[CRAFT] Art in Metal

[Cornflower MM]

*Facepalm* Really?! I mean, REALLY?!

[The Skarzs]

Just don't do it.

[Tam and Martin]

Nearly caught my pants on fire today. . . So yeah. . . That was definitely. . . a thing. . .

"AND REMEMBER KIDS: ALWAYS BE CAREFUL WITH FLYING SPARKS WHEN CUTTING HIGH CARBON STEEL WITH AN ANGLE GRINDER."

That'll do it.

[The Skarzs]

No kidding.
Well, I was cutting the leaf spring for this project here: a kukri for my brother for Christmas. Well, I had spent three and a half hours forging, another three hours grinding, and I decide to test it out. First six hits it was fine, cutting the wood literally as well as an axe. But then. . .

[Tam and Martin]

Ouch......

[The Skarzs]

And that is really thick metal! It's more than a quarter inch nearly all the way to the tip! The blade is. . . was a foot long, and even with that piece broken off it weighs nearly three pounds. o-o

[Tam and Martin]

What were you throwing it into to make it do that?

[The Skarzs]

I was hacking at a two-by-four. I know why it broke: I hadn't tempered it. In it's hardened state it was, in essence, as brittle as glass, the carbon having aligned in a crystalline structure, strong in some ways but weak in others.

On the up side, I know that I successfully hardened it.

[Tam and Martin]

Ooooohhhhhhh.......That would make sense.

[The Skarzs]

Yeah.

Okay, so I tried to forge-weld it, but it turns out that there were numerous fractures along the entirety of the blade: unfixable. It might be because I neglected to anneal the metal before hardening it, but then again, leaf springs are notorious for fracturing. More testing is required.
On the upside, I made another one, and am currently working on it.

[Faiyloe]

Oh I hate it when that happens... well not that exactly but when something you are working really hard on gets destroyed.  Its good that you had enough time to make another one. How long dose it take you on average to finish one of those?

[The Skarzs]

I'm keeping it just as a reminder to myself.

As to how long it takes, it depends. On something of this size, anywhere from two to six hours. Also, I have some advice for everyone. . .

. . . In the blacksmith shop, all metal is to be considered hot. You can't see it very well, but I have third and second degree burns all over my hand.

[Faiyloe]

ow *cringes* That looks painful. The worst burn I ever got was a glue gun that touched my wrist. I can't even imagine how painful that must be.

[The Skarzs]

I'm fine; I'm also sure I'll get worse in years to come. A lot of my skin is shriveled and hardened, so it's gonna be a couple weeks before I get full feeling back into them, but thankfully the pain is gone, for now.

[Rainshadow]

  ...I now see the reasoning behind your username.  *Overprotective naggy mother voice*  Now Skarzsy-chan, you need to be more careful when smithing!  My goodness, you'll be dead before you're thirty at this rate!