[Pred the Penguin]

No! No! You got it all wrong! Axes are for killing other humans, duh.

[z64555]

Axes are the world's first multi-tools. 

[pecenipicek]

Axes are the world's first multi-tools. 

heheheheh

[WeatherOp]

Excellent, since you have an axe, go crack some Neandertal skulls in the name of homo sapiens sapiens domination!

Have you tried to make some arrowheads?

No not yet, as of right now I'm going for useable things. I'll likely make another hand axe(a better one) and I may end up trying my hand at a full sized axe or splitting maul. Then on to hoes and garden devices. Although I may make a good knife in between.

[z64555]

Axes are the world's first multi-tools. 

-snip-

heheheheh

Lol, I'd love to see an animation going through all of those as a "commercial."

[bobbtmann]

You could try making steel sculpture. That hammering and melting can make the steel look a lot like clay, which is a neat effect.

[WeatherOp]

You could try making steel sculpture. That hammering and melting can make the steel look a lot like clay, which is a neat effect.

Sacrilege!

Can't melt steel in a forge. If you try, you will end up with a beautiful sparkler then basically slag with no structural integrity.

[z64555]

What about soft steels? You might be able to weld them together with a modified lap joint... I forget the name of it, but its a lap joint that has its ends curled over, like when you hold your hands with each other by the fingers.

[Nuke]

steel art is usually done with fabrication techniques. blacksmithing is mostly about the manufacure of tools and to occasionally shoe a horse.

[pecenipicek]

both are still awesome.

[jr2]

You can make steel from iron, right?  so, take your iron, make steel, and shape it while it's hot?

[z64555]

You can make steel from iron, right?  so, take your iron, make steel, and shape it while it's hot?

You have any idea how long it takes to manually make steel in a forge? 

[LordMelvin]

You can make steel from iron, right?  so, take your iron, make steel, and shape it while it's hot?

You have any idea how long it takes to manually make steel in a forge? 

That's not the point. If you want something done right, sometimes it takes a while. *doesn't look at any long-awaited WIP mods at all*

[z64555]

You have any idea how long it takes to manually make steel in a forge? 

That's not the point. If you want something done right, sometimes it takes a while. *doesn't look at any long-awaited WIP mods at all*

 

[Pred the Penguin]

You can make steel from iron, right?  so, take your iron, make steel, and shape it while it's hot?

This ain't minecraft!

[WeatherOp]

What about soft steels? You might be able to weld them together with a modified lap joint... I forget the name of it, but its a lap joint that has its ends curled over, like when you hold your hands with each other by the fingers.

You can weld them together several different ways. You can weld "mild" steels and High carbon steels and even weld the two together. The hatchet is an example of that,  mild steel with a piece of high carbon file welded between the two in the blade.

You can make steel from iron, right?  so, take your iron, make steel, and shape it while it's hot?

You can, but from what I've heard, it takes a long time and a lot of skill. Too much carbon and it's unworkable. Besides, with all the high carbon steels you can find, its definitely not worth the time or coal.

[z64555]

jr2's probably just trying to get you warmed up for making Samurai swords. 

[LordMelvin]

jr2's probably just trying to get you warmed up for making Samurai swords. 

Yeah, you can do thousand-fold damascene steel blades, right? That's a pretty straightforward thing to do, isn't it?

[Nuke]

japanese swords fold the metal again and again and again and again. high quality swords could have thousands of folds in it. they also coat the inside edge (i think) with clay in a sawtooth pattern for the tempering process, so that the edge is hard and the rest of the blade us flexible. of course thats a job for a master swordsmith. a euorpean style sword might be easier to forge, they tend to twist the steel instead of folding and use a simpler tempering process. of course i never put hammer to anvil so what do i know.

[WeatherOp]

European swords from what I gather are much easier to forge than either Damascus or Japanese blades. From the books I've read European swords are more or less wrought iron with a steel blade welded in. The others a combination of welding wrought iron to different grade steels and folding or twisting to get the desired effect. An plain roman gladius or European short sword likely wouldn't be too hard to attempt, just take a decent amount of time and a good bit of steel/iron. Now to get it deadly sharp with a good temper, effective and look great, no doubt you need a master smith.

But as of right now, my steel has much better uses than a sword.