Kardall

Sorry, but only one picture is all the auction company is posting. So here it is: When I saw the picture, I immediately thought WWI forge. But I don't know if there is anything else with it other than the coal rake or whatever that is in the picture... hard to make out for me. It will probably go for a lot of money, more than I thought, but wondering what you think would be a good bargain to aim for as a high-end, so I don't pay more than what it would actually be worth. I thought no more than $75, just because it's probably incomplete and collectors like that sort of thing if i was to resell it.

Hmm okay. I will take mental note for the next piece I try. Maybe next week, gotta get some Coal from the guy I got some last year. Two 5 gallon pails lasted me about 10-12 forgings of small stuff in a year. So I should be able to get by with another two pails for maybe half a year or more

Ya my forge is too shallow to be working with anything too big. I am running low on charcoal as it is, gotta get some more. But no, I have maybe 2" below it at the most. I had almost no air going into it just because I didn't want it to get too hot too fast. Probably still not enough, need more insulation between the fire and the metal I guess. I really have to consider making a new forge with those pyramidy shaped pits. :/ My forge is basically a 40 yr. old lawnmower turned upside down.

Well I got out and spent a 40 minutes on a small section, just to see what happens. It is fairly strong stuff, and I think it has an odd heat tolerance or I hit it too hard. It got no thinner than 1/4" and started to split down the middle. could just be a weak part from when it was cut off. I will have to try some of the bigger pieces to see if i have any luck. Pictures incoming. Notes: It doesn't cut hair, but cuts boxes fine. Could be a box cutter maybe as it is lol. I will definitely try a bunch of heat treat options if I can scrounge up the different types of oil and such. I got all my life to do this so I took the more solid side of the split side, ground it down a little more after forging it to the point where I thought if I hit it anymore I would just make it worse. it's about 1/8" at the thickest part now. I just did water from an orange / bright red color at that tip part. It's all I have for tools/sandpaper right now, so I am not expecting a master blade edge HAHAHA

Hello everyone, been a while! I said a while ago that my friend had some metal to give me from work, and boy did he deliver! I got around 20lbs of High-Manganese proprietary metal from a refinery. They are cutoffs from the big pipes that they use. Because it is proprietary metal, the only thing he could tell me about it is that it is High-Manganese because he has to use a respirator full face mask to cut it with the cutting tools hehe. So one of the ribbon like pieces he gave me is pretty small, like 1/8" thickness and I was going to try to smooth it out, thin out the edge and see what kind of an edge it can hold. If it is good enough I might consider welding it into the edge of a blade, and use normal steel as the backer in the future if it is good enough. So my question is, I read here and many sources that warm peanut oil is a good 'go-to' method of hardening it before tempering it again, and I am going to try that, but is there any special secret that anyone has ever used when dealing with something like this. I can put pictures of it if you wish. As a side-note about the metal, i have probably 6-8 pieces that are around 2cm x 2cm x 15cm long (they are tapered from the angle cut on the pipe already so that's a lot less work I will have to do on the edges). But he also gave me two chunks of it from where they cut the pipe to put valves in. They are around 33cm x 20cm x 2cm in size, and I have to figure out a way to cut it without a plasma cutter HAHAHA. So that should be good once I figure out exactly what I am working with. Any comments / suggestions on an order of operation with this stuff?

Just got back from Vacation. Lots to read over I was actually thinking about this as well. We are keeping an eye out for Shed Packages that go for cheap, used ones and such. Seeing if we can get a good bargain considering it'll be cut up a little for ventilation and such, so it doesn't have to be perfect I am going to look into this. I know someone in Alberta that sells converted containers. (They convert them to workshops) Ok now THAT is cool. I see the posts about treating the wood. I will def. consider this.

So backstory; My parents music store (lessons/repairs) closed June 30th, and we have had to move the Picture Frame shop into the garage which is where I stored my forge/anvil/tools. So I had the idea of making some sort of outdoor shop area. This is where the issues arise. I am not allowed to have any more cement pads on the property (we have the house, a 4 car garage and the other lot has a pad for the 2 car garage which houses the frame shop), so I will need to make a non-slab based structure. Basically, we can put up a 8x10 shed or thereabouts. My shed concerns would be the floor of a shed is wood, so I would have to put something else on the floor to prevent burning the place down. Maybe sand/gravel mix? I was also just thinking about making a semi-sheltered area where I could have the forge and a hood/windbreak for that, and the Anvil. Anyone have any suggestions?

I have been out of the loop for a long time now, and I just heard about WV's flooding. First thing I thought about when I heard is to pop in here. Good to hear you are safe Glenn.

I will give that one a shot as well For the items it lists the lengths of the full piece, and when you go to the Bayonet area, it's funny. The French have some of the largest bayonets, like they were compensating for something hurhurhur But there is a 19th Century Combination Knives section with 4 entries. Belgian Knife Pistol, c 1870 This is similar to it: Now, I've seen a lot of pictures and movie's with knife pistols, and most of the time it's a pistol grip with a blade ont he side of the barrel or something like that, but I have never seen anything like that before. That's pretty cray cray.

http://www.amazon.ca/Illustrated-Encyclopedia-Knives-Daggers-Bayonets/dp/075481890X That is the book I got, so if anyone has any questions about what is in it, go ahead and ask them if I don't answering thus. 246 Chapters segmented into topics such as: 17th-century main-gauche daggers Georgian Dirks Survival weapons of World War II and after Indo-Persian Khanjars Japanese daggers I will give an example of one of the coolest things I have seen so far in the book that really intrigued me, and made me want to buy it. Spanish stiletto dividers, c.1700-50 *Not the picture in the book but, this is what it is: The Picture listed is a knife only (white background) so you can see the profile really well, and it's really really clear and detailed. it looks exactly like the one there, so it may be just pictures from a historical museum or something similar of that nature, for every sword in the book so far that I have seen. It contains a write-up of the item, such as it's intended use in that era and the graphic has points indicating design details such as etched and gilt decorations, splitting blade and pivoting joint. I think it is a great resource if you want to go through and find a style of blade, and get some inspirations or try to re-create one of that era

I found this video while browsing the web, and I didn't see it in the forums here recently, so I figured I would put it up. This gentleman makes knives and treats them with 3-in-1 oil and blues them before sending them out to customers. A bunch of people were discussing best methods and he thought he would do a big sample of what the different methods can do to prevent rusting in a finished blade. Very very interesting watch!

Honestly, something like that is priceless. Real Bellows are incredibly hard to come across nowadays, especially ones of that magnitude. 7 foot would be really useful in say a heritage site, blacksmith village tourist area of sorts. But if you really wanted to put some kind of price on it. One of that size is probably around USD$3,000 - USD$4,000. I have seen 4 foot ones go for around USD$1,800 When they start getting that big, the difficulty is finding someone to buy them, while the smaller ones are more easily transportable so more inclined to be purchased. I would say if you did want to sell it, put it out in here. At least someone here would actually use it for its desired purpose They look in really good shape though.

Awesome job

I read the original post, and I see these limit switches you put in. Question. Do you think it'd be possible to make a thickness guide for it? Lets say, you want to crush something really fast but to as close to final dimensions as possible. Could you do some sort of a moving limit switch activator that has a measurement on it? So you would "move it down to read 1 1/2" and it will stop just above 1 1/2" so you don't go too far, and mess something up? Just a thought that I had running around my head as I read this I can't afford anything right now. My second hobby just crept in, and I had to upgrade my PC so I can actually play the latest games LOLOL

If I could setup a forge/anvil there I would. I will have to see if I can make a portable one for this in the future, as yes, I think it would be more hands-on and people can see that I am actually making the product

Like most small towns, they have many farmers markets here, and I thought that it would be a good deadline for next spring/summer to have some things made for a market and just test the fields to see how much demand for things of a blacksmiths nature are wanted/desired. I would like to throw some of my own ideas, but welcome tips for people who also live in smaller communities/villages/towns in the middle of nowhere who have had things that sell that I could try to make. If you have suggestions on what sells well and is not really difficult to make for a beginner/mid-level blacksmith, go ahead and put them in here, and if you have examples include pictures. People love pictures So I had a list of things that I would like to make, and I have since adjusted from what I had made up 2 weeks ago HAH! 3 Sets of BBQ Tools (Spatula, Pig Tail Meat Flipper, Fork) 1 Set of Fire Place Tools (Log Grabber, Poker with point and back-hook, Shovel, Pan, Stand) 3 Wall Mountable Bottle Openers (Maybe even on Wood, haven't decided yet) a dozen or so hand held Bottle Openers a set of 6 candle holders for a back yard with glass candle holders. 4 driveway markers (for snow season) 2-4 Herb Cutters Many of the ideas I have seen videos on youtube of people making them, so I am confident that I have a good frame of reference for getting the hang of them. I know the first few (probably like 3 or more) will be "works of art" HAHA but I am going to start this when it gets a little warmer here. It's now -10C and I don't know if I can actually learn this stuff in the cold. If I knew exactly what I was doing maybe I could work in the cold weather cause I would know how to hold and hit the metal... but, I think it'll just get too cold too fast for me to do much and I'd end up spending too much time heating the stupid metal to work with So, to be prepared, this is my list, add to it if you wish When it comes to market time, I will get pictures and post results

Perhaps a better description would be, "the way something was done in a certain era". Since, traditional Blacksmithing of 1400's is essentially the same as the 1800's, but the methods of doing the procedures are slightly different. More technology had become available, and the way we thought about engineering has shifted. Instead of making candle holders, now they're making electric light sconces. That sort of idea.

Hello everyone, I wanted to put some historical things out there that people may not know about where I am from. I recently moved to Saskatchewan to help out my parents business (It's slow everywhere these days so gotta help out right). While I am here I took it upon myself to actually start Blacksmithing. That's when I started looking into the history of the town myself, and things during conversations at the local A&W breakfast have come up. So I thought that I would like to share with you all some history about this amazing little town in the middle of nowhere On a side note, I am heavily contemplating naming my shop Fort and Forge, and trying to convince the town to put a blacksmith shop in the 'fort re-creation' they have. There are the loading ramps for fishing nearby, the campsite as well as the fort itself is a miniature version with a stage in one corner. There is basically nothing else in the fort so I thought about trying to convince the town to put one in to attract the children into learning the history of the town, and what blacksmithing is about. Maybe some kind of summer event goes on that the local smiths can use as a time to come and do some practicing in public, make stuff etc we will see. Gotta get things sorted out, but ... I digress... History! Fort Qu'Appelle circa 1948 The building on the far right is actually the Hudson Bay store, and it is still there today. No one rents it current which is a shame. Almost every building in the photo are still standing today with different names. A couple have had face-lifts but, the majority have been 'repaired' or restored to historical accuracy. The big building at the end of the street in the distance is the Fort Hotel. It was built in the 1920's and was part of the whole commercial growth of the town during that time period. Many shops were built in the 20's because the farmers children would take over the farms, and the parents would retire to town. In the 1960's the Fort Hotel burned down and in its place there is a drug store and a doctors office instead. Here is a picture from 2013 according to Street View, which is as close as I can get to replicating the above photo, as a point of reference for change in the towns structure since 1948. Fort Qu'Appelle actually has moved over the decades. This is the 3rd re-incarnation of the town. It originated nearer to the border for trades as a North West Company trading post in the early 1800's. In 1953 it was designated a historic site of Canada, as being near the original Hudson's Bay Trading Post in 1864. It is still maintained today. Apparently in 1882 the town was in a bid with Battleford (North Battleford) on being the territorial capital, but both had lost to Regina. (We could have been the Capitol of Saskatchewan in 1882). The town also has a "Ski Hill" which ... coming from Alberta a hill is exactly what I would call it I have not seen any references to any kind of town blacksmith, but most of the farmers had to learn the trade themselves. So there are a lot of farms out here with anvils and forging equipment available, but are not being used anymore. Most do not want to get rid of it (as per normal farmer way).

Ya I saw that on the net, and it's booked all the time HAH. I'll have to wait until the next one comes around ;s

ahhh I see now. Not sure which one would work but... I could always experiment with a wood air flow for now until I have actually figured everything out (cheaper).

@the iron dwarf I remember seeing a post about you giving ideas on a blower setup to connect to the forge with an air flow control valve of sorts. Any way you could enlighten me on that with a link of some sort on how it was made? Right now, I am considering just using an aluminum dryer vent and put an angle piece of tin from an evestrough to connect to the actual forge. It sticks out about 6-8" away from the forge, so I can't imagine the heat itself is an issue, just any sparks so I don't want to use plastic. Right now, I need to figure out how to control it, and I don't want to put a dimmer switch on this blower right now, as I don't think the motor will like it very much (Would rather not burn it out as I am told I can do).

So yesterday was fail at smithing, but today I got something done. I got that Blower hooked up with some help from my father (He is better at electrical than I am). Video of it running etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzR4Y8M9_lw

Nope, I think I have read all those posts LOL cause I recognize all those terms HAHA. I will see what I can do, it's relatively difficult to find the thin bricks around here, but I do have two firebricks from an old forge idea I was going to do. It won't surround it, but maybe I can find something. At any rate, I'll try to livestream some smithing this saturday as long as the weather isn't too bad, and i'll get the video clip saved to post.

That's exactly the same one that I have! The wood handle broke apart, not a big deal, but the worst part is the grinding sound that happens when I crank it around. If it gets up to a certain speed it just sounds like the gears are slipping. Seeing as it doesn't do it all the time, I think what's happening s one or more of the fibre washers that separate the cogs are completely destroyed/missing. Then when it rotates enough, they move slightly out of sync and do something loud and obnoxious until it pops back into place. I have to get a puller so I can get the handle off so that I can take the gear box section apart. The other part was simple enough to get apart and clean up. Mine sat outside on a farmers treeline for 40+ years, so the forge it was attached to rusted through where this was bolted onto the bottom of the forge itself. If you need a photo of the arm, let me know and I can get you pictures in case you want to re-create it.