Andrew Smith

I usually use a belt sander with a 36 grit belt. Then a spokeshave or rasp to fine tune it.

Thanks for the info. I will measure my dies tomorrow and see. I think the 25# is going to work well for me right now since it is still mostly just a hobby that makes a little money. I am not an expert but I am somewhat mechanically inclined and I had a feeling that this hammer could be hitting harder than what it was so I decided to do a little work. I am going to call Sid Tuesday -he is probably closed Monday for memorial day- and order me another spring and toggle arm. Have you ever seen anyone place the top clutch block about .2" closer so if you want the hammer to run slower then the top clutch is the only thing touching when you first press the treadle, thus allowing slightly more control. I read that somewhere but I can't remember where that was. -Andrew

I think my dies are ok. When I bought the DVD from Sid, he sent me some papers and on one of the papers it said something to the effect that the dies for 25lb little giants are 3" tall. Is that 3" per die or 3" combined thickness for both? @ dsloan, can I increase the stock thickness that I can work by adjusting the pitman? I don't work anything larger than 2" very often but that would be something good to know, just in case.

Ok guys, thanks for the help. Metalgnome, the right toggle arm is brazed and that was a question I was going to ask next. I have a spring guard but I took it off to take the pics. -Andrew

I just went to the shop and realized that I might have just asked a sort of dumb question. By screwing in the bolt, it presses in a deal, I don't know what to call it, thus tensioning up the spring. But even with the bolt tightened all the way the spring is still loose enough to turn with my hand. I also have a second question, sometimes I will be running the hammer and I will have a hit, cycle around and miss, turn another cycle and have a soft tap then one more cycle and it will hit hard again and run normal for awhile. Is that because of the spring tension also?

I bought a 25# little giant hammer a few weeks ago and I also bought Sid Suedmeier's DVD. The spring could use some adjustment but I don't know exactly what to do because mine is one of the new style hammers and Sid demonstrates how to adjust an early model hammer. My serial number starts with a 7, I can't remember the rest of it right now. The spring is loose enough that I can easily spin it barehanded and there is a small gap between the toggle arm and spring. I attached a pic to show what I mean. Thanks in advance. -Andrew

I have made lots of tomahawks but I decided to make an axe so I made a Viking looking axe with a 7" wide blade. I used a wrap and weld method, I think that's what it is called, cold rolled steel wrapped around and a 1075 bit. On to the problem, I got the whole thing finished and started chopping and throwing it but there are a few places where the forge weld did not take right and the low carbon section of steel started to peel off of the bit. I wanted to know if I can salvage it and re-weld it or if I need to throw it in the "Mess-up" pile and start over.

I was not planning on using wrought iron on this one. I know there are several ways of doing it and I was planning on maybe punching and drifting the eye but I am open to any suggestions. -Andrew

I have made lots of tomahawks in the past but none of them had a blade wider than 4". I was wanting to make a viking axe with a blade around 7" wide. I can forge it but I just wanted to know the best way to do it and what size stock I should start with, hopefully save myself some trial-and-error. I attached a drawing of it. It is not perfect but you get the idea. -Andrew

Those are really good looking.

I have been looking around at presses and I was wondering what would work well for slitting and drifting. There are lots of different types but what do you think will work best and what are some prices on them? Thanks in advance. -Andrew

I started with a BBQ pit forge, hair dryer, channel lock pliers, cross pein hammer and a vise with a small anvil on the back. Th forge eventually got so warped that I dug a hole in the ground and put the forge in the hole. I had to kneel down to work the fire and ran the air line underground. -Andrew

Bruce Wilcock, really appreciate it, what is the best way for me to contact you about shipping and paying you? I was intending to only get a small amount for now just to try it out. winterbear, thanks for the link, I need something larger than 5/8" for tomahawks but I will remember that incase I need it for something else. -Andrew

I know that wrought iron can be found at flea markets and antique shows but I don't know of many around here. I am wanting to start using wrought iron on some tomahawks and I was wonder if anyone knows where to buy it. I found this site, http://www.realwroughtiron.com/ Has anyone bought form here before or know anywhere that I can get it? Thanks for the help, -Andrew

Ok, thanks for the help. I am gong to make one sometime in the near future. -Andrew

I am wanting to make my first hidden tang/ stub tang knife but I have a quick question. I was going to use Bocote but I was wondering if the wood will be affected by moister changes. I have found tutorials online about how to stabilize blanks yourself. Should I stabilize or would it be fine by just leaving it as is with a good coat of Tru-Oil? I have made lots of tomahawks but this is my first hidden tang knife. Thanks for any comments and help. -Andrew

I really liked it, thanks for sharing! I watched it about three times then kept watching a few parts over. -Andrew

I leave the teeth on it just because, like already said, it leaves a little more steel on the hawk and it really doesn't matter once you get it up to heat and forge weld it. I have made quite a few, never put the detail into it like cutshurt, which, nice piece by the way. If you are new to forgewelding then I would recommend only wrapping the rasp around a forgewedling it together, don't worry about the extra piece of steel in the middle until you get better because it only gives you one forge weld to worry about instead of two, just my 2.25 cents (adjusted for inflation) The teeth also kind of help grip the handle as well if they are not smashed completely flat while I'm drifting it. -Andrew

Well, I have anvilosis. The only reason that I have not relapsed into full blown anvilites is because I do not have the funds in order to indulge on my anvil addiction. I do, however, have the time to indulge in my blacksmithing/ blademaking addiction and spend every spare minute in the shop, and like mentioned earlier, I ain't gonna take no 12 step program either, I have too much fun. -Andrew

Thanks for the great link! I will see what they say :)

Bob, Thanks for your input and your tip. I will probably shorten it and curl it tomorrow and upload another pic. Thanks, -Andrew

Kydex is a hard, tough plastic material that is very flexible when you heat it to around 150-200F but is hard when it cools. When it's hot it can be molded. It is used in a lot of military stuff and tactical equipment. You can use it for gun holsters, sheaths and pretty much anything you can think of.

Hey guys, I have a customer who wants a kydex sheath and he wants to be able to strap the sheath onto his back pack and just pull straight down on the handle to get the hawk out of the sheath. I made one but I haven't been working with kydex very long so my question is this, Will the kydex eventually loosen up or will it stay the same? Here are the pics of the sheath. The hawk won't come out if you pull it straight down but if you sort of pull the blade point down first, like the second pic shows, then it works great. Thanks in advance, -Andrew

Thanks for all of your input. I have been smithing for two years now and about all that I have made is knives and tomahawks and have managed to sell them really well. I can make other things easily but for the life of me I could not think of anything to make tonight. I am probably going to make a hot dog fork, some hooks and maybe a few leaves. Anyway, thank for your input. -Andrew

I was asked by a a local Royal Ranger outpost to come and do a demo this Wednesday night, Just so you know, Royal Rangers is basically christian Boy Scouts, they are not the same group but are very similar. I was trying to think of something to make that was quick, interesting, and entertaining for the boys. About the only thing that I really make is Tomahawks and knives but those are too time consuming for a quick demo. I was thinking maybe a rr spike knife. Anyway, I was just wanting some input on some good ideas for something quick and easy. Thanks, -Andrew