BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT METAL

When forging products, craftsmen have to deal with materials (various grades of steel, non-ferrous metals, alloys) that have a wide variety of physical, mechanical and technological properties.

The most widely used material in forging is steel, an alloy of iron and carbon. Depending on the amount of carbon, steels are divided into low-carbon (up to 0.25% C), medium-carbon (0.25-0.6% C) and high-carbon (0.6-2% C). Increasing the carbon content increases the hardness and hardenability of steel, but reduces thermal conductivity and ductility.

From non-ferrous metals to blacksmithing They mainly use copper and aluminum, as well as their alloys, for example brass (L90, L80, L68, L62, etc.), bronze (BrOTs4-3, etc.).

All metals and alloys have a polycrystalline structure, that is, they consist of individual metal grains firmly fused with each other, between which non-metallic inclusions of oxides, carbides and other compounds are located in the form of thin layers. The grains, in turn, also have a crystalline structure, their sizes are 0.01-0.1 mm.

During forging, deformation occurs mainly due to the sliding of grains relative to each other, since the connection between them is weaker than the strength of the grains themselves.

As a result of forging, the metal grains are stretched in the direction of the metal flow, which leads to the formation of a fine-grained stitch structure (the finer the metal grains, the stronger it is). At the same time, non-metallic inclusions are drawn out, which can be observed even with the naked eye.

The grain sizes, and therefore the strength properties of the metal, are largely determined by the forging temperature regime. Therefore, metal should be forged in a certain temperature range so that the grains crushed during deformation do not then grow again under the influence of a high residual temperature. Every blacksmith, in order to produce a high-quality product from steel and give it the appropriate properties using heat treatment, must understand the iron-carbon state diagram. Let us consider fragments of a diagram on which the temperature of the alloy is plotted along the ordinate axis, and the carbon content in percent is plotted along the abscissa axis (Fig. 1).

Fig.1. Iron-carbon phase diagram

Above the GS line, all steels have the structure of augtenite - a homogeneous solid metal consisting of grains of the same composition and structure.

When carbon steels are heated to a temperature below the critical line PS = 723 degrees C, no structural changes occur in them.

Heating of workpieces. This is an important and responsible operation on which the quality of the product and the durability of the tool depend. Forging, as a rule, is carried out by heating the metal to the so-called forging temperature in order to increase its ductility and reduce its resistance to deformation. The forging temperature range depends on chemical composition and structure of the metal being processed.

It should also be taken into account that when carbon steels are heated, carbon burns out from the surface layer of the product to a depth of 2-4 mm, leading to a decrease in the strength and hardness of the steel and a deterioration in its hardenability.

The workpiece should be forged only when it is evenly heated. Each grade of steel has its own forging temperature range, that is, the temperatures at the beginning of forging Tn and at the end of forging Tk are determined. As a result of heating the metal slightly above the temperature Tn, the metal acquires a coarse-grained structure, and its ductility decreases. Heating the metal to an even higher temperature leads to irreparable defects - burnout, as a result of which the metal is destroyed during forging.

When forging workpieces heated below temperature Tn, cracks may form. Therefore, when forging, you should remember the proverb: “Strike while the iron is hot.” That is, it is necessary to forge metal in the temperature regime Tn-Tk (shaded area on the iron-carbon phase diagram). The temperature of the heated metal can be determined by the colors of heat and tarnish, and the grade of steel - by the spark (Table 1-3).

Fuel. To heat workpieces, blacksmiths use various types of fuel: solid, liquid and gaseous.

Most often, coal is used to heat workpieces in forges. Moreover, it is desirable that the coal be black and shiny, the sizes of its pieces should approximately correspond to the sizes walnut. Blacksmiths call this kind of coal a nut. Coke, which has a high combustion temperature, is also often used. You can also use firewood from deciduous trees (oak, ash, birch, etc.). However, the best fuel is charcoal, which was the main forge fuel until the middle of the 18th century.

Currently, electric furnaces and furnaces operating on liquid or gaseous fuel are widely used in forge shops.

Furnaces and furnaces. The basis of a stationary forge is a table where a fireplace is arranged for heating the workpieces. In a forge, the forge is usually placed in the center of the wall opposite the entrance (the main wall). The height of the forge table is determined by the height of the blacksmith, the convenience of transferring the workpiece from the forge to the anvil and is taken to be 700-800 mm; the usual dimensions of the table surface are 1 × 1.5 or 1.5 × 2 m. If it is intended to make large objects, such as gates, gratings, then the forge is installed at some distance from the wall and the table is made of increased sizes. The surface of the forge table is made of brick, sawn stone, and reinforced concrete. The pedestal is made in the form of a box, the walls of which are made of logs, boards, bricks or stone, and the inside is filled with broken small stones, sand, clay, and burnt earth.

Table 1. Dependence of the heat color of the workpiece on the heating temperature

Table 2. Determination of heating temperature by tarnish colors

Table 3. Determination of steel grades by spark

The central place of the table is occupied by the hearth, or fireplace (sometimes two hearths are provided). A forge intended for artistic forging is usually made with a central location of the hearth. The dimensions of the nest are determined by the purpose of the forge and the size of the heated workpieces. The central nest has a round or square shape in plan, measuring 200×200 or 400×400 mm and a depth of 100-150 mm.

Fig.2. Tuyere structure

Let us consider the design and principle of operation of a conventional bottom blast lance (Fig. 2). Air (from a fan or bellows) is supplied through a pipe into the tuyere body and enters the combustion zone through a cast-iron grate. The amount of supplied air is regulated by a damper. A bottom cover is designed to clean the tuyere body from ash and other combustion waste.

To create a flame various types grates with specific shapes of holes for air passage are used. Thus, evenly spaced round holes contribute to the formation of a cylindrical torch flame, while slotted holes contribute to the formation of a narrow and elongated flame.

An exhaust hood is installed above the stationary furnace to collect and remove smoke and gases from the forge. The dimensions of the lower inlet of the umbrella usually correspond to the dimensions of the forge table. Umbrellas, as a rule, are made of sheet iron with a thickness of 0.5 - 1.5 mm.

Fig.3. Equipment for heating workpieces: stationary metal furnace (left): 1-exhaust pipe; 2-umbrella; 3-tank with water for cooling the instrument; 4-lever for regulating air supply; 5-air duct; 6-flap; 7-taper tip; 8-tuyere; 9-cast table; 10-focus; types of umbrellas (right): a, b-chimney in the wall; c-external side chimney; g-outer central chimney

As a rule, umbrellas are fixed above the forge at a height of 500-600 mm from the table (Fig. 3). However, such a height of the umbrella does not always contribute to maximum removal of exhaust gases. Therefore, to better capture smoke, the height of the umbrella must be determined experimentally, taking into account the characteristics of the forge, for example the force of the blast.

In some cases, umbrellas are equipped with lowering wings. The disadvantage of metal umbrellas is that they burn out quickly.

Fig.4. Stationary forge with brick umbrella (left): 1-water tank; 2-water-cooled lance; mine gas horn (right)

Umbrellas made of refractory bricks are more reliable and durable (Fig. 4). However, such umbrellas are much heavier than metal ones, and their construction requires a metal frame made of corners or channels, and sometimes additional supports in the corners.

Portable furnaces are used to heat small workpieces. A portable forge consists of a metal frame on which a table with a hearth and a fan for air supply is mounted on top. The fan is driven by a foot pedal. You can use a blowtorch to heat the workpieces, which is placed in a small hole, and a stove made of refractory bricks is placed next to it (Fig. 5).

Fig.5. Portable forges with blowtorch

The blanks are placed in the gap between the bricks. Or the bricks are placed on the end, a grate is placed on them, and a stove of four bricks is installed on it, into which coal is poured. A blowtorch with a pipe is placed at the bottom.

Fig.6. Portable forge with vacuum cleaner

The design of a lightweight portable forge with a household vacuum cleaner is shown in Fig. 6. The forge pedestal is welded from corners, and the upper part of the table is lined with refractory bricks. A tuyere with an ash pan is placed on the upper horizontal corners. At a distance of 150 mm from the lance, a pipe with an internal diameter of 30 mm is welded to the ash pan, which is connected to the vacuum cleaner hose. It must be borne in mind that in this case the hose is inserted not into the lower, but into the upper (discharge) socket of the vacuum cleaner. The lower cup of the vacuum cleaner with the filter is removed, and the vacuum cleaner is placed on a stand. In cases where there is no electricity to drive the fan, bellows can be used.

Double-action wedge bellows produce a calm blast, resulting in an even flame and the workpieces are heated evenly (Fig. 7).

Fig.7. Bladed bellows

In modern forges, various electrically driven fans are used for blowing.

BLACKSMITH WORKPLACE, EQUIPMENT, TOOLS AND DEVICES

Blacksmithing requires a wide variety of tools and equipment. The main supporting forging tool is the anvil (Fig. 8).

Rice. 8. Anvils and shperaks: a - hornless, one-horned and two-horned anvils (1 - face; 2 - square hole; 3 - tail; 4 - staples; 5 - chair; 6 - paws; 7 - conical horn; 8 - unhardened platform; 9 - round hole); 6 - shperaks (1 - inserted into the anvil; 2 - driven into the ground; 3 - for small work); c - portable anvil; g - anvil mounted on a chair

Modern anvils are made from 45L steel by casting, weighing from 10 to 270 kg. There are anvils different types: hornless, one-horned, two-horned. The most convenient and versatile to use is the so-called two-horned anvil, shown in Fig. 8, a (right). The upper horizontal ground surface at the anvil is called the face, or platband, and all basic forging work is performed on it. The side edges of the anvil form an angle of 90° with the front surface, the edges of the anvil should be quite sharp, without chips or kinks. Bending and distribution of material, as well as some auxiliary operations, are carried out on the ribs.

The conical horn of the anvil is designed for radius bending of strips and rods, as well as for rolling and welding of ring blanks.

On the opposite side of the horn there is a tail, used for bending and straightening closed rectangular products. In the tail area there is a square hole measuring 35x35 mm, which is used for installing a backing tool - nizhnyakov. Near the horn there is a round hole with a diameter of 15-25 mm for punching holes in the workpieces.

At the bottom of the anvil are the paws necessary for attaching the anvil (using staples) to a wooden chair or metal stand. A massive log or stump (oak, maple, birch) with a diameter of 500-600 mm is usually used as a chair. When it is not possible to select the required block of wood, they take a metal or wooden barrel, fill it with sand, clay, earth, compact it well, put a thick wooden gasket on top, onto which the anvil is attached.

Lightweight portable (travelling) anvils have special legs.

Anvils are sold at hardware stores. If you couldn’t buy an anvil, then for the first time you can replace it with a piece of rails or a massive rectangular metal block.

Great care should be taken to install the chair, which should be upright and not vibrate. To do this, the chair is buried to a depth of at least 0.5 m, and the earth around it is well compacted. The height of the chair depends on the height of the blacksmith and is usually 600-700 mm. The most convenient height for work is when the blacksmith, standing next to the anvil, without bending over, reaches the platband with slightly bent fingers.

A high-quality anvil produces a high, clear sound when struck lightly with a hammer, and the hammer bounces back with a ringing sound.

For small jobs, blacksmiths use small anvils or special anvils - shperaks (Fig. 8, b). Some shperaks are installed with their tetrahedral shanks in
square anvil hole, others having an elongated vertical stand, are driven with the pointed end into a wooden block or into the ground.

Rice. 9. Impact tool: 1-with ball back; 2.4-with wedge-shaped one-sided rear; 3.6 - with double-sided longitudinal tail; 5-with double-sided cross tail

Percussion instruments include hand hammers, war hammers and sledgehammers (Fig. 9). The handbrake is the main tool of a blacksmith, with the help of which he forges small products or controls the forging process with hammers.

Typically, handbrake hammers weigh 0.5-2 kg, but blacksmiths often use heavier hammers weighing up to 4-5 kg. Handbrake handles are made from hardwood (hornbeam, maple, dogwood, birch, rowan, ash). The handles should be smooth, without cracks, fit comfortably in the hand, their length should be 350-600 mm.

War hammers are heavy hammers weighing 10-12 kg, which hammermen use with two hands. War hammer heads come with a one-sided wedge-shaped back, as well as with a double-sided back (longitudinal or transverse). The lower working surface of the head (break) is intended for the main forging, and the upper wedge-shaped tail is for accelerating the metal along or across the axis of the workpiece. The hammer handle is made from the same tree species as the handbrake; The length of the handle is selected depending on the weight of the hammer head, the height of the hammer and reaches 70-95 cm.

Sledgehammer - a heavy (up to 16 kg) hammer with flat strikers is used for heavy forging work, where a large impact force is required.

All percussion instruments must be as reliable as possible, while Special attention is given to attaching the handle with the head. The shape of the hole in the hammer head - the insertion into which the handle is inserted - is made elliptical and has a two-sided slope of 1:10 from the middle to the side edges. This makes it easier to insert the handle into the hammer head and ensures that it is securely fastened after driving the wedge. Practice has established that the most reliable are metal wedges, which enter to a depth equal to 2/3 of the width of the hammer head and are driven at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the sledgehammer (hammer).

When working with war hammers, three types of blows are used: light (elbow), medium, or shoulder (shoulder blow), strong (hinged), when the hammer describes a full circle in the air. Hammers use mounted blows when forging large workpieces and during forge welding of massive parts (Fig. 10).

To improve the quality of manufactured products and increase productivity, blacksmiths often use various backing tools installed under the hammer or on the anvil. To work under the hammer, simple and shaped forging chisels, punches, smoothers and rollers are used (Fig. 11). Undercuts, conical mandrels, bending forks, nails, various staples and devices for special types of forging are installed on the anvil.

Rice. 11. Backing tool: a-chisels (1-for transverse cutting of cold metal; 2-for transverse cutting of hot metal; 3-for longitudinal cutting; 4-for cutting along a radius; 5-for shaped cutting); b-punch (made with round, square and other sections of the beard); v-stitches (1-conical; 2-cylindrical); g-smoothers; d-rolling

Paired backing tools are also used, which include crimpers, hammers, nailers with flat hammers, and special dies for figured products.

The handles of the backing tool are made of wood, thick wire or elastic cable. Handle length 500-600 mm. Wooden handles drive the heads into place without wedging. This is done so that vibration and shock are not transmitted through the handle. The wire handle is twisted around the head while hot, and the cable handle is wedged and sealed in the seat.

Let's look at some features of the backing tool...

Let's start with a backing tool for the hammer. Blacksmith chisels are divided into chisels for cutting heated and cold workpieces. Chisels for cold cutting are made more massive, with a knife sharpening angle of 60°, while the knives of chisels for hot cutting are made thinner, with a sharpening angle of 30° (Fig. 11, a).

The shape of the knife in chisels for artistic forging is made either straight or with curvature in one plane (or even in two planes).

Chisels with a straight knife are made for both transverse and longitudinal cutting, with one-sided or double-sided sharpening. The knife of the chisel for transverse cutting is located parallel to the axis of the handle, and the knife of the chisel for longitudinal cutting is perpendicular to the handle. Single-sided sharpening of the chisel is used when it is necessary to obtain a cut with a perpendicular end, and if the product has an inclined end or a chamfer is required, then chisels with double-sided sharpening are required. Chisels with a dull knife are used to apply various ornaments to products.

Chisels with a knife curvature in a horizontal plane are used for cutting out various curved elements, such as flowers and acanthus leaves, from sheet material.

Shaped chisels with double curvature of the knife are used for cutting out any elements from voluminous workpieces.

When working with a chisel, blacksmiths must keep the following in mind: to prevent the knife from becoming dull, it is necessary to place a spacer (iron or copper sheet) under the workpiece. By the way, the gasket will protect the anvil face from damage.

When cutting off a part from a workpiece, certain rules must be followed. Thus, the initial and final blows to the chisel must be applied very carefully: at first, so that the chisel cuts correctly into the workpiece, and at the end, so that the cut off part does not fly away and injure someone. The place where the cutting is done must be fenced with a net.

Punchers are designed for punching holes, various recesses in relatively thin workpieces and for decorating products. Depending on the shape of the holes being punched, the cross-section of the bit (the working part of the punch) can be round, oval, square, rectangular or shaped (Fig. 11, 6).

To punch holes in thick workpieces, piercings and special punches are used, which differ from punches in that they do not have handles and are held by pliers (Fig. 11, c).

It is known from blacksmith practice that to facilitate the removal of the piercing from the hole being punched, a little fine coal is poured into the pre-marked recess (during the piercing process, the gases generated from the coal help push the tool out).

Smoothers are used to smooth out irregularities on the surface of a forging after it has been processed with a hammer. Planers come with flat and cylindrical working surfaces of various sizes and shapes. To level large surfaces, trowels with a working surface measuring 100×100 mm are usually used; for leveling small surfaces, trowels measuring 50×50 mm are used. Flats with a cylindrical surface are necessary for leveling fillets and radius surfaces (Fig. 11, d).

Rolling machines are intended to accelerate the distribution (elongation) of metal along and across the axis of the workpieces, as well as to knock out cylindrical grooves on the workpieces and for decorating products (Fig. 11, e).

Let's get acquainted with the backing tool installed on the anvil. Such a tool is equipped with a square shank, which is inserted into the corresponding socket in the anvil (Fig. 12).

Rice. 12. Backing tool installed on the anvil: 1-notches; 2-cone mandrels; 3-fork; 4-6-mandrels

Undercuts are used for cutting workpieces using a handbrake. The workpiece is placed on the cutting blade and, hitting it with a handbrake, the required part is cut off. The sharpening angle of the cutting blade is 60°. It should be remembered that chopping the workpiece cannot be completed to the end, so as not to damage the cutting blade. First, a deep hem of the workpiece is carried out, and the final separation of part of the workpiece is carried out at the edge of the anvil with a light blow of the handbrake.

Tapered mandrels are used to widen holes in forgings, distribute rings and perform bending operations.

Forks are used for bending and curling workpieces. In addition, shim tools include various mandrels for bevel forging, bending and forge welding of chain links.

Rice. 13. Paired backing tool: a-crimp (1-3) and tamper (4); b-devices for landing nails, bolts, rivets

The paired backing tool includes a lower tool (lower), which is inserted into the anvil hole with a square shank, and an upper tool (upper), which has a handle for holding (Fig. 13, a).

This group includes swaging (for giving a pre-forged workpiece the correct cylindrical, rectangular or polyhedral shape) and tamping (for longitudinal or transverse distribution of metal). For special artistic works, special stamps with reliefs such as leaves, peaks, rosettes, etc. are used.

A backing tool can also include a nail plate with special through holes of different sizes for planting nail heads, bolts and fasteners (Fig. 13, b).

To give the head of a nail, bolt or rivet the required shape (sphere, prism, square, hexagon), special flat hammers are used.

Great help with forging artistic products A massive steel plate will also be provided - a shape with a plan size of approximately 300×400 mm and a thickness of 150-200 mm, on the four side faces of which there are recesses of various configurations and sizes: semicircular, triangular, rectangular, etc. The plate is necessary when forging various shaped elements and is used instead of backing dies. On the end surfaces of the mold there are through round, square, triangular and shaped holes for punching holes using special punches or punches (Fig. 14).

For the manufacture of large artistic products such as fences, balcony grilles, canopies, entrances, you will need a large and thick slab on which the products are assembled and straightened. The plate is provided with through holes for installing pins, bolts, thrust squares and various devices for shaped bending of profiles, assembly of structures and other technological operations.

It is convenient to assemble artistic products of complex shape (with a convex surface) on slabs with the appropriate surface shape. For welding large products it is necessary to have special racks.

To work with hot metal, of course, you need pliers. According to the shape of the sponges, pliers are divided into longitudinal, transverse, longitudinal-transverse and special. Forging tongs should be light, with springy handles; to securely hold the forgings during operation, the handles of the tongs can be tightened with a special ring - a spandrel (Fig. 15, a).

Rice. 15. Blacksmith pliers (a) and chair vice (b): 1-handle; 2-clamp ring; 3-rivets; 4-sponges; 5-blank; 6-loop

If the pliers do not tightly grip the workpiece, then the jaws of the pliers are heated in a forge and, having grabbed the workpiece with them, they are pressed with a handbrake.

A chair vice (Fig. 15b) and various clamps are used to clamp hot workpieces. Such a vice is fastened with powerful screws, bolts or rivets on the main support of the bench or on
a separate chair - a massive log, well fixed in the floor of the forge. The upper level of the jaws is usually located at a height of 900 - 1000 mm from the floor level.

To measure workpieces and products in a forge, steel rulers with a length of 250, 500 and 1000 mm, metal meters, calipers, squares, etc. are used. In addition, blacksmiths-artists, when making mass production, widely use various templates and gauges made from wire and sheet materials (Fig. 16).

Rice. 16. Control and measuring instrument: a-caliper; b-calipers; v-bore gauges; g-combination measuring tool

To care for the forge, you will need a coal shovel, a poker, a pick or crowbar for breaking through sintered coal, a broom for cleaning the hearth from fine coal and slag dust, a sprinkler for wetting the coal when sintering the dome (cap) above the hearth, coal tongs..

It should be noted that all the tools necessary for forging should be located on a special table in close proximity to the blacksmith’s workplace. Table height 600-800 mm.

In addition to the main and auxiliary tools, the forge always contains a box for dry sand, a rack for storing tools, water containers, a box for coal, racks for storing tools and metal, a workbench for metalworking products, etc.

It’s good when the blacksmith-artist’s workshop is spacious, bright, and includes several rooms for individual species works: sketching and graphic, metalworking and assembly and forging and welding. In addition, it is desirable to have a room for storing material, various semi-finished products, etc.

For sketching and graphic work, you will need large tables, since some elements have to be drawn in full size, a drawing board for drawing individual components and parts, as well as various stands for tablets, cabinets for storing sketches and drawings.

The room for metalwork and assembly work is equipped with a workbench with a vice, a drilling machine, a sharpener and other equipment necessary for assembling and finishing forged products.

Maintaining your privacy is important to us. For this reason, we have developed a Privacy Policy that describes how we use and store your information. Please review our privacy practices and let us know if you have any questions.

Collection and use of personal information

Personal information refers to data that can be used to identify or contact a specific person.

You may be asked to provide your personal information at any time when you contact us.

Below are some examples of the types of personal information we may collect and how we may use such information.

What personal information do we collect:

• When you submit an application on the site, we may collect various information, including your name, telephone number, address Email etc.

How we use your personal information:

• Collected by us personal information allows us to contact you and inform you about unique offers, promotions and other events and upcoming events.
• From time to time, we may use your personal information to send important notices and communications.
• We may also use personal information for internal purposes, such as conducting audits, data analysis and various research in order to improve the services we provide and provide you with recommendations regarding our services.
• If you participate in a prize draw, contest or similar promotion, we may use the information you provide to administer such programs.

Disclosure of information to third parties

We do not disclose the information received from you to third parties.

Exceptions:

• If necessary, in accordance with the law, judicial procedure, in legal proceedings, and/or based on public inquiries or requests from government agencies on the territory of the Russian Federation - disclose your personal information. We may also disclose information about you if we determine that such disclosure is necessary or appropriate for security, law enforcement, or other public importance purposes.
• In the event of a reorganization, merger, or sale, we may transfer the personal information we collect to the applicable successor third party.

Protection of personal information

We take precautions - including administrative, technical and physical - to protect your personal information from loss, theft, and misuse, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction.

Respecting your privacy at the company level

To ensure that your personal information is secure, we communicate privacy and security standards to our employees and strictly enforce privacy practices.

Magazine Reconomica brings to your attention a rare but an interesting profession blacksmith-gunsmith. Knife maker Andrey will talk about his work. Blacksmithing is not yet his main job, but he started from scratch, turned his hobby into a source of profit and quickly reached good income. You will learn how to turn your blacksmithing hobby into small business how to sell finished goods and how much you can earn from it, while combining a hobby with your main job. According to the author, this is a very good extra income, especially if you live in a region with a low average salary.

The economic situation in the country is such that almost all people are forced to look for opportunities additional income. Pensioners work to help their children and grandchildren, car enthusiasts drive taxis or deliver pizza, students hand out leaflets or post advertisements. It is unlikely that all these activities bring positive emotions to people. As well as our main job, which most of us can hardly call our favorite. And how can you call a favorite process in which you are just a small cog, and if necessary, you can be replaced by another cog like yourself.

It's just a matter of hobby. This is something that everyone treats with trepidation and does with pleasure. Doing what you love and making a profit from it is the dream of millions of people, but only a few are able to achieve it. This happened to me too, although a couple of years ago I had no idea what I was doing now.

How I mastered blacksmithing, or where it all began

It all started with an ordinary conversation in a spiritual gathering with my brother, who is obsessed with all sorts of knives, brass knuckles and pistols. He started telling me about videos he had seen on the Internet about making beautiful designer knives with his own hands from scrap materials.

Imbued with his enthusiastic exclamations, I also decided to see what kind of masters there were. It turned out that it’s true that making a cool designer knife with a minimal set of tools is not so difficult, so I decided to try it. I was also lucky in that I work as a thermal operator in a machine-building industry, so I have a good understanding of steel grades, and there were no problems with materials for the knife - I have a professional thermals Having it at hand is a huge plus in this case.

How to make a knife with your own hands at home

I watched a bunch of videos on the Internet on this topic, I liked one of them, which I took as a guide. I used what was on hand to make my first blade. You could say he worked at home using improvised means.

The material for my first knife was an ordinary old Soviet file. The steel for a knife is not the most suitable, but it is affordable and easy to process.

I set up my workshop in the garage. My tools for the job were a file, sandpaper and a clamp. To make the descents, I made a special device out of plywood and got to work. Grinding off a large layer of metal by hand turned out to be very difficult. My hands were constantly tired, I sharpened them for a minute and then rested for five. But, oddly enough, I had no desire to quit the whole business.

Having completed the work with a file, I began to grind the workpiece sandpaper . A few hours of work - and now my blade is almost ready! All that remains is to take it to work and harden it.

Here I must say that due to inexperience I made a big mistake with the dimensions, the blade turned out to be very thick and massive, but I still decided to complete the work to the end, because my main task It was not about making a good knife, but about understanding the principle and subtleties of the process.

Next, I needed to make a handle for my “monster”. I went to the birch grove to collect dry branches and birch bark. Back in the garage I started making the handle. Working with wood is much easier and more pleasant than working with metal, so there were no problems here. The handle turned out to be comfortable and beautiful. And I decided not to stop there.

How to learn to make really good knives

I took the next knife more seriously. I selected a workpiece from a more suitable steel and correctly calculated all the dimensions. The second knife came out much more attractive than the first. My brother, seeing the result of my work, praised me and asked me to give this knife to him. I fulfilled the request without hesitation, because it was at his suggestion that I started doing this.

My handmade knife

Then things got more fun. Having mastered some of the subtleties of the process, I improved with each new knife, and some acquaintances, having seen the results of my work, were already ready to pay money for me to make a knife to order. But my activities have not yet gone beyond the scope of a hobby. After all, even despite the fact that I almost everything free time spent in the garage, productivity was extremely low - only 1-2 knives per month. You won't make money from this. And then I decided to take a serious step, since the manufacturing process itself gave me pleasure.

Automation of blade production

To take my small production to a serious level, I needed to purchase a belt sanding machine. The difficulty was that the most unpretentious grindercosts about 15-20 thousand rubles. I had money, so I, enlisting the help of virtual colleagues in the workshop, the same handicraftsmen as me, began to choose a machine for myself, which cost me 17 thousand rubles including delivery.

After I installed grinder in my garage, I realized that making knives by hand and on a machine is like heaven and earth.If earlier it was necessary to make one blade using a file and sandpaper it took me several days, but now in one day of work I could easily fix 5-10 blades, saving a lot of effort.

In addition, blades made on a machine turned out to be much more accurate and of high quality. And there were no problems with the handles, because on grinder Wood can also be sanded.

This is what my workshop looks like today

In a word, the matter became a mess. In the first month of working with grinder I made 6 full-fledged knives. Having presented them to my friends, I instantly received several orders from them ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 thousand rubles. The next month I earned 10 thousand rubles this way. I decided with the help grinding machine the question of metalworking, but then I was faced with another problem. I had to carry all the workpieces to work for heat treatment or some kind of forging operations. To solve this problem, I decided to make a forge.

How to make a forge with your own hands

Even a schoolchild can make the simplest blacksmith's forge. I didn’t complicate my life and went exactly this way. After collecting clay, I made a small gutter right next to the garage. The basis of any forge is blowing . I decided to use an old vacuum cleaner with a reverse function for this. I ran a metal tube with holes along the bottom of the clay trench, connected a vacuum cleaner hose to it, and that’s it - the forge is ready. Add coals and light it. And although I still took blades to work to heat, because the quality of the blade directly depends on the quality of hardening and tempering, simpler operations, in particular forging and annealing. I made it right in the garage.

Where does a blacksmith get orders?

After I fulfilled all the wishes of my friends, a problem arose with new orders. They came to my aid here social media. I created a group where I posted photographs of my work, as well as some tips on production, and quickly gained a small audience, since such things attract the attention of the stronger sex very well.

Examples of my work

Now under each photograph of my work there are several requests for sale at once. I do not inflate the prices of my knives, knowing full well that I am far from the most skilled craftsman in their manufacture. The average price of one knife is 2 thousand rubles; usually about ten pieces can be produced and sold per month. I have already perfected the process of their production to the point of automation, only now I put my own author’s mark on each knife.

Payback of a knife manufacturing business

The profitability turned out to be good. Thus, your costs for grinder and I collected the materials in two months of work. Moreover, now I can afford not to wander around the workshop looking for normal steel, but to order it from suppliers. Just like others necessary materials: leather for the sheath, special oil for impregnating the handles, tapes for grinder and much more. And the most important thing is that the process of making knives itself brings me pleasure and no matter how much I earn from it.

Although during vacation, when there is a lot of free time, my monthly income exceeds my basic salary and is approximately 30-35 thousand rubles, but when I have to combine my hobby with work, my income is approximately half that.

Youtube is the best source of client flow for a private master

Now my plans are to create a channel on youtube , where I want to post videos about making knives and share my experience with novice craftsmen. In order for the videos to be of high quality, you need to purchase good camera and a tripod. All this pleasure is not cheap, but it is worth it. After all, the channel is on youtube - This a large number of potential customers plus another opportunity to earn extra money through the affiliate program.

How to turn your hobby into a profitable business

I talked about my experience of how you can convert your own hobby into real serious income. After all, things handmade to order have always had a special value. As an example, we can take consumer goods produced by prisoners in places not so remote. Zonovsky backgammon, rosaries, cards, pens and much more are very expensive, not only because it is all incredibly beautiful, but also because it is exclusive handmade.The master puts his soul into it, so such things are highly valued.

Product worth 2000 rubles

My experience with knives in no way encourages you to grab a file and run to the garage. This is just an example of the fact that with the right approach and perseverance, you can easily make your hobby bring not only positive emotions, but also income. And you can do anything.

For those who love working with wood good option there will be the making of chess and backgammon, but suitable for girls various options handicrafts: embroidery, knitting, beading . For each. There is a demand for a seemingly useless but beautiful trinket, you just need to be able to present it correctly. And if you really like what you do, then nothing and no one can stop you from repeating my experience.