Forging a titanium machete

[Storm Crow]

Not my work, but this fellow has been doing work with beta titanium alloys that no one else is doing. And I love seeing his home-brewed power hammer tapping out the blade. Apparently, it has to be massaged into shape with light hammer blows, not moving too much at a time.

And the performance he's getting out of these is pretty impressive.

[Sun Yeti]

Interesting project, but isn't titanium shitty compared to steel for holding an edge?

[LowKey]

Not to mention that I doubt it will have enough weight behind it to cut well....it will be like using a tack hammer to drive 10 penny nails.

[Storm Crow]

Without having one in hand to try out myself, I can only speak to the experience that other people have had with this guy's work. There are a number of custom knife collector/users who have been quite happy with his blades. One of 'em clears mountain biking trails in Canada. Apparently the fast acceleration on the blades somewhat counteracts the light weight when it comes to chopping.

He's doing things with titanium blades that no one else is doing, hence "Mad Science Forge". Titanium is outside my realm, but he's using a different alloy than a lot of titanium knives are made from and forging it instead of doing strictly stock removal, which does something with the alloy that is beneficial. The edge holding is supposed to be (from customers' testimonials on public knife forums, not his) quite good.

I'm quite happy with well-done carbon steel, but it's still neat to see someone pushing the boundaries of bladesmithing.

[Halfapint]

That is fantastic! I love the sledge power hammer! That's really cool!

[Fugglesby]

Hahaha that power hammer is adorable! I like the shape too, just a flat bar that is curved through the bevelling process. Some say lazy, I say minimalist.