edge9001

when hot rasping, I know farriers hoof rasps are good. what about a simple wood rasp. when working with heated metal would a wood rasp do? I ask since the only rasp I can find is a wood rasp at the local HD.

though i've never weighed it, it feels like around 80 to 100 pounds. I found two of them near the rr tracks. er um I mean they fell off the back of a truck. lol.

I don't know much of about anvils. I have seen these before about 10 years ago. the hump on the anvil is used like the step between the face and the horn on most other anvils. It is also useful for drawing down. I figure this type of anvil might make it harder to work on larger projects since the humo prevents you from having the work run in parrallel to the face of the anvil

I need a good post vise. you say they can sell for less than $40. I really need to keep digging then. right now I have a cheap benchtop vise/anvil combo, the kind you buy at the hardware store. it has it's uses but i need a post vise.

sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong place. I found this in the atlanta GA area if anyone needs it. http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/atq/1750581165.html a post vise for $100 I would jump on it myself only I am broke. I have to scrounge for everything even my charcoal and materials.

nice. once again, I like it!

I like it!! interesting coil on the end. I would imagine it would throw off the balance of the blade, especially in a horrizontal sheath.

I think once I'm happy with this blade I'm going to find some leaf spring, since it is already somewhat flat. I have been looking at a design I want to try when I get ready to attempt a higher quality steel. a ULU of sorts I think someone else postd a picture of it last week. the blade was cut out of a saw blade and the handle sits parralel(bad spelling) to the blade the whole thing is in a U shape.

I like it. look similar to my first hawk. good job!!

Thought I might show all of you what I'm working on. This knife is only a practice piece so it's made of mild steel. I'm attempting to learn how to forge descent a knife, and all I have is mild steel from HD. I'll post more pics as it progresses. after i make something i'm satisfied with, I plan on locating some good hardenable steel and make it again out of a good qualitiy steel. I know it is very early in the process but does anyone see anything yet I need to work on?

here is a picture of my brake drum forge I have mounted on a 55 gallon drum. I need to clean it out. You can see the bathroom fan mounted to the froint under the sheetmetal cover, and the dimmer switch I used to control the air flow. I originally had an open air forge setup and no where to get it out of the rain so I covered the ELECTRIC fan with some tin. then I built my shed around it. you can also see My make shift chimney. As I build my shed around my forge and I ran out of tin sideing so I had a hole in front of my forge. I used some lighter weight tin to make a chimney, kindda. it works so I guess I did a good job. it's just ugly, and dirty

Here is my anvil. I have a piece of chain I stretch through the holes that run through it to dampen the ring a bit. under this is just a pine stump from a tree that got struck by lightning at my grandparents place. Ill be posting pics of my forge and a knife I'm working on in other threads

If anyone near by feels they need to give away a "london pattern" anvil then I'm in the market for one. As I've stated before my anvil is a RR car coupling knuckle. I'm willing to drive a ways to pick it up if needed, how much would it cost to ship one? anyway.... nice setups guys. i'll try and get some pics of my set up today.

well we are on more than good terms they all hate the ex as much as i do(oops did I just type that...lol) when she got arrested and convicted of child abuse they wrote her off. and yep that spretty much the way the conversation is going to go, except they will ask why, I'll tell them and the they will say yes.... or not i hope yes.

thanks. my ex-in-laws use a wood stove to heat their house, so guess I'll go pay em a visit. Since we are still speaking after the divorce. I'm sure they wont mind helping out...especially now with daily temps topping out around 95+, like they did today.

I get to figure out how I messed this up. I took another lok at the cracked hole I cut. It looks as if the hot cut I twisted as it cut, as if while I hammered on it I pulled it towards one side and cut a curved hole. Not sure how this happened. Oh!! I had a thought today(I know I know, hurry save it they don't come along too often) while at the local HD today I saw a masons chisel. it looks essentially like a flat bar with a chisel ground on one end, and the other slightly rounded for a striking surface. the package says its made from alloy tool steel(i wonder what alloy). I'm thinking this might be a good steel for a blade. as it already is used to made a chisel. Dunno. pretty sure its cheaper to but raw steel that a processed tool, but just a thought. tim

thanks, I appreciate the comments. Next I think I'm going to go look for some items to build me a small propane forge for anealling purposes. OR... how would wrapping a heated piece of metal, say a knife or tomahawk, in some kaowool. Would that hold the heat in enough to anneal the material(ballpeen hammers heads and similar small pieces)?

I made a hawk from a ballpeen hammer for my nephew, Jamie. After my brother saw it he said Jaie couldn't have it. I asked him before starting and he said yes, then I finished and he said no...all that hard work. Now I have myself a nice hawk. This is my first try at making any bladed thing. I love it, there are a few hammer marks on the blade side I couldn't get out, but I can over look them. then there are some hammer marks on the hammer side I decided to leave. I think they make it look interesting. my second blade was a knife kmade from a lathe chisel I had a tempering issue and the tang broke off. its one the scrap pile until I decide it's time to learn to forge weld. my next try at a hawk was a RR spike hawk also my first attempt at hot cutting. When I cut the eye hole, my cut was off center, and then the socket broke. I think I waited too long before returning it to the fire. I guess I get to learn from my mistake by having everything break. lol. when these thing broke I stopped working on them, to finish or retask the metal later sorry my pics aren't the best

I've been on iforgeiron for a few weeks now. i gues it's time to say hi. I'm new to blacksmithing been beating on metal now for about 2 months. I seem to be drawn to bladesmithing. so far I've made a heck of a ballpeen hammer/hawk has a great edge seems to be tempered I'm happy with it except for a couple of hammer marks I couldn't get out. nothing else I've made so far seems to be of descent quality, so I guess now is a good time to work on fundamentals. I guess my first good hawk was begginners luck. I live in chatsworth, GA. thats in northwest GA near chattanooga, TN. Anyone know of anything nearby please let me know.

what would you guys think of an appliance motor, such as a washing machine or a dryer? I believe these are both used for belt driven systems already. Anyone have any luck using these?

a rr coupler is a real anvil; just not a London Pattern one. a rr coupler is a real anvil; just not a London Pattern one. a rr coupler is a real anvil; just not a London Pattern one. I believe you a real anvil is anything that can be used as an anvil. can I reconsider the bridge sale, but it must come with a bill of sale from the government. by no experience with anvils, I am only refering to no experience with "london pattern anvils" as concerning their value or condition. oh did I forget to mention I can't type or spell...I'll attempt to improve on that

Ive tried to talk the guy down on his forge, he's ben posting it daily for a few weeks now. I told him I would pay $100 as is with just seeing the pictures. he said no. the price was firm. I have a feeling he is going to hang on it it for a while. My forge is a brake drum forge mounted to the top of a 55 gallon drum. so yea pretty simple to make one. lol. as for the yugo um, uh, i mean anvil My anvil is a railroad car coupling knuckle so I have no experience with anvils. I run across "deels" like these all the time, the only problem is I know nothing of values, anvils, or condition. so either I;m unaware of a price that is laughably too high, I don't know what too look for in condition, or I don't know if it is a descent anvil(or a yugo). For those reading this, no I don't want to buy any swamp land in arizona, and I'm not in the market for a bridge in brooklyn. lol thanks guys

http://chattanooga.craigslist.org/grd/1725037276.html found this listing for a portable forge in my area. he wants $300 for it. I spoke to this guy a few weeks back and he still hasn't sold it. I think he's asking too much, what do you guys think? http://chattanooga.craigslist.org/grd/1725037276.html

RUNNING AS FAST AS I CAN!!!! i figured that was the case, I just wanted a second opinion incase my uncalibrated eyeball was mistaken. I actually have a few large sledge hammer heads my grand dad had in his shop before he died. I guess i'll find a way to mount one of them. like I said before, I'm interested in making a setup for craftshows but I have a lot to learn before I can about not only forging techniques but also the business side of things. Needless to say I have a long way to go before I can reliably make any money from this. or have the ability to show off anything. thanks guys.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130398148003&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:US:1123 sorry bout that guys....i missed the link, here it is