Willis

The last time I let someone else blow my horn, they broke it, so now I blow my own. Me "If you can do it, it ain't braggin" Ty Cobb Good work. I should be so good

90% of my work is done with a ball peen hammer. All of my hawks are made from ball peen's unless someone specifically request a rr spike hawk. All my 'iron age primitive' knives are 'aged' using the ball end. The larger the knife, the larger the ball I use. Even my cross peen hammer is an old ball peen with the ball flattened to my liking.

Nice job. I'm impressed. As far as the eye is concerened, unless its just your personal feeling, there was no such thing as a 'standad' eye type unless the ax was being mass produced to be shipped to the colonies for trade. I have yet to make a tomahawk, or camp ax with the same eye. Its just whatever I have on hand at the time for the drift, or I just make a solid head, anneal, then drill and file. I have books on hawks, and axes.

I'm always looking for sites like this. I'm PWT (poor white trash) and am always looking for things I can make rather than have to go out and buy. Thanks for posting.

I absolutely refuse to turn my blacksmithing fun into a business. Of course my wife and I are both retired and my wife has another full time job, so I can readidly understand those who must do this and feel for you. As far as taking on too much, I always tell folks, including family members, to just drop over to the shop and put their name along with what they want at the bottom of the list. I keep a large piece of sheet iron and a piece of chalk on my wall for just this purpose. Sometimes they just take one look at the list and say never mind sometimes they add what they want. It is made plain that my priorties are 1) what my wife wants 2) what I personaly have a really burning desire and just absolutely have to make and 3) any one who has what I consider an emergency. We have a lot of folks around here who must rely on hunting and fishing to make ends meet and I also do basic leather work and will make leather sleeves for amputees who cant afford prothesis or any other odd or end to make thier lives easier, my wife also knits and helps with this. I reckon I'm just truly blessed to be able to say I can pick and choose what and who for I want to make with the exceptin of items 1 and 3 above.

I'm with ladysmith on this one. I'm all about being alone except for my catahoula hound-Icey-. Hell sometimes when out in public I feel like the only intelligent conversation I can get is if I talke to myself or Icey. That does not include those conversation centered around Colonial America both living in and blacksmithing or the relative merits of various adult beverages some of which I am on very intimate terms with.

I walk around the shop and make sure all my tools are where their supposed to be from any projects left over from the day before, and there's plenty of water or pepsi in my shop fridge.

I use plain ole vegtable oil. It doesnt leave the black, scaly stuff that you have to wire brush off and I always keep a few gallons extra on hand. Never know whe I might have to clean out the SS quench bucket an have a fish fry. In my part of Florida that can be a twice a week thing sometimes. ;)

I use one of the old blue enameled roasting pans like you see at your grand mothers house. Oval, about a foot long and two inches deep with a snug lid with handle on the lid and at each end of the pan.

I enjoy making American Colonial everyday house hold items. Especially the fire steels. I get most of my ideas from 'Colonial Wrought Iron-the Sorber Collection' by Don Plummer. This book hasnt been on the book shelf since I bought it, stays by my desk by the pc. I've made trammels,toasters,button hole cutters, ladels,forks etc.... I've made fire steels in the shape of anvils, hearts, leafs and even one for a friend of mine in the shape of The Jetsons rocket car. My wife has one mounted in bone that I scrimshawed with her initial on one side and a fler-de-lis n the other. Made to be worn like a necklace.Reckon I'm a frustrated pyro?

I've been making and using my own charcoal for a few years now. This works great for most of the stuff I enjoy making, however, if I'm going to do some forge welding, I usually add a few handfuls of coal to the mix just to get the heat up. I add the coal mainly when I'm forging tool steel. I forge to shape using coal/charcoal mix then switch to just plain charcoal after annealing. This is a method that suits my needs and allows me to stretch my supply of coal. Coal is a little hard to get in my part Florida.

My brother is an avid hunter. One day he came over looking for some eye bolts to use putting up a deer stand. After looking around my shop for awhile he asked me why a blacksmith doesnt keep eye bolts on hand. I told him I did, all he had to do was pick out the size threaded rod he needed from my stock and I'd make him the size and length he needed. Read my signature. And the official name of my shop is DoDabber Forge and yeah-but shop, cause everytime a friend or family member comes to me and ask me if I can fix or make something for them, my answer is "yeah, but it'll take me..."

A power hammer is nothing but another tool for todays blacksmith to use,and cheating is owning someone elses work and passing it off as yours. Bear in mind that the early blacksmiths didnt 'make' everything either, they used what was on hand in their shop, if they had a piece of chain they would have used it. How much 'wrought iron' is really wrought iron in the blacksmith work of today?

Looks like I'm gonna have to start walking the tracks.

If you ever run across an anvil with a broken off horn, latch onto it if the price is right. During the civil war, Sherman's troops broke the horns off southern blacksmiths anvils, during their march to the sea, rendering them spmewhat usless. I've seen pictures but never an actual one. They seem to be somewhat of a collectors item nowadays. I sure wouldnt mind haveing one.

Definitely a hobby. I've had a career already twenty years USAF. I find I value my time much more than I value anyone elses money.

WOnt effect me at all. I use charcoal and make my own.

I started out using a 2lb hammer and now am using a 3lb for the daily work. I dont know about the rest of me, but my right arm sure has improved, and as for getting my heart rate up, just let me mess up on a project I've been working on for a few days and have to start over. Not only does my heart rate increase, but so does my blood pressure.

Welcome. You can learn a lot from the folks around here. Always something new and exciting. And I'm retired USAF 20 years this coming october.

I just ran across this thread and must say its one of the most facinating subjects I've seen in awhile. I have the recpie for super quench and will try this for any masonry knives I might make. For anyone who wants larger style nails/spikes try here, tremontnail.com. If the link wont work, cut and paste.

I use the Fibinachi principle as in 'If it doesnt look right, it probably is'. Never argue with a woman who is constantly knitting. Me. Those darn needles are sharp. Never gamble with a person who's first name is the same as city or state.

I just wanna know what it took to kill that sucker. These will make a nice set of gun racks.

I'm with biggundoctor. Everything I make I run past my wife, if she dont want it, I'll keep it as a pet for awhile then give it away as a birthday or christmas gift or donate it to our iron in the hat raffle at our monthly FABA meeting.

I'm not cheap, I'm poor, and I take it as a challange to see if I can do more with less. A habit I picked up after spending twenty years in the USAF.

I skinned out an old sofa bed last month and I got a fellow at our local habitat for humanity store to sell me all his mismatched bed frames just to get them out of his store.