... One of the best in your catalog.
Thanks for posting.
As a professional arc welder of multiple processes, I am impressed by your forge welding. The growing together of grain structure is the same in all processes. Your emprise on the base metal being clean is true for all welding processes and the key to success. I love watching your videos and use your teaching in my shop.
It just goes to show... Not everything turns out at first try... But, a blacksmith never stops learning! Thanks for the great video, John!
You got that right!
I don't do any blacksmithing but a video like this makes me appreciate what the pioneers went through and emphasizes the importance of the smithy in those days.
Bill
My great-grandfather was an iron worker for the railroad in Alabama in the 1870s to the 1890s. He had his own forge. During the Great Depression my grandfather and his brother reopened the forge to repair the farm implements of their neighbors. Dad said they mostly welded broken tools and plows.
This is why I watch your videos John , You don't hide the things that can go wrong and to me that means more than success every time . And I personally would be proud to hang that little axe on my wall . Cheers . :)
To quote Humpry Davy, “I’ve learned more from my mistakes than from my successes.” In this case WE’VE learned more. Thanks for posting this video.
Thanks for sharing with us John, even a failure has great information that you shared with us. Keep up the great videos and keep having fun. Fred.
This channel has been a godsend for me getting started. As much as I enjoy the energy of Alec Steele and the others, sometimes you just need that Bob Ross energy to make you less anxious about stuff not coming out the way it was supposed to and actually get you in the shop whackin away
John is the epitome of the forgone blacksmith of yesteryear. A blacksmith I will never be. An amazing wealth of old world knowledge. An inspiration.
I appreciate your showing your failures. It makes my (many more) failures seem not so bad. Thanks for all your hard work.
Very good idea for an axe. Thanks for showing the failure since that is a real life part of what we like to do. Sometimes there is more to be learned from failure than success. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for this video. To a rank novice like me, “fails” teach more than watching the flawless execution of a master smith’s work. Thanks for being willing to talk us through it. The humility to share one’s failed efforts has true value in the world. You’re a prince among men.
That axe was looking good. I hate that it failed. But thanks for taking the time to discuss reasons why it would have failed. Some years ago, I heat treated a meat cleaver made out of industrial sawblade steel. It was late so I decided to temper it the next day. It was sitting on the kitchen table and my wife and I heard that nasty little ping sound. I looked at the cleaver and there was an inch and a half crack from the edge into the body of the blade. Since then, I temper immediately after heat treat.
So good to know… I didn’t know that tempering right away was important. That’s exactly why examination of failures and explanations from people with this kind of experience are so valuable.
I always enjoy watching your videos John! Your discussion of what you are doing and why is always the most help in learning these techniques.
All great info, even in a failure.
I appreciate you posting your videos, as the saying goes " warts and all", could be a fantastic wall hanger
Hi John! Each of us sometimes does something wrong as we would like. Great respect you showed it! For me, a great movie and I'm waiting for the third part. All the best!
It is OK John. We live and learn an learn to live my friend. Very nice video this week. Can't wait to see more videos soon. Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friend. Forge On. Keep Making. God bless.
I do love a true video of things that can go wrong in the shop,
I use alot of 1095 and w2 and parks 50 has never let me down!
I was going to say, from the research I've done w1 and 2 and 1095 are water quenching when they're giant industrial parts. It's really just too risky in water for such small parts like axes and knives. Made a chef's knife out of some w2 and got somewhere between 60 and 65 HRC in a 130 degree canola oil quench.
Thanks John, we can try again next week!
I've had my share of cracks from heat treating John, I feel your pain.
It sure looks nice. I appreciate the video talking on tempering
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us ! To hear why something failed and how to prevent it in future is great !
Mistakes and failures are a part of learning and it’s not a waist if a lesson was learned. Thanks again. Awesome stuff!!!!!
You hate to see the failures, but you win some and lose some, and that's the harsh reality of making stuff by hand. Thanks for the content as always.
Thank you for showing that things do not always go perfectly! That is important too.
Just goes to show you can know what you're doing, have a good plan and still not get the desired result. You are a great teacher John and I learned a lot from this video. Thanks.
Even know it didn't come out. It still came out looking great. Good job and it helps others to understand what to look for. Thank you.
…I’d give it a loving home.
Another good video, always appreciate the integrity.
One of your best videos yet. Too many times, you never get to see reality on TH-cam. Thank you for the teaching moment. One of the reasons I have followed you is because of the time and patience you exhibit, showing all aspects, so that we can learn.
That is a great educational tool for some hands on, find the problems. Thanks John, nice to see you can still make 'em like I do. I'm still trying to make like you!
I really appreciate channels that show their failures as well as their successes. Thank you.
Sorry for the loss. But damn she looks good! Beautiful pattern and design. We'll get em next time.
Thanks for sharing the video and being honest about the result. I really learned alot.
I feel your pain on the crack John! I spent hours forging and grinding a camp knife from 1065 - after the quench, I was checking out the blade in my bare hands - room temp steel, I was evaluating a mild warp in the blade and thinking about reheating and straightening it, or trying to ease it straight in the tempering oven...when suddenly... *PING*...took care of that. I kept the blade to use as a template as I was really happy with the profile. Happy ending is I forged another one and it's 100% good - didn't warp, it's nice and hard even after tempering a little higher than ideal, and all's I need to do now is make up some denim micarta scales from some old blue jeans.
As many others here, I really appreciate your contributions to the blacksmithing community and applaud your efforts and humility in sharing your failures along with your successes - that's the reality of blacksmithing.
Wow it was starting to look like they’re really nice throwing ax too bad it failed learning experience you explained it very well as usual great video thank you Al from Vt 👍
John, I really appreciate the fact that you show, and explain, your failures, when you have them. Too often we get the idea that forge welding should just happen, with no failures, as shown by other blacksmiths channels. You are, and always have been, honest.
Mistakes like this aren’t truly failures , just valuable lessons and reminders , I’ve got a wall full of them , and a couple buckets. It’s still a nice looking piece and will look good on the wall
Always learning from you Sir.
Well spoken, nicely paced.
Thank you kindly
Yeah too bad that it didn't turn out as a axe. Glad to see even more experienced smiths have the same problem as the rest of us. One thing i like about blacksmithing is that can I always make something else out of my mystakes. Maybe a video on making a cable damascus axe coat hook or candle holder!😀
Better luck next time John. I like your outlook. Failure isn't a reason to stop its a reason to keep going. Knowledge gained
Well said!
See this is why I love your channel always learning something new
I have been watching and learning great deals from your videos and i love that you also post the videos where u have made real mistakes, they have helped me learn so much and since i dont get much time to work on my projects you have saved me a lot of time too. Many thanx man and keep it up👍🏼
I appreciate that!
Thanks, John! Beautiful pattern on the Damascus! Too bad it failed but, we learn! I say we because your fail was a fail for all of us that watch! So, we will all do better next time! I've seen others make cable Damascus knives but, I don't recall seeing an axe made of it!
Thanks so much for all that you do for us! You are a Master!
It's a shame that the axe had a failure, but at least we get to see some more cable damascus!
Love your videos. Its not a fail. As i have heard. " its just a little bit of a happy accident" its been a long time since i watched his painting show.
I've quenched W1 and W2 in oil with very good success. The caveats are that these were knives, so pretty thin cross sections and I also preheated my oil up to a pretty high temperature of 140 to 150 degrees F. I tried a bunch of knives in water with these steels and every single one cracked on me. Maybe my normalizing cycles weren't good enough I don't know but quenching in hot oil got the blades VERY hard.
I appreciate that you show both your successes and failures, thanks
Always a joy to watch you work John. thank you!
I would hang that on my wall in my house next to my wood stove. I think it would be a great decorative piece. This is a great video since it proves even the greatest of skills still make mistakes, and uses it to educate your audience. Keep up the great video content.
Hope we see better results next time. Most of the hardcore bladesmiths I've watched seem to swear by Parks 50 as their go-to quenching oil, so that is probably the best option. I've been told about a solution called Superquench, which if I recall right was a solution of brine and dish soap, which is supposed to be better for the 10-- series high-carbon steels than straight water, but I've never actually tried making it... I'm just starting to mess with blade-making at this point. I think I might just invest in a bucket of Parks when the time comes.
My understanding is the water quench for 1095 is for a thicker cross section. When you forge it thin, oil will be a better option. The 1095 knives I've made are all oil quench and come out with good hardness when tested with my files. Your experience far exceeds mine, but that's what I've read and my experience.
It's like painting a room allover again , because it's the wrong color . Life happens and I see that your ok with that John . See soon . Cheers
Oh that sounds so much worse
Another great video! Really cool Damascus pattern and axe profile. Very helpful to see your process in diagnosing the failure cause. I know I jump to conclusions sometimes when I really should make more effort to look at a broader view. Thanks for walking us through it.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Been there, done that! Had some 1095 fracture on me the other day and no idea why. Maybe the water was too cold. Maybe the moon was out of phase. Could have been a gremlin in the shop!
Aw man that's too bad. :( but! If at first you don't succeed try try again. Please make another one! I'd love to see this thing done :)
Hello From Argentina!!! Thank You very much John!!!!
Welcome!!
Just found you and subscribe. You admitting your failures and showing them and explaining how it failed is fantastic. Shows a lot about you and makes you a great teacher in this art. Thanks to you my friend and God bless. You'll get it right next time I'm sure if it.
John, you are such an inspiration. I love your videos and they have made me decide to join a local creative center so I can learn blacksmithing. You seem like such a peaceful, kind soul. Keep doing what you're doing.
Still a great video. Thanks
a shame it failed looks like it had a good pattern, better luck on the next one
Thanks for the video and like usual great job on filming and forging!
A good honest video depicting failure and trying to improve a tool because like my daughter, I'm learning all the time except my being a hobbyist. I'd like to know about the various oils, such as Canola oil or other vegetable oils, plus mineral oil quenchants which I realize tend to be expensive. A big thank you John for this video. ~Wendi UK
Beautiful pattern, too bad it didn't survive the quench. Now I want to go do some cable Damascus.
It had quite the elegant shape though. 👏👏👏
I have admiration for anyone who will admit they may have made a mistake.
The journey might be more important than the destination.
I don't know if I would call this a fail. I have never learned so or got so much from a mistake. Never seen a fail video especially from you. But if by any chance you ever have a " Fail" video please post....🔥🔨
Oh well, most people just see the results and not how many attempts it took. I'm with you.
Thanks so much for letting us follow along and learn from your set backs. It would be interesting to go ahead and hang the head, then do some destructive testing on it. Do a bunch of throwing, and use it to split wood like a froe. See if you can get the bit or eye to fail. It might fall apart on the first throw, or we may learn how far we can push the thickness of the cheeks and how well a bit can hold on with only one side welded. Take care and God bless
I'VE GOT to say thanks for these videos , I'm learning a lot about blacksmithing , I would like to know more about these numbers of the steal .
I have no experience with blacksmithing, but I've been watching your videos for a while now, John. Your videos are really interesting. Just wanted to make a comment about how interesting the mistakes were and love the axe-series!
absolutely love this. mistakes happen and i love that we got to see all the work that goes into something that failed, and still, you have learned from it (us too), and its amazing. cant wait to see the next video! thank you
Hi John! Sorry to see the axe fail, but I'm also impressed that you share your failures. I did have to check though, and 1095 is spec'ed as an oil hardening steel.
As always I really appreciate you showing off your mistakes as well as successes, especially since that corner of the eye is exactly where my last few attempts have gotten too thin.
Sure is a shame it cracked because it looked awfully nice. Better luck next time. I use parks 50 and it works great with 1095 I haven't cracked anything while using it yet.
Thank you for your wonderful videos.
Never knew there was an app that could help figure out heat treating. Just downloaded it to
Dear Most Excellent Blacksmithing Teacher,
Please move from the Mentions&Intentions stage to the BuyitAlready stage of a couple of Go-Pro cameras. Set them up in those semi-permanent spots you've talked about so you don't have to keep fiddlin' and fussin' with the recording device relocation problems.
Not having them is an efficiency hindrance to your most excellent work and teaching.
Please Sir and Thank You for Your videos.
😊😊
Cable Damascus was a total disaster every time I tried it. I would consider this a 95% success!
I really like the pattern you got too.
You have made a beautiful axe!!!
Enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up
I literally just quenched a 1095 chefs knife in corn oil with no problems. It skated a file and gave good contrast with a hamón line
Great learning opportunity here! Thanks for sharing 👍
All apart of it. You showed me that lol. I have a whole shelf of fails right next to my forge. I look at em all the time, find where I messed up, or see that my material was just to small, or short or whatever.🍻
And watching this I can see where I mess up alot on welding. I need to do more heats. And maybe a slower blower. I'm always starting to get it to stick, then I pull it back out and the blade end(most of the time, sometimes the flat side?) Will start to spark and burn.
Last edit lol.
Something else I've noticed is that I see you get the white heat quite alot and no sparks or burn. Is that just a difference in my forge and yours or the fact my blower is a little shop vac? I can get the bright orange easy. Maybe my eyes lol.. Thanks alot John!
I'm not really at white heat when I weld. Thats just the way the camera sees the high heat
@@BlackBearForge ah, good to know. Thanks
To bad you already bought the Parks 50. Believe it or not Canola oil is also nearly as fast as water , make sure you preheat to 150*.Running a class with Don Fogg and teaching how to get a Hamon we used Canola oil with great success on 1095. We were both very surprised at how fast a quench it was.
I am definitely NOT a knife maker, but a couple years ago I had an idea for a nice little camp cleaver for cooking while out camping..... Got a chunk of 1095 and used stock removal to get it to shape. Then got a hair up my rear and decided I wanted to try to get a good Hamon. Clayed the blade and after it was all set up brought it over to a friends house that had a forge and fired it up and quenched in preheated canola.... Tempered in the oven at home and ended up with a beautiful Hamon..
It's been a tough little blade that turned out better then I even first thought!! And has been abused most everyday since in the kitchen at home and many many camps from fields to mountains...
I quench my 1095 in vegetable oil and don’t have an issue with it, thanks for sharing
Good to hear
thanks, I've learned so much!