Ric Furrer

I would not trust that analysis as it has no reference other than a university name....I have not seen the article published on this or any similarly made blade and I have looked. even the Chinese historians and scientists I have corresponded with had never seen a proper metallurgical look at them. There are many similar blades and some are broken..yet no cross-sections and no deep analysis..the tin could be just a surface finish..tinning..like gilding. As to reproductions..sure..how many you want? They are all over China and the net..some better than others.. For a TRUE COPY one needs a true scientific workup...and none have been done that I am aware. Ric

I like the last one....angel wing. Imagine as a double bit or two axes carried behind the head in a back sheath.... Ric

I'll take the 45 degree peen one on the right. Ric

Michael...you just need a bigger hammer that's all.... What about a drop over radius die on the bottom die..say 4" radius or so. Move the mass out and then remove to clean it up. Ric

Unless you have the water free borax in a tight container it will gain water from the air. John, You can set the grocery store stuff in front of the exhaust blast from the forge in a metal cup after a morning of forging...cap it when you come to relight in the afternoon. It will need to be crushed into powder to be used...easy under the press. yes, it is a bit more work....but I have seen many buy the anhydrous and leave it in an open container in humid weather. Ric

I see nothing wrong with what that hammer can do....I have yet to own a hammer that is big enough, hits fast enough or is cheap enough to repair.....and when I find one I'll hit work too hard, to fast and break something...probably me. Visiting Scot Forge in Wisconsin and watching them upset a 3x3x6 foot ingot of stainless to a cube in one push at 60% power put many things into perspective for me as to what is possible vs what is likely. Ric

Don, What the others have said and this: Do not think about getting an accountant...get an accountant..a CPA or someone who works in the same business under that CPA's guidance. The profit vs loss is a bit more flexible that you may think...until it is not. Form an LLC or some other corporate structure (I have a sole proprietor LLC) and keep the state records up to date. Be sure you pay all your taxes...even the "use tax" which I get a nice letter about each year from the state....its a tax on all the goodies you buy from out of state and internationally (books on amazon and ebay stuff and conferences). Keep ALL receipts..for everything...and store the years information for ever (they say seven years, but a forensic audit can go back as far as they wish to look). Keep the records updated for quarterly and annual books...It lets you and those who need to look see where you actually are. Think about a website or at the very least business cards. Get a FEIN...federal tax number...this will come when you register with the state and feds. It may seem like a lot, but most of the above cost me about $300 when I set up shop and the paperwork is rather simple...many of the same questions over and over. Insurance: If you work out of the house (attached shop) then you may find it very hard to get insurance..or not. I use Society Insurance here in Wisconsin and have no big complaints (the rates go up every year). Find out from the local reps or ABANA chapter who they use....and have them quote. The better you set it all up in the beginning the simpler it is later...and more professional. Tennessee has a large unemployment rate in many areas....I would think they like the idea of you setting up a business...speak to the local business administration for your town or these guys: http://www.tsbdc.org/ or http://www.state.tn.us/ecd/pdfs/SGB_smart_guide_2010.pdf They can walk you through the process. You are forming a small business or micro business You are an "artist blacksmith" or "metal artist" or blacksmith or something along those lines......not a fabricator or welder. Having a "studio" is better that a "shop". Ric

Having a sword in the Uk is not knife-crime..nor is carrying it. I wonder who the smith was... Ric

Sweet...good luck at the exhibit.....hope she finds to a good home to nest in. Ric

There is a green high chromium mix that works well, but I have found that it is not worth the cost as relining is one of the things that simply needs doing. I reline every six months on my welding furnace. Ric

I have seen forges with slanted bottoms that are raised up a bit and the flux drains out...it helps a little with flux damage, but in the end the forge interior is just a consumable. Ric

The enclosed charcoal fire depends upon culture and time period. Vikings used hearth stones on the bellows side: http://picasaweb.google.com/102019892510547778122/SmeedcursusOpenluchtmuseumEindhovenSeptember2009#5383926701052857842 but no records of a "cave" for the fire. The Japanese did much the same. I have tried both and by having some bricks over the fire it will burn hotter....just like an oven, however....many operations in a general forge shop will require the roof to be lifted frequently. Ric

Hey...I was just going to get a drink of water, but coffee seemed better and you need cake with coffee and.......hey where did my knifeblade go and who left this pile of scale in my forge? I did leave a bar of pattern-weld in the forge at a nice heat for too long...when I returned I could not see it vs the forge lining and when I fished it out and hit it on the anvil..it broke...the grain was larger than huge..bigger than big. So...I stacked the two and did another weld and forged it down....grain size fixed. As to carbon loss.....take a bar of steel and grind a long wedge (like the wood shims you can buy). Place it in the forge along with a knifeblade you are forging and take the wedge out when you forge on the blade and put them both back in when heating....when the blade is all forged quench the wedge and cut (break/grind whatever) it the long way, polish and etch...you will see the color change if you have lost carbon and you know how deep that loss is for you. With good forge practice and a gas forge that is not making work drip with scale....you will only have to be concerned with thickness less than about 3/32 or so for the edge. Since most forge thicker than that it is generally not an issue..or rather...not a great issue. That said..it is up to you to verify under your conditions. Ric

Thomas, I looked into that tech and got some quotes for work...it is more economical to do it the way I do....though the technique is evolving. I never tried for a grant to explore the techniques I wish to explore...mostly gathering tooling as I can and self-funding. As to folk helping me with my shop: There is a HUGE difference between "cleaning UP" and "Cleaning OUT" I do have some tools that need to go. But there is room for another vice. Ric

Seems a shame to have you two send it all the way across the country only to have Grant sell it to me next year....maybe it should just stop half way and be done with it? Ric

Two turned up in Wisconsin last year. Ric

Grant, Larry thought it was a straight-side press as well...more than 100 ton. As to noise..no I hate noise, but I like getting the work done with tools I understand. Matt, Thanks for the link..I had not seen those before. Ric

OK..it takes me a while, but I get there. I am not a motorhead, but would a large six or eight cylinder crankshaft work for this? Balance may be an issue, but I would think that there are enough off the shelf parts to allow a large motor to be adapted to this toy of machine. Ric

Grant, Would you think a small punch press, like what you have used, would be adapted for single tooling and the screw base for adjustment beyond the "norm" for such a press? Adding an acme screw below seems an easy adaptation. Ric

Matt, Unless you are using the same starting stock I would think most other references are useless. color changes with chemistry as would grain size (fracture appearance). Ric

old Ency Britanica on google search also this "The Ryder forging machine, fig. 178, is used extensively for making bolts, joint pins, hurdle and fencing ends, and analogous work that require reducing or swaging quickly. This machine is made in a somewhat similar form as a power press, and may correctly be called a forging press. The speed is usually about 700 blows per minute, and the multiple slides allow a succession of tools to be used, each pair doing their part of the work. The back and front crossbars are used for fixing guides and gauges. The anvil of each hammer has a wedge adjustment that is used to determine the finished size of the article that is being forged; adjustment can also be made by the screw and hand wheels whilst the machine is in motion, and sometimes they are connected to a treadle, which can be operated by the workman's foot. This mode of working is to be preferred when the required reduction of the bar is considerable. A set ofshearing tools are in the slide on the extreme right of the machine. A forging machine of this type is very useful for forging large quantities of press tools of any particular shape or dimensions. This is readily carried out by fixing suitable swaging and forging tools into the various slides of the machine. The metal shearing attachment, fig. 179, consists of a pair of 12 in. shear blades mounted in a light cast-iron holder, having the necessary adjusting gauges affixed. These may be readily added to any power press, thereby transforming the press into a cross-blade shearing machine. This fixture is very handy when material has to be cut up occasionally, and it may be made in all sizes to correspond with each size or type of power press." Apparently these were popular tools in their day...I would think not many survive now. Ric

A bit more research shows that they run from 700 to 1200 rpm and have a spring return......I picture a series of demolition air hammers. Ric

I want one too....wonder how such a thing can be fabricated with current tech? Ric

minute 1:36 or so. It is an interesting machine as well...anyone know for sure what it is? Ric

Grant, What book is that from Ric