Don A

Ron, Would you mind showing us a shot of the back of the roses? I'm having a hard time getting mine to close up around the stem. Any hints? Beautiful work, by the way. Don

Jens, Good question; let's see if this works: You are correct... one hole drilled thru (just like for a pin) and two half-circles filed top & bottom (with a small round file). This should keep it locked in tight.

Already gave this one away: This is a full-tang integral bolster from the front coil spring of a

Flint 'n steel fire kits always go good. You can burn the paint off of Altoid boxes and make a decent looking tin, load it with a fire-steel, a flint or two, and a few strips of char cloth. Some days I have spent more time demonstrating fire making than blacksmithing. But they do sell good, especially if you have a bunch of pyro Boy Scouts on the site.

Thanks for the kind words. I really had a good time with this one. Ray, If you look real close at the pictures, you can see a slight halo on the blade that follows the shape of the guard. I was supposed to have this all polished out, but flash photography will show stuff you'd rather it didn't :wink: Anyway, this halo originally ran to just a light bronze color, and only as far as it shows, so the heat would have had no negative effects on the blade. I heated the pewter until it would just begin to scorch a sliver of pine wood (like a tooth-pick) and then poured it. This was my first try at pouring pewter, and I'll definitely be trying it again.

Here's my submission to the "scrounged materials" Knife in the Hat over on the Primal Fires site: The full-tang blade is an old Diston file from a hand full of "throw aways" an old gentleman gave me. The handle is black walnut from my 2003-04 wood pile. The guard is pewter from a melted-down yard sale tea pitcher. The pins are 10 penny nails. Over-all, about 8 5/8" with the blade around 4.5".

You don't need to anneal the steel, but you do need to make sure the surface is clean, free from rust and grease, before you stack your layers for welding.

This explains it better than I can: link removed at the request of Jock at anvilfire.

See if you can find some seasoned persimmon wood. They used a lot of it back when golf club "woods" were still wood. I cut one for firewood several years ago. I only thought that gum and elm were tough to split. The persimmon was like trying to split a steel-belted tire with a hammer.

3/4" t&g plywood

Here

I have used my 4" bench sander to resurface softer stones. But, I routinely abuse my sander, and I didn't mind loosing a little bit of the stone in the process.

Jason, Did you happen to see this in the John C. Campbell catalog?

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. Deuteronomy 6:3-5 Happy belated Rosh Hashannah.

Good score! All the 60 year-old tools I end up with usually look like mushrooms.

ha! We're almost on the same page there, as well. The stuff I use is called calcidium, but locally known as Tennessee agate (if we have any geologists on board, don't whack me too hard; I'm only repeating what I've bee told). It ranges from a translucent white to black. Beautiful stone, but mighty hard. I have made some decent points from it, but you can't beat it for gunflints and fire-steels. elkdoc, watch your PM box.

blacksmithtech, They got their link fixed: http://www.reboysupply.com/coal.htm Check the "analysis" link for details.

I'll pretty much second what Ralph said. I make all of mine out of files. When I finsh forging the striker, I heat it to non-mag and water quench just the striking edge; 1/8" to 1/4" up. But instead of throwing it on the floor, I'll hold it in this position with the tongs until the whole thing cools way past black. If I'm in the 18th century, I use the grindstone, if I'm at home, I use the bench sander; either way, you have to get the striking edge "in the white" with no scale. And remember, not all flint is created equal. I use some local stuff that is a knapper's nightmare, but man, it will throw a spark.

blacksmithtech, I was in a situation a couple months ago where I needed coal bad. I ended up ordering some from these Reboy Supply Their phone # is on this main page, so I'd just give them a call. Their blacksmith coal page has apparently been hijacked or something, all I can get is the order page, but the price list is on the page that won't come up. It is a not as hot and produces a bit more ash than the coal I got from Kayne's, but it is cheaper, even with the shipping charges (at least it was a couple months ago). With the price of gas, it actually saved me a good bit. Plus, UPS just brings it to your door in 100lb boxes. Don Edit: bad liinks removed as they do not work

I hear ya on the money. I'm still trying to master my filing technique. In other words, I can't afford either right now. I am going to try to make it to Ron's as much as I can. I got a "thing" during the day on Saturday, but I am hoping to be there Friday evening, at least part of Saturday, and maybe a while on Sunday. I'll be sure to look you up.

Jason, If money is as tight at your house as it is at mine, the Grizzly might be exactly what you need. But, if you are going to Bowie's hammer-in, hold up on spending any money until you look at Rob Frink's machines. http://www.beaumontmetalworks.com/ Man... those are amazing machines. The difference is that you can buy 2 or 3 Grizzlys for what one of these costs. Note that the motors and pulleys are not included in the package price. If Rob is there, he usually has a couple demos set up for folks to try. Don

From across the street: Links removed at the request of Jock at anvilfire.

Too many irons in the fire.

If I'm not mistaken, Dollywwod has dropped this program completely. I could be wrong, but I believe they have found roller coasters and food vendors to be more profitable than "craft preservation". They still have the shop in operation, but there's no training anymore; not that I know of. If they were still doing this, I'd be signed up for Richard Williams' class in a heartbeat.

Looks like some good info here: Links removed at the request of Jock at Anvilfire.