P-160: Metalworking Forge Update 3

by PhoenixGames on May.31, 2015, under Bushcraft, Inventions, Miscellany

I have completed a test firing of my forge.

It seems to work well, I can easily bring the Damascus steel up to forging temperature. I have noticed some problems however.

First, my anvil is insufficient for the kind of work I am doing, secondly, the air flow is not strong enough, and thirdly, my method for holding the work piece is too weak.

I can fix all of these issues fairly easily, and even despite them, I was able to work with the steel relatively easily.

I have noticed that, even with a small bar of steel like the one I started with, it does stretch quite a bit when worked. As I made the end of the steel narrower for the point of the knife, the sides protruded quite a lot.

I was originally trying to make a small knife for the purposes of bushcraft, and general use, however, it looks like the blade will end up being longer than I planned to make it. I could cut some of the excess steel off, if I need to.