Don A

Don't know the guy, but this is just a few mile from where I live: http://knoxville.craigslist.org/tls/3278463304.html Looks like a nice 'un.

Tom, It is black stove polish with several coats of clear-coat. Adam, Here's his blog: http://www.lanternsoflight.blogspot.com/ I'm sure there is contact info on there somewhere. If not, pm me and I'll give you get you in touch. Adam, Here's his blog: http://www.lanternsoflight.blogspot.com/ I'm sure there is contact info on there somewhere. If not, pm me and I'll give you get you in touch.

Good job. From your initial description, you can quickly eliminate two of your challenges: 1. Dress your hammer. 2. Forge some tongs. I have found that eliminating the frustration of sub-standard tools is half the battle.

Mr. Poelker, Will you be using charcoal? I assume so for 1820's. I use a side-blast with bellows rig at the historic site where I volunteer. My "forge" is pretty much a large iron angle with a 1.5" pipe welded at bottom center. I keep a selection of fire brick handy and arrange them for whatever fire width/length/depth I might need. If you are using charcoal, try to arrange your forge so that you can have 4 or 5" fuel under the work with about as much over it. You will be suprised how little air you need in a good, deep fire, especially with smaller stock.

I usually just spread mine out and let it go out on its own (like Michael said), but you can shovel it into a metal tub or bucket about half full of water (be careful though... lots of steam). After it cools, you can drain the water out, spread it out and let it dry (like Thomas said), or just use it damp around a new fire.

Thanks again. And yes, he seemed very pleased.

Thank ye gents. I appreciate the kind words.

I met a gentleman on a reenactment forum that makes really beautiful 18th wooden lanterns. He sells his work at trade fairs and such, so he wanted a couple hangers for a custom sign he had made. He asked for one free-standing hanger and one pole-mounted hanger. This is what I came up with: The free-standing one is built to take down for easy transport: Here they are with his sign: Don

Ditch the briquettes and get some Cowboy, Royal Oak, etc., real lump charcoal. Set up to get a 6 - 8" deep fire. Keep a steady, gentle air blast. You iron should be centered in the fire, i.e. there should be as much burning fuel above your piece as there is above your piece.

Real wrought, if it's clean, welds great. You generally weld wrought to wrought at a nearly white heat. The problem with the introduction of HC steel is that you will burn the HC at normal WI welding heat, so you have to consider that when making the weld. I have layered WI with old files with good results (san mai style), but it is easy to burn the edge of the file to the point it will ruin the steel. When welding WI with HC, go with a welding heat you would normally use for the HC. A good weld is worthless if you end up with a bunch of cracks in your steel.

Those appear to be log / ember tongs for a fireplace. If they are in good condition, you might want to research the antique value of them before you modify them in any way. These were popular on the hearths of homes in the 18th century. Any idea about the history on the site where you were working? http://eronjohnsonantiques.com/dynapage/IP6280.htm http://louwersantiques.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=31603 http://louwersantiques.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=31618

I did one of those a couple years ago. I cheated and hid a weld on the inside of mine. Your's looks a lot nicer with the lap and rivets. That cold curling is noisey, but it's fun. Keep the pictures comig as you progress. Good job.

I think you might be wasting some good blade stock. IMO, 2'x4' is overkill for a beginning portable forge. Plus, 3/16" HC steel is gonna burn through pretty quick as a fire pot. Surely you can get your hands on a 55 gallon barrel and a brake drum? Are you going to be burning charcoal or coal? I've seen some fine charcoal forges made out of old bbq grills.

On a hidden tang, I always put my blade into a can of water or wet sand and draw the temper waaaayyyy back on the tang with a MAPP torch. As you already hinted though, a file can always have pre-existing flaws, so it's hard to tell. Don't despair... just cut the tang back a bit and braze some more length to it.

I scrounge the yard sales for 1/4" Allen head wrenches and forge mine from them. I harden them and temper them back to blue. Most of my customers are reenacting British F&I War and they can be very abusive to their musket tools on the old Bess. I've seen several deform a mild screw driver when torquing down the cock screw. Any screw driver will work best if it is custom filed for the intended screw. Ideally, they should fill the slot in both thickness and width.

Avoid turning 40. I am seven years past now and not having much luck with it.

Very nice rig. I love working in charcoal.

My hammer seldom touches the steel at what will be the thickest point. If the stock is 1/4", it will remain very close to 1/4" at the blade/handle transition (ricasso area). As it is forged it will taper from 1/4" to super thin at the tip and the butt as well (distal taper). Looking down on the spine it should have a sort of diamond shape to it. This all happens along the way as you are also forging your bevels.

Depends on your welding skills. All pattern welded (damascus) blades are welded. Seems like a lot of work for a low carbon (low-medium carbon at best) piece of steel. Even HC spikes are inferior compared to real blade steels. A known steel in a close dimension is always best, but leaf or large coil spring would be better if you're set on scrap steel. If, for some reason, you were married to the idea of a spike handle, you might split the spike and weld in some decent steel; san mai style.

Welcome Lee. I'm in E. Tennessee, but I call Orange Beach my home away from home at least one week every Spring. And good score on the Mouse Hole. I bought an old one as my first real anvil. Still got it.

Sam, I don't have an Old World, but I do have a EuroAnvil at home and work with a couple of Jymn Hoffman's cast anvils on a regular basis. Compared to the glass-hard face of an old Peter Wright, the faces are definitely softer, but as long as you only hit hot steel on them, you are fine. It's those errant blows and momentary lapses of reason when we hit a cold piece that will show the difference. Don

I use a German (Euro) and like it a lot. I especially like the cone shaped horn as opposed to the rhinosaurus snout on many Londons.

Are you talking about a mark for iron work or for a blade? I hot-mark my iron work with a stamp I made. I used to use it on my blades, but I have recently started electro-etching them.

A sub-seax... that's a cool idea. You are fortunate to have trained with Mr. Bush.

Great looking work... as always.