Maillemaker

A blueprint or a WIP would be amazing!

In my experience, making long coils is more efficient than making short ones; you end up wasting less wire. Also, it looks like you're using vise grip pliers to make your coils. Another way to wrap them is to drill a small hole through your rod, insert the wire and twist. If you're looking for the IFI of maille making sites, check out www.mailleartisans.org Also look up www.theringlord.com and cgmaille.com for some other resources. Happy weaving!

If you wouldn't mind updating your location, there might be a fellow smith nearby that can help with your lack of equipment. Welcome aboard.

I'm not going to whine if Glenn or an admin wants to move it. ;) Yes, there are a few inaccuracies, but for the most part it's a humorous article debunking some widely-known sword myths.

Check out this article on sword myths! *Caution: language can be not quite family-friendly* http://www.cracked.com/article_20634_6-things-movies-get-wrong-about-swords-an-inside-look_p2.html

In Roman mythology, Vulcan, the god of smiths, was born with a bum leg. Nevertheless, he overcame his "limitation" and became an essential force for Jupiter and the other gods. Far too many people view their weaknesses as obstructions, rather than as stepping stones. You are not in that group. Welcome aboard.

Silent, would you mind updating your location? Maybe there's another member on IFI that isn't too far from you that could help you out. Please also remember that this is a family-friendly forum, and to keep the language rated G. Welcome aboard.

Those are a thousand times better than any tongs I could make right now. A round of applause for you.

Curiosity killed the cat, they say; at least the feline died informed. I was watching an episode of the Woodwright's shop the other day, and Peter Ross was talking about his hammer as he was taking a heat. He said that all his cross-peen hammer has a flat face with only slightly rounded corners. He stated that the smaller the radius of the peen, the more it acts like a chisel: cutting rather than spreading. http://www.pbs.org/woodwrightsshop/video/3200/3211.html at 15:00 or so. What does your cross-peen look like?

How do you make the eye to blade transition so crisp? Is it a fullering tool or something like that? The one furthest to the right looks really clean.

That particular finish is called titanium nitride: an extremely hard ceramic material. Usually, only a very thin layer is applied, but it has to be commercially done. If you are making a decorative sword, why not try using a blowtorch to draw different temper colors across the steel? Of course, if you hardened the sword, this would cause different hardness depending on the color.

I made a pretty awesome coat rack last summer....

Afternoon everyone! I have started to accumulate a small amount of wrought iron, and i would like to start playing with it. Problem is, I've never worked wrought iron before, and I don't want to ruin what little I have. What are some projects that are low-risk for the iron, but give me a better understanding of its personality?

From what I've read, swords were filed to shape after rough forging, treated, and then cleaned with progressively finer files, and then polished with honing stones. Rick Furrer forged the "Ulfberth" sword using only traditional methods in the PBS special "Secrets of the Viking Sword", and there's a shot of him polishing the blade with a fine stone.

Punch on the end-grain of a large piece of hardwood lumber. It won't wick the heat away as quickly.

Show-Off. :D

"Section 331 of Title 18 of the United States code provides criminal penalties for anyone who “fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins coined at the Mints of the United States. This statute means that you may be violating the law if you change the appearance of the coin and fraudulently represent it to be other than the altered coin that it is. As a matter of policy, the U.S. Mint does not promote coloring, plating or altering U.S. coinage: however, there are no sanctions against such activity absent fraudulent intent." From the US treasury website.

For the serif, you could form a tenon on the numeral and peen it in place.

I haven't used tong rings before, but I understand the appeal of not having to worry about the work slipping out of the jaws. I think the problem a lot of young smiths have is a "death grip" on the tongs. The tongs are not your enemy, you're not trying to throttle them. It's hard on both your tongs and your hand. Of course, if your workpiece is long enough, just hold it with your hand. Your hands are some of the most responsive and versatile tools in your shop.

"Laid back" is the phrase you're looking for.

That's one pig of a knife. Wouldn't want to meet it in a dark alley....

If I make my own hilt, I will most likely "cheat" and use electric welding. I've got pretty much the entire summer to come up with a design that I like, so time really isn't an issue. I'll also need to work on my forge welding if I decide to go traditional; I'm poor/decent at best when it comes to fire welding.

This should help immensely. http://www.scribd.com/doc/73380050/Tempil-Charts

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=Wk7Pgx7UPiO0OM&tbnid=H9B_tItgwSkrLM:&ved=0CAgQjRwwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.preferredarms.com%2Fweapons%2Frapiers.php&ei=cPyIUdquJI3LqQH564B4&psig=AFQjCNH1-dHdCg2R-GeznXaq9qfYwEeXBg&ust=1368018416640385 Look for the bottom photo. I'm after something like that. As for the SCA, I only fight on the rapier field. I respect the heavy fighters, but having a real steel blade in my hands makes all the difference.

Evening All! I'm looking for information about how those fancy, swept hilts were made for rapiers. I'm a member of my local SCA group, and while I heartily enjoy fencing, I don't appreciate the cost of ordering parts for my sword online. Even a simple crossguard is close to thirty bucks, and I want to keep as much money as possible. Looking at the modern, arc-welded "replicas" makes me wonder how the originals were produced. Just to be clear, I have neither intent nor desire to make the blade, only the hilt.