rsilver4

Very nice hawk Butch! When you use a ballpein hammer or something that has been heat treated in some way do you anneal it before you start beating on it or just start beating on it?

You certainly have a high level of craftsmanship, I really appreciate seeing that.
I hope that your recovery is speedy. I have had two friend recently go through the very same surgery and are now doing just fine and back to doing all they did before, well almost every thing

You work on getting well! We need more work like yours out in the world!

(And as my Drs like to tell me---trying to push my limits usually *slows* down my recovery!)

Perhaps now would be a good time to read up on the craft?

You can correct the bulge by cooling the side that's out too far with water and leave the other side hot and redrift,done it a bunch of times--even thickness on both sides and an even heat is very important,but sometimes it goes wrong anyway Regards Butch

Thank you George,I appreciate that- -Regards Butch

Thanks guys, I appreciate the kind words,going to be tough not forgeing for a while dangit!! Regards - Butch
ps: the wood is curly maple

Hi,that's one of mine,I sell mainly on Ebay,a pretty cool twist,a little time consuming to do right,but a good excercise in chiseling.thanks for posting---Regards Butch

Hi great job,matt was right no need to anneal unless youre going to grind or file cold.I have done a pile of them and it is a job to hand forge them,I couldn't do it without my faithful tirehammer--keep on hammerin Regards Butch

Table is forged from 1 1/2" square Bar. Morning Glory's are forged from 3/4" round stock. Trumpet flowers are forged from 1/2" round. Hummingbirds are forged from 3/4" square stock. Fun project.

Go to this site,they have the no-weld grinder plans--

US Knife Makers!, Operated by a knifemaker for knifemakers!

You should have normalized the blade a couple of times before the quench,if you get any warping you can straighten then.To normalize heat to orange or non-magnetic and let cool to black---Regards Butch

Late to the party but here are a couple of mine--Regards Butch

Got mine from these guys,did a great job-- Harper Manufacturing

If you believe the coil spring is too hard. Heat it to non-magnetic and stick it in either a bucket of wood ash, Lye, vermiculite, or pearlite to soften it.

Could possibly be cast steel ,don't know,if so it would be worth it.I personally would want to put a hammer to it:D

I don't know if anybody is interested,but this 100 lb. anvil is listed as a steel anvil-Regards Butch

100 lb. Steel Anvil (WT Import) at Wholesale Tool Company | Industrial Machinery + Tool Supply

Here's a knife,hawk and cobra,used a ton of em-Regards Butch

They also make great steak flippers,spoons,etc--

I have turned the gas off to do texturing on a few things,leaves a bumpy porous texture-Regards butch

I recently bought a 2 burner blacksmith model,I am very pleased with it.I usually run it at 5 psi I haven't tried welding in it yet, but I have no doubt it's up to it.Dennis is a very nice guy and I picked it up at his shop.The idler valve is nothing but a ball valve with a stop to keep it from closing all the way.You can't beat the price either.If you can, invest in a 100 lb. tank,lasts a good long time and won't freeze up on you---Regards Butch

The haft has a taper to match the taper of the hawk drift,so it's a friction fit that is very secure-Regards Butch

When I made mine and I made quite a few,I would cut to size using a table saw,then use a 4 1/2" angle grinder to get the basic teardrop shape then finish onthe belt grinder.you need a taper to match the hawk drift-Regards Butch

After several attempts here's the first one I'm reasonably happy with. I still have some clean up to do and handle to make.

I'm pretty sure I got the eye shape backwards but not really sure. I don't have a drift to speak of, but I have a large cone shaped chunk of metal that got me close and rest has been file work. I also need to run it thru some kind quench, any suggestions?

Russell

He acts a little more like Buckwheat:D