Recent content by Antoine M.

Hello, Borax is used mainly for forge welding, sometimes brazing. It cleans the metal of oxides and creates a barrier for the oxygen to avoid the formation of oxides. Traditional fluxes includes ashes ( rice straw for the japanese, fern, ect.) powdered glass and some sands. But borax is...

Hé hé, sorry to have called you John! Eamon right? I'm trying to use local for some project clay, stone and ores and it gives us a good reason to drive around! Kalaeb, it is a small bloom furnace to make steel, "tamahagane". HERE is a complete explanation. Antoine:D

Thank you for the link John. It seem that the stone that was quarried here is a form of mica slate. I'll check that out... Antoine

Hello! Since I started producing my own steel in a bloomery furnace, I spent some time checking 19th century/early 20th geological survey to find sutable ore deposits. In my readings I discovered that there were a few quarries that produced grind stones and a couple where the quarried razor...

Cool! Is that you cutting local stone or is it stone from abroad? Nice machine too.:) Antoine

Thank you! I live in a small village right between Montreal and Quebec city called Baie-du-Febvre. Actually, febvre is the old french for blacksmith! Antoine

Hello everyone, I'm Antoine Marçal, bladesmith from Quebec, Canada. I've been researching kitchen knives for a little while now and made a few.... There's so much to learn! I've seen a couple familiar face and some wonderful knives too! This forum seems very relax with a great ambiance...