question on size of bar for forging

[DoubleLung]

I want to forge some small hunters and the bars of 1084 I have are 1/4"x 1 1/2" wide. My question is if I only want to make small hunters can I split these bars in have making them ~.75" wide? Being 1/4" think I would think I'd still have plenty of metal but thought I'd double check with some experience.

[kuch]

my opinion,i am no expert, would be anneal and then run thru the bandsaw to "rip" in half. i think .25 inch thick by about .75"  would forge out over 1"  blade width with  "hunting" blade thickness.but many ways to skin a cat.  chad

[kuch]

or just forge the bar to the demension you want...more pounding and chance to overheat steel to just get the size to start with but could work.

[Lin Rhea]

Yes, that's plenty of steel for a hunter. It should easily yield a hunter of nice size, width, and thickness. I would rip only enough for a couple and save the full sized bar in case I decided to make a bowie. Lin

[DoubleLung]

Awesome, thanks for the help guys! I'll find someone with a band saw that can rip the steel for me.

Lin that was just what I was hoping to do.

[Jeremy]

No need for a bandsaw, just heat it in the forge and use a hot-cut chisel.  No waste and it should only take a couple heats to cut out a knife-sized blank.
I have a cheap hot-cut chisel for my hardy hole (sounds dirty, doesn't it?) but you can just get a cold chisel from any hardware store and regrind it for a hot-cut.

[kbaknife]

Tim, forget the bandsaw - welcome to the world of FORGING!!
Got a big hammer?
If you want some practice and want to really find out what it's like to move steel around, get that bar up to forging heat and beat it down to the size you want!
Lay it over on its edge, beat it down narrower, then over to the anvil horn and lay flat and draw it out lengthwise to its original thickness.
You can do it.
Piece of cake.

[Lamey]

with a 3" piece of that steel you can make a nice size hunter (hidden tang).   Like everyone said,  just forge it to the width you want, draw your tip out, drop your edge in, then forge your tang.... done!

[DoubleLung]

piece of cake    

I've got a CPA exam in a week and after I get that taken care of I'm going to hammer away and give it a shot.