Niels Provos

Here are some pictures of my recent forge rebuild. When I originally started to look into refractory concrete as an option, I noticed that there were not a lot of articles on the web describing the process of casting a forge shell from refractory concrete. While many of the steps are pretty straightforward and do not significantly differ from using regular concrete, some people might still find my experience with using Kast-O-Lite 30 LI useful. My need for a new forge arose after some extended forge welding and bloom consolidation caused the roof of my previous forge to cave in. After thinking of different ways to construct a new forge, I decided to go with refractory concrete as it can take more abuse than the kaowool based solution I had employed previously. Kast-O-Lite 30 LI seemed like it fit the bill with a maximum use temperature of 3000F which is not something I am likely to reach unless I am over boiling iron. For general forging, Kast-O-Lite 26 would have been better suited as it provides better heat insulation but I had the 30 LI concrete available. Here is an outline of the process:

The construction used five pieces of concrete: Two sides, one roof, and two pegs. Where the pieces met, I had to split the angle, so used 22.5 degrees on each side of the different pieces. The end result was going to be a shell that would support itself. The first step was creating the forms from 2x4 and some wooden boards. The forge itself is about 13in long, and about 9in high. To get the angles, I used a bandsaw with a swiveling table that I could dial to 22.5 degrees. The measurements that determines the spacing of the pieces were all done on the outside and piece of 2x4 was attached to the board with wood screws. Here is how they looked like.

In my quest to forge another double-edged viking-age sword, I have been experimenting with a serpent pattern. As part of my experimentation, I forged the the seax shown in the picture. It's over all length is 21.5 in, with a 16.5 in long blade and 5in long handle. It's a 7 bar construction. The cutting edge and back are W1. The two twisted bars are 11-layers of 15n20 and 1095. The serpent itself is an 11-layer straight laminate of 15n20 and 1095 backed by two bars of mild steel. As the picture shows the pattern came out quite nicely and the overall shape of the blade is quite pleasing. The next project is going to take the serpent pattern to a double-edged sword. We will see how that goes.

The video shows forging a pattern-welded Viking-age sword consisting of a 5-bar construction based on dimensions from a find in Norway. The video shows squaring up the rods and how I bundle the five bars (3 twisted core and 2 edge) into a sword-like object and then forge weld it. Instead of employing a wrap around edge, I am cutting a V into the tip that is forge-welded back together.

This knife is a multi-bar construction with W1 for the cutting edge and 1095 and 15n20 for the twisted rods. It is inspired by early Viking-age finds from Norway. The guard and pommel are made from brass and embossed with a triangle design. The handle is made from bok oak used in the defensive ring wall of the Viking-age Haithabu settlement in Northern Germany.

The knife was created as the result of an accident. While working on the rods for a Langsax, I twisted too hard and a piece of the rod sheared off. Fortunately, that piece was long enough to suffice for a Kurzsax. The blade is about 7.5in long and then handle measures 5.5in for a total of 13in. The knife features a scandi grind and is very sharp. There is no secondary bevel on the edge.

When examining a traditionally forged Japanese sword, the steel structure (hada) often looks like wood grain. This structure is a result of folding and forge welding tamahagane. To simulate such hada without using expensive tamahagane, I took 24in of 1in diameter steel cable and forge welded it into a single piece of steel. That steel was then folded 7 times with some surface manipulation and then forged into a small wakizashi. The picture shows the tang after the scale was removed, polished and then lightly etched to show the grain. The steel structure seems similar to mokume hada. Now, I just need to find the time to shape, heat treat, polish and mount the sword. Expect progress pictures as work permits - probably in a few months.

Although, I have made various attempts at forging knives, this tanto is the first knife I have completed. It's a shinogi-zukuri tanto with choji hamon. The steel was made from forge-welded high carbon cable. Originally, this was supposed to become a wakizashi, but due to a bad hammer blow when forging the sunobe, I had to fold it over and no longer had enough steel for a longer blade. As a result, the blade is only about 9in long. The habaki was made from brazed copper and the shira-saya was carved from a popular blank.

The picture to the left shows two more cable tantos in various stages of progress. The top one had some rough grinding done to it whereas the bottom one is straight from the forge. Only about 10% of the time is actually spent forging the blades. The rest of time is spent grinding, polishing and working on the habaki as well as on the saya and everything else.

I just finished taking the 5-day basic forging class taught by Michael Bell at Dragonfly Forge. The wakizashi in the picture is the result of it. The blade is about 18in long and was forged from forge-welded cable. The forge welding of the cable conducted by Michael and his son Gabriel took the better half of the first day. Afterward, the steel was forged into a sunobe which has the basic taper for the tang and point of the sword. We then forged in the ji and the shinogi ji. The remainder of the time was spent grinding in preparation for heat treatment. Before the clay was applied, we draw filed the blade so that all file marks were parallel with the edge rather than the perpendicular marks left by the belt grinder. Applying the clay was a three step process; a light coating of the whole blade, applying the ashi lines, and then coating everything that should remain soft. You can see the ashi and where the clay was applied on the middle picture. After heat treating, the blade took on a nice curve and it was back to the grinder. During the last day there was a little bit of time to polish on stones which showed hints of some very wild hamon as well as some mune yaki. The whole class was a great experience.

I had time to forge down the 2in pipe for the nozzle today which completed everything needed for the burner. Here is a video of the first test run. Propane and air can be mixed separately via the gate valves which should allow precise control over the atmosphere in the forge.

To get better control over the atmosphere in the forge, I have decided to build a blown gas forge based on a design by Tim Zowada. The basic structure is provided by a 10 gallon compressed air tank I picked up from Lowes. Using Tim's forced-air manifold, the forge should easily get up to welding temperature (2300F).

Jon who runs the TemperChi Glass Art Studio is helping with building this thing and already has some cerawool for lining the inside. The Cerawool is going to get covered with a 1/4in layer of Satanite and then with an ITC-100 coating. The forge floor will be made from Bubble Alumina refractory which has a heat rating of up 3300F and is supposed to be very resistant to flux. The inside diameter of the forge will be 8 inches and the length about 12 inches.

If you are interested in making glass beads, you can learn that at the shop, too, as well as welding

I just finished a three day bladesmithing class with Grant Marcoux in Alameda. He taught me how to make a Nessmuk knife out of O1 tool steel. The blade is hand forged. It has been normalized, oil hardened and tempered. The edge is so strong and sharp that it can cut even steel. The handle is made out of Padauk with a brass guard. Grant taught me how to make the knife step-by-step starting with the O1 round and forging it into rough shape. The class was fun and I have learned to really appreciate how much work goes into making a good knife. Now, I just need to convince my wife that it is okay to set up a forge at home.