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 .