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I Forge Iron

GregDP

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Everything posted by GregDP

  1. Thanks for taking a look. When I could invest I bought the lump stuff. When I first started to make a go of it and quit working at walmart.. a rather soul sucking job but it was stable and had a 10 percent discount. I wiped out 3 stores buying charcoal with my discount. It was great for a while. I have a wood pile and have done odd jobs and tree work, and some fabrication work when given the opportunity to support my work addiction (ain't that a definition of blacksmith?) but it's been nice to get away from wallyworld! It's helped in making my own charcoal to get this far but I've been posting so much because forging is no longer a man the fort constantly situation for me any more. I'd often start off a day getting a barrel burning for charcoal and occasionally annealing large stock in the process. (I chopped tons of wood before getting coal. (before I introduced a blower to my charcoal making process, much quicker than just relying on a chimney effect to get all the small hunks to a roar.) The Plate the way it was set up at the time time of this photo I had a spike wedge placed through a hole wedge up. Neither hardy or pritchel just a 5/8 hole that is sometimes useful. Necessity has been the mother of most of my invention. Lastly yes I'm sure it'd be an easy task, but I was afraid of it and still am. I was using charcoal only when these were taken. It would have been more difficult then. -- Point is I could get it hot enough now easily to make it look solid but I wouldn't have a lot more faith in it. It's not bad enough to break, might be a target spot for rust sadly if care isn't taken. I do plan to work it out a bit more but a lot of times I start out with only the basically of ideas in what I'm doing. The more I do, the more I see my ideas getting closer to possible and that's been a lot of help. If it looks doable I may try it yet but until then it'll be waiting. For now I've not done a successful forge weld yet but but haven't tried it with coal. I feel I know whats been wrong with my former attempts. So soon I'm sure. It's only been a few days of me playing on my new anvil and most of that has been straightening stock a much easier endeavor now. If you'd like to see some more photos of my process check out my facebook. Facebook.com/gregdp. (PS - I'm honored to see the move to the sword section, I was weary of calling these swords after my first lame sword I made more out of eagerness and audacity than anything else I still think it looks neat though so here it is.. whats the point of all these pictures with no one to see 'em!)
  2. I want to save you some time and effort and say no. The average person isn't a able to with easily acquired tools or more time and energy that it would cost to work most day jobs compared to the cost on an anvil. A lot of folks I've found that have made good anvils do so for only a few reasons. Because they can and want to prove it to themselves or others (this is admirable to me an exchange of knowledge. I'd love to see quality anvils being manufactured made in America affordable to us in the states again but steel is a commodity and the demand simply isn't around. Yet.) because they can't find an anvil period. Freight is expensive and online is very competitive but depending on your location a good anvil is worth the time and money. While anything can be an anvil. It takes a bit of luck and a lot of research to properly temper a hunk of tool steal if you are familiar with the theory already and know what makes a good anvil you can do it. If you just want to give it a try I recommend anything big and heavy. Concrete isn't a good idea, but the scrap yard can yield good results if they sell to the public. I got a big ol' piece of of plate steel for cheap that was roughly torch cut. A little grinding and cold forging (mild steals mushroom and absorb the impact instead of returning it) I've found a sledge works great on a rounded edge to give it a bit of hardness just to somewhat resist dings. Long story short it was a lot of hassle but got the job done till recently. Just don't consider this an anvil, but maybe you'll find it helpful: If you're really excited and just have to start but can afford or find an anvil; find a blacksmith group near you. That's probably the best place to find an anvil or get any help at all to boot! Enjoy learning! (edit - Railroad track is a great starter anvil and was my ideal choice. I never stopped looking. I've never been able to acquire it personally as I hear it's illegal and very difficult to cut without torches, don't bother with anything other than several large abrasive wheels and a power source in the field.. at least that was always my only other option personally)
  3. Keep an eye out around you. Research how heat retention and radiation work, roughly understand it. When I was in your shoes and wanted to up grade I'd collected some stuffs, pipes, a grill, hand tools. Unscented Kittie litter and wood ash with a little hand dug clay will take you far but an old grill or 55 gallon barrel with a stand will work fine. I hope you find some inspiration from these photos. On my trashy ol' forge I use a shop vac with a ball valve. The hose nozzle fits over 1/2 and with a hoseclamp I can easily release the stress on the machine when restricted by slidin' it further forward or back revealing holes. My old ground forge now makes charcoal: I started humbly. Then built my trench forge slowly. One layer at a time slowly around a piece of pipe. It uses a hairdryer or shop vac. It's great with I load it up with charcoal and then add wood. Gasses circulate from the wood and ignite but when closed and air restricted if I have enough coals I can make charcoal on the fly, it just takes time management skills to hand a charcoal set up if coal is unavailable and propane is too expensive. When I adopted coal I went back to the drawing board. There is an infinite number of possibilities. I once set out to be a blacksmith and now I find that is a title that has many meanings. Become a creator and the world is your oyster.
  4. I'm afraid that I still haven't figured out the handle yet. I won't be ginding it down any further because it started to crack while working. It's odd shaped U shaped clips I save from withering away to nothing by taking long back breaking trips every so often.. I hate to see anything go to waste. I'm not sure what TYPE of steel it is but I notice to day while working with another large knife out of the same kind of stock that it could very well be air hardened. While my "Land lubber" cutlass (as I've started to call the one with the horse shoe) it was heated to yellow/orange along the edge and brine quenched. In my knives I like to pack them into a coffee can with a playsand/motor oil mix. Certainly makes me feel better. This one I had planed to use a wheel barrel with redclay,unscented kittie litter and water. Thickly mixed. With out really knowing anything other than a high carbon spark pattern it's been hit or miss and I just keep notes and hope for the best. I don't really want anyone ever using these particular blades so it'll be OK either way.
  5. I'd been doing knives for a while. I did a few twist but it was always a challenge without a vise. Jery rigged clamps and loosely fitted temporary jigs but they're awkward and a straight even tight twist is difficult but not impossible. Easy if you're using a welding machine and something darn heavy... wish I owned one. I'm sure I will eventually.. I digress.. ----- I wanted to hold off on getting a vise till I found an affordable leg vise, but I got tired. So when I got my little 4 inch bench vise I went hog wild. A coal rake; my forge is just over knee high and I'm a ambidextrous, but left dominate person just to give you an idea. My shellfish knife/bottle opener. A couple of bottle openers. A weeding tool and little spade both for right handed folks. The DC salt water "Mmmm Beer" skull and crossbones etch on the bottle opener didn't photograph well; here is a picture of the flower on the weeding tool. Thanks for looking! Here is a little tip for those still learning the ropes. My HF 'Chicago' grinder has lasted me a long time it's higher rpm compared to my other angle grinder is more or less useful at times. But to keep your erasers in good repair replace these little guys every so often. Or if you're cheap you'll notice the sandpaper.
  6. Hope you enjoy. Advice is welcomed.
  7. Would something like gunblue harm the face. I was suggested when buying it to wire brush and then gun blue it. I don't plan to do it at the moment but does anyone know of any products to stay away from that my damage the work face. I've assumed to stay away from anything that needs to be applied very hot. I'm no chemist and there are a lot of choices out there. Here is what I've been using: I took this just as a reminder for folks and cause I enjoy taking pictures. Hind sight is 20/20 and it helps to be able to see it. I wanted to center the anvil but I've never cut a completely square chainsaw cut in one pass. I'm afraid it works and is level but I'm a bit embarrassed it looks half-assed.
  8. Just a few photo's. I haven't taken one since it's last acid bath. I'll get one eventually but I like how the etch has turned out. My fiance and I are having a pirate themed wedding and I'm arming us both . No shotgun involved. She won't let me see her yet in her wedding garb but she enjoyed playing with these and let me take some pictures. She's wonderful and is doesn't mind being used for my shameless self promotion. I know she's a beautiful girl, but remember she's also my future wife. I'll be updating eventually with my second cutlass. I hope it doesn't take too long to wrap up, but I have several irons in the fire. If it does I may create another thread eventually.
  9. Thanks Marks. Working on something with any sort of rebound at all is a huge step for me. I hope to double my work load.
  10. I recently purchased a "ment 1912 140lb Hey budden" Gentleman told me it'd be 350 on the phone but he told me to research what a great anvil it was. I did even though I had an idea. When I got there I kinda knew what I was looking at I'm fairly certain the date was off. 124 stamped on the side it was 125 on the bathroom scale. And I'm assuming now it's a bit younger than claimed. And while I'm no expert but to me 'ment condition' means as it came from the factory. Not an anvil two holes tacked and ground down and a gash near the heel. All things considered.. for me I still felt it was a good deal. I played dumb to the damage and falsities hoping to feel out things a bit more. No one likes to be called a liar or ignorant, most of the conversation as he continued to sell me the anvil even after the cash was in his hand. The guy wasn't a smith, but he does metal work. As a collector (I got the feeling he was more the buy/trade type than collector)I don't think he really was as knowledgeable as he professed although he did have a copy of anvils of America. But he wasn't unknowledgeable, misinformed a bit and fuzzy on some details he just isn't as interested personally I suppose. All said and done though I felt it was a good deal and I'm very happy with it. He can spend time looking them, 'cause there certainly is a market, and hopefully I'll be able to trade up eventually and have more time to smith. If anyone could help me out narrowing things down a bit I'd appreciate it. And I wonder what condition others would describe the face. Honestly I'm very happy but any input is greatly apprieciated. I'm not much of a haggler, I tried to let him know now how much I wanted it and how excited I was to get it and that didn't give me much of a leg to yard sale even if I'd wanted to. Thanks a lot for any details. I'm very proud to own it, here it is:
  11. Perhaps that first number is an A, I hope that helps. (if it is an A memory tells me I read somewhere it's older than 1917-1918 but not by much, I think it was about then they started the serials over but keep in mind this is all hearsay)
  12. Congrats, I'm not far from you in Clayton if you want to hammer out something Freeman.
  13. Nice pictorial walk-through, wish I'd seen it before I started to make these. A couple ideas for those on budget. Another piece of 5/8 stock with an upset on one end can be tapered or ground to a nice tool textural detail. (or you may have something very similar laying around ready to go!) A nail set makes for nice details. Up until recently I used solely charcoal, making my own I had chunks o' wood galore forged into a nail hammered in and chared then polyurethane coat while still a little warm. You hit the nail on the head with taking the time to straighten them is important. This is my first and I was eager, but make something once 'right' and do it again 100000 times and see how your definition on 'right' has evolved with-out realizing. So some tips to make a few of these at a time try to take some time to prep several an do them in steps. You'll be surprised what you learn, or at least I was.
  14. I've used it on two knives one was used to glue wooden handle (w/rivets) and the wood was coated on the out side both were baked at 500 looks good laying around. It's held up well I use the small knife photoed regularly for a few months making kindling and it's just steel coated with the dap mortar. I have noticed if it's exposed to heat constantly it becomes brittle so perhaps time will how it fairs for everyday use. So far so good though. Hope it helps
  15. I was chatting here last night and the subject of segmented wood turning came up. I couldn't find the video at the time it came up but I'd seen it a while back, found it this morning and figured I'd share as I found it impressive. Steve Paoli
  16. Hey glad you liked the horseshoe hand guard, I've finished it and I think it looks much better now some day soon I plan to take an afternoon and upload a back log of photos and I'll update. Thank for the warm welcome.

  17. An impressive work, the hi and shinogi transition nicely. I'd love to know how you did it; sounds like I have a book to keep an eye out for.
  18. Thanks for the photos they were interesting. Glad everything went well. I think Ramsberg had the right idea; a scale model sounds like a nice tribute.
  19. Youch, a contractor just died yesterday working for AK Steel Holding at an American coking plant. A lot of people have died over the years pulling rocks out of the ground and the danger seldom stops there. Glad no one was hurt, made for a pretty funny watch.
  20. Thanks for the nice words, I enjoy talking about my work and while many people listen intently few understand technically. It's nice to reflect in detail, the process of writing and asking myself how to explain, how things went wrong was a helpful exercise in itself for me personally. “When men are most sure and arrogant they are commonly most mistaken, giving views to passion without that proper deliberation which alone can secure them from the grossest absurdities”- David Hume
  21. Hi my name is Greg D Price, but I go by Raggy (Google "Greg Price, Blacksmith" and you'll see why). I'm a rather self paced learner, always have been a kinda touch the iron to see if its hot kinda guy. But I've gotten tired of the blisters. When reading a few words of wisdom here on Iforgeiron a few days ago I read something along the lines of "Learn from mistakes, but you don't have to make them to learn from them"; as told in words of fatherly advice. Today in the shop those words came to mind as I thought; "Wished I could have watched someone else do that so I wouldn't be tired and empty handed." So I was inspired to share some of the mistakes I've made, my opinions on what I think went wrong and or what I think I should have done. Hopefully others will feel encouraged to do so and, more importantly to me.. Perhaps some of the more gracious and experienced members could weigh in to stomp out untruths or turn assumptions into truths, not in the name of making anyone into an ass but to encourage a richer community. Each of these pictures are an embarrassment of sorts but admitting mistakes and looking for answers is the best path towards improvement I think. The first thing I'd like to get out of the way is my anvil. It's not very big, or hardy.. it doesn't even have a hardy hole (this term makes my fiance blush ) but it has served me well. Better than I've served it, it's face is marred and nicked: Something I've focused on to improve my accuracy has been to move what's to be hammered. Knowing that I'll be hitting the same spot allows for better rhythm. One thing that is a challenge for me is angling my hammer face correctly for each blow and it's become more intuitive since I started to practice this. Sometimes it is inconvenient or impossible to move my target as needed but I've developed more control over all with this method. The other cause of damage is more related to the quality of the anvil and placing cold or black hot steel against the anvil and hammering to create or remove bends. This next picture wasn't actually my mistake but it's one easily made by an overzealous beginner and it's what I refer to as a cold laps although there may be a more appropriate term. My cousin who I invited to make a knife with me is 6' 9" and a hoss who took a 10lb cut off sledge to a railroad spike. This was in just a few heats and if my anvil hadn't been warmed I'm sure he'd have obliterated it. The problem was it was worked to long and to cold. While with enough force was applied to reshape the metal it isn't the solid billet it appears at first. The cooler metal pushed into the hotter metal and this can happen in a number of ways including when using a fuller. Another example of working too long too cold. I tried to do the twist and bend in one heat and you can see what happened. You may also notice I didn't manage to center the eye. When I struck the punch a second time without making sure it was where needed. Haste makes waste but I took the time to do some soldering and electroplating experimentation. This was a split I did and it wasn't done as well as it could have been. A straighten spring clip that I split before letting the grain structure destress normalize/anneal. Had I done so perhaps it wouldn't have cracked. Another option would have been to drill a control stop where I planned to end my split. This was the result of a hot spot forming and inattentiveness to my work environment. I use a charcoal/wood trench type forge that doesn't have an ash catch to keep ash from building up in the corners and bottom after a long day. Ash can insulate and block airways. For me this resulted in more air being targeted to the center of the forge and when pulled out I had a molten bubbling overheated hot spot. I have learned to spot this and prevent it by making sure I don't work too long without cleaning my out my forge and starting anew. This next one is most telling. If you do something over and over again you know what to expect and how to hand it. My first spring clip knife was coming along nicely and I just quenched it and noticed it curved. Either because I didn't quench it evenly or because it wasn't shaped quite symmetrically enough I can only suppose and what would have been easily fixed by reheating. But I panicked and wasn't thinking clearly because after a quick dip I darted to the anvil to straighten it. Break. I knew better at the time too but inexperience in practice and excitement caused me to do something foolish. This last one is a bit more subtle but probably the most difficult to correct. Planning. My second railroad tomahawk attempt went well except I hit a stumbling block the thickness of the collar wasn't satisfactory. It was a poor judgment and understanding of how the material would move. I could attach it to a handle, but the handle would either have to be too thin or I'd have had to split and drift the collar beyond what I was capable of doing at the time. I set out to do something with little to no idea what I was going to do. My point is most anyone can beat and bang something hot to a shape. Knowing exactly what you want to accomplish and how you'll do it in the most efficient possible way is probably the most important thing that can be learned. It's something I'll never perfect but always strive to. I've gained insight every single time I've fired my forge but some wheels are best not reinvented so I want more formal training. I'm going to my first abana meeting this Sunday after a year of actively pounding steel and want to approach it as a blank slate. So please excuse the smell as I air my dirty laundry. I'm worried I've picked up bad habits working solitary with no personal guidance but it's made me comfortable enough with my knowledge base and basic technique that I'm no longer intimidated by the idea of being the new guy around the fire. I've been lucky to have a wealth of knowledge online to develop my passion in a beautiful art. This is my attempt to contribute and give back what I can. Thanks for reading and take care ~~ Raggy
  22. GregDP

    cutlas

    I would do it before, but I've never considered it until now. Although depending on your method of heating the thin spot created by it could make even heating a problem. I've only managed two larger blades that had satisfactory temperament and edge hardness. But I use charcoal and coat the blade to encourage a slow heat to yellow. I hope someone chimes in that can speak from experience otherwise good luck. Sounds you have a good idea what you are working towards.
  23. Certainly, a lot of beautiful scenery in the area. I'll hope for nice weather.
  24. Like a clear epoxy or polyurethane varnish? I wouldn't have to worry as much about the wedges vibrating loose over time if played with too roughly. It seems secure through testing but something that may serve better than a wax or oil based finish. If it dries yellowish it may only add to the effect. Thank you Tiapan. PS since you seemed to be interested in chainmail maybe you'd like this:
  25. Some updated photos on progress. Thanks for looking. It still needs time, I change the solution (Now it's soured and distilled homebrew ) Any tips for preserving the copper finish?
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