whitebear

i have an oliver hammer i'm actualy looknig for an actualy treadle hammer. a freestanding treadle. thanks Son

are there any plans anywhere for a wooden treadle hammer with a wooden spring. oaw 1X4s somethingl ie kthat. i have noi ability to arc,mig,tig, any kind of weld but forge weld. and forge welding angle iron isin't very easy. thanks Son

HABA forgefest starts tonight. check out HABA Houston Area Blacksmith's Association for info. the greatest time to hang with some very tanlented smiths. Son

a home boy to the core. good to know you, thomas. hopefully we'll meet up sometime. Good on you Son

try gonig to yourlocal home-depot and talkngi to the manager about buying an old used jackhammer bit. it's a good steel and about a 1.5" octagon. Son

Gerald makes a good point. L&C didn't fully know what kind of country they were traversing. so they brought the ecamping norm to them. the smiths did indeed have a good time with thier smithies along the way. i know for a fact that each one of them brought a full sized forge with them and alot of coal to burn. hammers aplenty and tongs . and they each had there own anvil. plus they had all thier camping apparatus. I.E. tents furniture, lanters, bedding, ETC. and they had pack mules and trollies and carts to carry things in. not carrying it themselves. Son

i've actually done this so i'll tell you what i brought. i brought this: a tuyer pipe (like a 1" ID black iron pipe about 3 or 4 feet long) very nice because you can use it like a walking stick as well. no more than 2 hammers (i brought a 2# cross pien and a 1.5# ball pien i small anvil like a 4"X4"X8" piece of steel. ( mine was mild steel and only weighed about 20# two or three pairs of tongs. and steel. (i took about 30# of steel) i carried all of this on my horses back. and walked from houston to san antonio and back. it took me about a month. going and coming and was probably 35-40 years ago hope this helps Son

i do believe you are correct. my apologies. and i have just been informed that my wife doesn't want me to leave just yet. cause i just got home from a seminar in Ok city. but my good friend Andrew will be there. who ever is goini should sopt him out. thomas you're going to miss a good year. but i hope to see you next year. where you livin' Son

forge fest isin't in houston. it's in oldenburg. which is about 2 hours due east of you. i'm gongi to be driving for at least 3.5 hours. i think it would be worth it to make the trip. this is where i met my apprentice years ago. it the long rin. it's not that bad of a drive (aspeccially with the pretty country all around) and you'de learn so much useful information. Son

hey texas where are you in texas i'm down here in Houston. this weekend the 5th -7th the Hosuton Area Blacksmtihs accociation is having there annual forge fest. where a buch of us get toghether and learn from each other and make some weird and funky stuff. you would need like $20 for a membership if you want to forge for liability reason. i'll be there i've been forging for...a very long time... it's up in oldenburg. right between lagrange and round top. HABA Houston Area Blacksmith's Association that'll tell you everything you need to know about it. Son

you would need a tool steel or a spring steel. first off try thew local junk yard. look for any kind of car axle or something big from a car. this is normally tool steel. i made a hamemr from a '00 truck axle. it was about one and a quarter inch diameter and was solid tool steel about 4 feet long. that's your cheapest bet. you might try admiral steel i don't know them at all so maybe someone else on here does. but i've heard good things about them. but start at the junker yard. Son

i have oneof the videos i'm trying to email him and tell him what a wonderful job he did on them. but i can't seem to find a way to get in contact with him. Son

does anyone know how i can get in contact with Tim Lively. i tried the link on his website but it didn't work. thanks jonah

where can i get bentonite clay. i looked for kitty litter but it didn't say what it was . and duidn't want to spend money on something i wasin't sure of. Jonah

for the adobe in the forge could i use a comercially availiable modleing clay that has been harded and crushed into a fine powder then mixed with sand and ash. i'm having a hard time finding earthen clay. and it seem liek it would do the same thing. Jonah

thank you guys very much. i forgot to mention that it also needs to be portable. if that makes a differnce in your replys. i think i'm gongi to go with a Tim Lively/ Tai Goo style forge with the adobe. but i think i'll use a wooden bucket nistead of a steel one. thanks again everyone Jonah

Hey Guys This is Jonah Mr. Daughtry's apprentice. i have another question. i am looking to make my own charcoal forge. i don't want coal because it's not easy to get around here. Mr. Daughtry uses charcoal so that what i want to use. i want to make one but i have about a $40-$50 budget. because that about all i have. i need to be able to forge weld in it. and i need to be able to attach a bellows to it. i am in the process of making a small canvas bellows. maybe a side drafts forge or something like that. thanks guys Jonah P.S. Mr. Daughtry says that i in fact made a very nice collar yesterday and he's very imprest at how much i learned from you all. he gives his thanks

thank you very much for helping jonah out alittle bit. he is moving very quickly through the learning process. he has made knives along with many other iron works and it suprizes me everytime i see his hammer skills. i took him on when he was only 10 yaers old. and when he came to me he had olny done cold tin work with his parents (who never let him get close to the fire) but that changed rather quickly. i think that becasue it's his first time using a collar connection i'll help himout alittle bit. in fact he's out in the shop right now trying some of the things y'all have shared with him. tomorrow his lesson of the week is gonig to be scarfing. to prepare him for forge welding. he has only ever done faggot weld as far as i know. he's a stout young man with a strong arm. hopefully before his 10 year apprenticship is over we will make him an anvil. i've only made one anvil in my life and i told myself i would never do it again. until...he asked me if we could do it the other day. but first.. he needs to learn to weld very well. and built up his arms to swing those 26# hammers used to weld the anvil together. thank you all again very much for taking an interest in jonah. i know he appriciates it. Son Daughtry

I've been wondering if you could make a treadle hammer with no welding at all. but just bolts and stuff like that rivets maybe. Son

thank you very much. i will look into that book maybe Mr. Daughtry has it laying around somewhere. does anyone have any other ideas for a candelabra type hting other than the one that i poster earlier. just a little intro on myself. i'm a 16 year old boy with a background and heritage in tinsmiths and coppersmiths. but my paretns "sold me" to Son Daughtry to be a blacksmtih apprentice and have been such for almost 5 years now. i live with him and his wife in a small country house in texas. i have experience doing just about ever blacksmtihngi technique there is. i can forge weld i'm jsut not very good at it. thanks again Jonah

hello all. my name is Jonah i'm an apprentice to master Whitebear A.K.A. Son Daughtry i'm using his internet name becasue i live with him and don't have my own computer. my question is. about collaring. i need to make a candelabra for my October project (with no help from Mr. Daughtry) it needs to have at least 3 candle cup holder places. and i can only use tools and equipment from the 1800's so again. my question is. can a collar give a tight enough connection to hold up the candelabra arms. like this one. iForge porject number 105 thanks you Jonah and greetings from Mr. Daughtry. (whitebear)