Forging Carving Gouges from 52100 bearing steel

A friend gave me some 52100 bearing steel. I thought it would be fun to9 make some wood carving tools using this steel.

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[olddawgdreaming]

Thanks for sharing with us John, a set like those would be awesome and very expensive. They would definitely be a conversation piece to own though while working with them. Sure appreciate you carrying us along on this episode of tool making. Fred.

[LardoiseGirl]

It would be a dream come true to apprentice under an amazing blacksmith like you, John.

[ValhallaIronworks]

52100 is certainly tough to forge! It'll make a man out of you for sure!

[RogerKnaus]

Awesome video as always! Wanted to reach out and let you know that you have really been an inspiration for me. I started watching your videos purely for entertainment, but they reignited my desire to try my hand at blacksmithing, and then they started being instructional and something to aspire to one day. The wide variety of projects you've undertaken, showing different approaches and tools to accomplish goals, and advocacy for care, attention and safety have made my journey a lot smoother than they would have otherwise been. Blacksmithing as a hobby expanded into spoon carving, hand tool woodworking, and recently into a bit of woodturning on a pole lathe that i put together and my latest smithing projects have all been related to that with the last being a turning gouge. All that to say, thank you! your videos have brightened my life and brought me new skills that i am passing on to my children.

[LZP]

Awesome! Going from a chunk of steel to carving with the finished gouge would be a big dream of mine! Would like to see what you carve with these!

[springwoodcottage]

Lovely to see how you took the disc & transformed it into such high end socket tools that are exactly what you want. Always good for the soul when you have the tool you want for the job, not having what you want but something close is often a world of compromise, trouble & dissatisfaction with both the tool & the time & materials used. Thank you for sharing!

[Bangalangs]

No shame in having to “punt”- doing the thing you should have started with, midway through a project. A fine set of gouges, I hope they serve their purpose well.
Another excellent video sir.

[TalRohan]

This is what I love about blacksmithing John.... Hello Mrs Switzer
the ability to make my own tools from scratch is just mind bogglingly cool.

I don't make everything but I still love making anything I can't find or that would be too expensive to buy and in some cases would just take too long to get here through the post
I consider carving gouges to be a very personal item and love making them ...I have bought them in the past but nothing feels as satisfying as getting that beautiful shiny cut from a tool you have made yourself ...
These gouges are looking great ...very interested to see what you are going to carve with them when theyre finished
thanks for sharing

[francisgrochon]

Love this format. Raw material to useful objects. Keep up the good work!

[bigredbeard]

Nice video, really shows some of what it takes to make those tools. I like that sander / grinder, lots of great features. looking forward to the second video!

[sdsmtmsee]

John thanks. I own the Steele 2x72 and love it- couldn’t understand why you would want a 48”. Now I see why.

[dongkhamet]

Thanks for the video - 'looking forward to Part 2!

[glencrandall]

I never would have thought you could have made three tools of that disk of steel. It's amazing how you can reshape metal. Being a woodworker I don't do that sort of thing. that grinder would be great in my shop. But $1700 is a bit pricey for me. Thank you for sharing.🙂🙂

[Lev]

Excellent video john keep upngreat videos

[larrypoe]

A dremel rotary tool and chainsaw sharpening stones or a set of diamond grinding stones for it are wonderful for hard to reach spots. The diamond sets have all sorts of shapes and sizes. I bought mine from a knife making supplier on ebay years ago and I still use them

[STEVE_C_]

This is so interesting.And, informative.
But an unreachable hobby for most, including me.
The money youve got just in the steel the tools are made of is a small fortune, let alone the pneumatic hammer. But still, bits and pieces taken from your videos, does lend ideas to us backyard knife makers.Thanks bunches bud. Two thumbs up to ya. 👍👍

[jasonnass]

It is always good to keep in mind that cold mild steel is still harder than hot tool steel. It is perfectly viable to make short-run dies from mild steel.

[MrMeat-pvni]

Great work.
I appreciate your knowledge

[cholulahotsauce]

Hi John, I just finished building a heat treat oven!

[justingoodman]

Great video. I really like that platten, wonder if I can make it work on my 2x72…