oakwoodforge

Not really, more like a 3 rd set of hands to hold a thin or delicate part with out deforming, while you finish the neat details. Here are some links that should help. Some real nice examples of repousse' work and even some tool patterns , in case you want to make some. Hope this helps http://www.repoussetools.com/ http://www.valentinyotkov.com/site/about.htm http://www.brentberryarts.com/repousse.htm http://www.artmetal.com/brambush/forging/proj04/worsley.htm http://www.ajwindow.co.uk/Artistic.htm

Try Dan's trick first , but if the are really really dirty you may have to soak them in ascetone or a degreaser solvent of some kind. Then re scrub with the soapy water, dawn dishsoap works good I have found. let air dry for several days, wrap them in a old towel and bake in the oven on warm, or omit the towel and place it on top of the wood stove for a few hours, then re- oil

Brad, the pitch is melted and poured into a bowl or pan and allowed to cool, then the "peice " you are working on goes on top of the pitch. The trick is, the stuff is hard enough to support the work while chiseling and whatnot, but soft enough that its held in place with out deforming. Its really just for cold 3-D work in soft / anealed sheet metals like: copper, brass, steel, tin , lead ...

Boy what a day, Pulled into work thismorning and one of the guys I work with took me over to his car , had a trunk load of 3/8" dia spring tines from some old farm equipment looks like about 3' long when they are un-coiled, he even helped me load them into my car. another guy had a stack of copper flashing and J metal, for me in the back of his truck, almost 50 lbs of solid copper. Must be my lucky day. And to top things off I recieved a NOS Dayton electric forge blower, what a day , feels like Christmas :)

Nice blade Elkdoc, You still working without a beltgrinder ? The sheath is a masterpeice , nice composition with the bone beads. Whats the handle material ?

I am dying of hammer envy, I can only hope that these will be resurected and put back into circulation. 8)

When using those large tooth wood rasps to make blades, I like to leave the teeth, makes a neat "scale" pattern. Also they make a great woodplane blade, wood workers aroud here like them... alot , especialy when it was their old wood rasp you forged into new plane irons, I guess some people get attached to their tools And some people will pay a little extra for character, one of my customers said to me: if I wanted shiny stainless I'd go to wallyworld, when I want something that will cut I come to you. it's nice to hear things like that. 8)

Steve, I asked Holly on this one , She said : for any drop over 30 inches such as a balcony or landing ADA code requires railing height to be atleast 42 ". For stairs the railing height must be no lower than 34 " but can be up to 42 " and the hand rail must extend the full width of one stair past the top and bottom of the staircase ( aprox 14" )If you have any other questions I can get you a link to the ADA code websites. Congrats on the railing job. Jens :D

I have found that soaking your hammer handles in oil will keep the spliting gremlins away from yer tommyknockers :wink:

They seem to love the RR spike knives too! I am going to try doing that, using the insulators as candle cups, that sound cool as heck ! I don't know why I didn't think of it. :shock:

Strine, Some folks collect 'em, mostly the "pretty" ones, some of 'em are royal blue or purple and even red glass, a rare insulator or two in good shape might be a good trade for that post-vise, tongs or blacksmith's whatever at the local fleamarket or antique shop. As for the broken insulators, the glass is good for mixed media creations, I have had good luck "slaging" with insulator glass it seems to hold up better than other glasses I have tried. 8)

Only 2 tracks through our town are still used ( and I stay off them), there are at least three deserted main railways and untold spurs around here, some public property some private property, heck one old RR grade runs throught the scrap yard and outbuildings at my job, another is now a bike path all the way around town. Just look for the huge piles of RR ties there is usualy a huge pile of spikes there too. Happy hunting, Oh and keep your eye out for glass insulators too. 8)

I do it all the time, the railroad isn't going to re-use them any more than a carpenter will re-use the nails he pulls out. So I guess you are helping pick up trash and doing the right thing by recycling it. :wink: Heck the guys I work with know that I will trade them a finished spike knife in the blade shape of their choice for two 5 gallon buckets of HC spikes. Also don't forget to pickup those "slices" of RR track, dosent take a whole lot of work to make them into fullers and cutoff hardys. 8)

Off hand I would say DON'T quench , as this may distort the keystock, warping your thread pattern and may break the brazed joint, as brass and steel expand and contract at different rates. When it cools slowly it's not a big deal because the mass will retain heat for a period of time lessening the distortion ( it would also help if you wraped your keystock hot rather than cold ) . Also I see no reason to harden your thread at all (almost all threads are never hardened ) , if you braze it in well and the keystock dosen't distort it should last you a lifetime or two depending on how hard you use it. PS: Oh, and flux wont take up any room, it will just make the brazing or soldering work like it's supposed to. Hope this helps

Rantlin, I keep all of my swords /tools/ knives / axes... whatever, shaving sharp. One of my Favorites is a CAS Iberia Celtic Leaf blade (Hand forged in India) Its a very nice sword and has a good spring temper, it will flex 6 -8 " but retains a nice edge even after choping many reed bundles or hanging ropes. I like CAS Iberia Swords, I have never put my hands on the sword in question but if it is constructed as well as the ones I own it is a good buy. Anyone taking a " Practice swing" with a sword in my house will bounce out the door on their rear end! Its just one of those things you don't do, like picking up a gun in a gun shop , pointing it at the man behind the counter and squeezing the trigger. At the very least you will never be welcome there again! Or you could get Shot ! I know that you are Mature enought to handle sharp live steel, and that you trust your friends, but you may want to enforce the ZIP-TIE RULE just for saftey, like putting a barrel plug in your paint ball gun, just because you did't mean to, dosent put your friends eyeball back. Its real simple just hand out Zip-ties at the door like they do at SCA events. Anyone not willing to zip tie their sword in for saftey should be asked to leave. Be safe Have fun and if you are having a Cutting contest at the party, enforce a saftey circle atleast 20 Feet away from the person cutting and NO One "down range"! I have seen a Cheap-O "ninja sword " fly apart just being swung !! A 200 series stainless blade with an edge like a butter knife will still peirce the door of a car, try explaing that one to your insurance agent! The point is BE SAFE ! Enjoy your blade ! and keep all your friends ! PS. Halloween is my favorite holliday, I wear live steel every year ( Zip-tied safley in its sheath of course ) with my costume.

It's on the way 8)

Sorry I am late, but I now have one good enough for me to submit (its about my 20th or so) it will be in the UPS man's hands tomorow morning. 8)

Mead, Helping white people dance, sing and multiply since 1500 B.C. Be warry the Mead hangover: along the lines of a 50 lb Little Giant going full bore inside yer Head :mrgreen:

Elkdoc , I am saving up for the Grizzly too, maby my Christmas present to myself Since the old Delta grinder died , I have been using my Craftsman hand held 3" wood working belt grinder held in my vise, It does NOT work well and belt selection is poor ( 60 , 80 , 100 , 120 ) is all I can get localy. 2X72 belts are the only way to go !!! you can get anything from 50 - 2000 grit ! http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2005/main/103.cfm?

A little old man recited the entire " The Village Blacksmith " poem from memory to us , needless to say he walked away with the best leaf key chain I had made all weekend. Thats not what you would call a short poem, the man had earned that leaf ! The Best part of the whole weekend was the kids, one little guy spent almost the whole day enthralled by the fire , iron and anvil. This little dude asked all sorts of smart questions and listened to the answers. I would bet his show'n tell presentation at school this week will be pretty neat. I kept thinking that he could have been my shadow from 20 years ago, I hope it sticks, maby he will check out some books on blacksmithing from his library... :D

Ten Hammers is one heck of a guy !!!!! He let me play around all weekend, this was my first public demo. What a Blast !!! The Kids are great, We did eveything from forge welding to setting a wagon tire. Thanks Again Steve !!!!

I woke up this morning about 4:00 am, Heart beating fast, cold sweats, had a serious nightmare about smashing through my roof from the inside with my bare hands to escape rising waters... I can't imagine how absouloutly terrified and desperite everyone in the whole area is now. My wife went to collage in New Orleans, and I have spent some time down there too . Something like this really hits much harder when you have good memories of a place and see it on the news, wiped off the face of the planet. The destruction seems to be getting worse, even though the storm has moved on. We pray for everyone in the area that has been effected by this disaster. I beg you to Give support to the Red Cross now. Jens

http://www.misugidesigns.com/yataiki1.html Three Big $$$ knives By Yataiki http://www.misugidesigns.com/yataiki2.html A Pic of Yataiki scraping a hand made saw to thickness with a draw knife like tool called a Sen , also a neat pic of a reed and mud forge with a foot operated box bellows http://www.misugidesigns.com/yataiki3.html Neat info about Japanese "Blister" Steel and the grading process also some interestring info about the raw materials required to make "Blue Steel" or "White Steel" I must say those few weeks spent with Yataiki were amazing, he didn't just trickle a little information to you he drenched you in it , and the stuck you at the forge , speaking encouragments and correcting you at every movement. I can't even begin to describe how awesome it was. 8)

http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=919&NewsID=553081&CategoryID=13641&on=0 I was at that '93 workshop, still have the knife I made there. It was so long ago that I don't rember the names of all that were there, if you were there I was the chubby faced 14 yearold . I am very glad to see that Yataiki is still teaching. If any one else has been to one of his workshops I would love to hear about it. Jens

Nice Critters 8) how are the feet and toung attached ?