Private Entrance

Welcome! Look forward to seeing your work. Everybody loves pictures. Make sure to share. :)

Before I started fiddling about with hot metal, I thought swords would be relatively easy to knock out. (What'd I know?) After the little I've done, I've realized that if I'm LUCKY, I might get good enough someday to attempt one, especially considering how little time I have to light the forge up, but it will probably always be something just out of reach. Unless of course I win the lottery and can spend 40-50 hours a week playing around instead of going to work. ;)

That thing's huge. BTW, love the stand. Looks very similar to mine.

More good news, when taken as part of the whole. Mine's seen some hard use as well.

Will do. Might have to make the trip to the scrappers first. Not sure I have the materials on hand to make what I have pictured in my mind.

Sounds a like a trip to Pick-a-Part is in order. Thanks!

I'm with you on the working things out part - it's what kept me in the ski/snowboard business for so long. Everyday was a new problem to figure out a new solution for. :) And it looks like steel is definitely going to be the same way. Are you saying I should make another spring tool, but instead of fuller bars turn them into a cutter/butcher/shear? That sounds like a great idea, and a heck of a lot easier than making 'regular' hardy tools with the materials I have ready access to. I'm going to have to mull that over for a few days and figure something out for the next session - hopefully this Sunday.

Those are nice. Yet something else for me to strive for. :)

Thanks for the advice, John & Frosty. I'm still working out the n00biness of using it, and I didn't want to bugger it up unrecoverably with my fiddling around. Lots more practice with it needed before I really know what I need or don't need to do with it. I'm going to do some digging around for more projects like this one. I really did like making this, and it was quick, too - took maybe an hour or so, which is fast for me at this stage in my 'career.' :)

Welcome from SoCal.

I was thinking about doubling the tab again, but it barely sticks out of the bottom of the hole now. I like that because I can give it a tap with a hammer and it comes out pretty easily.

I'll give it a shot, too. Interesting challenge. I've done stuff like this before for other things. Sometimes you don't feel like you've accomplished much, but you look at your list and realize that you got a lot more done than you thought.

Made this today. 1/2" x 36" round of cold rolled steel I picked up at Lowe's. This seems to be one of those things everyone makes differently. I couldn't find anything on the 'right' way of making it, but I once I figured out what it was supposed to do and what the important things on it were, I managed to figure something out that seems to work. I will probably have to work on the hardy post a bit. It sees to sit fine once I install it, but when I bang on the arms, it moves some. Either that or I'll make a wedge to drop in alongside the post. Fun project, btw. Took some thinking ahead and planning, which I haven't had to do too much of yet. Big question I have is if I should harden the arms at all. Once I got this shaped, I put it on the ground to cool and it hasn't been quenched at all. After these pics were taken, I did figure out how to adust the top arm so it's more parallel (paralleler? ;)) to the bottom arm.

Know what you're saying about spikes. There's enough railroading around here that people know what they are, but they generally haven't had any in hand, much less seen anyone do anything with one. And like the fact that they are common on the interwebs - they stay cheap that way. I think I paid about $.80 ea for the batch I bought, including shipping. TYVM! PS - I've got a coal supplier close by, too, but he sells in bags, which is great, but I wouldn't mind finding someone that sells loose coal in bulk. I'd expect loose coal would be cheaper per pound, and I wouldn't mind having a bin with a 3 or 4 hundred pounds in it at a time.

Kwisatz, I will be making more knives in the future. I posted this pic on Facebook and have had a couple of requests for them, and I'm going to try my hand at that perennial favorite, RR spike tomahawks. I tested out a slitter I made on a spike, and was so surprised it worked that I put the hole in the wrong place on the spike for a 'hawk, so that one is going to become a warhammer, but the concept itself looks pretty doable. RPJR and Drewed - Thanks! The stock I'm using actually works pretty well for tongs. It doesn't take much stock to make a pair, like 6" of stock to get each half pair of about 16-18" long, and I get a lot of practice drawing and shaping the reins that way. Using a different size would probably be easier, but I like the extra practice. I really need it. ;) edit: corrected my math error on the amt of stock to make a pair of tongs. at least for me. :)

Do tell, do tell...

Portability shouldn't be a problem in and of itself. I have to move my stuff in and out of the garage when ever I want to do anything - anvil, forge, coal, coke, quench buckets, etc. I'd love to have a shed where I could keep the tools and other supplies and just roll the anvil and forge out to start work. As it is, I do all my work in a space about 2.5m x 2.5m square. Sounds luxurious having a 5m x 5m garden to work in. And like K. Bryan said, you can get a lot done without spending a lot of money. My forge, which I am particularly proud of :D, was built from scrap, a brake drum, hairdryer, and a bit of pipe. Cost me about $35 (£20-ish?) and works like a champ.

Another place to check out for handle material is the local Scout shop. We got walking staffs for the boys in my son's Webelos Den and while I was purtyin' it up for him, I was thinking it would make great stock for handles. Not sure what wood it was made out of, but it's over an inch (1 1/2"?) in diameter and near 6' long. IIRC, it was about $5-6. 4x 18" handles out of it. Something to consider.

First complete knife for me. Standard railroad spike, full twist for the handle, spike head beaten into something that vaguely resembles a pommel. Blade forged into a rough shape and then fine-tuned with bench grinder, files, stones and sandpaper. Not anywhere close to perfect, but I'm pretty pleased with the fact that it at least vaguely looks like a knife. ;) Neighbor came over to see what all the noise and smoke was about, and bought it off the forge table before I had it finished. Also the first thing I've done that I've actually received money for. Got enough to buy a sack of coal and a length of 3/8" x 3/4" to make more tongs with. Any tips for improving the next one would be appreciated.

I don't know squat about forges since I cobbled mine together from scrap, but it looks to me like the firepot should mount under the forge. That's a guess based on the flange around the top of the pot, but I could be wrong.

That is a rad jury-rig.

Much better than either of my 1st two pair. Very nice. I'm going to try something along those lines on my next couple of sets, except without the twists. I tend to be a function-over-form kind of guys.

Very good video - good to see that what I am doing isn't too far off from an 'acceptable' method - though I do need to work on my technique a bit. Mine don't come out quite that pretty yet. Also good to see that I'm not the only one that has stuff flip out of the tongs and land on/near my feet. :)

Beautiful anvil. Beautiful stand.

Very nice. Looks better than the one I've attempted.