Don A

Welcome, Shade Tree. I just registered over at Shop Floor Talk (used you as my reference ) I bought my first welder last week (Lincoln 225). I look forward to the interaction. Don A

Nick, I've been wanting to make one of these myself. I like the curled claws. You might want to double check the direction you cupped the blade: Remember, these tools cut back toward yourself.

First off, before you get bogged down in the age and name brand of used files, do a little research and experimentation with spark testing, and you can eliminate the undesirables pretty quickly. But yeah... you can't go wrong with old Black Diamonds. Also, remember the old blacksmith's addage concerning knives... "If a blade you hope to win; forge it thick and grind it thin." More accomplished bladesmiths are going to be better at "forging to shape" and doing minimal stock removal to finish the blade. They are going to hammer their bevels out to an almost finished edge. Us rookies are often better off to to forge the profile, establish the bevels, then leave plenty of beef for the grinder (or file, as the case may be). Especially with the old files; this allows you to file or grind all the remnant of the teeth. Make sure no sign of the teeth remain before you harden the blade. The teeth marks can be cracks waiting to happen when you quench the blade.

Thank you all for the input. We'll try to get things cleaned up and burning this weekend. And you guys are not joking about the intensity of a creosote chimney fire. Been there and done that in the old days, when my stove chimney had a 6" liner. Now, my newer chimney has a 12" liner, and it stays clean as a pin. It's only the pipe that gives me trouble. I must confess, I am bad to burn my wood a little too quick (not fully seasoned), and we do choke the stove down to nothing to hold fire over night. No danger of running low on wood this year, so I'll just try to crank it up and feed it more often. I appreciate it, Don

I have an Ashley side-door wood heater in my basement. I like it for the most part, but sometimes if the conditions are right, the thimble into the chimney will get extremely corroded with creosote. I'm not talking about the brittle, foamy stuff that brushes out easily. This stuff is like black hot-melt glue. When it's cool, you can chip it with a screw-driver. If it gets in the pipe, you can take the pipe outside and burn it out (and it certainly does burn). However, I have some that has run down my brick work. I have chiseled off a lot of the solid part, but it has left a bad stain. Any idea what might disolve this stuff? It will be indoors, so I have to be careful about fumes and such. I thought about oven cleaner, but I thought I'd ask first. Figured somebody here would have a trick up their sleeve. Thanks, Don

yesteryear, Congrats on a very interesting find. What is the intended application of that drop hammer? What type of work was it designed for?

Fantastic. Thanks to all for the instruction and input. It'll be Saturday before I can fire the forge, but I am looking forward to applying all of the above. I'll try to follow up with some pics if this project ever materializes. I appreciate the help. Don

I need some help with my forging technique when it comes to leaves and other similarly shaped objects. I am using round stock, and trying to end up with a somewhat

Please be sure to keep us posted on your progress. This looks very promising (especially for those of us at an 18th century site bangin' on a London pattern anvil).

Looks like this: (not my sword; just a good picture)

Welcome, Victor. I look forward to seeing your work.