bmazingo

Anvil rings nicely higher pitch at the horn and hardie hole. Horn is kinda mushrooomed on the point, but it could be dressed. Vice is missing spring. Grinder is just a grinder. Forge Is in decent shape minus the blower as you can see. I am gonna start at $300.00 I think that is a fair starting price

Thanks for all the advice

I am looking to get an anvil, but it has an apparent crack in it, is this bad or can it be repaired, or don't worry and just use it? It is a Hay Budden, Not sure the weight, may be over 100lbs. The crack is in the waist about 1" above the hole inthe front. THer are also some other pieces that may go along wiht it. I am just trying to decide what I should offer.

I was surfing the net and found my self on the Southern Blacksmith Association Conference's website http://www.sbaconference.com They have a link to BlueMoon Press http://www.bluemoonpress.org/ It appears to be good source for books about Blacksmithing and other metal working trades. Just thought I would share it.

Bonjour Pierre, Bienvenue à IFORGEIRON. D'après la description que vous avez donné de vos outils, je dirais que vous avez plus de la plupart des débutants. J'espère que nous voyons des images de votre travail. bmazingo use Bing Translator, works good ---------------------------------------- Hello Pierre,. Welcome to IFORGEIRON. The description you gave of your tools, I would say that you have more than most beginners. I hope that we see images of your work. "thanks moderators......I forgot to put english version"

Not the first one but the first of its kind. Not the greatest knife, but pretty good for a beginner I think. Blade was rough forged by brother from half-round file and antler handle guard and pins are brass. The fit could have been better but I am pleased.

That is a very good idea. It would be easier to cut and drill the holes in the mild steel than in the AR plate. Plus the anvil you speak of is the one I now use for my cutting and chiseling.

Thought I would share another pic of the anvil. This one is of it in use. Still have to get the hardie hole and pritchel hole added. I have alot of shaping and still have to harden the horn (some how).

Sorry for the delay in replying to your post. I finished it with spanish oak stain and satin polyurethane. Nice wood handle. Not real fancy, but nice.

Gt the horn partially welded on, 3-3/8" 1045 shaft. It's a little small but better than nothing. Still have to finish welding and blending. I figure a good days work.

Good Ideas! I actually debated buying a straight drill(bit) used for drilling carbides. But $40 is a little steep with work being slow. On the brite side I managed to hot punch the holes in the tang. I used a good quality punch to make my marks in the hot steel. Then I used a cheap (very cheap) punch to finish the holes. Came out good. Bad news is my blade developed cracks either beore or when I quenched it.(sickening) I figure I over worked the steel or worked it a little too cold. I know I did not normalize it. Fortunately the blade is still in one piece and the cracks are small and in the false edge only. I hit it several times on my anvil and threw it on the cement, nothing happened. I am probably gonna finnish it with a quick handle and use it for a utility knife. I blame it on my inexperience and lack of knowledge when it comes to working steel like this. It just reinforces the fact that learning the steel's properties is very important. I am gonna concentrate on learning the basics and stick to steel I know will survive my newbie-ism....like sawmill bandsaw blade, good for everything from spoons to knives. lol.

It is deffinately HC steel, a center punch will not even dimple it. I have a cobalt bit gonna try the red heat anneal first if that doesn't work, I can try the hot punch method, or just wrap the handle in leather.

I don't think I can hold a dull red for 1 hour, I have never tried to run my forge that low, my or may not be possible. Hot punching may be a solution.

This is my anvil for now, its home-made and it works. 3" thick AR400 top plate over mild steel. Saving for an new(er) one or just a real one.

Hey guys, I know this has probably been posted before, but the search function just doesn't like me like me today. I forged a blade from a saw mill canter head blade, but I cannot get it soft enough to drill. I do not know what steel it is, but I assume it may be tool steel and given the trouble I am having it maybe airhardening. So I tried heating it past non magnetic(more heat on the area to be drilled) then put it in a bucket of vermiculite overnight. I placed two other pieces of hot steel in with it because the night time temperatures are in the 20's here. so I checked it this morning still very hard. File just slides off and can't even get a center puch to leave good dimple. I have already broke one blade forged from an unknown steel, and I was wanting this one to survive. I can change my handle material If I can't get it drilled. Please post any ideas, I'm gonna keep reading.

Hey guys, made my first fire poker and a ash rake. They are for my mom's wood burning heater. Nothing fancy, just functional. The rake is made of re-bar and angle the poker is made of 1/2"x3/4" falt bar and 5/8" cold roll.

Good info. Will phosphoric or sulfuric acid work? What about Hydrocloric acid? or will any acid work?? what about citric acid??

Hey guys, just a quick update. Forge is working great. I haven't got to use it much because of weather and work, but the times I have used it, the forged was awesome. I would like to thank you all for helping me. I hope I get to build many things using the forge. Thanks again

finished the knife, just need to mark it. Forgot to do that when it was soft. It looks nice and I learned some good stuff on this one. don't buy cheap sand paper, ntice the scratches still on the blade. Luckily I got 90% out when polished it. Will try to get some pictures of it finished.

Pictures are not the best. The scale is mostly on the tang but I'll get all of it. You know, scale is some tuff stuff. Granted some comes off off easy, but some can be a real chore to get off.

Here is some pictures of my most current knife. It is a fixed blade with red oak handle. The blade is made of mower blade (oregon brand). I annealed the blade, then flattened it out, roughed shaped it with a small hammer. I did not get all of the scale off (lazy)and ended up with a few deep pits. Just adds character I think. Anyway, I finished shaping the blade with the grinder, file and sand paper then dry fit the handle. I used temporary bolts to hold the handle in place. Now I have to harden,temper and polish the blade then assemble. I think it's gonna look good, but by all means do critique it for me.