fat pete

thanks for your reply! it is almost as unbelievable as the many recipies for flux, coatings, things you must do to weld...sometimes its hard to see thru the smoke....i havent made enough knives to lay claim to anything... i was aware if you dont exceed the temper temp you dont ruin it ..... i use a toaster oven that I also havent calibrated, although i will....i know if i do 1090 in it and lay it down more than 2x it warps...lol....so i made a little arrangement that holds the knife in the middle of the box edge down...i guess its close to the most even spot in the appliance...it worked... i have a hard time wanting to make one to destroy.... anyway good advice, thx again

would love to see the header

Don A ... I have a question to your process..after you temper in the oven 2x isnt it tempered then?? to draw colors you are reheating the metal back up,doesnt that remove what treating you did???....wouldnt you be just as well just doing the oven OR using the differential treating.....

thanks guys....upon further investigating i understand the hammers are upset by the mason who is constantly pounding them...makes sense.... so you must draw them down on the pein and realign them...the hammering by the mason will eventually distort the hammer ..... so you want it on the harder side but you dont want it to chip ...so i go play....I will tell ya what they think when they use my hammer

not sure if i should have posted thhis here...but here ya go.....looks like a good chance to pick up some pointers cheaply August 28-30, 2009 Mid-America Bladesmithing Expo & Knife Show Troy, Ohio More Info Contact: Jan DuBois 281/225-9159, spqjanl@aol.com

just an update...feeling much better...the pills seem to be working...its a new color everyday Thanks for all the well wishes!!

thats a great buy at a buck a pound.. an identifiable mouse hole....you can find what years that was made....by the name mark....anvils in america, i think thats the book....maybe someone has it here....

somehow i cant see glenn skating....but .... he is on the list!

i did a few coat hangers that werent to be black so i cleaned up the metal and rubbed it down with gilders paste blue....not much and it gave a cool luster and a bit of blue color to the silver metal....then i spryed with clear laquer still looks great

cable got to be clean....i soaked mine in keroscene for days ...then i took the cable apart and scrubbed it

after loosing some weight my fingers also got smaller....so i am out back swimmin in our pond, flailing and such and it flew off...lost in the 15' deep mud bottom pond...never to be found again, so.... i went down to my jewler buddy (who has since Passed away) and got him to make two more, 1 for me and 1 for her...i went and told the wife i lost it in the pond and she should throw hers in with it...."it will be there for ever together with yours" let me tell you how nice thing have been and its been years....lol

From the few knives i have done and what others have told me.......... you may want to put a piece of tape over the blade....so you wouldnt want it real sharp for your safety....when you treat you should leave a little metal on the blade so you have a little less chance of twisting or worpin in the oven

neat knives!!! vinigar will work ...may be more than a day....but its a good cheap way to remove scale and junk....

thanks.. i appreciate the direction...

thanks brian, i was one who asked for your method. i have a question if you will. your die, how is that made? i guess you could fold the piece in half to get the quill too?

the 55 forge rocks...i have seen it and worked on it live...its a cool thing and cant be any cheaper than a couple of sawzall blades an 2 steel drums....very simple and works excellent...the draft that is created by the drum on top with a little hair drier motor pushing air is phenomenal

wow you guys are great!!...I just found this thread and am totally flabbergasted...thanks so much for the kind words...... evidently i got bit behind the knee on sunday july 5th....i saw my "red spot" while changing clothes....that morn my parents and i went to breakfast brunch smorgasbord type affair....i noticed the redness late afternoon....by 7-8 oclock that night i became ill...i had some stomach discomfort and manually ejected it...then i kinda felt a little flue-ish....i was leaving for the hammerin the next morn and i wasnt missing it for naught....next 2 days i didnt feel real bad but i also had no appetite....meanwhile the red spot realy wasnt bothering me or changing...i felt uneasy all week...when i returned home the spot enlarge to a band around my whole knee and became very swollen and inflamed....off to the dr...doxicillin is the antibiotic he recommended and said it also works on lymes....i have not recieved the results of the blood test yet ....should prolly on monday...not finding anykind of tic on me i figured spider bite....jury is still out....today the wound is healing ...swelling went down and its changing colors and reducing its size....weird deal this goes along with the tetnus thread also ..... if something happens to you ... no matter how trivial u may think it is ...just go to the darn dr....maybe you cant to do that as easily as we can in this country, we right now anyway. so....my pop fell down the steps yesterday and we got him all squared away...xrays...dr appointment, etc.... he is fine but again good medical service Sorry if this is a long post but I figured it would be good to hear it from the horses mouth...Bottom line GET CHecKED..

i think the feathers would be a good Blue Print.....