Wolf's Den Armoury

I'm kind of like John Larson on this. I treat my customers the way *I* would expect to be treated if I was the customer. I also try to remember the axiom of "A happy customer will tell 5 of his/her friends. An Unhappy one will tell everyone else." Most of my business is by word of mouth. I really don't mind the word spreading slowly, as long as the customers stay happy with my products. David

Why not just make it *into* a rattle? Would make nice baby gifts. David

Just wondering. Smithing outside (well, not right not. Tuyere *FELL OFF* my forge, so I'm done until I can repair the firepan), and occasionally the temps in the Fall can get a bit chilly. My wife seems to think that the cold weather, specifically how it relates to my anvil's temperature will adversely affect my forging successes and failures. Is this true? Or are we both just showing a bit of ignorance of blacksmithing? Thanks, David

I'd love to go to a hammer in or even just another smith's shop that was close by. Anyone here from up-state Vermont? I'm 3 miles from Lake Champlain and 22 miles from the Canadian border. I feel pretty darned isolated up here. David

Over the last few months that I've been a member here (and blacksmithing), I've read several references to metal hardness that are, quite frankly confusing to me. Specifically, in referring to the use of springs or files for knife making, flint strikers or tools What's confusing to me is this... While these are good very hard metals, once you've brought the metal up to a very bright heat, doesn't this hardness go away until a proper quench/heat treat happens? Or is there something I'm missing in the metalurgy class I forgot to go to? Thanks, David

not a problem. My wife tends to refer to me as "a veritable warehouse of worthless information" :p That, and I have an almost perverse obsession with history and facts. lol D.

C-Clamps...I must have 15 or 20 of them in various sizes. I don't even know where half of them came from. I also have tons and tons of pliers, but those are from my work as a maillesmith.

Well, I finally made what I think is my first truly usable piece. A cheese slicer, made of 3/8 round stock (mild steel), squared, flattened, drawn and twisted. Wire is 0.035" diameter 5356 Aluminum. Wire-brush finished. The handle didn't quite turn out as I had originally planned. was working in near dark (5:00 pm December 4th in Northern New England) and night-blinded a bit by my forge, so all things considered, I guess it turned out ok. [---DIAL-UP WARNING! NON-RESIZED PIC---] http://www.wolfsdenarmoury.com/images/blacksmithing/who%20cut%20the%20cheese.jpg Comments? Suggestions? Cheesecake? David

Actually, Jimbob, the cross on the flag of Scotland is known as the St. Andrew's Cross. Andrew is said to have been martyred by crucifixion at Patras (Patrae) in Achaea. Though early texts, such as the Acts of Andrew known to Gregory of Tours, describe Andrew bound, not nailed, to a Latin cross of the kind on which Christ was crucified, a tradition grew up that Andrew had been crucified on a cross of the form called Crux decussata (X-shaped cross) and commonly known as "Saint Andrew's Cross"; this was performed at his own request, as he deemed himself unworthy to be crucified on the same type of cross on which Christ was crucified. About the middle of the tenth century, Andrew became the patron saint of Scotland. Several legends state that the relics of Andrew were brought under supernatural guidance from Constantinople to the place where the modern town of St Andrews stands today Hope this clears things up. David

Well, given the size I ended up with, I wouldn't be able to pull it apart by hand anyway. Thanks for the advice Phil. I'll give those ideas a try tomorrow (pre-bird coma). I always thought the metal needed to be struck. Nice to know that a simple push might work. Would that work witha jump weld (1-1/4" square tubing onto 4" x 8" plate for a portable hardy hole)?

I was screwing around the other day and decided to give a try at forge welding a "folded onto itself" billet. Folded it in half four times, and I *think* I got it to forge welding heat, brought it out of the fire (coal forge), put in on the anvil, and (as advised a few times in several places) tapped the billet lightly with the hammer. Question is (and yes, this might be a *really* stupid question).... How do I *know* this piece is actually welded? there seems to be an area between the folds where there is a "filled section", but its recessed about 1/16" from the edge, leaving the individual folds obviously visible. So basically, I really don't know for certain if this is a successful forge weld or not. :confused: Thanks for the help, David

'bout all I can think of I'm thankful for is that I have a forge and sufficient tools to learn this craft and beat the heck out of steel to work out my frustrations, this forum and the people here to help me learn.

Just wondering... Has anyone here ever made one? I know they're fairly easy to find if you know where to look, be it flea markets, ebay, or what have you. But it might make for an interesting project. (much more advanced than *I* am personally ready for ) David

You didn't mention what kind of forge you have. If it's a solid fuel forge, you might already have the solution right in front of you. This might be a little simplistic, but maybe set up a reflector of some sort (maybe high polished stainless sheet?) at an angle over your forge? If positioned right, it would reflect the heat from the forge out into the rest of the shop. You're already burning fuel to heat the steel, why not use the escaping heat?

Can I assume that *this* is the style you're referring to? This is from somewhere between 1740-1790. From what I can tell, dablacksmith is correct. I might add telescoping or removable handles to give the ability to move it safely.