I spent a whole looney on two ball bearings and have hammered one out into this knife blank. It turns out that hitting an absolutely spherical piece of red hot metal is quite exciting. It bounced all over the place. After getting one good hammer blow it flattened enough to hold it with my tongs and the rest was just some hammer work. I'm still quite new to forging, so if anyone has any ideas on how to hold these for the initial few blows, I'd be grateful if you share. https://picasaweb.google.com/102839419037720440836/June9201302#
No picture Splash, where did you find the ball bearings? I would really like to try forging one sometime.
I found the bearing at a metal scrapyard; they said they usually keep a bucket of them. I didn't realize at the time that the bearing tracks/races are the same metal until I saw a guy called Trollsky on YouTube forge a knife from one. I believe most good bearings are 52100 steel. Its tough metal to forge and grind, but I wanted to try it with all the good information on it out there on the 'net, talking about what tough fine grained blades it makes.
Working those steel balls down to a knife will give your arm a good work out Be careful with used bearings sometimes they use cheap metal and case harden the races. This day and age of "always use the lowest bidder" encourages companies to cut any corner they can. I like to test any "salvage" steel I use to save working on a knife only to find it wont harden. You should be safe with the ball though, but I would still harden a small section just to make sure.
to hold the bearing for forging arc weld it to a handle rod then just cut it off when forged to shape.tmr
Hand hammering bearings will test your patience and your arm. I've got one that started life as a 1.5" bearing and is now getting close to becoming a knife. It's a helluva lot of work (and don't even get into a 2.5" bearing unless you can get to a power hammer) but it's a good way to work out any frustration after a day at work. The Old Man has made a couple of knives out of 52100 and they cut like crazy. I wholeheartedly agree with tmr...weld on a handle and you'll have way more control. Make sure that you heat them up and let them soak all the way through then anneal them for best results. Also, I've been told that in order to weld rebar (my handle material of choice) to a 52100 bearing that the bearing wants to be preheated. I have a hell of a time getting good welds, but that might come from learning to weld by watching American Chopper.
