[TheForge] Japanese Sen experimentation

[debmiller at fuse.net]

In the world of large rotating machinery, scraping metal is the way to get things to fit right.

Bearing pads are scraped in for contact, support plates, sealing surfaces, etc.

Use some Hi-Spot non-drying bluing for contact checking. Then use a carbide scraper, or make some jsut as described by sacrificing a file and scrape or shave away!!

Ray
Cincinnati
> 
> From: "Bruce Freeman" <FREEMAB at pt.fdah.com>
> Date: 2005/03/18 Fri AM 11:30:25 EST
> To: <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] Japanese Sen experimentation
> 
> I just pulled up a description of a sen.  The shape is different.  It's
> like a drawknife in shape, but apparently can be used on the push or
> pull stroke (?).  Apparently the sen is principally for swordmaking.
> 
> A scraper is like a file with no teeth, the end being sharpened for
> scraping.  It's principally for making surfaces flat.
> 
> So it sounds like two different tools to do similar but different jobs
> by the same means of cutting .
> 
> Bruce
> NJ
> 
> >>> f_faller at yahoo.com 3/18/2005 11:04:26 AM >>>
> Probably there is no difference. I had never seen a
> scraper used on iron (at least not in the context of
> black or blade smithing and the information I got
> about it in information about japanese sword making it
> was called a sen. 
> 
> --- Bruce Freeman <FREEMAB at pt.fdah.com> wrote:
> > What you're describing sounds like a scraper.  Is
> > there a difference?
> > 
> > Bruce
> > NJ
> > 
> > >>> f_faller at yahoo.com 3/17/2005 12:37:25 PM >>>
> > After the thread a few weeks back about the Japanese
> > using the Sen to remove metal from blades I did a
> > bit
> > of poking around and asked a few questions.
> > 
> > After I had some idea about what I was doing, I took
> > and old file that had been abused. It was about
> > .30"thick (big file) I ground the teeth off one face
> > about 3" wide in the middle. Then I ground the edge
> > so
> > that all the teeth were gone (carefull not to burn
> > the
> > steel in the grinding process) and then I ground the
> > bevel to the smooth side of the file to be 60-70
> > degrees and sharpened the edge with sharpening
> > stones
> > until it would shave my thumbnail.
> > 
> > Using a 1.5 X 1.5 angle iron I clamped in a vise, I
> > clamped a softened steel blade to the horizontal
> > flat
> > of the angle iron so I could support the blade over
> > its length and used the ground file (sen) as a
> > scraper. It was amazing. With a little practice I
> > could take off curls of steel like shaving wood with
> > a
> > good plane. I could even smell them ... like the
> > smell
> > of steel curls coming off a lathe.
> > 
> > In half an hour, I had done what it would have taken
> > several hours to do with a file and the surface was
> > surprisingly smooth.
> > 
> > An excellent way to remove metal and shape a forged
> > blade without lots of grinding. I'm sold!
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > Frederick W. Faller
> > Shiloh Forge Ironware
> > http://users.rcn.com/ffaller/SFI_web.htm 
> > www.immerland.com 
> > 
> > 
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> 
> Frederick W. Faller
> Shiloh Forge Ironware http://users.rcn.com/ffaller/SFI_web.htm 
> www.immerland.com 
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