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I Forge Iron

Tri Moon Forge

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  1. A very well put together piece, I like the finish you used very much I may have to "borrow" it on my worker pieces. Mirror polish looks nice but on something that going to see rugged use I like the smooth grain finish.
  2. LOL, tell that to my Celtic ancestors, they inlayed everything. I will take some pictures of the next one I do and we'll see what you think of it.
  3. The spine is under an 1/8" thick but the tang is thicker than the spine. As for the short grind, I wanted a large blade surface as part of the over all design and I may add some copper inlay later on.
  4. For the bellows I made, the bottom board has four 1 1/2" holes with leather pieces as flaps, the board above it has three 1 1/2" holes going into the air box, the one above it has two more 1 1/2" hole with a leather flap. The air pipe going to the forge is 3/4" and blows air very well into the tuyer.
  5. After researching chimneys for blacksmithing, I found that you need a pipe that goes above the roof peak by at least 4 feet for optimal draft. The diameter of the pipe should also be at least 10" and the topper is twice the diameter of the pipe. So if you are using a 10" pipe the cone topper should be 20" above the end of the pipe. As for your hood a side draft would be a good choice as it allows for large pieces to be heated without to many clearance issues. Another thing is to use good quality Blacksmithing coke for minimal smoke and fumes from your fire.
  6. Another tip is to turn the blower and then turn it with your hand over the outlet offering resistance. They were designed to be used with coke/coal over the tuyer blocking some of the airflow. However if it is grinding and making racket it could be anything as described above. Let us know what you find out and I'm kinda jealous you found a hand crank for your forge. I looked and looked but couldn't find a working one within my budget so I ended up building a double action bellows.
  7. The remaining blade has none of the defects remaining, I also have placed it in a vice and put all my weight against it in both directions. I've also done a ping test and it rings clear, not dull. Thank you all for your kind words on the blade. I will have more blades to post and appreciate comments and suggestions on them.
  8. Thank you, it was a little frustrating but like I said it is a great knife. Here's the original inspiration on the right. It started with a lot more material and was supposed to be about 16" in length. The cracks were very severe runing from the edges and lateral, forcing me to loose almost half the blade. I realize that I could probably weld it but I have always felt that if something comes up like this it is meant to be. (Read, I don't have a welder and the forge wasn't cooperating for welding heat that day)
  9. Looks really nice, the sheath is well crafted as well.
  10. In the crafting of this blade the forge and steel "helped" in it's crafting. I started with a shape I saw from the London exhibit of Celtic knives. The metal was an old leaf spring and started to show many cracks and defects in the metal and had to remove them. At one point the forge got a little to hot and when I pulled it out, the forge had taken a piece for itself, lol. This is also my first handle job and selected Red Oak. So all in all, this is the outcome and I'm happy with the results.
  11. Here is my first blade, a Celtic Seax. I crafted it from a 7/8" square stock, 13" in length. Now it is 17 1/4" long, 2 1/2" wide and a 6 1/4" handle. Not completely finished yet but as you can see from the picture it buried half the blade in one swing.
  12. Here is my current forge. I made the bellows, used a brake drum for the fire pot and lined the cut section of a 55 gallon drum with concrete.
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