Matthew Paul

Do you happen to remember the name of the book? It's a 28" handle on a ~2# head. Which is appropriate and the norm for a boys axe or 3/4 axe. That's a good bit of information to know. I'll have to research that some. Thanks for the compliments!

I had the desire to forge a 3/4 axe. However I dont have the bennifit of a second person toact as a striker or any powerhammers. So, i came up with the wrapped eye design where the poll is pinned and forgewelded into place. Here are some pics with a little breakdown. First I took the 1 1/2" x 1/4" 1018 and measured out how long I wanted the bit to be, how much material I would need for the eye, and the poll. I centerpunched each of these spots so that I could see them when the steel was hot. I pinned and forgewelded the poll onto the flat stock. After that I drew down the ears of the eye on the edge of the anvil. then, I folded the stock over and shaped the rear portion of the eye. Once that was done I forge welded the 1 1/2" x 1/4" 1075 bit into the head, leaving the whole piece attached to the parrent stock still. Then I removed the head from the parrent flat stock and forged the bit into shape. I had to make a drift for the eye. I'm happy with how it came out. I normalized the head three times, and annealed it. While the head was annealing I carved the helve from a large chunk of seasoned locust. Then I trimmed the cutting edge back, heat treated the head, and sharpened it. I hung the head on the helve and that was it! Here is a video of it's first trip: Thanks for looking, Matt Paul

I just wanted to share some of the knives that Ive made in the past few weeks. The first four I forged while the power was out for almost two weeks thanks to Hurricane Sandy. A small rat tail. This two were inspired by the knife that Sam posted. One has elk antler, the other no handle material. I forged this one for no reason besides being bored. This is an 8" kitchen knife that i made for a customer. It has buffalo horn. Stock removal on this one. These are two knives in the front are a model that I call the "Drifter" Here is a "Kephart" with buffalo horn i have a few more but I thought that I'd share these.

Very Nice!

Why did you loose them? due to cracking while water quenching? I have not had my blades tested. I do know though, how to temper for the hardness that I am looking for. What # it is on any scale, I couldent tell you. You can cool 1095 fast enough in oils though. I warm my quench oil prior to hardening. I have hardened blades without issue in motor oils, veg oils, etc... It is not what I use now but have in the past. You dont need to reach the maximum hardness allowed by physics, in my opinon. You do however need to learn the setup/process that you are using, and be able to reliably repeat it or adjust it according to the tool and what it will be used for.

Thank you Sir. I had a hook on my old anvil/stand that I dont really use anymore. I suppose that I should change it over to this stump or make something for my hammer rack. Thank you, that's nice to hear! I used 3/16" thick and 1 1/4" tall 1095. I use McMaster Carr 11 sec oil/ Super Brand Quenchfast. No worries on the questions. And thanks oakwoodironworks!

Thank you. Dogsoldat, yes three pieces.

Awesome knife Sam. Thanks for posting it. I gave a try and came up with this:

Fantastic work!

Thank you. Kevin,the starting stock was 1"x1/8"

I put togeather a couple forging videos recently, one is about making a draw knife, and the other is about forging a knife. I figured that I would share theme here as some people may enjoy them. Thanks, Matthew Paul

Don't they? Thanks! Hah, Im not really sure. But I guess that I'm doing something right? It's Stamped 1.0.15

Well I came into some luck recently. To start it, a buddy gave me his new (still had paint on the face) Emerson to put in the shop and use. It was very loud until I wrapped 10ft of chain around it and fastened it to the stump. It's a nice anvil to work on. I still need to radius the edges some though. Then another friend came across a 126# (I think) Peter Wright which has a cracked and chipped face, for free. I sold my 90# Fisher last week and picked up a nice 150# Fisher. I love this anvil. It's mounted on an Eastern white pine stump for now, until I can find a nice hardwood stump. And to top it all off, the same fellow that lent me the Emerson also gave me a Forgemaster two burner with stand to use, and an old NC whisper momma to turn into a dedicated forge welding unit so I dont ruin the lining of my everyday use NC forge. I'd say that's a good month. Just wanted to share. -Matt P

Thanks for the info everyone! My 90lb fisher looked much worse than that when i got it. It's all fixed up now. It took me some time but it's nice now. I am also a full time blade smith and do axes from time to time. I figured if I could land this thing at a good price It would be great for that, although still a little large :) I just have to wait to hear back from the guy. Thanks again everyone. I'll post up here when I find out more. Stewart, I'll let you know if he wants more than I can pay.

Thanks fellas. After some use I like it a lot more than I first did.

I've got a lead on a huge fisher, it is 38" from front to back. The face has some torch damage but it's nothing that cant be fixed. Two questions. (and I appreciate any help, very much) The first would be, what would something like this weigh? My guess would be 500? I found specs on a 450# that was 35" front to back. And the second question is how much is it actually worth once I start talking numbers with the guy? I looked around but did not come up with much, a couple that said $600-$800 Thanks, Matt P __________ Edit: I attached a picture. There is a pack of smokes on the left side of the anvil for a size comparison.

I picked up this anvil a couple days ago. I found it on Craigslist for a reasonable price, at $275 (1.80$ per pound). It was listed as a 130lb but it's more like 150#. You can see remnants of some markins but can only make out a single didget here or there, and the makers mark is rusted away. I have no idea what it is. The face was pitted up like the sides of the anvil are, but after a few hours "dressing" it, it's in usable condition. The face has some crown to it, and the horn is off center by 3/16" or so. Also, the horn is the same size as my little Fisher. It's also not as hard as the refaced Fisher that I have, but it still rebounds nicely and has a plesant ring. Judging by the shape of the feet, It's old. But, I'm no expert. I forged a couple knives on it already and about 4 squirrel cookers. It works well, not my dream anvil but Its bigger than the 90lb that I was hammering on.

That is very nice. Congrats!

Thank you very much. I use an NC Whisper Mamma (Two Burner) for most of my work.

I just wanted to share a knife that I made for one of my best customers. It's got all the bells and whistles. 1095, mirror polished 5 1/4" blade 10" overall length Forged from 3/16" x 1 1/2" stock. Brass guard which was notched and silver soldered in place Brass pommel plate that was tapped, threaded on to the tang and silver soldered Brass liners Water buffalo horn scales Brass pins Vine file work on the upper half of the tang The knife started life as the forged blank in the top of this picture. And wound up looking like this: The photographs are not the best as it is difficult to take pictures in a dark shop, and it being so reflective did not help any. Let me know what yall think! EDIT: Better pictures

Thank you fellas, I took your advice and gave the end cap some texture. It looks much better.

Well, I'm not sure if this really belongs in Swordsmithing or the knife area, but I'll put it here. I based this design off of a bunch of different photographs of Scottish Short Blades. It's a little shorter than most of what I found, but seeing as this was my first attempt at making a sword style blade, I figured that would be good. It is forged from 3/16" thick 1095. The spacer for the guard was made from Brass. The guard is forged 1018 steel and the handle material is locally harvested American Hornbeam (Ironwood) with a Laurel Spacer. The pommel is also forged from 1018 with a brass end cap and a riveted tang. The blade length is 9 1/2", the handle area is just over 4" and the overall length is 14 1/4". It is a full height convex "grind" with a stone finish. I will just need to bring it to the local Scabbard maker (Yes there actually is one) to have a wooden scabbard made. Thanks for looking, Matthew M Paul

Thank you. Unfortunatly I don't have any pictures of it appart. What you could do is buy a svord pesant and take that appart to see how it works. This is only my first one so Idont have much time with these, but what issues were you having?

This is a 1095 Scandi Ground Friction Folder with a 3 1/4" blade, 3/16 thick, Red Oak Handle, and brass hardware. Any feedback would be great. Thanks fellas, Matthew Paul