Back to The Forge........

[Oldman]

Just returned from another 2 1/2 day stint at Tharwa valley Forge.....
I took down the remaining folded steel/damascus billet that I brought home from my first visit.
After a lot of thinking, I decided to make 2 Outdoor knives, one each for my two son's.

Each blade has 704 layers made up by Forge welding alternate layers of 1075 steel and 15N20 high Nickel content steel.
The billet started as 11 layers and was forged and folded 6 times resulting in the final material to make the blades....
Handles started as blocks of timber, Bolsters/Guards started as a blocks of brass.......

Needless to say there is a LOT that goes into these blades and I'm stoked with the result:

Blade 1 - For Kim - he's a left hander :

   

   

Blade 2  - For Rowan - (he's normal  )

   

   

I can't speak highly enough of The Forge.....and I know I'll be back for another sweat session !!

https://www.tharwavalleyforge.com

[Barry]

Unbelievable!!!

Love the handles. 

How hot did it get in the sheds?

[Grantus]

Unbelievable!!!

Love the handles. 

How hot did it get in the sheds?

His good Karma excelled itself!

Day one till noon, the time of the course actually required in the heat of forging, was a decidedly unusual Canberra February summer day.

Was a predicted 31 degree day, BUT a cool 15 degree dawn start, with cloud cover, resulted in just a low 20’s morning, and the temp still only lifted to 23 at noon.

Forging all done, and away from that heat with the afternoon indoors, the day then warmed up, although it still didn’t quite reach the uncomfortable predicted heat outside.

Day two was warmer, but bearable to do the rest of the knife making processes indoors.

Was a pleasure to have you stay here again Mark, and thoroughly enjoyed our lunch break catchups, evening beverages, sharing meals, and “chin wags”.  

[Oldman]

Thanks fellas…….much appreciated.
Temps. were really good overall, particularly for this time of year.
We were working in the original Forge, not Cuppacumbalong, so everything was comparatively compact. Nice small group of 4 participants. Karim now offers free laser etching on the Ricasso of each blade, so these two have an italic “K” and “R” respectively…….a little hard to see against the patterned steel but provides a really nice finishing touch…

Many thanks to Grant and Carole for their wonderful hospitality……just makes the experience complete.

[Oldman]

Finishing touches.....
made up a very strong instant coffee mix and soaked the blades for a couple of hours....
The coffee reacts with the 1075 and darkens up.....making the 15N20 "pop".
(It's a Forge hack for livening up the Folded steel pattern....)

   

Better pics of the laser etching on the ricasso of each blade:

   

   

[Barry]

Im going to have to give my knives a caffeine hit soon

[Grantus]

Good that International Roast has a useful purpose……….. certainly wouldn’t drink the stuff! 

[Oldman]

Grant, it's the only thing IR is good for !!
Apparently, the cheaper the coffee, the better......for this purpose.

[Oldman]

Im going to have to give my knives a caffeine hit soon

For those interested……
Clean the blade with soapy water / Windex first to get rid of any oil, rinse in clear water, dry, then a wipe down with metho. to get rid of any remaining water particles.
Make up the strongest possible brew using an entire jar and minimal water, just enough to stand the blades in a narrow container with blades vertically........really important to avoid coffee getting on to the timber handles.....they'll stain for life. 
Leave for 2 - 3 hours, or longer. Rinse blade and check the colour…….go again if not dark enough.
Remove blade, rinse in running water, dry ( I use a warm setting on my heat gun) and oil blade.
My preference is for Magnolia oil but anything that stops the oxidisation will work……

[Ninga]

I’m more familiar with scissors and secateurs than knives, but they look fantastic Mark. What a wonderful gift for the lads.