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Ed Caffrey's Workshop Talk to Ed Caffrey ... The Montana Bladesmith! Tips, tricks and more from an ABS Mastersmith.

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  #1  
Old 02-08-2008, 01:30 AM
Andy Winter Andy Winter is offline
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: United Kingdom, Milton Keynes
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Introduce myself

My name is Andy Winter and I live in Milton Keynes in the UK, some 60 miles north of London. I spent a week with Ed last April and have spent the last 10 months setting up my workshop. The UK is a challenge as there are few knifemakers and even fewer sources of supply. Anyway this week I finally fired up my forge and forged my first knife here. I have had to use 3/4 inch 52100 steel bar as my raw material as it was the only decent steel I could lay my hands on at a fair price. Gosh it's a tough steel to forge, especially having to forge it flat first. My hands and fingers need to grow a bit stronger.

A question. Any suggestions for a replacement for hemp rope as a cutting test. It is frightningly expensive here just to cut into little pieces.
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Old 02-08-2008, 07:51 AM
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NJStricker NJStricker is offline
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Welcome to the forums! We're looking forward to seeing your knives in the future. Cutting asphalt shingles is pretty abusive to any knife!!!
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Old 02-08-2008, 08:10 AM
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Welcome Andy,
Cardboard shipping tubes are great for cutting test.


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Old 02-08-2008, 08:36 AM
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Ed Caffrey Ed Caffrey is offline
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HI Andy!!!

Its great to see you here! I've been thinking about you the last couple of days.....I have a package that will be heading your way come Monday morning.

Also check out "British Blades" forum...... I think you might be able to find so folks who might be close to you through that forum.

I'm happy to hear that you have the shop up and going. Now the sky is the limit!


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Old 02-08-2008, 09:01 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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Andy, you might want to venture on over to Don Fogg's Bladesmith's Forum. There's a guy there by the name of Owen Bush who is in the London area. He's going to be hosting a sword making symposium the end of March at his forge and I believe that he may also teach. If you make contact with him, he might be someone who can help you out or at least put you in contact with other bladesmiths.

Doug Lester


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Old 03-17-2008, 04:59 PM
Andy Winter Andy Winter is offline
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: United Kingdom, Milton Keynes
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Thanks Doug. I have been in touch with Owen and have looked at the British Blades website.

I have just finished my first forged knife from my own workshop. It is made from ? inch 52100 steel bar. I wasn?t totally happy with my grinds so I blended everything and went for a convex edge. It is a little long as a conventional knife and I played with the shape. Typical of me. Try something slightly out of the ordinary before I know what I am really doing. As a knife it feels like you want to chop something when you hold it. I am reluctant to test it to destruction to see how good it is and I haven?t yet organised any ferric chloride to etch the blade to see how good my quench was. It seems to cut well though. It was quenched 3 times. I am using a deep fat fryer filled with parrafin for the quench. The fryer heats the oil gently to a set temperature and was cheap. I used my good ladies sugar thermometer to check the temperature settings. Hope she doesn't notice. The fryer is a little short so I have bought a 18inch stainless fish poacher at the market and will mount the heating element from the deep fat fryer on it.

Am working on 2 rather more conventional knives at the moment. I am glad I bought Ed's hammers but I need the heavy one to make any impact on the 52100. Dare I get it really yellow or will that ruin it. It takes a fair bit of effort to move the steel and my fingers aren't yet that strong and tire easily.

Once I have made a couple more knives I will be prepared to test the blade to destruction but for now can't face throwing that work away. I also need to practice sharpening. I really need a good knife as a comparison to see how well I am doing. One thing I notice is that the belts I use give a bit of a thump as the join passes over. Is this detrimental to the grind and is the solution to find belts where there is no abrasive near the join?

On a side issue my wife uses a reconditioned medical oxygen concentrator to produce oxygen to boost the propane flame so she can melt glass. Would this reduce the propane consumption if fitted to my furnace and do you think it would get hot enough for welding damascus when I eventually get around to trying that?

I hope the photo uploaded OK. Have tried a couple of times. It says done but I am not sure. A bit arty but I borrowed the good ladies camera.
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Last edited by Andy Winter; 03-26-2008 at 02:29 AM. Reason: add photo
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Old 03-17-2008, 05:42 PM
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Andy,
No photo yet.I'd really like to see your work.
As best as I can tell you'll always get the belt thump.It varies from belt to belt even with the same grit and brand.


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