Forging a razor from a piece of bar stock

This is how I forge wootz razors from a bar. Wootz is expensive and you don't want to waste any more than you need to. I just started a fresh bar (2K$) and thought it would be nice to show the process.

First, I draw a piece of the big bar out into a smaller bar that is more appropriate for making a razor. And then I first forge out the tang and the tail from there. Then I draw the next part out just a bit more until it is the right size for forging out the blade hollows.

I u...se a cut off hardy to separate the blade section most of the way from the rest of the bar. I cut enough that I can hammer in the hollows without bending things in awkward angles, but I leave enough that I can use the bar to handle the blade. And then after hammering out the hollows I cut off the finished razor blank using the hardy.

As you can see, this way the blank is already hollowed partly and shaped the way I want. The belt grinder is then only needed to clean up the lines and flats, and deepen the blade hollows.

http://imgur.com/wDLi7Pf.jpg

http://imgur.com/dHQftBt.jpg

Nice, i like how you planned it out to minimize most all waste.

Indeed. careful forging is going to let me squeeze one or 2 more razors out of that bar.
And I have to say I LOVE this gas forge. Being able to evenly heat a piece of steel and look at it while it is heating makes forging a lot easier. Firstly because even heat means everything moves the same, and it allows me to figure out each next step while it is heating so I don't have to look at it first after taking it out of the fire.

Bruno, how do you tell the temperature inside the forge, don't steel have to be heated to a certain temperature?

I'm guessing temp is determined largely by color. That was the way the blacksmith where I grew up did it.

Yup, colour is the main factor, but there are some other indicators too, depending on what you're checking temp for.

For heat treating (at least the steels I use - not sure about Bruno's wootz) you can tell when it is ready for quenching by testing its magnetic properties. If it has reached a non-magnetic state, you're in the ballpark.

For forge welding, part of the reason I use borax as a flux is that I can tell when it has reached welding temp by the way the liquid borax moves on the surface of the steel. Kind of like butter in a hot frying pan.

Bruno - who makes your wootz?

EDIT: Never mind - I see it's discussed in another thread. :)

Yes, by color. Your eye actually gets calibrated with experience. I personally heat treat at night so the light has no influence.

For heat treat I can use color, and I use recalescence as a temperature indicator when I normalize to see it I was in austenizing region.
Forging is done by color. Forge welding is done by color + borax behavior.