Bentiron1946

A lot depends on your location in the country too. In the tool rich eastern half of the country $150 may be cheap on the other hand in the tool poor western half of the country $150 could be a steal. It all depends on your local amount of used tools for sale.

I used to try to explain no and the reasons why but then started blowing smoke, like saying no but I did do oxen or camels and draft pigs but I really up set a farrier that had come over to the studio because he needed a bigger fire than his little single burner propane fore could heat up, he had this huge draft horse in a trailer. We finally made peace and he got his horse shod. It was kind nip and tuck there for a little while until he calmed down from joking around.

Prayers for the family and friends.

Well it seems that I still can show you all my copper work. It must be that some village is missing there computer idiot. It seems that it just up and fades away whenever I put up the message and link, so just use your imagination and think of some pleasing pictures of what it would look like. I do have a good time making it though and while not my best work(I do have a fair amount of carpal tunnel damage) it is what it is. Enjoy your imagination while you still have one left.

Oh, I think he could punch that thick section he has left and still make a usable adz out it.

We're smiths, if we wanted to do things the easy way, we would be potters..............Ain't that the truth! Before I even knew what a power hammer was one of the pieces of art that I made that sold well was two pieces of 1-1/4" steel drawn down to a 1/4" and tied into a bow. I made six of them and thought that getting $75 each for them was good money in 1976. I ended up with a massive right shoulder and looked somewhat deformed on my right side but like Charles says we're smiths not potters.

Looking good!

I will be praying for his recovery, may God bless his recovery.

"That shows these people, 5,000 years ago, were capable of proper smithing,” he said, “which is a much more sophisticated process.” Folk were capable of proper metal smithing for a long time before they were able to process metal ores for the production of artifacts made of native metals. If one were to look at the axe heads of the upper Midwest in the United States made by the Native Americans during the period of time long before the invasion of Europeans into North America you would find a culture of highly sophisticated proper copper smithing of these axe heads that except for a hole for attachment of a pole almost identical to what one would expect to see in an axe head design in Home Depot today for sale. Just what does the author consider "proper smithing". Or take the metal work of the South American civilizations, are these not proper smiths also? Smithing is more than reducing basic ore into a workable metal, it is also the ability to recognize the and manipulate existing stocks of native and extraterrestrial metals into useful items. I grow weary of authors that think just because something happened three, four or even six thousand years ago that somehow it is a xxxxxxx miracle. I know mankind did not have computers, smartphones or TVs but they did have intellect and hands, that is what separated them from monkeys.

That's a nice lily pad and I like the way you take that block of steel, upset it and then set it free to be a frog like object, outstanding work!

Use a wire brush to see how much you really need to grind off the face first. On some of these really old anvils from the early 1800s the face can be a little thin, you hate to grind into the wrought iron core of the anvil wouldn't you?

Good to see you have a "helper" dog. One of my Huskies when he was younger liked to hammer too, he'd take a hammer in his mouth and beat on the floor. I guess he got bored with that, he's ten now. Due to my back and neck pain I don't forge steel any more but have switched to making copper jewelry. And no I don't post pictures, just too frustrating to try and figure out how to it, worse than the back pain. Makes me want to put the computer in a nice hot fire and forge something useful out of it. Anyway even if I can't figure out how to post a picture I still enjoy seeing other folks work, most of it is a lot better than they realize it is, we are our own worst critics. I think my copper jewelry looks like crap but a friend of my wife loves the stuff. I make a memorial piece for her every time one of her many dogs up and dies. She gets a lot of comments on the pieces from her fellow workers but it is not opinion that counts, I just make the stuff.

was horrified I might get away before he had paid me..........Sometimes we underestimate the honesty of our fellow man and sometimes we do just the opposite but not often.

When I worked in a gun shop we sent some gun parts out to have "color case hardening" done, it had that look of oil on water finish, looked pretty good. Would that work on a blade or would it make it too hard?

Those sure look like killer heads. Boy, you get hit by one of those the only way to get it out is to push it on through, OUCH!! Nice job on them and yes, I too would like to see a sequence of building them. Nice work on the arrow heads.

Really like all those neat looking details, just like big jewelry, real fine looking stuff.

You done good! I think the children will be pleased with it as a memorial to a well loved teacher and that's what matters.

Looks good to me, love that texture on there.

As our paramedic friend stated you do get some strange stuff in Mexican rebar, I do remember that radiation scare. However for the most part in the past I have had fun using rebar for making sculpture, it has an interesting texture and I didn't use in are areas were great stress would occur. I have made a spear for my son when he was five, wife did not appreciate that at all but sometimes the hand is faster than the mind, sure son I can make a spear and this is how you do that. Oh well we live and learn. Rebar makes interesting fences, here again it's the texture of the rod that lends itself for and interesting fence. So I guess what it comes do to is if you like the texture it just doesn't matter where it comes from so long as it doesn't glow in the dark.

Doesn't Brian Brzeal do a humming bird?

Beautiful work on that little cross pein, it reminds me of one that I gave as a gift to a friend of mine. It was an ancient hammer with steeled faces but it looked so like yours. It was from the early 1800s and was beautifully wrought as are yours. Nice work all around on your hammers, the continuation of a long tradition.

Acme=the highest point. We tend to put the word "acme" in the worst light possible after years of watching Roadrunner cartoons but it is a noble word and we should apply it to our work as metal smiths. We should strive for ACME in all we do in life and not be half buttocked about it. We are not the coyote!!!