Stephen Olivo

Looks like you have a good start. You might like this example of tool tables/racks. http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/28129-lets-see-your-hammer-and-tool-tables/ I really enjoy Brian Brazeals folding table for holding my tools and such. So much so that I have plans on making another 2 for me and my striker and 1 for the guild of metalsmiths auction next september. I work under a somewhat simmiler situation. Working out side of the garage. You might enjoy a look through my gallery.

some of the simple top fullers I have seen were half rounds on the end of a thin round rod handle. One of the industrial smiths that demonstrated at the guild of metalsmiths conference a couple of years back used one and made one durring his demonstration. Flipped over it also doubled as a flatter under the hammer. Kind of a nifty low profile tool.

Had you tried just letting it cool and seeing if it was hard enough for you? It might be worth it next time before you try quenching it in anything. And then if you really wanted it hard it might be worth wile to work up from a softer quench medium up to the one that will give you what you want. Brine just seems a bit harsh for an anvil. Plus your expansion and contraction rates might be so different that even just letting it cool might have its own problems. Looks like it will be a handy little anvil once your finished with it. I have my own stump anvil from a class I am planning to finish the horn welds on this spring and I just plan on letting it air cool.

The blower is stoped the moment I stop forging for the night. Then I put away all my tools and clean up. The last part is putting the forge away, by then the fire has completely died and is pulled apart and put away. I pull the coke all the way to the end of the table and put it away. Then all the coke burning or not (usually all cold at this point) gets spread out on the table to cool away from the fire pot. Once cool, only a couple of minutes, that is put away in another small square metal pan. The firepot is usually filled all the way up with ash and clinker so that just stays in the fire pot as I remove it from the table and put it away to cool.

Your dealing with junk steels so in order to know it is really lots of testing your going to have to do or lots of money to send it to a lab to find out. Now this being said you can make tons of good tools out of unknown steels. I myself have made some very usable tools and knives out of truck coil springs, truck and car leaf springs, garage door springs, car axels, truck axels, steering shafts, piston shafts. large springs off grader equipment, ball bearings, and pins from some large equipment. The best advice I received many years back was to think about what the part was originally used for and what stresses it would have to undergo during normal use. This will help you pick out steel that will meet your requisite requirements for tooling or knives. Though I agree you should just buy known steel and work with it if your trying to get the most from it. I buy steel when making something for some one else much more predictable outcome. Found steels will do but be prepared to brake things and to reheat treat others. When they are mine thats fine a little time to redress or make a new better one. Plus my father in law is a mechanic and gives me springs and shafts for free. and to your last question there are tons. Google it and look at the knife making class 100 thread.

Often times I have seen them riveted together using tenon joinery or held on using hand made nails. Tom Latine does some beautiful pieces of door hardware and there was an episode on pbs woodwright's shop that I believe covered a type of latch.

use the vice next time to provide easy steady pressure this will usually decrease the stack by like 1/4 and then let it cool a bit in the vice (when tight) put back in the fire and bring it up to temp again and repeat. Make sure your layers seem pretty well bonded before you take it out of the plates and try and forge it. Though if the metals are two different forging may not be an option. Presses are great for this kind of work but vices are just a simple screw press. Reading up on this will help. I can see by your plates you probably squished out all the copper or brass that would have bonded the plates together. I have done just say 7 or 8 billets using coinage. No flux or anything to keep oxides down. Blue painters tape around the billets sometimes and always between the billet and the plates to aid release. Usually the first 2 or more heats were in the vice only and then forged over the anvil. Each time some layer would come apart it would go back in and get carefully squished back together. I am in luck and my friends propane forge goes right to the point you want it at and not really any higher. It looks like the temp/time was good just probably hit it to hard while the layers were liquid. Try it again and be gentle with it. Hopefully my limited experience helps you :D

A really nice way to go and the way I would (if there was enough space at the place I am at at the moment) is to make a yurt. Very mobile and sturdy not to mention ment to have a fire inside. I have books and know people who have made a couple. And some that use them as their smithy. Depending on how complicated you make it it can be very easy to set up.

There are many ways to attach 2 pieces. A welder is only one. Making friends with nabering smiths will often allow you access to a welder when you really want to use one. It may be something you want for ease of making some tooling quicker later on but it isn't necessary. Plus not having one will force you to learn some of the fun traditional joinery techniques that are imho a lot of fun to use and much more aesthetically pleasing.

Well welcome fellow minnesotan :D Normally just make your friends and family aware of your habbits and what you want. I have been given so much steel over the years from people who just find what I do interesting.

Interesting first time I have heard of this. As I tan a lot I will have to throw some pieces in my bucket and see what happens. I also have black walnut hull ground up and will have to try that as well. Any more info would be appreciated. Was it just painted on? Or were the pieces soaked in it? I will have to play around with it once winter is over with and I can get back to forging things :D

On mine I just grabbed stock that was as wide as the legs and I think it might have been 1 by 3/16th inches. Whatever mild steel was around long enough and not to thick.

Your welcome Jon. I realized the picture doesn't show it but the keeper has a taper to match the wedge and I believe they should be flipped. Didn't realize it when I took the picture. Had been taking it apart and putting it back together many times. The taper makes it easier to release the wedge especially when it doesn't protrude enough for an easy hammer blow on the wedge itself. This also keeps it from wearing unevenly and cocking it to one side. Good luck.

I would suggest keeping the small one there are plenty of things you will find it very useful for. I have 3 different sizes of anvils that each work well for different things. I have a small one just like that one and I have gotten a lot of use out of it in my basement shop. Worth keeping imho.

If you are looking at making one why not make a tap. This can be forged and filed to fit the thread your working with. I came across the part of a book in which he explains how to forge and file a tap for a thread as I was doing some research last night. The book was The Woodwright's Workbook by Roy Underhill. http://www.uncpress.unc.edu/woodwright/index.html Then you just drill (or punch) a hole through a peice and tap the thread into it.

The key and wedge are what keep it attached to the mounting plate. The spring actually opens the jaws. All are made from mild steel including the spring. http://ipneto.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=72#/d4l21a3 http://ipneto.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=72#/d4l21gz

The hole in the middle that everyone does is from the cut lines. When you slit the bar in both directions the slits should overlap at least as long as the bar is thick (I think) This way when you open it up you get the nice diamond hole in the middle. I know there is a thread somewhere on here that shows specifics of the cutting and opening and stuff. Ahh here it is http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/21026-split-crosses/

Hopefully this will help. He deals with laying out a frustum of a cone. Worth watching anyways :D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9vt1qNaoGA&feature=plcp

well there are a number of ways that could be accomplished. Some can do it with no real extra tooling. Eye trained and all. You can use a flatter and side blocks. Calipers to check till it is right on. Filed after forged to specific dimensions. I know there are some still forging them today. I heard at the last guild of metalsmiths meeting and got to see a plain iron that a japanese man did durring...I belive it was durring abana or some other large gathering.

The bottoms I would think would be filed. A couple of strokes and your flat though it seems like extra work to an already expensive item (though that may be why it was done). I haven't thought to do this on any I have made yet though I think I will try it next time I make some. Though you might also cut it with a cold chisel while it is on a mandrel (probably a quick one made for that purpose) Hmm now you have me thinking. I might try a couple of things next time. By the way beautiful heads thus far. I would love to see a reference scale next to them.

Most of the locks, liner and lock backs, that I have taken apart (keep in mind not as many as I like because not everyone wants to borrow me their knives to disassemble and take detailed drawings off of :D) Have a simple flat part of the back rotating portion of the blade that uses friction and a cam action to keep the blade closed (hopefully I explained that well). Though I have seen plenty of complicated folders that have extra mechanisms to hold them closed. These often just wind up being a nuisance in the general use of the knife i.m.o. and make it more complicated to make. One that I have drawings off of has a small indent in the side that the liner lock just barely catches in when closed to help keep it closed. The lock backs just have a flat section that they rest upon adding just a little cam action to the spring as it opens so that you are required to add pressure for it to open. These are just the observations off of the drawings I have sitting in my sketchbook open in front of me. I am also in the process of "trying" to make a lock back folder with pictures along the way (more for my own reference and learning. keep in mind I am really new to knife making) This one will have a flat section for the lever to rest against.....We shall see how well mine works hopefully relatively soon. If it works well it will be a present for the father in law.(fingers crossed).....I hope this helps :D The flat section is the same way a simple friction folder (like the swiss army knives) stay closed (this is how my first one was made under instruction from Mike Blue and it holds well closed though the transition is a little to rounded between the flat section and the curve allowing less energy to open it then I might want. This also might be from the curve not being far enough from the pivot point. Hopefully someone with more knowledge on the hard part of these knives will chime in to correct me :D)

you can make 3 different products with a deer hide. Rawhide, buckskin, and leather. Each have different properties and work better for different things. Rawhide requires the least work from you. Veg tanned leather requires more work and buckskin the most. Rawhide lets light through and is good for light shades, boxes, handles, blade areas of sheaths, drums, etc....It is also more susceptible to weather. In a way it is kind of like working with a shrinking plastic. You could use it to bind the parts of a knife together and as it dries it would cinch them tighter. Veg tanned leather is known for being the only leather that will hold tooling marks and this makes it a favorite of sheath makers in many places as well as a very nice handle covering. Buckskin is a natural animal cloth (basically) it is soft supple and the least durable of them but also the softest. Don't get me wrong it is still very strong. Best for clothing though I could see it being very comfortable as a handle material just not necessarily as durable as the other two. Basically all 3 would be usable for handles when treated properly each with a different effect (knives, fireplace tools, etc.). There are plenty of ways to incorporate them into a blacksmithing projects from tables to lights, boxes to chairs. All are good for accents. Hopefully this has given you ideas. I have made all three and I am using them in knife work and in making clothing, and other items. It really depends on what your going for. Its a versatile raw material.

Thanks Francis.

Thank you chichi. Some file work and a lot of chisel work with engraving chisels I made. I think it might have been 1/2 inch square to begin with? I would have to check in the garage. They are about 5 1/2 inches long. I have not gotten the chance to take a class from Peter Ross but I have heard good things. Taken at least one from Tom Latane.

I think the name deals more with how you use them then what they are. Many trades have different names for the same tool. I made a pair of dividers after a quick look at some of those that came back from that class and some small conversations with smiths that were there. Here is my first pair. Hopefully the next pair will be more complicated with the wing and a thumb screw. Latine got me thinking about that with his pair that he brought to our guild conference last september.