ABS Bladesmithing School Week Two

Allen Newberry

Allen Newberry

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Jan 10, 2007
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The focus of the second week was on making knives that would be able to pass the ABS J.S. performance test. The test however, is not an official test.




Here is the beginning of my knife. At this stage I have just shaped the point.




Then a trip to the power hammer to put on the bevels and a little refinement with the hammer.




Now another trip to the power hammer to taper the tang a bit then some more shaping with a hammer and anvil. We didn't do much with the handles as the knife is about to get bent. Most just wrapped the bar of steel with duct tape etc. for the handle. I just gave it a little shape and called it good.




Then I do a little grinding to get it ready for heat treating. This is actually the last picture I got of it before I started the test.




So I cut a 1 inch sisal rope. Chop through a 2x4 twice. Then Tim Potier inspects the blade for damage and shaves some hair with the blade.




And this is the stressful part. Here you have to bend the blade 90 degrees. In this photo it looks like I am about halfway there. However, it does successfully go 90 degrees without breaking.




This is how the blade looks now.




Here is a top down shot of the blade showing the bend that the blade now has. The handle also has some bend in it as well. It was pretty exciting to have success on this one.

And while the test knives were the main focus for the week we were treated to info and demonstrations by Tim Potier on several topics:




Here is Tim working on a Brut de Forge piece.




Here Tim is showing one method for straightening blades.


On the last day Gordon Graham came back and I took advantage of his presence and had him show me how he grinds his clips. He also gave us some more tips and tricks which I will be trying out.
 
Way to go Allen, looking at you bending that blade, even I got nervous.

Great Job, keep sharing.

Jim
 
Your looking good, Allen. The school is a very good place to learn a lot in such a short time.
Tell Tim I said "Hello". He is a good person and bladesmith.
 
The power hammers will spoil you. A good one will spoil you a lot. Did I tell you that I love my air hammer? Not only do they save the elbow and shoulder, they make moving a lot of metal a lot easier. Just be careful not to hit too hard when getting close to the finish. An overly hard stroke will ruin the blade very quickly.
 
raker said:
The power hammers will spoil you... Just be careful not to hit too hard when getting close to the finish. An overly hard stroke will ruin the blade very quickly.
Click to expand...

I squished the crap out of my first one. But, I got better over the next few.
 
Thanks for the debrief on weeks 1 and 2. I'm anxiously waiting for the 2011 schedule to be released in order to see if I'll be able to make the spring class at Haywood Community College in NC.

It might be in an FAQ somewhere on the ABS website, but what items were you required to bring to the class? I'm assuming minimal safety gear is a must, but anything else, tools, etc.?
 
JC in SC said:
Thanks for the debrief on weeks 1 and 2. I'm anxiously waiting for the 2011 schedule to be released in order to see if I'll be able to make the spring class at Haywood Community College in NC.

It might be in an FAQ somewhere on the ABS website, but what items were you required to bring to the class? I'm assuming minimal safety gear is a must, but anything else, tools, etc.?
Click to expand...

I think safety gear is the only requirement. However, if you are used to a certain hammer or tongs you might want to bring those along. Also, some way of staying hydrated.
 
That is what I was guessing, which leads into my next question. I have zero practical experience when it comes to forging. Is the class suited to folks with no prior forging experience? I've read some books and a lot of stuff online, but haven't gotten any hands-on due to tooling, time and location restraints. I was also thinking it'd be better to learn directly from a MS rather than do it on my own for a while and have to unlearn bad habits.
 
While some people come in with close to no experience, I would suggest getting as much as possible beforehand. I would rather be learning how to make a knife as opposed to how to hold a hammer. I tried to beef up my forging skills this year prior to the class and joined a local blacksmithing club, took a blacksmithing class and started going to more hammer-ins. So when I took the class I already know how to forge a knife and when it was over I was better at it.
 
Any past experiences, from driving nails to hitting hot iron will help. You will be surprised how much your unrelated experience will help. Any heat and beat experience will come in handy.
There are lots of ways to swing a hammer, you will find out the proper way at the school. This will help eliminate sore elbows and shoulders.
Let us know how it turns out for you.
 
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