Unforgivun

I'm interested to see where this has gotten to. I was in chat and commented "I wonder why no one every forges their own vise other than the massive amount of upsetting needed" to which Dodge responded that there was a girl doing just that! Brilliant. Can't wait to see more.

Wanted to point out that the meeting for April is the 13th, after Blade.

Thanks!

BUMP for this post. I've started aquiring parts and the 10" Grizzly wheel seems to be a reasonable entry level wheel. I was wondering if anyone has any idea what the bore size is (shaft size) on the Grizzly. It is not on their website. If it is a large enough bore I'd love to slap some bearings (with spacer) in it and convert it to a rolling wheel instead of a drive wheel.

There is an entry fee to the park. You need not register with the AFC if you plan on just walking around and checking it out. If you plan on attending the demo's then you must register.

I use a norton 8k as my finish before moving to a canvas strop with pastes. It takes a good bit of practice to be able to put an edge on these razors consistently.

Not that the pattern welded isn't better, but for those not in the know, Kershaw has an outstanding warranty program. If anything on the knife breaks, just send it back to them to have it repaired/replaced. The warranty does not however cover things like broken tips or chipped blades. Kershaw charges US$10 to replace broken blades. BM454 I am an avid fan of the leek and have a composite and damascus version myself (both made by kershaw not me) Fantastic fix there. Aside from the edge profile it looks almost exactly like mine.

Mine is the one on the bottom, Double B's in a Bumble Bee. "Blake Benefield". On a copper bracelet.

No experience making them... But I sure do enjoy using them! That has a nice subtle smile to it.... 8/8?

Use a quarter or a dollar coin and make your class ring. Just get a coin with the year you are graduating on it. For the cost of a mandrel, some math (to find center on the coin) and a nylon mallet you can make the coin into a ring that still has the writing on it. Easy Peasy

From what I understand the event for the young smiths has now been moved to Tannehill Historical Ironworks Here is a list of the events. International Young Smiths Schedule of Events- July 12-27 2013 Hosted by Tannehill Forge School of Blacksmithing at Vulcan Forge Open to the Public! Come for a day or camp out and watch the whole event free. camping contact: mckeemetalarts@yahoo.com Friday- July 12 Meet and Greet Event Opener with the International Young Smiths - 5:00 pm Come meet and talk with Brian Brazeal, Alec Steele and the 2013 International Young Smiths team as well as our hosts, Lee McKee of Vulcan Forge and students. The IYS team will have the Brian Brazeal Blacksmith shop set up. Come and check out the tools, forges and anvils. Hang out with us in the shop and talk forging with some of the best. We will have demonstrations too! Saturday-Wednesday July 13 - 17 Brian Brazeal and Alec Steele will begin a 5 day "tools to make tools" curriculum with the IYS team. The first day they strike for each other for the "forged to finish" rounding hammer and the Brian Brazeal hot cut hardy. Thursday - Friday July 18-19 IYS techniques class, the team will learn and practice the techniques used to forge the Crane sculpture. Saturday - Sunday July 20-21 The International Young Smiths team will complete their Crane sculpture! Please, come watch and support these inspiring blacksmiths who are here to share and promote friendship and forging information with their communities and the World! Monday- Wednesday July 22-24 the IYS team will be teaching the Crane techniques class to the Tannehill Forge School of Blacksmithing students. Thursday- Friday July 25-26 Together, Tannehill Forge School of Blacksmithing students and the International Young Smiths will forge a second Crane sculpture to be donated to Tannehill State Park.

CD Works, there is a Huntsville forge group. Check out Alaforge.org under the contact us page.

Reminder, this Saturday there is an Iron Pour at Tannehill. Sunday CVMikeRay will be teaching steel roses at the Bell Barn in Tannehill.

BUMP! Matt Garton will be in Tannehill AL in June.

Just a reminder, the 2013 Batson Bladesmith Symposium starts Friday, 4/5/13!

Cupola(s) will be fired up the weekend of Batson... Weather Permitting. Tannehill Historic Ironworks Park Iron Pour Dates March 1-3 - Season Opener at Tannehill! April 5-7 - Batson Bladesmith Symposium - Tannehill TBA In April - Pilot School Field Trip Iron Pour April 20 - Sucarnochee Festival - Livingston Alabama May 3-5 - Sparks in the Dark -Tannehill Sept 1st - Labor Day Sparks in the Dark - Sunday Night Sept 6-8 - Alabama Forge Council - Tannehill Oct 4-5 - Sparks in the Dark-Tannehill Halloween Iron Pour - Tannehill -TBA Nov 2 - Soule' Festival - Meridian MS

A standard cross demension is 3:1 So if a cross stands 6" tall from bottom to top it should be 2" wide from end to end. If it is 3' tall from bottom to top, it should be 1' wide from end to end. That being said, it's all in what looks appealing to your eyes. Quilt rack crosses are 3'x1', This unity cross stands 16" tall and is 8" wide which is only a 2:1 ratio. I think both look proportionate. As far as the split goes just make the overlap the width of the stock itself. So if its 1" stock, then you overlap by 1" Hope this helps.

There is a hammer-in many of the AFC will be attending in Ponotoc Mississippi this weekend (Feb 23rd) Silver Anniversary Batson Blade Symposium will be held April 5-7 2013. As far as I know these are the only concrete events for the AFC this season.

Fairly new to the straight razor world and I'm not a knife maker. But I've done some research on the few blades I have. From what I've found these razors were made by another company for the hardware store and were manufactured out of something very similar to 1099. Before attempting to make a straight I would highly recommend joining a secondary forum such as Badger and Blade, or The Shave Den and learning all that you can about using a straight razor and why certain ones perform better than others etc. It's always a Y.M.M.V. situation of course, and some cheap razors like the gold dollars are often modified to create very attractive and usable razors. By learning the "WHY" certain cheap razors can not be used to shave with, you will learn what not to do when making a blade. Go at it with the intention of learning how to use a straight razor and you'll learn what you need to know. Be warned though, it is almost as steep a learning curve as blacksmithing itself. After re-reading this post I felt it needed a post edit... You will learn what you need to know in regards to blade geometry and requirements. Not how to make them. But more so how they should be when they're completed.

Candy pans and mixing bowls are often made from unlined copper. The general rule of thumb is to use nothing that is acidic on these, even in cleaning. This means no tomatoes, no citrus, no vinegars etc. No basic cooking in other words. Copper is good for sugar, and eggs only. Not much else. The idea for candy is that the thick copper pots produce an even, consistent and superbly quick adjustment to heat. With mixing bowls, the only time they're really needed is when whipping eggs. The copper ion's react with a protein in the eggs and actually infuse tiny amounts of copper into them. The resulting egg foam is stabilized by the copper ions and the air bubbles are created more uniformly creating a whipped topping that is not likely to fall apart. Some chef's prefer not to use copper bowls at all due to the potential for metal allergies (slim, but there) and the potential for the person that may already be getting some sort of exposure. Those chef's simply use glass bowls (no stainless, metal allergies still apply) and cream of tartar to create a matrix in the resulting foam to stabilize it. Hope it helps

I like the magnetism idea with the name of the forge being loadstone. Nice looking mark though

Fishers are cast iron, but you can weld onto the face itself and use the existing face as a base. For all we know he may have used nickel wire as a base before he started welding. If you can get it cheap, go for it, if not I wouldn't bother.

The Tannehill group meets that weekend and is having a copper box class or I'm sure a few of those guys would come. I've go to work so unfortunately I won't be able to attend. Good luck with it, I'm sure you'll represent quite well.

I've seen a steel face soldered onto a grizzly anvil. I won't say it is preferred, but it was fairly serviceable as a basic anvil.

There's even some on his website... lots of broken pictures there btw RT