edge9001

the date on the camera has never been set....so ignore the date, not the content of the picture...lol

Today I tried my hand again at making a blade form something other than mild steel. This is the first time I got to finish a blade without braking it. I actually got this one out of the forge without cracking or breaking it. its about time. this was originally a spring from my cousins spare parts pile. probably from a truck or riding lawn mower. I don't know which. I found out my charcoal forge WILL infact reach welding heat. I put the spring into the fire and turned my back to it so I could light my propane forge to aneal a rasp for another project. when I got it lit and tuned I turned back around and 1/2 of ths spring was GONE! lol oops. anyway I took the remaining parts and made this little blade from it, almost a scapel, but I thougt a good wood carving blade. I have my ipod touch in the pictures for scale. I fit a handle to this knife similarly to the handle you put on a file so the handle/grip can be removed to more easily sharpen the blade please give me feedback. I know the blade still needs to be sanded a bit bit to remove the remaining pits. Tim

I actually haven't found a supplier of coal yet. although I have a lead to check on in the near future about 45 mins north of my house. a bussiness canlled coal and....something or another. i figure thay might have at the very least the ability to point me in the right direction.

try to go to local antique stores, ebay, craigslist and of course flea markiets, I found my for $120at an antique store and other than the very minor surface rust and grease it seems to be in like new condition. I know you said you don't have $100 to spend, but keep looking you will find one eventually. from what I've seen between $40-125 is the going rate for them depending on hwo is selling it the size the condition and of course does the seller know what it is they are selling.

if you look at from a machinist point of view my lathe/mill/drill press calls for 30 motor oil, so I run 10w30 store brand oil. oddly eough they sell it by the quart, and I only need 1/10th of that in my machine, so now I have plenty of extra...lol

told you i was a bit too far away...lol

your in the computer age, a computer age blacksmith. you use any and all historic and modern tools and techniques as they are needed.

I live in chatsworth, which sits betwen dalton and calhoun on I75. I'm about a 45 minute drive from chattanooga Tn

you pose some good questions I would need to have some of these answered as well. I hope someone here will be able to help.

nice video! I actually learned a little from it. if you notice it shows the technique I mentioned. square then taper, then to octogon then back to round. thanks for the visual aids :P

something wierd on the anvil? how so?

I'm in GA but on the wrong end of the state. Im in the northwest corner of ga. your leaving for boot in april? enjoy your time at home, It took me 360 days to leave once I signed my contract. they had a the school rosters full already. I would reccomend to start running now, get used to it and attempt to improve on your sit-ups push-ups and 2 mile run time.

first forge it to square, then taper the square. after th taper is done, knock the corners down so it becomes an octogon, then bring it back to round.

yes, I'm trying to find a school that will help me to add metalworking classes to my resume. and help me to learn what can be done with my lathe/mill.

I'm trying to find a metals or metal working class locally. I missed my chance in highschool and didn't learn how to run a lathe and mill back then. now I look at my local college, Dalton State. all they offer is a welding class and advanced welding. I know how to weld so the only thing I would get from the class is a course in metalurgy. what colleges are near NWGA other than dalton state and what metals classes are available to me. anyone know what I can learn and where? I would prefer to avoid the school of hard knocks as the materials are expensive as is hte medical bills that can come with it. how ever trial and error is better then nothing, i guess.

I have a possible solution. take a grinder or files to the sides and get polish the weld area then etch. I'm not sure if this would help or not, but i think it might make it esier to see where the weld is and isn't. please someone correct me if I am wrong. I just might be, heck I probably am.

I am not too familiar with using kydex, but I would imagine as with any material, eventually stress will get to it and it will crack or warp. probably just crack. it seems to me Cold steel make some pretty good blades and have a reputation to uphold, and they use it for most of their tactical line of knife sheaths, as do tons of other companies. I would assume it will last for some time before there are any problems. I have a knife and sheath from Cold Steel (the original Cold Steel Recon Tanto)I carried with me in Iraq back in 2003, the sheath is kydex and still in great shape and holding strong.

I need to coat mine. and paint the shell. I figure a nice nean purple will do nicely, what do you guys think?

I called them and the answer i got was a current model is essentially the same machine only with CNC capabilities added. they directed me to the same smithy website for the manual. Since posting this original question I haven't had time to look at the lathe, much less try to use it. I have the original owners manual but most of the pictures are of really poor quality. phil's link seems to be og great help. i think.

thanks guys, Ill put that info to the test and see if I can get my mind wrapped around the innerworkings of that frustrationg infernal machine when I get a chance. I'll post when I get it to work or give up, either way.

please do your self a favor, if your recruier has made any promises or told you ANY thing will or can happen, make sure it is in your contract or it WILL NOT happen. they will change the contract to suit your requirements if you make them. if they will not, then don't sign it. you are under no obligation to sign the contracts just because some NCO will be mad if you don't. I had a friend who wanted a certain mos and the contract said TBD so he ended up as a cook. please read the fine print and have the contract reflect what your want. I had a great time in the army as a communications specialist, but be careful about anything written, especially if you sign it. welcome to a brotherhood that will change your life, or atleast your persective on it.

it is the lathe feedbar. I have a manual with pictures but the backing plate and gears are all i can really make out. they are old fuzzy and black and white photos. as for chinese calculus, I agree it would be more fun. there is actually a chart on the inside of the door showing gear ratios by the gear numbers, but that's not the hard part, its all of the extra parts that are that besides the backing plat and gears, the spindle shafts ,cotter pins circlips and such.

ok so I got my smithy put back together from 3 parts and 20 boxes. the only thing I can't figure out is the feedbar drive gear assembly, I have 20 or 30 gears, which seem to be user changable to fine tune gear ratios, and a mounting plate of some kind and several other small parts that don't seem to fit anywhere else on the machine. while everything elso on this machine works I wnt the feed bar to work as well help

yes, go for it. just make sure to add an air control either with a gate or a rheostat. thats a heck of an airflow

I've seen a few of these made. Eric is right about the grip end, the opener end was made by slitting the tip, and the flatten the two sides out to 180 degrees from the original position much like the start of making a fork. then curve each of them around the horn of an anvil of a rod to get the opener end shaped. This is how I've seen them done but, like I've heard several people say: ask 2 blacksmiths how to do something and you get atleast 4 answers, how each of them would do it, and then how each of them has heard of it being done. lol. tim