Backwoods Blacksmith

Very nice, Beth. The organic look goes well with the school desk type seat, Loved it.

The costs involved pay for the demenstrators and their expences. Plus the costs of putting on the conference. The NWBA nets very little after all is paid for. This ain't a swapmeet. It is a professional conference with very experenced craftspeople demonstrating their skills for the payees benifit. The chance to learn from these people is well worth the money. If you just come for the BS and not learn anythig to expand your craft than maybe it is too expensive. The fees are inline with other conferences. These get put on every 2 years and are very work intensive for the hosts.

Many cheep brands of 7018 will have non chipping or peeling flux. Many weld process specify rod manufacture. Lincoln is top of the line. Hobart is near the bottom. You get what you pay for. Also keeping the rod in a heater and out of the weather helps in weld quality. I have done welding in and on high pressure boilers and in refinaries and saw mills. Boiler work Lincoln temp control rod, sawmills Hobart and welding in the rain.

Travis, Welcome to the madness. I am down near Sutherlin. If you are in the area, you are more than welcome to come by. Later

Nice job. Reminds me of the French cafe style table. Ball ends on the feet and the crossover leg to leg. Don't need the upper archs. Did I say Very nice.

Nice start. I just went through some stackups I have had laying around. Pallet banding, 1018 and sawmill bandsaw. 25 pieces in the stackup 6in long. According to my notes after welding and drawn out 3/16 thick 1 1/4 wide 17 in long. second stackup cut to 4 1/4 long add 1 piece of sawmill bandsaw blade between each and weld. second weld drawn out 1/4 thick 1 1/4 wide 12 inch long. This gives about 100 layers plus or minus. I will next cut to 3 in lengths, add band saw blade and weld. This should give about 400 layers. Draw out and make blades. I will post pic of results. I haven't done any PW in the last 12 years or so. Looks like I may start again. Good luck and have fun. Don't quit. It looks like you have it well in hand.

Don't try to regulate the speed on the blower. the moter will heat up and puke. Put in a blast gate to regulate the air flow. You will be much happier. Great buy. I prefer a hand crank but the old electric blowers were maded for forges using coke as the fire would die without some air flow, hench the blast gate. it will work great with coal. Good luck and have fun.

You will be very happy and money and time ahead. $83.00 is a good price. Mine were $90 plus shipping. Make sure they understand what they are going to be used for.

Flux is not the problem. Heat is the problem. If the edges are welding and not the center then you are not leaving the billet in the fire long enough. What is your heat source? You need to turn the billet 90 degs about every minute reguardless of the heat source. Don't get in a hurry when heating. It always takes longer than you think. Did you weld more than once? 3 times is the charm. From the sample it shows the edges smooched. You are hitting too hard and may be causing the inner layers to move slightly. Flux is not a glue, it protects the hot metal from the unburned oxygen in the heat. How clean was the stackup? I always wash the pallet and saw material in hot viniger, hot water and the hit it with 60 grit on the belt grinder. Clean is better. But I think your real problem is heat.

I had a Lincoln SP 250 for many years. The board finally went out right in the middle of a job. The machine had been discontinued, so no board avaliable. To have a board made would have been 1200 bucks. Bought a Miller. Just because you by quality is no gaurentee. Buy the best you can afford based on the type and amount of work.

Bamboo is very strong and light. I would most certainly use it with a tang and a wire wrap. Also a matching cap on the other end. Both the Japenese and the Chinese used bamboo for this.. Mahogony is heavier but also is very strong but does not flex very much. Teak also. Don't know about rattan. Try to keep the over all length under 6 ft.. How big are your hands? You want to be able to grip the haft and not touch your finger tips to the palm of your hand. Leaf shape blade 8 to 12 inchs long and about 1 3/4 to 2 inch at the base and 1/4 inch spine. The butt cap should weigh about the same for ballance. To keep the size of the butt down use brass or bronze. You might think of a para cord or wire wrap every 16 to 18 inchs for reinforcment and grip ability. Remember, this is a defensive weapon. You want it to be fast and easy to handle with enough weight to peirce deeply and slash quickly. Good luck and have fun. Let us know what you come up with.

Not too shabby!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep it up.

Good work. Keep it up.

Good thinking. It is too easy to get locked into a certain way of doing things and sometimes they don't work very well. We always try to reinvent the wheel. Good luck have fun and be safe.

I would not try to weld on it. Too thin etc. There has to be a way to mount it. If possiable please show pics.

Well, that should work. Good idea. The more you do the more ideas you get. Carry on and have fun

Rockrunner, Your bearing races make great knives, but are tough to work with. I would not use one as an axe or tomahawk bit. I have never tried to forge weld it but have made some great camp and kitchen knives. Holds a great edge when you get it sharpened. Tough stuff.

Make two pair of v-bit tongs. One for 1/4 to 3/8 and another 1/2 to 5/8. If you have to buy them get the small and medium wolf jaw.

Keep your eye out for a real fire pot bottom blast or build a side blast. If I had to do it all over I would build a side draft. That way I could use coal, coke or charcoal. A furnice blower is what you want for electric but I swear by a good hand crank and love a bellows. With a side blast you don't need an iron fire pot. Check out plans on this site.

I smithed for 3 years before I learned to forge weld. Until then I hesitated to call myself a blacksmith. I forge weld whenever possiable and it is practical. I traveled and demoed at muzzleloading rendevous and had to forge weld. Now in my own shop I forge weld for my own satisfaction. Some things I have never been able to weld neatly. Small leaf stems to branchs is one of them. Break out the torch. Solid bar to pipe or tubing. Mig it. But do it nicely, go over it with the torch and smooth it out, heat it up and hammer it. It is all part of the process. But, learn to forge weld. It is a skill like any other and you can only improve with practice. You won't get everyone, no one does. But don't give up. Forge welding is part of being a blacksmith.

Really pile the coal around the tyure making what they call a duck nest. Should be 4 to 5 in high and about 12 in dia. Wet it slightly and pack it down. This will keep the fire from spreading. Your working area will be the center 4 to 5 in. Add green coal around the edges of the work area so they can coak up and rake them into the fire as needed. Keep the fire as deep as possiable. I often use fire brick instead of a duck nest. Use the brick on the sides about a brick length apart and pile the coal up over the top of the bricks. Wet the green coal down using a sprinkler can. This will help the coaking process and keep the fire from spreading. Hope this helps. Keep trying and don't give up.

Using 4140 or 5160 for dies to be welded to a base need to be preheated to 400 or 500 F before welding and cooled slowly before heat treat. If not, the weld will break away from the die. I always tack the dies into position, heat in the forge before welding. A good 1/4 inch weld detail will allow the die to be welded with plenty of penatration. Use a temp stick to check the temp. If you go to 500F by the time you get it out of the forge, into the vice or clamped to the table you will still have plenty of preheat. Wrap in kayowool or put in annealing bucket overnight.

The rings in the Norgen valve are discs and you will not find replacements easily. Th kit includes the shuttle, two outer o rings and the wiper discs installed. recomended oil is DTE light.

Go to the NWBA site and look up James Van Moosh. He has coal, charcoal and coke.

Most of the split branchs were forge welded. The roots and branchs were gas welded to the main trunk. Gas welding allows a more natural looking joint as you can control the metal placement and flow. I always deeply bevel to get a good solid weld. Thank you all for the kind comments. I have to say that I was pretty satisfied with the finished results.