Forging A Leaf Spring Into A Large 5160 Bowie | Shop Talk Tuesday Episode 103

[@Gdwmartin]

Looks NICE! You are correct it is pretty big, but hey that kinda fits the image of the "Bowie Knife" Larger than life.

[@theriversexperience9383]

Thank you!

[@klausschwarzenholzer2353]

Perfekt Start awesome 🍀🙏😎🙏🍀the Design is superb 👍👍👍🔥

[@theriversexperience9383]

Thank you Klaus!

[@robertmartinez3284]

Has the lines and makings of a sweet knife

[@theriversexperience9383]

Thanks Robert!

[@richmartinez2935]

So Awesome! Gonna try that, I’m a rookie but you have taught me a lot Thank You 😁

[@theriversexperience9383]

Thank you Rich!

[@bobbyhempel1513]

You did make the perfect name for it. Kram-b-owie

[@trainwon5699]

A big thumbs up 👍

[@theriversexperience9383]

Thanks Don!

[@123gonow]

Picked up quite a few tricks on this video ! Good stuff !

[@theriversexperience9383]

I'm glad it helped Steven!

[@chrisangelone3349]

I love it so far. Great shape

[@davidpugh4527]

Nice work Eric yes I have seen a guard made like that before

[@theriversexperience9383]

I think it's going to be pretty cool.

[@satriciacolbert5341]

I loved your built also... it was one of my favorites

[@Enigma-Sapiens]

Lol! The guards are the first things I take off of those small grinders. They just constantly seem to be in the way and seeing as how I have gotten by with that for many, many years...

[@theriversexperience9383]

I did stone work for years and we used angle grinders 5 hours minimum a day... zero guards. Now that doesn't mean I don't practice safe grinding lol. I never have my face in line with the disc and make sure that I'm paying attention to not flexing the disc and creating a chance for a disc to explode 🤕.

[@Enigma-Sapiens]

@@theriversexperience9383, Exactly! I have seen (on a friend) the damage an exploding disc can do. So operating at least somewhat sensibly is a good idea. Behind my bench grinder is a reminder to be very careful. It's about 1/3 of a 6" grinding wheel embedded into the wall right through 1/2" chipboard. My stepdad had used the grinder to grind down a piece of wood, yeah, wood. He burned it into the wheel and when the wheel cooled down it must have cracked because when I turned it on, as soon as it kicked into running speed the wheel and the guard exploded into shrapnel. Luckily the places I got hit on my chest and right arm were not too bad, but it could have been a lot worse. From then on I stand off to the side when turning the grinder on. Take care, stay safe, healthy, and prosperous!

[@C.A.Newman]

That is shaping up to be a monster for sure! Diggin it!

[@theriversexperience9383]

Thanks Cory!

[@jasonvliet-odonataknifeworks]

Awesome! I think you should EDC it…Crocodile Dundee would be proud!

[@theriversexperience9383]

Oh, I think you will like what I have planned for the final video in this series 😁

[@kucigal8993]

Отличная работа!!! 👍👍👍

[@TyrellKnifeworks]

Like I said last time, I love the profile! That’s right in my wheelhouse for sure. Question though, why a full tang instead of a hidden tang? I am curious how you attach the guard (I might steal that process 😜). Another thing you might try, cut that 45 at the tip as the spine instead of the edge and forge your bevels and it will bring it up and it becomes your clip point. It thins your bevels and creates your profile at the same time. Just a suggestion.

[@theriversexperience9383]

You know me, I always do things a little different. I wanted to still be able to show the texture on the spine all the way around like the Karambowie. When I forge the bevels in I typically do that with the tip, but in order to get the transition lines between the bevels and the flats, I needed to do the bevels by stock removal.

[@TyrellKnifeworks]

@@theriversexperience9383 I didn't mean fully forge the bevels, you'd still have plenty to grind off. Just a suggestion, I find it easier because you don't have to screw with tip as much and you get the shape you want naturally. Anyway, looking forward to seeing this one!

[@theriversexperience9383]

@@TyrellKnifeworks hmmm, that is a good point. I didn't think about it that way but I will in the future for sure.

[@Jim-fr3gr]

Looks great.I have used J B weld for epoxy it works good.

[@theriversexperience9383]

I though about JB weld for the guard part.

[@dejairalvespereira2209]

Top

[@mcrich1978]

Work smart, Not hard. 🤘

[@theriversexperience9383]

Yup, that's my moto.

[@timjohle8876]

Oh Lord,,,,I see another awesome knife in the works. Like we say in Texas,,,the bigger the better. Are you done yet ? ;)

[@theriversexperience9383]

I can wait for this one to be done! The down side to Shop Talk Tuesday builds is that it takes longer than normal so that I can break down the parts to more digestible portions for people to comprehend better.

[@timjohle8876]

@@theriversexperience9383 Have you started on your new shop ?

[@miguelpimentel8539]

Any wait till you finish it I think it would really look awesome with deer/elk stag scales/handles with a really nice leather sheath with stag buttons and incorporating some stag for the strap so that the knife doesn’t fall out of the sheath use Chicago screws and of course epxoy for the scales use the black Chicago screws

[@shawnshears4222]

very cool. how thick was the leaf spring and how thick is the forged blade?

[@DBCraftWorld]

I couldn't find time to watch this episode before. Your cheating with cuting part of the bar is understood for everybody who don't have power hammer or forging press. I've tried to forge 10mm thick bar- Impossible. this is 8mm, right? Great job Eric! This blade shape is blast! Love it. And it's actuall very similar to one of my project (forging bushcraft bowie knife).

[@theriversexperience9383]

Yup, it's 8mm thick. It was a beast to forge. It's funny that when I forge 10xx series steel, it moves like butter compared to 5160.

[@DBCraftWorld]

@@theriversexperience9383 Even 6mm sometimes is hard to forge by hand. They don't have slightly different forging temperature? Honnestly I didn't have oportunity to forge 10xx.

[@theriversexperience9383]

@@DBCraftWorld they have similarity forging temps. The 10xx series just has less resistance under the hammer.

[@johncoulter1507]

@@theriversexperience9383 Some steels are what's called "red hard". I tried to forge a broken jaw from a set of bolt cutters. Whatever it was made of was like hitting cold steel even though I had it to normal starting forging temps for 5160. That's when I started researching what the heck was going on and learned the existence of red hard steels.

[@panedrop]

That looks like it's going to be pretty sick. I would love to buy one...

[@theriversexperience9383]

Thank you!

[@redwolfknives3174]

I’ve seen people take brass and wrap the guard under the tang before. They took brass pins to peen it in place

[@krissteel4074]

I haven't seen people do guards that way, however- I had considered doing it myself and reckon its a viable way as any. Though to save yourself some pain, do it all before its hardened! One of the best knife makers when it comes to forging to shape that I've ever seen displayed was from a fella called J Alex Ruiz who's down in San Antonio- I'm not saying that you need classes or anything, but he used to run them and if he still does, it'd be worth looking into if you ever find yourself with time/money to go do it.

[@theriversexperience9383]

I'll have to check him out. I spend a lot of time forging off camera trying to push myself to see what I'm capable of. It's a lot faster when I don't have to worry about camera angles and proper lighting.

[@krissteel4074]

@@theriversexperience9383 For sure, its probably taking you 2-3x as long when you have to factor in the camera set up, getting it rolling along with everything else. Literally whenever I have hot metal in the tongs I'm in some kind of barely controlled panic mode :)

[@kennywoodard7321]

Narrative is great. Definitely make it a better video. Thanks

[@bobbyhempel1513]

Are older leaf springs better than newer leaf springs?.. I have access to some from a 53 Ford truck but they are hard to get to but I can get new ones easy just have to pay for them.

[@theriversexperience9383]

Really you're just looking for leaf springs that you can find out what they are made of. You want to be able to make sure that you can find out how to heat treat the steel.

[@bobbyhempel1513]

@@theriversexperience9383 how do you know what a particular leaf spring is made of ? Google isn't very helpful on that question.

[@theriversexperience9383]

@@bobbyhempel1513 it takes a bit of research but if you ok with digging for a bit, typically you can find it. Just broaden you search question to like "Ford spring" or "53 leaf spring" then just go digging from there.

[@theriversexperience9383]

@@bobbyhempel1513 I have real good luck with Jeep leaf springs.

[@bobbyhempel1513]

@@theriversexperience9383 seems the only information I can get is general information about leaf springs saying that they are a carbon spring steel. I guess I can just cut off a few small pieces and test quench/ temper them all.

[@BenjaminLee-b8y]

TOO MUCH TALKING get to the fucking point!!!!!!....

[@theriversexperience9383]

Sorry about that. I make sure to put "Shop TALK Tuesday" in the title so that it gives people an idea of what to expect. These videos are more educational rather than flashy viral videos. Luckily there are so many other channels on here that make that type of content. With that being said, thanks for watching and commenting! Have a blessed day.