Blacksmith, forge project
Leo helped me (Paul) go through the forge technique.
Made a sturdy chisel for rough cutting and a "cold chisel"
Start with good coal..heat forge up to hot fire
Spread coal around periphery of center flame to bake
Hold the piece in the flames until cherry red (keep withdrawing to check the color; white hot is too hot)
Hammer the piece to shape on the anvil and reheat and continue the process until the desired shape is attained.
One can then grind the piece to refine the shape and the edge and to get a clean surface so as to tell the colors in the fire for the next step.
Reheat the tip slowly to a cherry red and dip in oil to cool.
Clean it off on the grinder to expose clean surface.
This is so that you can see the color changes in the next step.
Place the piece in the fire and slowly bring the color to a yellow-brown.
Withdraw frequently so as not to pass this temperature.
Cherry red is too hot and you woul have to recool the metal in oil and start again.
When the yellow-brown colow is attained, check the edge to see if it will file off. If it is still too hard, it won’t file off and that means redo the process to get the yellow-brown color.
Clean up the piece and sharpen it as needed on the grinder.
