id try making something a bit smaller

smithing isnt easy and the only reason people are good at it is because they spend a fuck ton of time doing it

>>127676
A knife, perhaps?

>>127686

Yeah you could try that, protip dont invest in good steels until youre good at making knives, make a lot of throwaway knives basically until you get the hang of it

>>127688
Okay. Thanks.

>>127688
By the way, if I wanted to jew out on a serious project and get scrap metal or something and melt it into moulds, would oxidisation be a problem?

>>127674
>I KNOW THAT IF THE MOLECULES IN STEEL ARE....

since when was FeC polar?

also
>when the fuck is a halberd ever practical?

all of my what the fuck's.

>>127753
>since when was FeC polar
Since your mum was a whore.
Childishness aside, that's how my high school metalwork teacher explained it. I couldn't be fucked looking at how that works.
>>when the fuck is a halberd ever practical?
Protecting Switzerland.
Also hunting in a place with retarded gun laws.
And because I want a motherfucking halberd!

tbh op, i thought you were a bit of a douche bag, until i read:
>Protecting Switzerland

Your all right by me.

>>127768
a better use would be to stick it up your ass

>practical
>halberd

nigga what?

>>127768
>I couldn't be fucked looking at how that works
Uh... protip: Every good blacksmith has a fair bit of metallurgical knowledge.

Anyway, if this a showpiece that will be hung on a wall somewhere, you can-
>It is going to be practical, not decorative.
Ok, nevermind.

Step #0: Safety, tools, setup, safety, space, and safety.
Step #1: Do some basic hotworking of mild steel. You aren't making the halberd yet, just getting used to shaping and recognizing the behavior of the metal at different temperatures. You also need to be able to estimate the temp range based on color.
Step #2: Make your first knife, all the way through to the wooden handle. Do it out of mild steel (which will not harden for shit or hold an edge).
Step #3: Make another knife, this time out of better steel. Compare the edges and hardness.
Step #4: Realize that both previous knives are shit, and begin practicing. Seek formal instruction if possible.
Step #5: (4 years later) Make your halberd.

>>127753
>when the fuck is a halberd ever practical?
From their invention until we had guns that could kill a horse.

So Skyrim's idea of how you get better at blacksmithing is pretty accurate?

>>127812

you mean making 500000 iron daggers right?

I lold

>>127674
Sticky. Stickystickystickysticky. There are links for this in the sticky. Read the sticky.
>I know that if the molecules in steel are aligned, then the steel is stronger, but I don't know how to do that to the steel when it is in such a shape as a halberd head.
www.feine-klingen.de/PDFs/verhoeven.pdf
There, 200 pages of free, brilliantly written explanation of how and why heat treatment and annealing works.

>>127812
In that a newb can't walk up to a forge and smash hot metal with a hammer and POOF SWORDS? Yeah. It's a skillset, it takes practice to get good at it.

this helped me

Part 2

read Callister as a soft introduction and learn the basics of material science (http://www.amazon.com/Materials-Science-Engineering-William-Callister/dp/0471736961). then we can speak about TTT diagrams and phases. Then we'll see how to quench