Alan B

I attended a hammer in last June and watched Steve King use sand as flux on a damascus billet. It welded fine and didn't seem to affect the pattern so I know it's possible. Trattoclip, I'm not sure why you would use silica sand, we mix silica sand with brick cement for chimney flews and such because it won't melt and break down the mortar. It is available at Lowe's and other home improvement stores with the cement products.

Way to go Dale. This is proof that with enough beer and imagination anything is possible. LOL. Really nice hammer Dale, let us know how it works.

No luck involved. Looks like you've aquired some good skills. Keep on hammerin. Congrats !

I try to have everything set up to be convenient while I'm working. On big jobs I may even write everything out in order and create a step by step process to follow. I find that having a plan before I start tends to help me accomplish more, faster and with less waiste. This is a good point Rich, thanx for bring it to mind.

salt water etching is about the most controllable. Place clear masking tape on the degreased blade. Use an exacto knife to cut the name or what ever you want to etch out of the tape and remove it from the blade surface.Now take a 1/4 teaspoon of salt to 8 ounces of water and use an eye dropper to create a puddle over the area you want to etch. You can use a 9 volt battery as your power source or an 11 volt phone charger. Hook negative terminal to the blade and just dip the positive terminal in the salt water solution, don't let it ground to the knife. You may have to change the salt solution a few times to get the depth you want but this process is very easy to control. There is a blue print on this process if you need more info.

JR, You and Cookie are in my prayers. Let us know if we can do anything. God Bless. Alan

When I grow up I wanna be like Rich. Excellant work Rich. I love the detail you put into each knife you make. You truly are a craftsman.

I like to mix 1 tablespoon of japan dryer to 2 cups linseed oil then apply at a black heat. It dries quickly and leaves a nice flat black finish almost like seasoned cast iron. It is also food safe so I coat all my grills with it.

AST, I don't dilute the muriatic but I do keep a close eye on it. Check your blades every 30 minutes or so. You can also mix 7 parts muriatic to 1 part ferric chloride to get more colors out of the steel. Use this in a well ventilated area. It will release a lot of chlorine gas.

Bibble, Try here Burden Sales Surplus Center. They have all kinds of blowers and are easy to deal with. I have been doing business with them for several years with no problems.

Nice vine pattern on the spine. Very good file work. Nicely done.

Thanx for all the info gentlemen. This really helps.

Taking a chisel and cutting an "x" on the face of the metal straddling the bolt hole will give texture for the head to bite into. You could also take a good sharp center punch and punch a line along the edges of the bolt head in the base metal. This creates a raised bump for the head to press against.

More than likely it is W-2. This is a water hardening knife but quench it in oil to avoid stress cracking and warpage. It will make a good knife.

Does anyone know what size holes to drill in a piece of pipe to make a burner using lp gas. This is not for a forge it's for a heating tank.

My favorite is a 2 pound diagonal pien hammer made by our own Jr. Strasil, aka...irn sgn

I have welded rail road rails with thermite and I can tell you it is nasty stuff. Unless the iron you are wanting to cut is at least an inch thick I believe I would seek out another alternative. If you are set on using thermite, one way to control the flow of molten metal is to place the thermite in a clay pot with a weep hole in the bottom. This will allow the molten metal to flow down and through the piece below it. Please use great care.

I visit the sites that I like and stay away from the others. I was and am a member of anvilfire before Glenn started IFI. Jock was having some resource and time problems and was unable to keep up with the demands of the web site. This is in no way a slam against Jock or anvilfire. He simply did not have enough time between work, life and family to spend hours toiling over anvilfire. Glenn started this site not to be in competition with Jock but kind of as a sister site even though the 2 sites aren't affiliated. In the early days of IFI I remember spending many hours conversing with Glenn about this site and how he was concerned that he did not want to be in competition with Jock. Glenn let the site grow kind of naturally and it has blossomed into a beautiful thing. He has put a lot of thought, effort and time into it and all the while keeping his concern for other sites and their administrators at the fore front. Over the last few years I have seen people come and go due to differences of opinion but Glenn has done a wonderful job of keeping this site on course for us. If some one disagrees with something said they can voice their opinion but keep it civil and don't run it into the ground. We can all agree to disagree sometimes, thats what adults do. All this leads me to say one thing. Glenn doesn't do things to be vindictive or selfish. I've know him to be an upright and moral person whose love of his craft has led him to give us this wonderful gift. Everything Glenn does is for a good reason and the betterment of this site.

I usually heat a scrap piece and place it in a bucket of sand. Heat the piece I want annealled and burry it in the warm sand over night. The slower the steel cools the better it will anneall

Well done SJBC

As always Rich, it's a beautiful knife. I really like the work you put into the handles and furniture on your knives.

Beautiful handle work Rich.

Colleen, I visited your web site, you do amazing work. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your travels in India and your experiences there. To help us help you how about posting a pic of a scottish thistle and challenge everyone to make a version. Pick the one you like and the maker can post the process for you.

I have a guillotine that I patterned after Jr. Strasil, AKA irn sgn. The blades are made of 5160 leaf spring. I haven't wore any out and the tool is 5 years old. I also only work hot material with it.

Luke, For my power hammer I inverted one spring on the other and clamped them tight. Then put a hot collar on each end to hold the springs together. This straightened it out about 80%.