Tenebrocity

very very nice, don't forget to show us the finished product!

The fact that he wanted to do something different from a traditional s-hook shows innovation, the first sign of genius. Lets hope her never looses that rare quality.
Happy smithing from CA!

Perfection, period.

Beautiful.

great job!

Very smooth, beautiful work.

was wondering what the best kind of sword would be to make for a first time

Im also a novice sword smith I started by pilfering leaf springs from wrecking yards and shaping them into blades. Later adding fullers and more elaborate handles, then sheaths. Iron like anything 'practice makes perfect' just get out in the shop and mess around, you'll learn alot.
Also check out Jim Hrisoulas' "the complete bladesmith' at your local book store, tons of info and diagrams.

good luck!

if this is your first blade, NEVER STOP BLADESMITHING!

I would imagine a lightweight turbine oil like what comes in the Zoom spout type oilers would work great!

Zoom spout, the god of oil's give it a try.

yea, Just a touch...

depending on what your needs are you can find high quality coke on ebay. If you sell your work or only need it in small quantity its not too expensive. but that Alabama forge council sounds fairly promising too.
good luck

You don't say what tools or skills you have at your disposal to modify this item, sizes too would help, along with your location, as someone near may be able to help.
On first appearance, you should be able to modify the shell into a bottom blast forge relatively easily if it is made of steel and not cast iron
What is the problem with your brake drum forge? Personally I don't like them, but they work OK for many people, and you could find it simpler to alter/upgrade that, or incorporate it into this project.
Good luck with it whatever you decide.

Well tools and money isn't necessarily and issue, the shell is steel and I have oxyacetylene to help with any modifications. Yes the brake drum works moderately for what it is and it gives me a lot of good practice, but I'm more interested in blade and swordsmithing and heat treating an entire sword is problematic when you can't heat it evenly. Secondly I inherited this stove from my grandfather and its slowly but surely falling apart, I thought packing it with brick and using it for my hobby would be a nice cheap way to extend its life and get some more use out of it.

By the way I live in central California and it would be great to find someone more experienced in the area.

I've been working iron for about one year now and so far Ive been fairly disappointed in LPforges and in the little brake drum forge I'm using now.
However I have this small wood burning stove and I'm considering packing it with firebrick mix and trying get a makeshift solid fule forge out of it. My problem is I know close to nothing about actually making a forge. I was wondering if anybody had any ideas on how to make this stove as efficient as possible.
Please include what type of blower you suggest and where my blast intake should be.
any feedback is greatly appreciated.