jmccustomknives

1st rule of blacksmithing; Never get rid of your tools. They are your life's blood. Good tools are hard to come by. Better to do without coal for a day than go without that tool when you need it most.

cool beans. B)

My wife looks out the window and that's what she see's. :blink: Not that it really looks that way. ;) That old piece has "steam punk" written all over it. B)

Honestly, looking at them I only see one true smithing hammer. The one on the far left is a body hammer, not heavy enough for smithing. The second from the right is interesting, I could use it. Of the tongs the top are the most interesting. The other two are more farriers type tools. With tools it all depends on what you intent to use them for. I wouldn't use any but the two large hammers and possibly the large tongs. I would pass on them at $20. Experience dictates you needs. Don't get discouraged. Find an experienced smith that will let you visit his shop. Ask what his favorite tools are. Follow his lead and get stuff that he uses. Good luck.

I like it. B)

Do not use a gasket. Use the correct tip. I'm trying to figure out what kind of torch that is, and I just can't make out the label. Looks kind of like a purox or oxweld but it may be an aftermarket torch. Whichever it is, get the right tip. You don't want to be on an episode of "A Thousand Ways To Die".

If you know how to do a soft back draw, temper then do the draw. It will be a little easier to straiten, but work it while at tempering temps. If you've never had to straiten a blade, there are many methods. I just put mine in the vice and use my twisting wrench to tweak them.

Don't think I want any part of that stuff right now. :blink:

sweet. I like the marble. Is that stuff a pain to work?

I've got a Diamondback, the design is very simple. Since mine is the knifemakers model it is small and useless for many larger projects. A coal forge is perfect for those projects (or if you plan on working real wrought iron). Don't let it overwhelm you, gather your tools one hammer at a time. ;)

It is fossilized mammoth tooth that has been sliced and stabilized. The colors come from minerals that absorb during fossilization and can vary from grays to reds and yellows. It is a bit cheaper than the mammoth ivory but more difficult to work I'm told.

Thanks guys! :) This will be a centerpiece for an upcoming event.

I've had issues with veg oil not fully hardening. Canola is supposed to be better, I use Parks 50 now. Check the back of the blade, if your edge is thin and your procedure is a little slow the edge can cool down and not fully harden. I'm assuming you are not forging your blades, but if you are, long forging sessions can cause decarborization. Sometimes the only way to see what's going on is to break it. The grain of the steel will tell.

What kind of oil did you use?

Rich is right about the shipping pallets. I have found some amazing woods on the lowely pallet. My personal pocket knife has scales from a pallet (walnut). You can expect to find anything from poplar to curly maple from the states. Over seas I see a lot of mahagonies, even once found some coco bolo. Good luck.

I haven't shared anything in a while, but here is my latest. A while back I ran across some stabilized mammoth tooth at a tailgating event. It was beautiful but I didn't pull the trigger 'cause I was scared of it (both price and lack of knowledge) :unsure: . So after a while I found another piece and had a vision for what it would look like. This was my attempt. The 6 1/2" blade was forged from 15n20/1095 to 72 layers then twisted into a waterfall pattern (11 1/2 overall). The guard and pommel pieces were forged from some 19th century wrought salvaged by a metal detecting buddy. The handle, of course is mammoth tooth. It wasn't as hard to work as I had built up in my mind it would be, but still nerve racking none the less. :wacko: . Don't be afraid to push yourself, the way I see it; you can either get better or go over a cliff. :D

Some bronze can't be forged, but if you do get a forgable variety the rule of thumb is if you can see it glowing it's too hot. Generally when I'm forging, all be it smaller than what you are going to tackle, the bronze will begin to darken then faintly begin to glow. That's when you do your work. If it's too hot it will break apart. Not fun. :o

Old weather cracked antler can really set off a knife handle! Got 'em, use 'em!

I'll just hit on two. At the steel place, ask for 1018. Most steel you'll run across is A36, it is a spec and the content can vary wildly affecting the quality of your work. For what you are doing, a gas forge will be much more serviceable. The biggest advantage for coal is when you get into large/awkward pieces that don't want to fit in your gas forge (a farriers forge has doors for that) a coal forge can make it easier; at least that's my experience as I have a knifemakers gas forge. All it takes is practice, and yes a lot of smiths make there own tools. Most do it as practice or are too cheap to buy new ones. ^_^ (yes, I am referring to myself).

I would consider myself the king of recycled materials. I have tons (and I aint joking) of saw blades (round and band), springs, cable, files and various bearings. All can make excellent knives. But they aren't all the same. Files can be from case hardened to very good (the Black Diamond mentioned). Saw blades can be just ok to excellent. Car springs can have stress fractures and the older ones not as good. If you don't mind spending a lot of time learning the experience can be gold. One good truck leaf spring can make many knives. All that being said, like the others have said; steel is pretty cheap.

This is how I dried some pecan. Cut a usable chunk and put it in a gallon zip lock bag with some air space. Every day I would change the bag the wood was in. As the moisture content dropped so to did the water that would collect on the bag. After a few months it was totally dry and ready to use. Other than that, there's a lot of good suggestions. Pecan however doesn't make the best handles, it does however make excellent bar-b-que.

That was quite a find. A lively anvil, take care of it and it will out last you. B)

I did something similar, used it for years. That large forging surface comes in handy.

Take a ball bearing or small hammer. Check for rebound/ring. If your ball bearing doesn't bounce or the hammer leaves dents walk away. The price doesn't seem too bad, I'm no expert by no means but that anvil looks ancient. If it could tell stories... I wouldn't worry to much, remember the small pits and imperfections don't mean a whole lot if your hammer marks are deeper. I'm sure one of our more experienced anvil guru's will spot that one right away. (I'm betting it's eastern Europe, Polish maybe?). :rolleyes:

Hey, it's on the internet so it has got to be true. <_<