Howdy Neighbor.
I have been reading post on this and many other knife making forums about getting started and felt that I should share my experiences with beginners like me. I have been making knives about a year or so and forging around 6 months.I have read and youtube it to death , It gets confusing , so my experiences might save someone a headache or two. I will be posting info about tools , steels and techniques that have worked and not worked for me.
I look forward to seeing some of your posts! I just got done with a 3 day norwegian knife making class a couple of weeks ago given by Kjetil Groven, it’s actually brought my interest into knife making more than I realized.
nghtmr901 - If you’re looking to forge damascus, hydraulic is the way to go - you just get a much better weld unless you are a very experienced forge welder when you’re able to smush the metal together with tons (literal) of force.
As far as I’m concerned, for the modern blacksmith, a hydraulic press is as nice a tool as a power hammer in the blacksmith shop. Nothing like being able to quickly punch threw 2"+ metal in one go.
I just got done with a 3 day norwegian knife making class a couple of weeks ago given by Kjetil Groven, it’s actually brought my interest into knife making more than I realized.