FredW

I have not used anything but vinegar. I've made some damascas knives and the vinegar works very well. I wish I tooks some pics. Fred

Wow again! The amount of (words edited) in this thread stirred up shows me that mythbusters is an emmencely popular show. (how is emmencely spelled by the way) I can't reason why anyone would quit the forum though. Some of us got a bit carried away, so what. I saw that episode and remember thinking they are not the brightest people pretending to do things the scientific way, and I do worry a bit that a lot of people will take their show to fact, truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Kinda scarry. Dale it would be a shame to quit the forum. Myself being a hick from the sticks of Missouri I find it quite enjoyable to talk to someone on the other side of the planet and not have to sell my kids into slavery to pay the phone bill, besides your opinion is very important to us here. Never met ya but you come off as good ole boy, hate to see ya go. Fred Edit: words were edited as noted. Please keep the words as well as the intent presentable in a family forum. im

Wow, you must be a fan. I watch all those shows just mentioned and I enjoy them, however they are just for entertainment and part of that entertainment is them getting it wrong. As for American chopper they do some very stupid things and I'm am sure there are a few young'ns that get carried away with what they see on the show and it does at times look as if the ones on the show are sending a bad message to kids so I could see it not being a good show for kids. Its is on late at night around here so I don't see a big problem with to much influence on the kids (youg ones). Parental control should be emphisized. Laviathin I think you are getting a bit carried away, some people don't like the show, so what. It sounds as if you took it personal and it sure wasn't meant to be. Fred

You just missed a great conference in Sedalia. BAM is a very good group and has a lot of people willing to help you out as does this forum and ABANA. Welcome to BAM if you wish to join. I live just on the other side of Chillicothe but am only a novice blacksmith. Give me a holler one weekend or something. Fred

Most lawnmower blades, as far as I know are 1080 carbon steel. Should make a decent blade. Of course lawnmower blade steel is just as prone to economics and whatever the manufacturer has on hand as any other. Fred

Sorry, the book I am talking about is a sticky in Knives thread on this forum. Fred

Do a search of John Verhoeven, Iowa state university. He has a metallurgy book for knife and heat treatable steels. It is 201 pages. I have it on my desk top but I don't know how to link it to the message. I could e-mail though. Fred

nice tools. I'm wanting to get into woodworking tool making also. try lining the forge with a fire clay including the pipe. Maybe and inch or two or three above the pipe. At least 3" would be best, I think, and leave hole that tapers to the holes in the pipe that is maybe 6 or 8 inches in diameter at the top and tapers to the same size as the area in the pipe with holes. It could also be oval shaped instead of round, say 4"x8" and taper down. This would allow for long narrow peices, like steel bars and rods, it would help to shape the fire. Fred

I use mainly propane but am getting very interested in charcoal as prices go up. I can make charcoal fairly easily and with very little expense. Fred

I just came back from the BAM Ozark conference and I watched Tsur Sadan and Tom Clark show how this is done. They are thoroughly entertaining. According to Tsur do not start from the end of the stock but where you want to start the taper. Work just a little at a time until it is ready to finish then move to the next section. Keep dong this till you get to the end of the stock. Always work above dull red. Start closest to you and work away. Hit in the same spot on the anvil, only move the material not the spot where you hit. Fred

When at the sheet metal shop we would heat the pipe and bend it with a manual bender if it was bigger than say an inch. Tubing we would put into a role former and go a little at a time. No sharp bends though, only large radius. Fred

Hillbilly, do what you enjoy. This world is full people who go to work every day and dream about another life. Do what you want and the rest will come naturally. Shoot the military or college do at least one thing if not an education. It presents an opportunity to meet people and to maybe change your mind about what yoou enjoy doing. Fred

That same method for electrolytic rust removal can be used to cut steel also using salt water. It is kinda neet to watch. Fred

Mine is a 16' square metal building in my backyard that used to be for storage and lawnmowers. The lawnmower still goes in there but I move it out when forging. A garden shed. I also have a larger 40x30 shop that has my woodworking and knifemaking tools in it. Grinders and such. Fred

I worked in a sheet metal shop for about 8 to 10 years and we had a set of those, along with swage blocks, roll formers, slip rolls, pexto edgers and beading tools, all kinds of tools I just dream about now. Never saw those mandrels used the whole time I was there but we did use some stake tools a bit. There wasn't much call for those mandrels from the 70's on up unless there was some kind of special pipe that was needed otherwise you bought all pipe and most other things of that nature prefab. Fred

I just uploaded a couple of pictures of hammers in the gallery. Helve hammer and Cambersburg. I am hoping the Bradley is less than 6000#. Fred

I am not sure of the style. I will try to post a picture. It is not an upright and it has a steel arm. Fred

I am thinking of buying a 100# Bradley and was wondering what the weight of this thing is and how is this hammer to work with. Thanks, Fred

Try so 5160 spring steel. It's a bit more expensive than the carbon steels but I think it's a bit easier to work with. Kelly Cupples on the Knife Network has very reasonable steel prices including 1086. Fred

I have done some painting on galvanized. I etch it first with vinegar and it seems to last very well. I took a peice of old corragated tin and etched it with vinegar and painted to look like an old American Flag for my father in-law. He hung on the front of his shop. It lasted for 2 years until the shop burnt down. It was in very good shape till then. Fred

Interesting post. I am going to try the box method of making a steel billet (for knives). I have some high nickel iron powder and graphite. My plan was to weld up the billet inside a mild steel case with a mixture of the powder graphite and some pieces of high carbon steel (shavings probably). Now I think when I weld it i will leave some of the seam unwelded. You could also add carbon, if you wanted to melt the steel, is add graphite, charcoal, coal, etc. to the charge then through charcoal on top. A fairly thick layer to keep out the O2. The ashes will help to seal it theoretically. I guess you could even use glass on top. Fred

That is an incredible view. Wish I had the same here in north Missouri. I think that if Native Americans were left alone and given the technology of smelting iron they still would not have progressed with it as fast as the Europeans because they were much more into their culture than whites. They also had a great deal more respect for the land and their environment and tended to be more simbiotic than Europeans. Though there were a lot of tribes just as prone to conflict as Europeans and that does tend to speed up technological development. Fred