Altusjg

I use needle files to do the spine work before hardening. It's pretty easy actually. Just alternate sides with a half round or round file down the spine then come back with a square file or another with a sharp edge and go back down the spine again alternating sides. You can make many different patterns using different files. Your imagination is your only limit. Hope that helps and thanks for checking it out.

I've found that keeping the steel good and clean while forging will also prevent as much pitting. I wire brush the steel coming out and going in the forge. Just my 2 cents.

A fine Painting indeed and some great poems. This is the first ive read of them and i do believe i'll be making a printed copy of each. Thanks for sharing.

I'll be sending mine in as soon as i knock a few out. God Bless!!

Very Nice!! I have a box of about 50lbs worth of both regular chainsaw blades and the giant blades off of the log harvesters. I have a few tacked up with handles just waiting to be welded but havent gotten to it.... Yet! Keep up the good work. Hope mine comes out as nice when i do get to it.

I asked a similar question about a 6ton press a while back after hand forging my first billet of pattern welded steel(1095 & 15N20)and feeling it in my elbow for days. I was told to go with no less than a 20 ton press. I've done a bit of looking around since. You can buy a 20ton air/hydraulic shop press at Harbor Freight for $300 at the link below which would be within your price range. http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=air%2Fhydraulic+press Of course you still need an air compressor that will keep up with the demand of the press. I am looking at buying something similar to this press or at buying a 20ton or better air/hydralic bottle jack and building my own frame. Let me know if you do end up buying this one or something similar as well as how it works if you do. Hope this helps some. Good Luck!! Altus

Thanks guys.

So here's an anvil on craigslist. Saler says its 50lbs and has hardly been hit. USA stamped on one side. No close ups of the other side. Asking $150 USD. What do yall think? It's a 2hr drive but i'd be willing to make the trip.

Keep in mind that currently i have a 40-50lb RR track anvil so this may not be feasible on a regular anvil as drilling a hole through the body of an anvil probably wouldnt be desirable for most. It is however similar to other chain type hold downs that i've seen so the idea could be modified to work on your anvil. With all that said, i use an old chain pipe wrench with a section of spring connected to the distal end of the chain. The spring is hooked to a nail on the opposite side of my anvil stump, the chain is pulled over the anvil and the piece being held down and the teeth/head of the wrench is pushed into the forementioned hole in the body of the RR track. The tension from the spring works to lock the teeth in place. A quick push down and pull back on the handle releases the hold when finished. The hole in my section of RR track anvil was already drilled and i assume it is where the fishplate would have been connected in order to tie one section of track into the next. For what i have and what i work with, it really does the trick. Hope this helps some of you that are new to smithing and are still working with what you have.

Great Work!!

Ironstein those ares some beautiful bracelets, every one of em. I know i would have the same discusted feeling if i had put all that work into a product and explanation of care only to have it ruined by the customer directly after he recieved it. I'm only a hobbyist myself and couldnt get close to the quality work you've shown here but anyone who has spent any amount of time at the forge pounding out a custom made piece can feel your frustration. Great work. Keep it up!! Ohh and what alloys did you use?

Thanks alot for the replies. Guess I'll try to work on the camping utensil set as i do camp/hike a good bit. Since i've started shaping the SS into a blade, i'll go ahead and finish it as a blade without any expectations. I do dive occasionaly also so if it turns out well, i may add it to my diving gear as you suggested Phil. I have a few extra pieces so maybe i'll have to try a spoon and/or fork just to practice with the material i have on hand. I have a good bit of coil spring steel that i have made good knives from but was tempted to try the SS because it had been sitting there and i got a wild hair. I gave it a go without much forethought on the differences in process compared to HC steel which i am some what familiar with. Mr. Thomas thanks for the referance. I'll be ordering that book tonight as it has been recommended to me a couple times and i just havent gotten around to ordering it. Thanks again for yalls time!!

Started welding in metal shop in high school and quickly learned that i was a bit of a natural at it. We were fortunate to have local experienced welders come in and school us on running 6010 stringer beads uphill on joined plate with 7018 low hydrogen cap welds as well as O/A welding and a bit of mig. I joined FFA and started competing on a team throughout La. I went all through high school fine tuning the little skill i had and ended up spending a significant portion of both my junior and senior year in the Vo-Ag shop building bbq pits and other misc projects for FFA to sale in order to help our welding team to cont to compete. At that point, I had no doubt that welding would be what i did for a living. I joined the Navy fresh out of high school and went in as an undesignated fireman(bilge rat)thanks to my recruiter and all his finite wisdom. Anyways, i learned real quick that i didnt want to stay undesignated for long. So i maneuvered my way into the Damage Control division and when i was up for E-4, i tested to become a Hull Technician and all its glory. Over time i showed that i was worth sending to a welding school. I was sent to the Navy 4955 advanced coded welders school and graduated top of my class of around 20 Navy welders. This qualified me to weld nonnuclear component high pressure pipe systems with both SMAW(stick) and GTAW(tig). During my Navy career i also learned a good deal about brazing in any and all positions as most of the plumbing pipes onboard were copper-nickle. When i got out of the Navy in 2001 i started working at a machinist/millwright shop and going to college. I changed my field of study 2-3 times before settling on Nursing.... yes i said it, Nursing. I NEVER would have thunk it but my wife was a nurse at the time and she worked 3 days a week(12hr shifts) and pulled in 50-60k/yr. I decided that i wanted a job like that and after much discussion i decided to give it a go. I've been in Nursing now for around 7 years and am currently charging and/or working a 24 bed cardiovascular intensive care unit. For the past 10 years or so i have not done much of any kind of metal work with the exception of the occasional weld job for my dad. I decided a few months ago that my hands were idling to much on my days off and that i needed a hobby. My dad was picking up leather working at the time so i decided to try my hand at knife making with the thought of giving us something to work on together. I make the knives, he makes the sheaths. Sinc then, I haven't stopped and my interest in blacksmithing as well as my tool collection has only grown as has my knowledge base and skill set. Don't get me wrong, I wouldnt even consider myself to be at the blacksmith apprentice level now but plan to continue learning and putting what i learn into action. This site has been one of my biggest resources and a great place to meet some really good people. Thanks IFI!!

Fancis that is a great idea. I'll have to give it a try. Hows the pattern come out with the copper rivet in the center?

So a while back while on the hunt for scrap, i was given some mystery stainless 1 1/2"x1/4" flatbar. I cut it down to 5-6" long sections and set it aside so that i may later decide what i wanted to do/make with it. While messing around in my shop a couple days ago, i decided(spur of the moment) to try making a knife blade out of one of the pieces. I only had a couple hours to play so i started right then and there playing with workable temps/colors and shaping up the stock a bit. I didn't want to overheat so i kept it in the orange to brite orange range while working. This seemed to work well but please Correct me if that is not the best temp/color to work SS. After heating and beating for a while i got to thinking about how little i actually knew about the forging process(i know, i know... should have thought about that prior to starting) of SS so i normalized, put it away for the day and decided to read up on the heat treating process of SS as well as types. I read on the SSINA(Stainless Steel Industry of North America) website that "the 300 series (which contains nickel) is NOT magnetic. The 400 series (which just contains chromium and no nickel) ARE magnetic". As this is nonmagnetic stock, i assume that i can at least consider this to be 300 series SS, which leads to other questions such as how to harden. From what i have read, 300 series can only be hardened via work hardening(cold working) and the heating up of the steel only serves to anneal it. With this in mind, Am i going to have to forge(for ease of movement) this piece close to finish then cold work it the rest of the way in order to produce a hardened piece? Do i attempt a temper of any kind or leave it as is when finished cold then move on to filing, sharpening, polishing, ect.? I know some of you guys get tired of answering the same old questions from newbies that havent done there homework so i put a legitimate effort into reading as much as i could find on the subject as it relates to my intentions for this piece. Keep in mind that i am a hobbyist with a small shop and do not have access to many advanced techniques. With that said, ALL suggestions, comments, advise are much appreciated. Thanks!! -Altus

Very Nice! Love the Handle!!

Thanks again for the replies guys and for the "defacing government property" warning although i was already aware. One can never be to safe. CurlyGeorge- i'm still learning about the process myself and would hate to give you any misinformation. I have gotten a good deal of info from one of the posts in the metal specific discussion section tittled Mokume Gane (make sure to capitalize the M and G). Read through that post and you will know all that i do on the subject. To me, it seems pretty similar to pattern welding steel with variations in temps and alloys used.

Thats a fine looking little dagger. Thanks for sharing. Keep up the good work!!

Thanks for the kind words. I'll post a few more pics of the push knife once it has a handle and sheath. Thanks again for looking.

781- Yeah this little project was a lot of fun. I made a jig to hold the quaters which consist of two pieces of flat bar cut into 3" pieces with holes drilled on either ends and a couple bolts to squeeze em down tight. I have silver brazing wire as well as copper and found them both to work fine on quaters. Guess it would just depend on which alloy you wanted to add. I'll have to give nickles a try. Ill definately be picking up some scrap copper and other non ferrous alloys to practice this technique. I'll have to try working them down from the edges next time to see what kind of patterns can be brought out but was trying the raindrop pattern specically on this one. Thanks again for looking and for the comments. Yes iron wood, for as much as my daughter liked this little trinket, it is in deed the best $1.75 ive spent in a while. :)

Here is the finished product of my first attempt at mokume gane using quarters. I stacked $1.75 in quaters for this little pendant. I used copper wire to make a loop to hang the pendant on. I gave it to my daughter and she loves it. Think i'll be trying my hand at this again soon. Thanks for looking.

So heres a couple knives i just finished. The RR spike knife is for a friend. I made sure he knows that it is low carbon and wont hold a good edge for long. I added a little file work on the spine and bolster to spice it up a bit. The second knife is a little push knife im sending to my Dad to put a handle on. He will make a leather sheath to clip in your boot or on your belt. Its 5160 spring steel, hardended in canola oil and tempered in the oven. The blade is 2.5" long and 1" wide. Thankd for looking.

Thanks the input guys. I'm thinking i will save my money until something i know is the real deal comes along. I have the RR track and a nice stake plate with a few stakes that have worke for me up till now. I'm in no big rush and would rather know for sure what im buying. Thanks again.

Hey Guys and Gals, i just ran accross this 100 lb anvil on craigslist in my area for 90 USD and im tempted to pick it up since this is the first deal i've ran across that i could actually afford and is close enough to make the drive to get. Thing is, i dont know enough about anvils to look at it and tell if its a decent brand and would like to hear what yall think about it and if its worth buying. The saler says its steel but has no visible identifiable marks on it. Is this one of those cheap china made anvils i'm always hearing not to waste your money on or is it worth getting? All insight is welcome and much needed. I have a couple days off coming up and would like to go get a look at it if its worth buying. I'm currently using an old RR track anvil and would like to upgrade but don't want to spend the money on it if its just an ASO. I'd wrather save my money until something worth buying comes around. Thanks in advance for any and all help!! -Altus

Great looking knife. I have a billet of 1095 and 15N20 welded up, drawn out and twisted. Its been on the back burner for a few weeks but i plan to get back to it soon. I still have to pound out the twist, draw it out and fold it over a few times. I'm doing it by hand and havent found it very easy to move. Definately not like the RR spikes i've been practicing on. Hope mine turns out as nice as yours did. Again.... Great Job!!