If you're interested in any of the tools or equipment I use and you want to help support the channel then don't forget to check out some of the affiliate links in the video description. Thank you for the support!
I'd love to hear more technical details and comparisons to stainless steel. This is one of those alloys you don't hear a lot about, but it's impressive when you are first introduced to it
Stainless will always be harder than Al Br, but stainless being a more complex alloy has other issues. Al Br will be far more lubrous to machine than stainless, and won't burn up your inserts / endmills in case you need to do any post process machining. SS has a habit of cold working and burning up carbides, even in flood coolant. Stainless can't really be cast without an inert atmosphere either. Otherwise O2 will burn out the alloying elements, and then you have to deal with hexavalent chromium as well.
@@ethanhumphrey5758 same in the USA except for in a project like this - money can’t be defaced for intention of defrauding someone, or increasing the face value. I don’t know if Australia is the same but in the US we can make art with coins (hence the penny press novelty machines)
It is quite commonly used in marine applications for shafts and heavy duty sleeve bushings. It is surprisingly robust considering how soft the parent metals of the alloy are.
Those blades turned out fantastic. Casting foam worked out great. Especially with the pattern. Looking forward to watching more videos with other alloys. Still amazed at how the edge held up to the cardboard. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
hey, french blacksmith here ! I have a bit of experience in forging aluminum bronze. It can make surprisingly decent blades if worked properly. Know that you can actually QUENCH and TEMPER aluminum bronze, just like steel ! Aluminum bronzes with 15% Al can actually have a hardness of 40 Rockwell, wich is just huge for a copper based alloy (and multiple times harder than structural steel, stainless steel, or even poorly hardened carbon steels). That being said aluminum bronze has some restrictions, and forging it is very hard for a beginner. But if you make researches about it, you will find surprising results. If you make your alloy yourself, keep iron and nickel on hand for grain growth stabilization and toughener, and check the most common recipes (like CuAl15Fe5Ni5)
Not saying I don't believe you, but could you provide a source or some info on that? I'm just an intrested knife maker. 40 Rockwell seems pretty crazy for a copper alloy, seems like it could be cool to tinker with.
@@autumn5592 check out CuAl15Fe5 alloys, they are pretty uncommon, but they are used to make litteral stamps in machines, like they cut sheets of steel and titanium with that. If you're really interested i have pdf engineering pdf documents about the martensite structures in cupro aluminum alloys, But if you want the very hardest bronze, wich is at 50 rockwellC of hardness after quench, you can look for CuBe2 (copper and 2%beryllium)
Hey great to see using belt grinder. I’ve to mention that you should point your knife downwards and grind the spine otherwise the point might get caught into belt and shoot the whole piece toward you! Stay safe 4:55
The knives came out great. Your fusion of ancient techniques with modern technology always provides for a video that entertains and educates. Keep up the good work, your videos are a joy to behold.
Although I'm not a Knife Smith, I have a great friend who is..., my personal hobby is melting metal. I'm going to cast my buddy, several of this type of blanks for his hobby. I'll try to cast some larger blades using your method. It'll be a little surprise for him. Thank you!
What I'd like to know is how the edge would hold up against leather. I do a mix of different old school arts like blacksmithing, wood working, leather work and several others. I use these mixed skills to make tools and a large variety of other useful items and some ornamental/aesthetic goods as well. I have been contemplating adding some smelting into the mix as well to broaden the skill set and add a bit more variety to the outcome of the items I make. So, yeah, how would the edge hold up to leather as a cutting or bevelling tool?
I'm tinkering around with smelting and I've done a few leatherworking projects in the past... In other words, I'm no expert. But after recently casting aluminum bronze myself, I would say that it would definitely hold up to cutting leather. It almost feels like steel. It's crazy.
MAN THOSE CAME OUT BEAUTIFUL. I love a good kiridashi as a general purpose small carry knife. I made myself one out of the first damascus steel billet I made.
Would this alloy work to melt copper hammers into new hammers, increasing the durability but still notnallow for sparks when hitting steel? Got around 20kg of copperhammers that are in bad share and going to make new ones.
Recommend making a edge profiling jig for belt sander. I had made one and still managed to have a blade fly out of my fingers while free-handing to touch up the last spot on a blade.
Yes, traditionally Kiridashi are chisel grinds/single bevel. They can be double bevel (ground on both sides meeting in the middle of the blade.) The problem is he introduced secondary bevel this will mean marking lines are slightly off, it should have been a zero/scandi grind. I don't think it will matter much in the way of actual usability though, and the microbevel will introduce some edge stability (reducing bending/dents.)
From what i understand with my years of cooking you should try to run your blade the same way on the steel going opposite directions will have the sides of you edge miss matched more like a micro bread knife
I think it's beautiful. I'm interested in a set of karambits. If interested in making a perfect matching pair let me know and a price. I'm also thinking skeletonized if possible with kydex sheaths.
@@alwayscensored6871 There's hard, and then there's the 55-60 RHC hardness you need to make a knife blade that will take and keep an edge. Steel is still usually the best choice. It's the carbides (iron carbide in the main, but also incredibly hard materials from the alloying agents like vanadium carbide and molybdenum carbide).
@@davidgillies620 They keep saying the Eygptians only had copper tools. They ignore the Tin trade that even got Tin from South America. Some Bronze alloys are as hard as steel. Iron is soft compared to them. Material science are just now using AI to predict properties of metals of three or more elements. New or old formulations will be made. I am old enough to remember the first of the new Damascus blades, they said it would never be done, till it was.
I have a question. Why do you make the bevel by sanding? Wouldn't it be smarter just to have the model being casted already have a bevel? You can also do the bevel most of the way but not fully if you want to sand it. It will save time. What's the point of using bronze into a mold if you can use the same exact method to make it out of steel?
They are pretty and semi-functional but more of a novelty than anything. Given the choice a steel knife wins every time. Try making one with a carbon steel piece for the edge?
90 copper/10 aluminum is pretty close to Nordic gold, which is 89 copper, 5 aluminum, 5 zinc and 1 tin - would you be willing to recast those blades using Nordic gold to compare sharpness and hardness - maybe do some forged in fire style tests?
Hello Mr. Robinson, I have been casting some alluminum bronze parts for a little bit (10% Al tends to also be my go to). I had watched your previous blade video as well, and was wondering if there is a specific reason why you decided not to work harden the blade your second time around? Is the difference in edge retention noticeable?
aluminum bronzes can be water quenched, just like steel. they start reacting to water quenching starting at 9% aluminum, and their hardness after quench increases up until 15% aluminum where it starts becoming too hard and brittle to make anything with. I recommend you try making a bronze with some iron and nickel sprinkled into the mix to toughen it and make its martensite structure finer and tougher. Water quenched aluminum bronze (followed with a temper) don't require hammering for hardening !
You probably already know this, but you can possibly cold temper (work hardern)the blade to get it even sharper... from what I've seen a little effort gets great results for softer metals.
Love the minimalist design coupled with the dimples. It looks like a ball pin hammered copper sheet. Maybe invest in a dedicated grinder angle jig. Most other TH-camrs who make knives have these to get a perfectly consistent angle on both sides.
awesome video, just an Idea as a marketer, please look up "Naruto kunai" and make a pair with this style, you will hit a whole new demographic and this should help the chanel
These knives look great but i feel like the knife would slip in your hand after alot of hard cutting like cardboard. Seems kinda dangerous without a wooden handle to give grip
amazing work, man! i am honestly very curious as to how it will behave on an anvil. i have some experience forging copper, and i know you can forge regular bronze. so i'm curious to see if you can forge the aluminum bronze as well. perhaps i will try it sometime. thank you for teaching me about this really cool alloy!
If you're interested in any of the tools or equipment I use and you want to help support the channel then don't forget to check out some of the affiliate links in the video description. Thank you for the support!
Not sure about aluminium bronze but most copper alloys tend to work harden so hammer peening the edges should give better edge retention.
Aluminum bronze is actually very susceptible to work hardening which is why it is often cast and not milled/machined.
I'd love to hear more technical details and comparisons to stainless steel. This is one of those alloys you don't hear a lot about, but it's impressive when you are first introduced to it
The knives were beautiful, but not the right material for a hardened edge. Nice video, and thank you.
There's many alloys of stainless, as well as this composition. This is commonly used in coins and as an iPhone "gold" color.
Stainless will always be harder than Al Br, but stainless being a more complex alloy has other issues.
Al Br will be far more lubrous to machine than stainless, and won't burn up your inserts / endmills in case you need to do any post process machining. SS has a habit of cold working and burning up carbides, even in flood coolant.
Stainless can't really be cast without an inert atmosphere either. Otherwise O2 will burn out the alloying elements, and then you have to deal with hexavalent chromium as well.
Ive never even heard of aluminium bronze before, thanks for the video!
Oz n Kiwi $1, $2 coins are made from it. But I am not melting down $300 of coins for a blade, haha.
@@alwayscensored6871 Plus it is illegal to deface Australian coins
@@ethanhumphrey5758 same in the USA except for in a project like this - money can’t be defaced for intention of defrauding someone, or increasing the face value. I don’t know if Australia is the same but in the US we can make art with coins (hence the penny press novelty machines)
It is quite commonly used in marine applications for shafts and heavy duty sleeve bushings. It is surprisingly robust considering how soft the parent metals of the alloy are.
@@SmokeyJoe42098 Australia is different- technically you are breaking the law if you melt a coin.
Something to try beat the blade edge before grinding to work harden out of the mold ALBronze is in a soft state
Those blades turned out fantastic. Casting foam worked out great. Especially with the pattern. Looking forward to watching more videos with other alloys. Still amazed at how the edge held up to the cardboard. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
hey, french blacksmith here ! I have a bit of experience in forging aluminum bronze. It can make surprisingly decent blades if worked properly. Know that you can actually QUENCH and TEMPER aluminum bronze, just like steel ! Aluminum bronzes with 15% Al can actually have a hardness of 40 Rockwell, wich is just huge for a copper based alloy (and multiple times harder than structural steel, stainless steel, or even poorly hardened carbon steels). That being said aluminum bronze has some restrictions, and forging it is very hard for a beginner. But if you make researches about it, you will find surprising results. If you make your alloy yourself, keep iron and nickel on hand for grain growth stabilization and toughener, and check the most common recipes (like CuAl15Fe5Ni5)
Not saying I don't believe you, but could you provide a source or some info on that?
I'm just an intrested knife maker.
40 Rockwell seems pretty crazy for a copper alloy, seems like it could be cool to tinker with.
@@autumn5592 check out CuAl15Fe5 alloys, they are pretty uncommon, but they are used to make litteral stamps in machines, like they cut sheets of steel and titanium with that.
If you're really interested i have pdf engineering pdf documents about the martensite structures in cupro aluminum alloys,
But if you want the very hardest bronze, wich is at 50 rockwellC of hardness after quench, you can look for CuBe2 (copper and 2%beryllium)
Where did u get the belt grinder.?
Awesome video, can you try and make manganese bronze?
Hey great to see using belt grinder. I’ve to mention that you should point your knife downwards and grind the spine otherwise the point might get caught into belt and shoot the whole piece toward you! Stay safe 4:55
Wow! That's a great point! It's kinda scary to rewind and watch that part of the video now.
Job.well.done.awsome.looking.
Knifes.BRAVO 🏴☠️🇺🇲😃
Nice job on those.
Penny is adorable 😍
Nice build brother,
The knives came out great. Your fusion of ancient techniques with modern technology always provides for a video that entertains and educates. Keep up the good work, your videos are a joy to behold.
thanks again for this new video, sharing your knowledge and experience and very inspiring.
I love it!
I made lost wax molds when I was in high school but this is very cool never heard of lost foam till now it's awesome!
Awesome! Would make a nice box opener.
Although I'm not a Knife Smith, I have a great friend who is..., my personal hobby is melting metal. I'm going to cast my buddy, several of this type of blanks for his hobby. I'll try to cast some larger blades using your method. It'll be a little surprise for him.
Thank you!
He's back
That looks really good
The blade looks so cool! Great video!
Awesome knife skills and all but the best part is the dog.
A suggestion next time you drill threw metal it be a good idea you use cutting oil give you a nice drill cut and cleaner one.
I think you're still supposed to work harden aluminum bronze just like other bronzes, would make the edge last longer.
That shape is good to mark lines on wood
Made a bronze dagger like this is RuneScape or something lol. Great vid
Can you do a video about the modifications to your belt grinder?
Similar to how we did 'lost wax' casting a long time ago. I am wondering if cast metal has to be quenched and tempered like other knife metals.
Looks great
Nice work 👍
Hello Penny 👋. 🐶👍
These knives look amazing!
Penny- Super. Good work. :)
What I'd like to know is how the edge would hold up against leather. I do a mix of different old school arts like blacksmithing, wood working, leather work and several others. I use these mixed skills to make tools and a large variety of other useful items and some ornamental/aesthetic goods as well. I have been contemplating adding some smelting into the mix as well to broaden the skill set and add a bit more variety to the outcome of the items I make. So, yeah, how would the edge hold up to leather as a cutting or bevelling tool?
I'm tinkering around with smelting and I've done a few leatherworking projects in the past... In other words, I'm no expert. But after recently casting aluminum bronze myself, I would say that it would definitely hold up to cutting leather. It almost feels like steel. It's crazy.
Great job Robinson !! Just Sluice It !!
I love that hammered look.
I think that you have heard of this but if you work harden (hammer the edges) your edges you get a stronger edge.
I want one lol
Would those be able to be hardened?
Yes. Yes, they can.
@@jaredjones6570 To what HRC? Would it be comparable to something like 8Cr13MoV?
I always get so excited when you post a new video!
I like the design of these. They turned out spectacularly good.
Very cool! I love the design, and the way the sharpened edge blends into it.
It’s always so exciting when you open up the molds!! Look great!!
Daaaamn! I want one! Very very cool.
Awesome video, I need one of those knifes. Congratulations 🎉 by the way. Great video, welcome back.
nice. love the look. what is the hardness of it i wounder.
Can you work harden this Bronze?
Yes you can, and you can heat & water quench them and rework them unlike steel alloys!
I totally want one!
MAN THOSE CAME OUT BEAUTIFUL. I love a good kiridashi as a general purpose small carry knife. I made myself one out of the first damascus steel billet I made.
This Aluminum Bronze sounds perfect for my application! How do you figure out the ratio of copper and aluminum? is it by weight, or volume?
Would also be interested to know this.
Weight
May be a dumb question but what do you do if you notice some loose/ not compacted sand after you put your mold in or does this never happen
I still prefer when he does the lost pla methods
I didn’t know Aluminum Bronze was a thing until finding this video
they will be ok as marking knives
Very cool project!!!
make a bolt that, in order to open/close, you need to go up, then down, then up, then down again and going like that
Is it still possible to heat treat those blades or is that kinda pointless
Would this alloy work to melt copper hammers into new hammers, increasing the durability but still notnallow for sparks when hitting steel?
Got around 20kg of copperhammers that are in bad share and going to make new ones.
That is very nice and simple, it begs for having more like this, yet it seems quite uncommon
Is it safe to use with food
Recommend making a edge profiling jig for belt sander. I had made one and still managed to have a blade fly out of my fingers while free-handing to touch up the last spot on a blade.
Kiridashi was spoused to be chisel point to make next to ur rule right?
Yes, traditionally Kiridashi are chisel grinds/single bevel.
They can be double bevel (ground on both sides meeting in the middle of the blade.)
The problem is he introduced secondary bevel this will mean marking lines are slightly off, it should have been a zero/scandi grind.
I don't think it will matter much in the way of actual usability though, and the microbevel will introduce some edge stability (reducing bending/dents.)
From what i understand with my years of cooking you should try to run your blade the same way on the steel going opposite directions will have the sides of you edge miss matched more like a micro bread knife
I think it's beautiful. I'm interested in a set of karambits. If interested in making a perfect matching pair let me know and a price. I'm also thinking skeletonized if possible with kydex sheaths.
I wonder if Titanium, Copper would work?
Titanium copper (usually something like 97% Cu 3% Ti) is strong but far too soft to make a knife.
@@davidgillies620 Gold, Platinum alloys can be very hard too. Bronze is Copper/Tin. Brass is Copper/Zinc. Alloys can have extra like silicon etc.
@@alwayscensored6871 There's hard, and then there's the 55-60 RHC hardness you need to make a knife blade that will take and keep an edge. Steel is still usually the best choice. It's the carbides (iron carbide in the main, but also incredibly hard materials from the alloying agents like vanadium carbide and molybdenum carbide).
@@davidgillies620 They keep saying the Eygptians only had copper tools. They ignore the Tin trade that even got Tin from South America. Some Bronze alloys are as hard as steel. Iron is soft compared to them. Material science are just now using AI to predict properties of metals of three or more elements. New or old formulations will be made. I am old enough to remember the first of the new Damascus blades, they said it would never be done, till it was.
Is the 90/10 ratio of copper to aluminum done by weight or volume? Aluminum weighs much less than copper
Great video, as always. That casting was incredibly nice.
Nice work as always...Alu bronze is what a lot of "gold" coins are made of these days, it's strong stuff
Those are dope
Love your videos man keep it up! 🔥
looks great, but a Kiridashi is only one edge ground, it is so you have a flat side for marking, it is a wood working knife after all
Nice one 👍
Those can out awesome. Love the texture. 👍
Nice 👍👍
I have a question. Why do you make the bevel by sanding? Wouldn't it be smarter just to have the model being casted already have a bevel? You can also do the bevel most of the way but not fully if you want to sand it. It will save time. What's the point of using bronze into a mold if you can use the same exact method to make it out of steel?
We need people like him in a apocalypse situation's
You should start making and selling fishing lures and firearm tool kits! I see big time opportunity
They are pretty and semi-functional but more of a novelty than anything. Given the choice a steel knife wins every time. Try making one with a carbon steel piece for the edge?
It’s more about the casting and making a very strong knife, not forging.
@@markwilson8632 I'm kinda slow sometimes...
Historically speaking you are a master craftsman. In today's terms that holds true.
What do you think the total time was on these?
Nice 👍
Amazing
Cute dog !!!
Man those things are sick! What breed is Penny?
Do you do commissions?
They look great. 👍👍
I am looking for a cheaper and more available in EU alternative to SUSPENDA SLURRY
The next time you make a blade or cutting tool try with Beryllium Copper.- It is very strong and hard...
90 copper/10 aluminum is pretty close to Nordic gold, which is 89 copper, 5 aluminum, 5 zinc and 1 tin - would you be willing to recast those blades using Nordic gold to compare sharpness and hardness - maybe do some forged in fire style tests?
Nice!
Beautiful
Hello Mr. Robinson, I have been casting some alluminum bronze parts for a little bit (10% Al tends to also be my go to). I had watched your previous blade video as well, and was wondering if there is a specific reason why you decided not to work harden the blade your second time around? Is the difference in edge retention noticeable?
aluminum bronzes can be water quenched, just like steel. they start reacting to water quenching starting at 9% aluminum, and their hardness after quench increases up until 15% aluminum where it starts becoming too hard and brittle to make anything with. I recommend you try making a bronze with some iron and nickel sprinkled into the mix to toughen it and make its martensite structure finer and tougher. Water quenched aluminum bronze (followed with a temper) don't require hammering for hardening !
You probably already know this, but you can possibly cold temper (work hardern)the blade to get it even sharper... from what I've seen a little effort gets great results for softer metals.
Tempering and work hardening are 2 totally different things.
Nice concept for EDC if someone worked in an area where nonsparking tools were required.
Love the minimalist design coupled with the dimples. It looks like a ball pin hammered copper sheet. Maybe invest in a dedicated grinder angle jig. Most other TH-camrs who make knives have these to get a perfectly consistent angle on both sides.
Might benefit from work hardening the edge before sharpening it.
awesome video, just an Idea as a marketer, please look up "Naruto kunai" and make a pair with this style, you will hit a whole new demographic and this should help the chanel
Hey man, this was amazing work! Do you mind telling me where you got that fancy hand crank siv? I'd really like to get one of my hands on that.
These knives look great but i feel like the knife would slip in your hand after alot of hard cutting like cardboard. Seems kinda dangerous without a wooden handle to give grip
I'm not sure you did this, anyway Google said that al-bronze can be quenched to strengthen it.
Is it really THAT easy?
amazing work, man!
i am honestly very curious as to how it will behave on an anvil.
i have some experience forging copper, and i know you can forge regular bronze.
so i'm curious to see if you can forge the aluminum bronze as well.
perhaps i will try it sometime.
thank you for teaching me about this really cool alloy!