Big difference between being a part timer and making a living at blade smithing. A good way to review what you do and where you can change it up (process improvement). Thanks for sharing.
Being a forged in fire winner should mean you can charge what you want for a good product. I'd love to get a blade made by you someday keep up the hard work and awesome content.
Puukko's are one of my favorite knife design. Simple and useful. My dad bought me one at the Atlanta blade show years ago and I've processed a whole lotta critters with it. Mine has a curly birch/caribou antler handle but I'd like to get one with a traditional stacked birch bark handle.
Dear Sir. A suggestion to help you with the Tapper on Blades making no one just to put 10 degrees on the Dies on your press that way you have a tapper in blade and less grinding. Also turn one die one and you have them equal again. You just have to have a Bench Grinder to put 10 degrees in the two dies
One thing that might ease things is the distance from forge to anvil, you should be able to pull it out the fire and right to the anvil. I've got my anvil right behind me so it's out of the fire, 180 right to the anvil.
I find myself being faster and more efficient working multiple pieces. I over think things sometimes and then get confused on what to do, which waste time along with heat. The more I keep moving the faster I am. If that makes sense.
Its been a hot summer even in the high plains of Wyo. Finally getting to fire up the forge myself. I'm trying to improve by making every move count. Still just an infant in the forging world so its like learning the right motor functions.
I push myself past what I'm comfortable doing. I'm no knifemaker by any means but I'll make knives I'll make bottle openers I'll make horseshoes from barstock and tools I am always making tools.
For work by heats, maybe a whiteboard could be useful. Writing out forging steps by heats could improve the process and help focus the mind to the task at hand.
Could I get your opinion on the different tangs for the knives. Why a hidden, tapered tang instead of a full, exposed tang with scales? I prefer a full, exposed tang for more strength. Also, I never epoxy the scales. Should the scales need to be replaced they are much easier to remove. Thank you.
A properly made hidden tang on the appropriate knife is more than strong enough. Since it's a puukko knife I'm following general traditional designs. I recommend using epoxy, it provides a seal against moisture in between the scales and tang that could otherwise corrode the tang through over time.
Great experiment video, thank you. I think 15 minutes is a great speed. If you go to fast you end up fatigued and your mental skills suffer quickly, causing mistakes and wasted heats. Two hours of forging gives you 6-8 blade blanks and then many hours to finish them depending on level of finish and intricacies of handles. So, great job! A couple questions regarding the 52100, it appeared that your temperature dropped lower than what I would, only because with my very limited experience with it, it wants to be worked at higher temps to keep from stress cracking. Do you have any problems with stress cracking? Also, what temperature do you run your temper cycle? Thank you Sir.
I just found batch processing was more or less the best way to get as much done around each task and purpose. Set yourself up to win basically- First day is cutting out blanks of stock or forging to rough shape, do as many as is comfortable and stick to a design that works, don't change it halfway through unless theres something disastrous happening Next day is grinding to shape, if you have some time left over you can devote to handle and bolster material being cut to shape Day worth of heat treating and tempering, throw out any duds or ones that will take too long to get right, take a breather for the other half of the day and relax, get your mind right, take stock of what you have and what's going as planned Final grind and finishing work on the blades, assembling handle material for an overnight glue up Fitting handles, clean up the shop, tomorrow is doing all the shaping of the handles and finish, after that is sheaths and hangers Im not great at forging due to a heart condition, but batch processing as a full time knife maker is really the key to output and avoiding a re-do at all costs, if something is too busted-arse to fix in 5min, throw it in the to do later bin. Its not worth the time to stop production on a $3 piece of metal when you might have 10min later in between other tasks to bring it up to workable standards. Heck if its really rubbish just throw it in the scrap pile and keep moving forward.
Only thing I like about cooler weather…. Perfect forging weather. I dunno about yours but my round ribbon burner forge puts ridiculous amounts of heat out of the front. None of my others was that bad.
Good video 👍, in the future when you can afford a power hammer you’ll definitely get your blades forged out quicker. When you get it make sure it’s a big one, remember you’re in Texas where “bigger is always better “. Regards from Down Under. Lol 😂
Alot of people mistake speed for efficiency. In fact most of the time its the complete opposite. Efficiency is doing the work as smoothly and consistantly as possible with the least amount of or unnecessary work.... alot of the places ive work had the opposite mindset. Their motto was if you do it fast enough youl have time to fix any mistakes. While that might be true in some cases its definately not for most. Especialy when they only allow for materials just enough for the project, so when you do mess up you have to try and ship it in as fast as possible. All that does is cause stress and wears you down.....but they still dont see it that way. Thats why i quit and became my own boss. Sure its harder, especialy since you dont have a reliable paycheck at the end of the week. But its far less stress and you know if you actualy have work or not wnd where you stand. The industry that i left ,cabinetmaking, you were not sure from one end of the week to the next wether you had a job or not regardless of what they said. They hired you when they were busy and fired you when they were not. Getting stuck in that cylcle realy made me rethink things and how my business would be run. For my efficiency its down to batchwork. I can do 3 blades at the same rate as 1.so once im set up for a task i do as much as i can with it as possible. Sometimes even moving on to different stages with other knives till im ready to do the most with that setup. Saves having to re set things again.
A simple way to improve efficiency would be having 2 blades in the forge. That way you're not waiting as long for the steel to heat back up. When you put the first blade back in the forge, Pull the second blade out and work it. Obviously this would pay off more early in the process because it takes longer to heat.
I've never forged anything so my opinion probably isn't worth much. I noticed the second time out of the forge and on the anvil that you continued to pound it with the hammer long after any color of heat was gone. Could that be a waste of energy? With the steel cooled down, I would think you're not moving the metal very well. Again, I've never forged before and I probably am missing something
I saw neels van der berg make one in 3 minutes .Forging the blade. Not the complete product, and he wasn't forging 52100 steel.Just saying it's possible
![You Can Forge a Knife Correctly [Here's How] !](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/NJeGALX8UNQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Big difference between being a part timer and making a living at blade smithing. A good way to review what you do and where you can change it up (process improvement). Thanks for sharing.
Being a forged in fire winner should mean you can charge what you want for a good product. I'd love to get a blade made by you someday keep up the hard work and awesome content.
Haha, not quite, but thanks! Thanks for watching!
I just bought my first from him. Definitely a sound purchase!
There’s always time for coffee. Very interesting video. Made me think of the movie “Cheaper By The Dozen.”
Yep, that's right. Yeah I remember that, the efficiency expert
Puukko's are one of my favorite knife design. Simple and useful. My dad bought me one at the Atlanta blade show years ago and I've processed a whole lotta critters with it. Mine has a curly birch/caribou antler handle but I'd like to get one with a traditional stacked birch bark handle.
I have benefitted from your video today.
Thank you sir
Brother, you beat that stock like it owes you money. I love watching you work and teach at the same time.
Thanks man I appreciate it
Dear Sir. A suggestion to help you with the Tapper on Blades making no one just to put 10 degrees on the Dies on your press that way you have a tapper in blade and less grinding. Also turn one die one and you have them equal again. You just have to have a Bench Grinder to put 10 degrees in the two dies
One thing that might ease things is the distance from forge to anvil, you should be able to pull it out the fire and right to the anvil. I've got my anvil right behind me so it's out of the fire, 180 right to the anvil.
How do you guys push yourselves to get better at forging?
I find myself being faster and more efficient working multiple pieces. I over think things sometimes and then get confused on what to do, which waste time along with heat. The more I keep moving the faster I am. If that makes sense.
Its been a hot summer even in the high plains of Wyo. Finally getting to fire up the forge myself.
I'm trying to improve by making every move count. Still just an infant in the forging world so its like learning the right motor functions.
I push myself past what I'm comfortable doing. I'm no knifemaker by any means but I'll make knives I'll make bottle openers I'll make horseshoes from barstock and tools I am always making tools.
For work by heats, maybe a whiteboard could be useful. Writing out forging steps by heats could improve the process and help focus the mind to the task at hand.
Okay, thats faaaaaaaast !!!
Could I get your opinion on the different tangs for the knives. Why a hidden, tapered tang instead of a full, exposed tang with scales? I prefer a full, exposed tang for more strength. Also, I never epoxy the scales. Should the scales need to be replaced they are much easier to remove. Thank you.
A properly made hidden tang on the appropriate knife is more than strong enough. Since it's a puukko knife I'm following general traditional designs. I recommend using epoxy, it provides a seal against moisture in between the scales and tang that could otherwise corrode the tang through over time.
Great experiment video, thank you. I think 15 minutes is a great speed. If you go to fast you end up fatigued and your mental skills suffer quickly, causing mistakes and wasted heats. Two hours of forging gives you 6-8 blade blanks and then many hours to finish them depending on level of finish and intricacies of handles.
So, great job!
A couple questions regarding the 52100, it appeared that your temperature dropped lower than what I would, only because with my very limited experience with it, it wants to be worked at higher temps to keep from stress cracking. Do you have any problems with stress cracking? Also, what temperature do you run your temper cycle? Thank you Sir.
Good points, thanks for the input
Mmm Puukkos, my kind of knife
You make some nice ones. Thanks for watching
Your knives are still some of my favorite.
I just found batch processing was more or less the best way to get as much done around each task and purpose. Set yourself up to win basically-
First day is cutting out blanks of stock or forging to rough shape, do as many as is comfortable and stick to a design that works, don't change it halfway through unless theres something disastrous happening
Next day is grinding to shape, if you have some time left over you can devote to handle and bolster material being cut to shape
Day worth of heat treating and tempering, throw out any duds or ones that will take too long to get right, take a breather for the other half of the day and relax, get your mind right, take stock of what you have and what's going as planned
Final grind and finishing work on the blades, assembling handle material for an overnight glue up
Fitting handles, clean up the shop, tomorrow is doing all the shaping of the handles and finish, after that is sheaths and hangers
Im not great at forging due to a heart condition, but batch processing as a full time knife maker is really the key to output and avoiding a re-do at all costs, if something is too busted-arse to fix in 5min, throw it in the to do later bin. Its not worth the time to stop production on a $3 piece of metal when you might have 10min later in between other tasks to bring it up to workable standards. Heck if its really rubbish just throw it in the scrap pile and keep moving forward.
Only thing I like about cooler weather…. Perfect forging weather. I dunno about yours but my round ribbon burner forge puts ridiculous amounts of heat out of the front. None of my others was that bad.
The little single burner I used here isn't too bad, but my bigger forge that's another story...
Are you making a short 2handed knife ??
Nope, just have plenty for the tang...
I timed you at 7:30 minutes. Oh wait I had the playback speed 2X.
Hey man love your channel any clue how much a 51/60 cleaver should go for
Thanks! That really depends on who makes it and who their market is, and of course the piece itself..
Fire Creek Forge ok thanks man
Good video 👍, in the future when you can afford a power hammer you’ll definitely get your blades forged out quicker. When you get it make sure it’s a big one, remember you’re in Texas where “bigger is always better “. Regards from Down Under. Lol 😂
Thanks! Well, a small power hammer would be pretty good for most blade smithing.
Hu how Merican / Club steel to death the Jason knight method .
Where are you purchasing you’re 52100 rounds?
I bought these from admiral steel
Alot of people mistake speed for efficiency. In fact most of the time its the complete opposite. Efficiency is doing the work as smoothly and consistantly as possible with the least amount of or unnecessary work.... alot of the places ive work had the opposite mindset. Their motto was if you do it fast enough youl have time to fix any mistakes. While that might be true in some cases its definately not for most. Especialy when they only allow for materials just enough for the project, so when you do mess up you have to try and ship it in as fast as possible. All that does is cause stress and wears you down.....but they still dont see it that way. Thats why i quit and became my own boss. Sure its harder, especialy since you dont have a reliable paycheck at the end of the week. But its far less stress and you know if you actualy have work or not wnd where you stand. The industry that i left ,cabinetmaking, you were not sure from one end of the week to the next wether you had a job or not regardless of what they said. They hired you when they were busy and fired you when they were not. Getting stuck in that cylcle realy made me rethink things and how my business would be run. For my efficiency its down to batchwork. I can do 3 blades at the same rate as 1.so once im set up for a task i do as much as i can with it as possible. Sometimes even moving on to different stages with other knives till im ready to do the most with that setup. Saves having to re set things again.
Need to work multiple items at once.
A simple way to improve efficiency would be having 2 blades in the forge. That way you're not waiting as long for the steel to heat back up. When you put the first blade back in the forge, Pull the second blade out and work it. Obviously this would pay off more early in the process because it takes longer to heat.
Working on two or three pieces at a time would mean no down time between
If I sent you enough meteorite to make a couple knives would you make us each one?
I've never forged anything so my opinion probably isn't worth much. I noticed the second time out of the forge and on the anvil that you continued to pound it with the hammer long after any color of heat was gone. Could that be a waste of energy? With the steel cooled down, I would think you're not moving the metal very well. Again, I've never forged before and I probably am missing something
I saw neels van der berg make one in 3 minutes .Forging the blade. Not the complete product, and he wasn't forging 52100 steel.Just saying it's possible
That's pretty fast! I'd be interested to see how he does that
Didn’t you just shave with a Bowie like 2 days ago? A blessed curse I guess.
I will meet you soon, i need agood k nife
Sounds silly to say "i'm forging some puukko knives". Puukko means knife in general so it's like "i'm forging knife knife today".
Hahaha waisting time making that thing way to long
You would improve your efficiency by spending a bit less time waxing philosophically.
"# End The Fed" We're all chasing our tales trying to keep up with the Feds money printing. Do you hand forge any AR lowers?
Hey man love your channel any clue how much a 51/60 cleaver should go for