Dave Leppo

My suggestion about the wood fire: There's a problem with this. The piece will warp, due to uneaven initial heating. I can't think of any way to prevent this other than straightening afterwards. Be warned!

new link: btw, this is copywrighted material, presented here for your education, only. FLW, An Autobiography

How about heating the whole thing in a wood fire, leting the surface scale up? Might even work better if you do this several times, removing some scale in between firings, to allow the surface to sort of randomly oxidize. Then apply an oil finish, or paint (thin).

" I already have a pair of double lung bellows, but I think they are too small." measure the volume of the lower chamber of the bellows you have - this is the volume they displace on each pump - make the new set bigger, by at least half. Just MHO

Both knives look really nice. Considering what I've read here, and now that the knives are together... Seems like if one was going to use the epoxy it would be better to finish the wood first (trying to keep any finish on the outside so that the epoxy has bare wood to bond to on the inside) I'm thinking that this would make cleanup easier as the epoxy wouldn't have unsealed wood to soak into if one would get some on the outside surface.

I recently put up a 12" culvert pipe, 20' long - bought new for this purpose. This smoke stack was not as cheap as the round ductwork it replaced, but will likely last 10 times as long. This is a side draft setup similar to Hoffi's blueprint, but using the 12" vewrtical pipe and a 14" horizontal pipe.

wats with the spam?

what is the difference in THE RESULT OF hot bluing vs. blck oxide from the forge fire?

here's the discussion I was thinking of http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f82/fly-press-lateral-thinking-4774/?highlight=flypress http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f82/fly-press-lateral-thinking-new-idea-4812/?highlight=flypress

acme thread pic: from Wikipedia

The problem I see is the screw. Take a look at the "slope" of the threads on a manufactured fly press: The lead angle of the threads is very aggressive, moving the ram much farther per revolution, therefore much faster. Not the same as an acme thread. I have thought that one could engineer a cam actuated press to get similar results, (and I think there was discussion of this here) but the theory will need to be tested by someone else. source: Fly Press Page - FredlyFX.com

I'm almost completely a hobbyist, and this time of year leading up to Christmas, I can't find enough time to make all the gifts! I've got many shop organizing and upgrading projects that will simply have to wait till next year! I've got one paying -smithing -job, which covers the cost of coal, but I don't have time for that, either! My problem is that I’m almost entirely fed up with my day job, and would love to start smithing full-time; I guess I better stick it out for a while, though.

I read a few posts that mention using copper hardware on a knife. I'm also aware that affixing two dissimilar metals like copper and steel together mechanically can create a galvanic situation where one will cause the other to corrode. (I think this would not be the case if they were welded or soldered together, but I

Would you consider eliminating the overhanging offset at the near end of the base. If you make the prictle hole tangent to the end of the base, it may have enough support. Or, make another clean-out hole under it similar to the hardy hole?

Weld on a nut?

I experienced a similar crack in a stone mason hammer I was re-dressing & re-HT’ing. However, the crack went from the eye to the center of the face. Its not a mystery to me why this happened, though. I was hardening the entire head, and quenching in cold tap water. I now selectively harden only the face and pein, in tepid water. I may try to repair this someday by arc-welding the crack. The center of the face in not used on these hammers, and carbon migration during normalizing should help.

" looks like a lot of what make woots wootz is due to micro alloying" looks to me like what makes woots wootz is a letter reversal;)

Might make a better GAS forge. If you don't want to build a gas forge right now, you can save it, or sell/trade it to someone who does. Also might work as a tempering oven, but I imagine this would cost more $ to build.

Hijacker: this answers part of your question I Forge Iron - BP0131 Coal, Coke, and Rocks

My humble opinion is that these portable forges with the wide shallow pan and no actual firepot can be greatly improved by adding a actual firepot, 4

Ive got a "Kirby" upright vacuum that we're getting rid of - I think, stripped down, it would make a great electric blower. PM me if your interested and local.

I have a dream for a halloween pumpkin that I probably won't ever get around to. It invloves getting one of those huge steel ball mooring floats SPHERICAL STEEL BUOYS and doing some creative torch cuts to carve the pumpkin. Then, through an access door, fill it with wood and burn it at night. a giant jack-o-lantern with fire coming out of its eyes/nose/mouth!

~250lbs broken horn

that anvil is in beautiful shape - you can still see feathers in the eagle's wings!

I Forge Iron - BP1054 Punching Holes