Phillip Patton

Hey all, Almost five years ago, I acquired a #75 Bradley hammer, and since then I've been using the dies that came with it. The upper die works fine, but the lower keeps deforming on me. I suspect it may be mild steel. Anyway, I decided recently to make a couple sets of dies out of a forklift tine that I have since I've read that they are usually 4340 or 4140. So I chopped it up into sections with my bandsaw, but decided to slice off a thin piece and try heat treating it first, before going to any more trouble. I soaked one sample piece at 1575 F for 30 minutes, then quenched in oil. After it had cooled to room temperature, I tried to break it in a vise, and couldn't. Tested it for hardness, and it's 23 RC. I have another sample soaking at 1475, and I'm going to water quench it. I expect similar results, though. So, what do you guys think? My data sheets for 4340 and 4140 say they should have an as-quenched hardness in the low 50's RC. Have there ever been forklift tines made out of mild steel? Thanks for your help, Phillip

Hey all, I don't know where to look for this information except here, so I was wondering if someone would know how old my hammer is, and would you mind sharing that information? :) It's a 75 lbs, guided helve, serial # 1962. Here's a couple pictures: If you need any more info, let me know. Thanks in advance, Phillip

Yeah, it was a good junkyard anvil, but the shape wasn't very versatile. I'm still using two of them as a base for my "real" anvil.

No problem. :-) If you were asking about the round anvil, it was made of some rollers from a steel mill. They were H13. I've since graduated to a Mankel anvil.

Thanks for the kind words everybody! Now that I've had it for awhile, I don't really see myself throwing this one in the river. ;-) I'm working my next one, and also a katana. I'll probably be posting some in progress pics sometime. Steel.

Hey all, Just thought I'd share some pics of my latest sword. I started it three and a half years ago, and just finished it last week. It’s similar to a Petersen Type L. The blade is 30-3/4″ long, and is pattern welded with three core bars, and high layer edge wrap. Steel is 1084 and 15n20. The fittings are also damascus (O1 and L6), and the grip is desert ironwood covered with leather. The whole thing weighs 23.7 ounces. It balances about 6" from the guard. Some pictures of the finished project. Well, just the sword. Have to make the scabbard yet. Thanks for looking, Phillip

The blade is 7" long, 1" wide at the widest, 3/4" at the narrowest, and about 1/4" thick at the guard.

Yeah, I do know her! Well, not personally. Nice lady; I liked her. Small world! I actually almost stopped at your place last summer. My dad and I were biking the Greenway, which goes past your street. But I didn't know your address. :)

Thanks all for the kind comments! Hey Steve, Yeah, we should get together sometime! Problem is finding the time. Same reason I dont go to the blacksmith meetings, I guess. How about we try for February?

I actually started this one about a year ago, and I’ve been working on it off and on (mostly off) since then. The blade is 7″ long, Gordians Knot damascus. The guard is opposing twist damascus. The spacer is bronze, the handle is desert ironwood. Thanks for looking!

My 75 pound Bradley has a 99 pound ram. :)

I just wish I could get the same prices he does. :D

The stand it came with is too tall, and like you said, kind of bouncy, so here's what I have it sitting on: It's a bunch of 2 X 4s stacked, then a couple of big rings which weigh 64 pounds each, if my memory serves me correctly. The rings are a couple of rollers from a steel mill. They're hardened H13. B)

I’ve been wanting a nice anvil for several years now, but most of the ones I've seen around here are either banged up or too small. Every now and then I check Craigslist, and recently, saw a Mankel anvil only 15 minutes from here, so I jumped on it. It was advertised as 125#, but when I picked it up, I knew it was less than that. Felt like about 100# when I got it off the truck. By the time I got to the gate, it felt like 300#. When I got it in the house, I was sure it was a 500 pounder. I weighed it, and it’s actually 111, which is about what the one I have now weighs. But this one is a Mankel, and my old one is a made in Russia ASO, so it should perform much better. It's actually a farriers anvil, but should work just fine for blades. My old one: The new one. It’s in almost new condition. I paid $350 for it plus the stand. Did I get gouged, or did is this a good deal? This guy has more farrier supplies for sale, in case any one here needs any. Phillip

Hi, I use ferric chloride. I make mine using powder, but I forget the recipe offhand. You don't want it too strong, or the steel will look ugly. I like multiple, long, slow etches. Phillip

You should try to use steels that are very similar as far as forging and heat treating properties. 1084 and 15n20 are great together. Stainless and carbon are going to be a big disappointment, unless you use a non hardening stainless and heat treat it for the carbon steel. Even if you get it to work, performance isn't going to be good.

Steel: 416/W2/416 laminate Hardness: 61-62 RC Blade length: 6" Blade thickness: about 1/8" at the plunge grind Handle material: desert ironwood Thanks for looking!

Glad to hear you got it going! Now, where's the video? :D

Well, I just got the pics from the pro photographer yesterday:

Well, thank you for saying so! You're not doing too bad yourself, and I enjoy your families website and blogs. Most of the stuff on my website was forged under your hammer. As you said, it hits HARD. I've used it to forge down 2" round CPM M4, which is a very high alloy tool steel. Did you check out the WIP thread I did recently in the knifemaking subforum? You might find it interesting. Glad to hear it! You have another, smaller compressor, right? Have you tried hooking it up at the same time as the bigger one? If you do this, and the hammer doesn't bog down, then you'll know it's a CFM problem. How warm is it there? You might still want to use the heater on the main valve until the weather really warms up. I would think yours would be big enough. My compressor is only 5 HP, and puts out around 20 CFM. But mine is two stage, and has 4 cylinders, so I'm not sure how to compare the two. My compressor comes on about 95 to 100, and shuts off around 120-125. Maybe it would work to raise the lower number up to where the hammer starts to bog down? Hopefully someone with more compressor expertise will chime in here. Try doubling up your compressor before you sell it. I really hope it doesn't come to that, but you shouldn't have a problem selling. You got it all fixed up and painted. LOL If you do hook the two compressors together, you should probably have check a valve on the lower pressure one, or just set the max pressure to be the same. Go ahead and try it. I moved the valve around all the time to suit different requirements. I'm no expert either, so I hope I hope someone who knows more will speak up and confirm or refute what I've said. :P

Yeah, if you have the lines to the cylinder switched, it won't budge. :)

Thanks to everyone who commented! Your kind words are much appreciated. :)

Maybe this picture will show what I'm talking about better. This is the side that faces the blade. Can you see the dimples from the ball peen hammer? They expand the metal at the edges of the slot, and make the slot slightly smaller. Then the guard is driven onto the tang. Then the guard is taken off and the surface ground down until the dimples are gone. I always try for a fit tight enough that the guard has to be pressed (or hammered) on. This just helps guarantee a good, gap-free joint. I guess I forgot to mention that the tang is slightly tapered. It's thickest at the guard location.

Hi Josh, I got that piece from Texas Knife Makers supply, and I've always been happy with their ironwood. They seem to be out of the good stuff right now, but you can go instead to http://arizonaironwood.com/

Hi Dave, I've never used linseed oil on anything but wood, but I think it takes awhile to oxidize and harden. If it's still tacky in a few days you might have a problem. Phillip