RainsFire

pictures? that would be helpful for identification of the material.. Pig iron technically is the base metal, before remelting into a metal used for something.. so Pig iron can be refined into either "cheap chinese cast iron", steel, or a range inbetween.. so you've probably just got some cast iron..

I've never mig'd aluminum, but tig is fun.. just be careful with moving fast enough, but yeah.. other than the initial, wow.. this is a different metal! feeling.. its easy :)

what exactly would you grab with that?... nevermind people...

silver is a lot cheaper than I had imagined. thanks guy's.

this is probably not the best place for this thread, but where can a person buy various grades of silver? I want to make a ring with silver inlay, as well as a few knife parts.. and want a good place to buy from.. anyway, thanks.

those are awesome, I especially like the second one

I'm doing a similiar senior project, and am building a smithy out of a stall in our pole barn, my paper was on the evolution from descovery of metals to now, as far as blacksmithing go's.. welcome aboard :P

lefty, point horn to the right unless I'm working on hammering a bevel for an edge.. then I turn it around and use the "saddle" where the face ends, and the horn begins

I have no idea.. I was just going to work on constructing a small propane melting furnace durring the week, and trying out a sand casting, over sized so I can turn it down.. definately a new field for me

that and, this forum generally travels fairly slow.. partially because of the respectivly low traffic, ( love it in here) and.. because posters usually only post when they can offer some sort of aid, or advice concerning the topic at hand.. I too, have no idea what sort of steel your punches are.. pictures, and a better description of what they came from may be useful..

wow, hey your fairly close.. sort of I was thinking of heading up to Burchums, I think its called.. heard good things about that place :)

sorry, I mistyped.. I meant 6x2x2.. or so for the billets.. my guess is 2-5 billets in a crucible.. and I could make a few wheels.. but it is neccessary for me to recast. but anyway, my question is, can it be machined post casting? is cast aluminum workable?

I want to make an idler wheel, and a drive wheel out of aluminum for the belt sander I am assembling, and I was wondering if this is would work.. I have access to 30 or so 6x2x2 billets of cast aluminum, and I was wondering if, after making a casting of.. lets say a 2x6 wheel with a plug like extension to mount in the metal lathe, can I turn it down like I would purchased aluminum stock of that size and shape? are they the same, even though the aluminum has been cast? I realize that this aluminum, may be contaminated.. but if this would work, with cast 6061 aluminum, then I think it is worth a shot, as apposed to spending $100 on a chunk that size anyway, any help would be appreciated as always, thanks.

is there anywhere for us in the north west? particularily Oregon? there used to be a farrier supply in Monroe, but I think the fellow who sold it may well be retired.

cool, you going to finish it .. please do looks great so far

cool cool, just bought all I need from that usakm, thanks for the help! hey, I have a question though, whats the advantage of a 4 wheeled grinder over a 2?

sounds like were all right, lets keep this light I just made a falchion.. or am working on one, because it was mentioned in the book, and I'de never heard of one before. pretty cool I guess

workin on it, books take longer to write than hammerin out a knife.. and as far as instant gratification go's.. "pound for pound" I'de rather be hammering

what bearings are those? and where can a person get a set? inspiring grinder feukair, thanks man

like the youtube bullet vs Katana vids... cept, bigger. he looks like a katanaphile' his parents are his publishers? that explains a heck of alot, It wouldn't be much of a feat to write with more skill then him.

It was just weird, I would think that an author would want to throw some new elements into a proccess for creating what is supposed to be the most supreme weapon ever created instead of just directly recounting what the book had described in how the Japanese smiths make a Katana.

I just finished.. the 3rd book in the series, (started em back when it was socially acceptable for my age group) basically just for the sword smithing "scene".. long story short, (get it ) I ended up on the chapter where his sword is being smithed, and was sorely dissapointed by the author's rip off of "Craft of the Japanese sword" almost exactly, he copied the processes described for the creation of a Katana in that book, down to the san mai (don't know proper term) sandwiching of the core and edge steels, and creation of hamon line. he even messed up, not knowing that the laminating of two steels was for a single edged sword, not a double edged euro sword.. anyway, if anyone knows what I'm talking about.. discuss please

I wish..... :P

is this a yard sculpture? it may be cast iron you know..

it'd be nice if you stood it on edge, and hammered on the 33.5 side maybe round a bit, or you could alway's tack a railroad chunk on the flat of it.. and that'd make it have a nice hard work surface, and alot of weight