first knife so far.

[ncnurseryman]

The fuel is propane.

 

[forgeblast]

Is your forge something like this?
Two brick forge
I have been working on my two brick forge also, but Its taken a back seat for now.

 

[ncnurseryman]

Yes, its very much like that. With the soft fire bricks its very easy to scrape out. I just used an old screwdriver and it took minutes to shape out. I did not coat the interior as some people suggest and used some wire to hold the two bricks together. I found that be keeping the torch end outside the brick you can get better swirl around the metal. I haven't experienced and safety issues and it works fine. It's not big enough to heat the entire handle of the blade but its the cutting portion of the blade that needs the most heat anyway. But, its a good, cheap, easy to make and fun. I had to order the bricks off eBay cause I couldn't them locally, but they are cheap.

 

[forgeblast]

My problem is that I am using two hard fire bricks I had left over. I have to get the diamond wheel out and its dusty. I should just get the soft fire brick and be done with it.
I built a shroud around it that is held together with wire. Do you block off the back?

 

[Biggreenavalanche]

The temp is around 1800 degrees or so, not really sure. I use the magnet test. When the metal is about whit hot I touch the blade to a magnet and if there is no attraction then its ready. I quench it in canola oil. The forge is a small fire brick I made. Been trying to post a short vid but can't get it to work. The steel is 1095.

Learned something new ! Never knew about the magnet test...thanks for the info...are you using nat gas or propane as fuel source for the kiln ?

Thanks again, Rich

Edit: oops, just saw post #21...kiln fuel question already answered ! Thanks

 

[ncnurseryman]

My problem is that I am using two hard fire bricks I had left over. I have to get the diamond wheel out and its dusty. I should just get the soft fire brick and be done with it.
I built a shroud around it that is held together with wire. Do you block off the back?

Yeah, i mistakenly got the hard brick first and that just doesnt work. save yourself a lot of time and aggravation and get a couple of soft bricks. they are much much easier to work with.

 

[ncnurseryman]

Here is a pic of the second knife. Its 1095 steel with micarta handle. This handle is olive green with a woven pattern to it. It a similar design as the first just slightly different at the handle base.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Looks good, however I think I would put some sort of tang on it. Nothing like have a sharp blood soaked knife slip thru your hand and sever a few fingers.