Forging A Thin Knife Edge. How Thin ?

[@scottperry4092]

All I do is forge thin. I find it very challenging. Forge thin and grind less. I use a power hammer with a hammer top die. I feel like it’s in the vein of efficiency, less waste of material, less waste of abrasive, arguably faster, just not great for all blades. Love your vids man. Cheers.

[@GreenBeetle]

Thanks!

[@ilmbutton]

I really liked how you filmed the forging, it was really neat to see the steel moving. Very interesting! Another great video

[@GreenBeetle]

Ty for the kind words

[@MCsCreations]

Very interesting results, Steve! Thanks for testing it! 😊 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@christianlishen1280]

I remember when I was a teen learning to forge in FL (2008-2010) all the old guys made fun of the “forge thick, grind thin” thought process saying it was “cheating” Now I live in a town with houses really close on every side so forging isn’t really an option so I make knives via stock removal, I guess I’m a “super cheater” haha

[@danwerkman]

Nice filming .. one of the few creaters that i can see the movement in the forging process. Does not feel like its just random hitting . Not easy to film or edit. Noce work

[@GreenBeetle]

Ty

[@MrActiveDown]

You got your press working again! I'm at the start of the video making this comment and i really hope there's a classic GB skit at the end about the press working again. Maybe sacrificing something silly to the press.

[@GreenBeetle]

Oooh good idea

[@redneksoldier2004]

I have a stick of 8670 that I haven't tried yet. They say it's pretty forgiving on the heat treat, like a simple carbon, and easy to forge. Honestly, I forgot that I had it. Might have to try it now.

[@GranTorino49]

I really liked how you filmed the forging, it was really neat to see the steel moving.

[@offcenterforge1098]

Tim Foster cold forges to sharp. You did a fine job. I wish I was better at forging to shape. Thanks for the video. I only mention Tim in case you haven't seen him do that.

[@GreenBeetle]

Thanks! I haven't seen him but I'll check it out.

[@krissteel4074]

Oh hey Mr Press is back in action! I tend to stick to around that 1/16th or bit under 2mm just to save myself the huge pain its going to be later with heat treatments, just for the decarb. Temperature is pretty important though, so for those under 1% carbon, low alloy steels you probably don't want to go much over 950C (1750F) or they just burn up too quick and the +1% carbon, higher alloy I've found under 1100C (2000F) will be ok and not damage steel. To be honest, I'm perfectly happy on a grinder and its sort of where you can really dial in a thin geometry anyway with the right mix of belts and speeds, so if I can at least get a profile in the blade that I like on the anvil then the rest will probably come together alright later on. Love the work though, great filming 👍

[@GreenBeetle]

Thanks! I agree, I think that’s the magic number for thin.

[@ryanblystone5153]

Thank you

[@b2bogster]

I've wondered how thin I can forged a knife too. Thank you.

[@michaelrobertson8795]

The only thing I'm lacking I think is like a press to save me from blowing out my elbows, it's about a couple years to make the 23 ribbon jet burner Forge

[@bentoombs]

Same here. We need to press on...🤟

[@cae2487]

You could use a lighter hammer and lighter hitting strokes too. Technique will do a lot for a person. I use to get pain in my arms from forging and then I started watching videos of old guys in their 60s forge and took some notes to try and copy what it looked like they were doing and it made a world of difference. A 1.5 to 2lbs hammer can accomplish quite a bit.

[@GreenBeetle]

😂

[@jmbstudio6873]

Uri Hofi.

[@bentoombs]

@jmbstudio6873 The Hofi swing. The best

[@Hopeknives13]

I like how someone else tried this. I used a endmill made a grove on both sides for food relief. Then forged into the .015 -.02 range. My thought was from grove down forge it thin to win with a nice taper to grove. What I won was the edge making a bunch of zig zags 😆 after the quench. And a lot of grinding afterwards to fix it. Only one way to know if things will work so got to try things. Thanks for the video.

[@mulepowerforge]

I think the thinnest I've forged an edge was about a 1/16". I ground it smooth lengthways and just sharpened it as it was with a slight convex.Tested it with a hundred chops on hardwood and it still shaved hair and paper. It was 80CrV2 steel.

[@jackshields606]

Should have called it the Ozempic blade. Don't have the courage to try a kitchen knife myself: pretty much everything I do is the sharpened prybar.

[@GreenBeetle]

😂

[@wildsnook]

I typically forge to about 1/16 and file in the edge geometry.

[@GreenBeetle]

Hot file?

[@paranoiia8]

I wonder if AEB-L steel would be good for super thin forging, I still have two small cutouts of it that I would need to flatten super thin to make even 4-5 inch blade

[@TalRohan]

interestinng to see the deformation happening with each hammer blow, normally it kind of appears as you get to where you need to reheat , then you notice the deformation but the steel youre using or maybe its the third person view I can actually watch it happening I am just finding out that I know more about forging than I do about stock removal I am making a 1095 cleaver style kitchen knife and the middle of the thing is warping and twisting as it heats up with the sanding discs its also twisting with annealing , I made it thinner than I like because I was trying to deal with some deep scratches and to be honest I think Ive blown it. I don't see it coming out of heat treat in a usable condition...a lot of work when I could have forged it a lot faster and cleaner then ground it down after hardening. I am definitely for forging it to a reasonable thickness depending on the size of the blade then grinding in the bevel and edge after heat treat.. thanks for sharing your exploits

[@simonhopkins3867]

I don't have anything to add regarding thickness but I do like the shape of the blade.

[@adamkilroe9840]

I've acquired quite a nice bit of 8670m steel (which is like hen's teeth to get hold of in the UK), I've worked with 5160, which I like but have run out of. Any suggestions? Loving your videos, thank you, they've been very informative.

[@GreenBeetle]

8670 should be a good sub for 5160. I like w2.

[@olivekosheluk8261]

Shosui Takeda is famous for this

[@richardbryant7972]

I prefer forge thick and grind thin all though I have done some thin ones but ran into same problems you did

[@jmbstudio6873]

.030 for me. Kamimura is the best resource for this imo.

[@TWKKNIVES]

I always leave myself enough meat to be able to get through the decarb about the thickness of a dime. Otherwise I'll bacon my edge during heat treat ment or get twists which are so much worse than warps. Tearing off ten or twenty thou after heat treating with a new 60 grit Norton Blaze belt for final grinding for me makes so much more sense than dealing with ALL the issues if forging any thinner.... Great video !

[@dwayneburbridge3283]

Exactly…a good belt will save time and give you a better edge in the long run. I tried a similar experiment several years ago….created a lovely bacon-edge!

[@jmbstudio6873]

@@dwayneburbridge3283 that is because of your forging technique, not because you forged thin. Keep practicing. Forge On!!!

[@bjf10]

Eyyy, congrats on fixing your press?

[@GreenBeetle]

Ya she’s back!

[@Coal.Thompson]

Hey, nice square heel on that guy :)

[@GreenBeetle]

😎👍

[@ryanwalker1825]

It is a good idea to forge thin, you get more out of the steel... I do be paranoid. I'm gonna run out of knife steel😂

[@adamkilroe9840]

Dave Baker likes this steel, but says it's prone to warping and decarb.

[@mikekooz475]

When I hear, thin knife. I think of a fillet knife. A fillet knife is not something we often see a smith make. My Cutco fillet knife would be hard to beat.

[@Labrador_Forge]

Eh, cutco uses 440a, which isn't really regarded as even a good stainless it's just... Meh

[@stevealford230]

@@Labrador_Forge good geometry can make a great blade out of meh steel.

[@Labrador_Forge]

@@stevealford230 it can't make great edge retention out of meh steel. Cutco blades are great making people believe they're great blades and that's about the only thing I can think of that they actually do great...

[@stevealford230]

@@Labrador_Forge Well, it all depends on the cutting medium... if you're just cutting meat and never hit a bone, you can be fooled into thinking it has lifelong edge retention. If the blade sees more than modest use in moderate media, then obviously you're right... but I suspect that most people don't put an edge to the test throughout years of use... and a minority of us puts them way past the test, lol.

[@michaelrobertson8795]

I like forging thin ish and sneak up on it

[@Pablo668]

I'd keep doing what you were doing before this experiment. Stick with what works. You could do it this way, but there seems a few too many pitfall and faff arounds near as I can tell.

[@stevealford230]

STEVE!

[@GreenBeetle]

STEVE?!

[@stevealford230]

@@GreenBeetle STEVE.

[@Mark-ij5mp]

First!