DennisG

I Demo'd 20+ days this year not including guild meetings and volunteer work at my local fort, and I sometimes demo with other smiths. The thing is we run into people all the time who are smiths or are interested in the craft. I have yet to run into an overly rude smith, a rude one at times, but they all get the same "thats cool", "are you familiar with these clubs?", "Do you demo?". The last question is the one I really like because if the answer is no I simple say "oh?" turn and go back to what I was doing and enjoy the people around. I am not saying that to be a smith you have to demo, but if you see a smith willing to stand out infront of the public and share his skill and knowledge, you had best be polite and curtious because I am the one standing there, not you. Just saying.

Hay-Budden 128# I used to use a 168# home made anvil because I could not afford a "real" anvil. The HB came available from an old Blacksmith friend and the price was well below market. I was lucky, and I am very happy with it, niccs, wear, and it is all set for a right hander which I am not but I work around it and will not change it.

Came across this while surfing, hope it is informative if not entertaining. Tony Swatton of Sword & Stone takes us through the process of making Jaime Lannister's sword from Game of Thrones. http://www.break.com/man-at-arms/Forging-Game-of-Thrones-Sword/

My shop has drywalled walls with thin tin on the 2 sides near my forge. How well does this work? I used to have a thermometer on the wall to the right near the top of the wall and the heat was high enough in there to break it yet my walls have never burned. Oh, and my fire pot is maybe 1 1/2 foot away from the wall. My shop is 8'X10'long and a 7' roof. Does that help? Dennis

Chef Paring Fillet

Yeah saw a photo there and glen mentions 2 pcs cw and 2 ccw but I am having trouble following how it all works together looking at the pic on that thread. and the bp does not link. anyone have the full demo or pics or how to?

Hey guys, been awhile since I posted, I do try to stop in from time to time to read but now I do need to post. A long time ago there was a BP or a topic on making wheat sheaf. I can't seem to find it anywhere and I was wondering if anyone out there have it book marked or the article or whatever. I'd like to try making some but not sure how to go about it. Any help would be great. Thanks, and happy pounding. Dennis

I made my own forge, I used 3/16 or 1/4" plate (old and dont remember), my grate on the bottom is 3/16" round and I have been using it for a few yrs now. I have run straight industrial coke in it for many months because thats all I had at the time. As anyone who has run this type of coke knows it gets HOT. I have used it to forge weld as well as just pounding. Now, why all this info? I bent down to look under one day and noticed my fire pot was glowing a nice red. I kinda freaked a bit and shut down to check my pot to see if there was any damage happening. To my surprise there was no damage, no sign of melting or change in the surface. I went back to using my forge with the coke and never gave it another thought and to this day my pot and grate are all fine, not even any show of wear. Now, I am using Met. coal and sometimes the same coke. So don't worry too much of it burning thru. Besides, I am sure over the next yr or so you will be building a new forge or buying an old one, call it "moving up" the blacksmithing chain of "ooOOO! look how cool that forge is, and only 10$....SOLD" LOL Good luck DennisG

if you find all that exciting, wait until a stranger stops by and you sell them something or they ask you to make them something. Have fun and enjoy.

THATS a test knife???? very nice looking knife!

good question....pics showing would be helpful too

lol.... I just hope that wasn't galvanized metal but hey, you tried and are doing what you can with what you have, good on ya

um...... um...... nope, gotta stop at um.

I am lucky up here. I am able to take my hobby of Blacksmithing and turn it into a a paying hobby, sort of. I make things that I can and do sell when I go around to heritage/harvest/founders days. I am also paid to be at these things as it is a draw and I am actually making items on the spot and talking to people about the history of Blacksmithing. It is a great feeling to have someone admire what you are doing, have done, and have out for them to buy.

Happy Birthday Brian!