Richie'66

A mate of mine came by the other week with this chunk of steel , he said he found it on the road next to the farm he works at. He suggested I make a hammer as he knows I like a hammer or two. This is what I came up with.

I made another one which was slightly different in shape..... more elven like. And also played with a bit of stainless for the first time.

Sorry not been on for a while. Many thanks for all the great replies. I do not know what grade of rebar is , it was at a reasonable price from the local builders merchants. The idea came about from another forum with the post 'what is rebar good for ?' so I thought it rude not to try and make a knife .LOL. I'll be making more for sure.

Lovely tools there. Who says tools need to be boring.

Inspired by Chui from British blades ,Logan Pearce (not of this forum) , and a South African forum that Chui posted a link to this is what I've come up with. I decided to have a heat and beat session at the forge. I like this steel, so far this 'hotch potch' stuff is good steel. Sorry for the naff pics.

Does anyone know what type of steel is generally used to make garden shears ? Been looking on the web and the only thing that came back on one web site was D2 steel. Anybody else like to hazard a guess ? shears bought in the UK BTW.

Nice copper braclet. I've also heard that the wearing of rare earth magnets can also help with arthritis.

Cheers for the welcome , your right I've been on here most of the day , and there's so much info I don't know where to start. First job will be to make a couple of decent (LOL) tongs , but have a knife job for a mate of mine that's paying some money. I'm currently unemployed so have alot of time on my hands and as I have to stay at home in case one of the kids needs me this blackmithing thing could be just the job for me. Anyway it's good to be here. Richie.

Hi , I'm Richie from Keith which is in North East Scotland. I've been into knife making for as long as I can remember (and I'm 43 ). I thought it was about time I explored this craft more fully and so joined your forum with a hope of learning lots. I have my own anvil and have recently made a charcoal forge out of what was available around the workshop.I would also like to learn more about how to make the tools to do my bladesmithing so expect some stupid questions.