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Glad things are starting to turn around a bit. I'm a past happy customer, and I'll be back down the road. Take care, Craig

I had an '88 also. Tailgate worked ok for me. Got a little rusty, but ran great when we gave it to our pastor about two years ago. I really miss the staight six and granny low stick. Didn't do any smithing mods to it, but it hauled anything I threw at it without a wimper. Take care, Craig

There are many unique situations, but there are potential benefits to a regular corp. or an S corp. over an LLC. I believe some accountants like to set up LLC's because it's simpler and takes less time, but it may be worth the time to discuss the pro's and con's. Good luck with it, Craig

Hi Ed, The chat seems good to me. The popular topics develop themselves into pretty good tutorials. Take care, Craig

Hey Phil, thanks. I'm on Oahu myself, so I know how lucky those kids are to be exposed to those crafts. I gotta think tracking down some wheels would be a piece of cake if you're able to feed a coke forge, and managed to find three anvils here. Best of luck with the grinder, Craig

Hi Phil, Maybe...the kids would scrounge up skateboard wheels to try. Tell them gotta be the wider ones, I think they get close to 2" width. No contact wheel, but maybe there's enough possibilities to set up a flat platen. I've never done it, but it may be near free in cost to try. If you don't mind, I was curious about which schools offered the blacksmithing classes. No big deal, it just seems that many of the shop or trade type classes are falling by the wayside, and it's too bad. Good luck with the project, Craig

Hi Ed, If it can work out, a basic walk through of the W pattern would be appreciated. Take care, Craig Also, Thanks for showing the patterns above.

Congrads Sam. Not just solid,but smooth and reliable. You won't have to trade up from here. Take care, Craig

I'm a pure hobbiest. Been interested for about 15yrs. Always liked to make things and liked the out doors. I appreciate simple tools that you can count on, but I'm always amazed at the options for appearance. I just wanted to echo the appreciation of the internet. It really opened my eyes and doors to the possibilties. I really didn't think it was possible to forge on a small scale in the back yard. Take care, Craig

You'll appreciate it a lot Sam. You're probably on it, but mount it on some thing rock solid and have separate tooling arms for the platen and wheel. Big advantage to swap attachments in seconds instead of wrenching bolts on and off. Thought I'd add, if you're really liking the new KMG, there shouldn't be much time for a quick review on the machine. Maybe a quick comment when you come up for more belts. Happy Thanksgiving to all, Craig

Hi Matt, I hope the moderator talks you into putting up the detailed "how to" version. Thanks for taking the time, Craig

Thanks Karl for taking the time and having the willingness to share. Lots of great food for thought. Can't wait to hear how you handle your MS test knife. Take care, Craig

Hi Karl, Do you do any normalizing after the grinding? Any comments on how you arrived at the long soak for your quench? Is the sub-critical anneal your ideal set up to quench? Sorry for all the newbie questions, your process is fascinating to me. Take care, Craig

I've never tried a sword, but of the things you've tried, I'd consider going back to the 1050 and sticking with it for a bit. My tendency would be to try and minimize the variables and try not to be discouraged by the set backs. Best of luck, Craig

If you aren't having any luck, you might try Kelly Cupples. You can see his price list at Darren Ellis' website. Kelly's one of the good guys. He has a variety of bar stock, but I think his 1065 is good stuff, and it's pretty close to 1070. Take care, Craig

If the 1050 leads are coming up empty, Ray Kirk (rakerknives.com) has some 1053 in large bar. He offers a mill rolling service to break it down to smaller bar stock if needed. I thought to mention it because he's a great guy to deal with. Good luck, Craig