Making a Forged Machete // Blacksmithing | I Like To Make Stuff
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- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2024
- In my very first forging project, I made a forged machete! It's rough and rugged but it's a machete, that's the point. It was a great exercise in putting my academic knowledge into practice and I can't wait to do more!
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When it comes to blacksmithing, I am by no means and expert or someone to follow step-by-step. I have been inspired by people like Alec Steele, Jimmy Diresta, and Laura Zerra. Blacksmithing is something that I've always been interested in, but haven't actually taken the leap into a project yet. I decided that the farm is the perfect place to start hitting hot metal. Using the DIY Forge that I made, I tried heating a piece of high-carbon steel to the appropriate temperature for forging. I found that my forge couldn't get hot enough, so I purchased a Devil-Forge, an entry-level forge that works really well!
I heated the piece of steel up to a bright yellow and used a 3lb hammer and an anvil to beat the metal into my machete shape. It took about 45 minutes to achieve my simple rounded shape and I was pretty happy with the hammer marks left in the metal.
Now that I have a rough machete shape from the forging process, I need to refine the shape using grinders and belt sanders. At this point, the metal has been normalized, meaning it has been heated and cooled in several cycles to align the steel structure to a very rigid structure. It hasn't been quenched or tempered, that'll come later. Now is the time to hone the shape and add some bevels to the blade before it gets hardened. I really enjoyed this process because I was able to add shape and detail using the sanding tools. The machete started to really take shape and the small details made it look really cool. Before I start the hardening process, I drilled in some holes for the handle pins.
Now that the machete was normalized, shaped, and the bevels were ground in, I could harden the blade by quenching it in oil. I made an oil tank out of PVC pipe and placed the hot blade directly into the oil, hardening the blade. I then used the sanders to clean up the scale and started the tempering process. To temper the blade, I used my powder coating oven to raise the blade up to a certain temperature using a temperature chart to determine that setting and the duration. Once tempered, I gave the machete one final sanding to flatten the sides and to crisp up the cutting edge. The blade is now ready for some handle scales.
The machete is totally usable as it is right now. Unfortunately, it would be super uncomfortable to use, so we need to make some wooden handle sides, or scales. To do this, I found a scrap piece of teak and traced the handle onto it. Making sure to match up the wood to the handle, I transferred the hole location and drilled through scales. After some epoxy and pinning, the bulky wooden scales were fixed to the machete permanently. To match the contour of my hand, I used the belt sander to round over the wooden scales and even out the surfaces. After a coat of finish, the machete was all done!
The forged machete was a success. I know it may be a little rough and unrefined, but that's the point of a machete. I chose this project for my first attempt because it is really forgiving. I knew that I would be learning a lot from this initial project, and I absolutely did. I didn't walk away from this project with all of the correct answers, but I did discover the right questions that I needed to ask. If you've followed me for a while, you know that I'm constantly learning and discovering new skills. I don't claim to be an expert, and this machete is no different. I am so excited to dive deeper into forging and blacksmithing, and now I'm armed with one project and a lot of enthusiasm.
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About I Like To Make Stuff:
We have lots of projects including woodworking, metalworking, electronics, 3D printing, prop making and more!
These videos are our attempt inspire and empower others to make the stuff that they want to have. Hopefully you'll see something here that will inspire you to make something that you're passionate about!
I Like To Make Stuff
/ iliketomakestuff
Enjoyed watching you do something that you've not done before, learn as you go, and appreciate your continued cautionary notes and encouraging people to do their research. Educational, entertaining, and effective.
Kinda like the king of random once was
Yes it is very cool, and inspiring. This made me want to make my swing set machete!
Yeah TKOR used to be my favorite channel but without grant...
Some tips I learnt from other youtube videos and personal experience:
-When trying to straighten the spine, smack it lengthwise against the anvil, it pulls the spine down to take the curve out
-Ilya from That Works recommends forging the bevels by pushing them in rather than pulling it out like you did, although many different blacksmiths have different opinions. One of the benefits of pushing material in rather than pulling out is that it isn’t meant to make it curve backwards as drastically or at all
- Countersinking the holes for the pins makes glue up much easier because it helps guide the pins into place rather than trying to find a hole that matches it exactly
- It would be a good idea to swap your quench tube to a piece of metal as soon as possible, as any flash fires aren’t going to agree with the PVC
- drilling some holes in the tang will bring the balance forward, but will also allow epoxy to flow between the handle scales making a stronger bond
- if you get a warp like that again, it’s an easy fix during tempering. I like to do the first temper cycle clamped flat against a bar so I’m not taking too much of a risk of snapping, then I’ll use shims during a second and third temper cycle if necessary to remove the warp
I’ll add more as I think of them
Lachlan, Ilya from Man At Arms right? He’s an epic swordsmith
@@FlamingNinja exactly
Ashley Percival he was from man at arms but that company went bankrupt so they made a new one privately
Thanks for these details. As a hopefully-soon-to-be-aspiring smith, this is very helpful.
Something that i like from ILTMS, this channel is; Bob will always Telling everything what he did, whenever it's wrong or rights, good or not, failed or success and anything else. He didn't act like he is really superior with his work if he is not. That was one of the good part in every ILTMS Videos.
👍👍👍👍👍 Good Works.
I absolutely love when you do new things on this channel. Your woodworking is incredibly inspiring, but when you step out of your comfort zone and try making new things, it's incredible to watch you make new things. Thanks for the great content Bob.
You should look into a collaboration with Alec Steele and Will Stelter.
I was coming here to suggest the same thing!
Agree!!
That would be... fantastic!
Plus they have an online shop where you could pick up a few blacksmithing items.
It wouldn't surprise me if he's already reached out to try to set something up. I can't find it, but I'm pretty sure they have met before. I hope it happens!
Quick thing with quench tanks: use non flammable containers, use steel
definitely not pvc, makes chlorine gas if burned
Cha... where's the excitement in that?!
@@jamesbassett5468 Not sure where you learned that, but it isn't true.
@@drhender6943 yeah it produces hydrogen chloride and chlorinated furans when burned.
"Because honestly, I'm just having fun" best quote in a while. It's why we make stuff (mostly) :)
Go Bob Go!!!
Thanks dude!
Nice. It's fun and inspiring to watch someone who doesn't know what they are doing just jump in with both feet and go for it.
Couple of suggestions to others...
Instead of a petroleum-based oil, use a vegetable oil. I use peanut oil. It' more environmentally friendly, is less toxic when it burns and just smells better.
When putting on a handle, drill one hole, put a pin through both the knife and the handle (ie, scales) and then drill the second hole. That ensures that they are spaced correctly.
Before gluing the scales onto the blade, do all of the final work on the blend end of your handles. Once they are glued on the blade, it's tougher to get them even and smooth because the blade is kind of in the way. It's less important on a "rough" blade like Bob's machete, but on a blade with a fine finish, it can be frustrating to mess up the blade with finishing the handle.
Every channel: This video is sponsored by Skillshare.
Bob: I bought these books made out of paper.
Hahaha I noticed that too! Lol!
*Raid: Shadow Legends*
I can just hear people saying, "why make it, when you can buy one cheaper." I hear the same thing when i make a chair or table (I do woodworking as a hobby.)... well it doesn't take much effort to go to the store and say that one, or click a button while sitting in front of a computer. Always more satisfying when made you make it yourself. Thanks for the video, always entertaining and satisfying.
The best part is wen you mess it up then you get to destroy it out of anger
Hey, I’m Bob and I like to make stuff. Today we’re gonna make: a nuclear reactor. [cue intro]
*makes note in project list*
@@Iliketomakestuff Nukuler
Fusors are completely legal for private citizens (in the US) and there’s a precedent of DIYing them. It wouldn’t produce any net energy, but it’d look super cool.
Edit: Spelling
@@Iliketomakestuff chill dude
Reminds me of Martin Prince's science fair project xD
The Essential Craftsman has a wealth of blacksmithing and sword making videos plus he has published a comprehensive beginners blacksmithing course. Cudos for showing the learning and the “it ain’t pretty” of new skills!
Yes!! He's fantastic!!
You totally should have had a hockey mask on in the "movie" section... ;)
Zombies, totally missed opportunity for some zombie makeup on a helper!
Love the color of your notebook. My favorite color !!!!!!!!! Also awesome Machete !!!!!!!!!!!!
Well Bob I really like forging forging swords and knives and doing the scabbard it was awesome I love it.😉👍🏻🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Hahahah... the dramatic scene was actually awesome!
Awesome project. The 3 odd toy talking about blacksmithing and making projects really makes me want to go to my grandpa's farm. He had his dad's blacksmith tools. Everything but the forge. Keep it up.
It was awesome to see the whole process. Nice build man! Thanks for inspiring us to try something outside our comfort zone. Well done.
Blacksmith of 10 years here, love what you're doing. Two small things to help improve your mileage- Hold the hammer with your thumb wrapped around the handle instead of inline with it. Although it feels a lot more comfortable, the thumb on the handle like that is one of the major contributors to tendinitis in the elbow. Also nothing wrong with that hammer! Taking an angle grinder to the factory edges on the face to break that hard corner, leaving a gentle radius on the circumference and a slight crown on the face will help dramatically with forged surface finish. Cheers and thanks for the great content!
Thanks so much for the tips!! I really appreciate them!
That "dramatic" scene was epic
Blade looks great. Keep up the good work. I love to see more and more makers taking on bladesmithing and blacksmithing.
The Home Blacksmith is earnestly one of my favorite books I’ve ever read. Reread it every once in a while for hobby.
Hi,
Great first attempt.
Thanks for sharing.
Willy from Belgium.
👍👍👍
As a wise man on the history channel once said: "it will cut"
I really liked that dramatic sequence at the end 😍 Amazingly done
Little tip, get the range mostly forged out and then use some square bit tongs. That way you have a really solid grip on the metal so you can forge with confidence that it was wobble about.
There goes Bob name dropping Diresta and Piccuito again 😜
😜
It’s really nice of Bob to shout out his fans like that
It part of the ILTM drinking game.
He is completely new at blacksmithing but really pro at wood making, the contrast between the blacksmithing and the handle is kinda funny.
Nice work dude
I really love this video, its your entry into blacksmithing and I love blacksmithing and tool crafting an woodwork!
I love that you are using the old forge as a stand for the new forge. It reminds of old people who would use old console tv's as a stand for the new tv
Dude you are the REASON I started a RUclips channel. Love your content.
This showed up in MY subscriptions, but then again, I'm a real fan 😉
That's awesome! Thank you so much!
Thirsty!
You've got a pretty cool channel my friend
How does it make you a real fan that it showed in your sub box? RUclips is always broken
Thats funny man you said this to Fix This Build That also
In the distance, a wild Alec Steele is howling...
A great youtuber to watch is Alec Steel. He is awesome and does a great job at explaining how and why in the processes of forging.
LOVE this episode! Can't wait to see some more blacksmithing on this channel!
Can't wait for the summer to make a forge outside and start making stuff.
PS also love the broll at the end
If you haven't seen it, Forged in Fire on the History channel is a surprisingly good information source for blade smithing. It also is good for showing mistakes and what caused them.
Show would be a goldmine if they put more “fun facts” in the corner than they do. Other than some of those ridiculous tests (I hate the cinderblock test, especially), that’s an incredible show in opinion. Some of the episodes I have memorized I watch it so much 😅
you were definitely right to leave the forge marks in, they give it character. When creating the cutting edge there is a jig you can buy to get the right angle on the whole length. You’d probably make one but you can buy them too. Also when quenching there are different types of oil to use dependant on the grade of steel you are using.
How to be a dad in two steps:
Step one: need a tool
Step two: make it yourself
Step three: go get your ladder
step 4: stop and drink a beer
Step five: take a nap in your chair
your a great craftsman - you made a great blade having never doing it this way before - excellent work
Bob is this unlisted on purpose?
Didnt get a notif or show up in my feed
Edit: bob fixed it
You can safely ignore this comment.
Not bad for your first knife! She’s a chopper for sure and solid choice on the furnace. Not trying to throw stones here just some lessons I’ve learned - When a blade is in an annealed state (or even a tempered state after heat treat) you can gently bend a blade back to straight but go slow and steady. It’s easiest though when the steel is still hot to lust lay it flat on the anvil and gently tap it down. When you heat it up for quenching, moving the blade in and out gets a consistent heat all the way along the edge as overheating the steel grows the grain size and makes the steel structure less strong.
I like that you just go for it and show us the process. Thanks
Hi, Mike!
A quick tip from a Russian viewer :D
Your experience is talking for itself, but I cannot believe you do not use the "Masking tape and the superglue trick"!
It will be very helpful for many types of work that you do.
So, essentially it is a method of quickly fastening together to pieces of anything using just superglue, accelerator and the masking tape.
The way it works is pretty straightforward: you take the first of the to pieces that you need to stick to another one in order to secure it, you apply 1/2/3/as many strips of the masking tape as you fancy, you apply the matching ones on the second piece and then you apply superglue to the masking tape on the one piece and the accelerator on the other one and quickly stick them together.
The four main benefits of this tricks are:
1) It's quick, cheap and easy
2) It provides a strong enough bond between two pieces for lots of different types of work
3) To set two pieces apart - you just pull upwards on one of them and it comes off easily!
4) It leaves very little to none residue.
To learn more about this trick you may look up "Crimson Guitars" channel on YT - Ben is using it in almost every video and shows, how helpful it is - as well as what types of work it is useful for.
Have a nice day, and I'm looking dorward to your future videos - they are quite educational and entertaining!
P.S.: I'm not promoting "Crimson Guitars" - Ben just uses this trick the most and I've learned about it in his videos.
Back in the day, I said this when you started welding... It's really encouraging to watch you branch into new field and skills.
Can't wait to see how this new skill develops.
Very informative. I've watched a lot of other videos on black smithing and blade smithing and have wanted to give it a try. It's good to see someone with less experience give it a go and I can set my expectations appropriately when I do try it out.
I don't know much about blacksmithing, but one guy I've enjoyed watching is Liam Hoffman, makes a beautiful knife and axe.
I love how iron age and gnarly it looks. Very utilitarian for sure! Great video Bob!
Next Damascus !!!! You need to do a co-op project with Alec Steele!
Just love the fact that you keep on learning new things ...... Love from India
Not sure if you’ll see this, but one of my favorite hobby channels (along with yours) is Green Beetle. He shows his entire knife making process including mixing different metals to create different textures!
I’d actually really think you guys working together on a project would be really cool!
Give that editor a medal 🏅
Captain Cowboy 🏆🙏😭
Those B-roll shots are legit so dope! Great camera job
You should make a sheath next vid! Another idea to familiarize yourself with leather working
Looks like a metal pickle! Lol love it as always Bob!
Ha! yeah, it does!
More farm tools would be awesome! An ax or perhaps a hand saw?
I love that you left the blade cave man style! Amazing! Cheers from Ontario!
2 good and very important advises that I can give you, first keep your steel hot - when you move material just the weight of the hammer will do the job for you, you don't have to force anything into shape and if it isn't hot enough it will start to cold forge where you can actually develop cracks in the blade that would compromise the structural integrity and you do not want flying metal chips flying around while using it. 2-nd really important point is to raise the anvil slightly above your waist. 2-3 more knifes like this and you will develop serious back pain from the position.
Loved the movie magic. It was great. Great knife buddy.
Hi Bob love that you are branching out and trying new things... you’re a real inspiration and I love watching your videos! I’m an amateur blacksmith myself! My one Tip for you is to let the your hammer do the work... you are loosing striking power in your swing because of how high you have choked up on you handle. You were no long swinging the hammer but punching the metal with it. Other then that doing great keep up the awesome content!!
Pre-Hardening... I usually only take blades to 120grit, since it'll scale back up a little bit, and I don't take too much off the edge before then either, helps prevent warps, breakage, and other inconsistencies.
As a smith, this is painful to watch. Everyone needs to start somewhere and honestly this probably looks a lot better than some of my first blades. Good work
You should make a leather sheathe for it. Would be a cool idea as a side project if not a video!
You can do the tempering with a little grinder because you did say that it overheats so it turns to 400 degrees
Yeah I'm going to have to do that now.
I like how the music and hammer blows were mostly in synch.
No need to heat the whole thing every time. Just the area you want to work with. Also mentioned below, try pushing the metal instead of pulling. Put the edge you want to taper/bevel/thin/whatever to the far edge of the anvil, tilt your hammer slightly towards you and smack it. doing so on the edge lets you drop the far side of the hammer below the anvil. I saw you use the edge to make a shoulder. Or start to. That's good, a good way to isolate sections to keep heat where you want it. If you stick a bit of the work over the edge and do the same thing it'll speed up the drawing out of the material. Because instead of smacking it flat and it having to go outward in all directions, it'll focus the force and push it lengthways. That's also a good use of the horn. Pull the work across the horn back towards you while striking the hammer in the same place to really draw the metal out quickly. Just remember to smooth it out again after =D
Oh and an easier way to flatten a piece is to put it on the anvil like a speed bump and then gently hit it back straight from the middle. erm, like |) instead of |(
All of this is subjective though and I'm sure others have differeing views/methods, but this was genrally how I was tought.
Tip that I got from Brett McAfee while at one of Jimmy's workshops: don't hold your thumb on the back of the hammer, it can lead to fatigue faster. Rather, wrap your thumb around the whole handle. Great video as always Bob! Glad to see you getting into blacksmithing
Yes! I found that out pretty quickly! 👍🏼
You should definitely calab with alec steele hes brilliant and in Montana
just set aside a few months.
@@kjcorder probably a little longer lol
These types of videos are my favourites😀
Why didn’t this show up in my subscriptions?
fixed 🔧
Thanks for sharing that, well done
If It's 1st thing that You forged and It didn't finished in a trash can and still It's an usefull tool... Well it's good for You and It means that You don't have 2 left hands in forging. Keep it going!
Great looking machete for a first try, I definitely want to try my hand at some bladesmithing myself, your video is very helpful 👍 thank you
Cool video, I watched Jenny and Bob make nails at Makers Central and knew that it wouldn't be the last thing Bob blacksmithed! Also, I love that it was an actual tool that was needed and will be used instead of another knife.
This is getting better and better 😃
i think if you do another one, it will be better because you will know wwhat you are doing better!
Hi Bob, I think you should make a steel quench tank- the pvc one could melt from hot blade or hot oil which you don't want. Good luck in blacksmithing.
A couple hammer tips: sand the factory varnish off and the burn the handle with a torch. This will help you get a better grip without squeezing the life out of you hands. Also consider shortening the handle. It will make it easier to return to your top swing position and you won’t lose as much accuracy because not as much weight is moving behind your hand.
Good tips, thanks!
The dramatic music made me smile.
Thank you Bob, based on the strength test I have determined....It Will Kill.... :)
Alec Steel is one of my inspirations. hHe in my opionion one of the better smithing channels on youtube!
Hi, i am subscriber in korea.
I always watching the video and it give me many ideas to make.
I am just a 15 years boy, so i can't making many things right now but when i become older, i will be a youtuber like this channel if i can.
I always appreciate to u, and brake a leg!
Should do a collab with Alec Steele. He’s out your direction in the US!
Sure, they're only 1600 miles apart. No, seriously. The US is huge.
First we had the Maker Knife now we get the Maker Machete!!!
That intro had a real Hot Rod vibe in the best possible way
Haha!
Watching that cinematic sequence was so funny even funnier when I saw the measuring tape.
Next you should use your leather tools to make a sheath for it.
;)
Guard for the finger protect, the handle should be more square on top and some what V and rounded on bottom, Also larger on back end so not to slip out when swinging
Good start Sir and you earned your thumbs up Sir Thanks 👍👌👌
Good job on that blade as a first time knife maker. I like that you explain you know nothing but did a great job. Thanks for the video and the ending scene had me rolling on the floor laughing
Awesome project! I feel like this could have been all encompassing of all your new non-wood related projects if you made a leather sheath for this!
;) Keep an eye out.
Round one side of the 3lb hammer with an angle grinder. I did that and it worked great.
Next project, a leather belt sheath!!! 😁👍
🤔🤔😉
This was wonderful.
Oh man, that end was sooooooo epic! I was dying.
I'm just sittin here freakin out wishing I could give you guidance during this video haha. Brings back all kinds of fun memories of learning to forge.. like completely working against yourself haha.
Love your channel and the diversity of your projects! Looking at building my own forge now!
Dood, this was so awesome 👏🏼 I totally dig the handmade/rustic look of the machete. And the ending was epic 😂 more knives sir🔪 🔪 🗡 ⚔️
I dont know if anyone mentioned it, but I seem to recall from my material science class that placing stainless in contact with high carbon can cause galvanic corrosion. You might want to change out those pins at some point so your handle does not come off. Actually, now that I think it through better, the epoxy probably will hold but there are some serious forces with a machete.
Awesome job!! Loved it!
Thanks