tdaleh

Don't give these people ideas that the wind blows in northwest Kansas. Trees look good .

I use the round dish shapes the most. Then the large curved depression to make round shapes.

Hang the first one on the wall of your shop . Then you can look at it and see how much you have improved.

Jim Hrisoulas and his books

Daniel Winkler , Huge Bartug,Virgil England they made you think outside the box . Anyone that was in Jim Weyer Knives Point Of Interest books.

The reason your blades curve up is as you are putting in bevels is you are stretching the metal on only one side . Your question of how to keep your blade from curving up there are two options that I know of . Option 1 is to hammer on the edge and straighten the back as you work on the bevels . Option two is to curve the blade downwards then when you work in the bevels the blade will straighten back out.

A buffer and a wire wheel are the two most dangerous toosl in the shop . If you get comfortable running either one you are not giving them enough respect. Mount it on a pedestal not on a bench that way when it gets snatched out of your hand it hopefully hits the floor . On a bench they will bounce back at you . A green compound is a good one to start with . Then a pink compound for final Finnish on steel. White Diamond is more for handles. Go to some of the knife making supplier's and read thru their buffing compounds they have good definitions on what each compound does.

It is a shoe last .

Grind the ends to a short taper butt them together weld than grind. Then you have strength in your weld.

Best hand cleaner I have ever used is fresh pork fat. I always said making pork sausage is the best hand cleaner . Retired fat grocer. Vegetable oil will take about anything off of your hands.

Read the stickies at the top of the sections you are interested in learning . A lot of your questions about blacksmithing or bladesmithing will be answered.

Had someone tell me to lean hammer control go buy 4 pounds of 16 penny nails and a 4x4 and drive them in with a rounding hammer . You bend quite a few to start with but it teaches hammer control .

Make vases for flower, chili peppers, assorted flowers ,cattails, bells. When working pipe it works better with a gullitene tool or have three points of contact .

Welcome to the forum . There are stickies at the top of this section that covers gas forges. Read them then go to the top of the solid fuel section and read the stickies there that cover coal forges . That will answer a lot of your questions.

Look for Steve Sells book on knife making or Wayne Goddard s $50 dollar knife shop. Both are very good information for bladesmith's.

Great texture on that leaf. Nice to see how you made your anvil . Thanks for sharing.

Depends on how fancy you want to make it. 1/4 x1/2 makes a simple fork or shoe horn if you upset the end or fold it over you have enough for the horn. If you want fancy any where from 1/4x 3//4 up . Figure out what you want to make and calculate what you need.

Go up and read the t burner sticky all the way through it explains what works and what doesn't. Ifor you want to change it do it yourself and let us know if it works or does not. That question is answered in the sticky.

Good first craft show. I work a thresher show and one year I decided to make duplex nail swords . When I got home I had 4 nails left out of three pounds . The lead blacksmith told me they had never had that many people come thru shop before . Now every year since I still get request for them. I don't charge for them I figure if one or two kids or adults take up blacksmithing or knife making ihave done my job. I always make whoever I give them to say please and thank you. Every thing I make at this event i give away to people . So good job on the sword knives cuz you never know it might inspire one more to the dark side.

Fireater welcome to the forum. Go to bamsite.org Blacksmith Association of Missouri. There are many talented bladesmiths that are members . There is probably someone close to you that can help with getting you set up. TONY

Try 3M trizacit gator belts they are a structured abrasive belt . They cost a little more but they last a long time.

If you make one of something you make one . If you make 10 of the same thing you learn.

I think you need to go down to the knife making section . Get your self a cool beverage of choice a snack and read thru it before you hurt yourself or some one else. Not trying to be mean but if you don't know what you are dealing with knife making can be dangerous.

The maker is thier own biggest critic. Nice looking push dagger.

Anvil envy has never been a problem before . Black Frog you have an exceptional anvil there .