Mende

ok . .but I do remember reading somewhere that coal dust has a special role in the mixture. ..because it makes it porous after burning and that helps the insulation process by trapping air or something. . I think I'll experiment with that a bit. . .satanite+ coal dust mixtures versus pure satanite.

furnace cement you say . .. Thx guys! makes sense to me :D

mongo - bong Hedley - blowjob ( head-ley)

Sucker! ..Everyone knows there are a hundred of em!. ... :P

As you all probably know. .to achieve a good cutting edge and a nice hamon, Japanese bladesmiths applied a mixture of clay, coal dust,ashes and some other ingredients on the blade except for the edge to keep the spine of the blade from cooling too fast and thus keep it flexible while allowing the edge to harden to its full potential. Recipes varied from smith to smith and were very closely kept secrets. What I am interested in knowing is a good recipe for this mixture. Has anyone tried this selective hardening successfully ? I have read all there is online and seen a lot on youtube. . but the exact recipe is never shown. Any info will me much appreciated. Thank you.:)

If you want it to cleave like a surgeon's scalpel you want a curved shamshir design, or something like a Katana. ...The steel should be high in carbon .. And if you want it to cut well AND be light ..you have to do a clay hardening. Mix clay, coal dust and straw ash and apply it to all but the edge ..then heat the whole body of the blade at once. ..and quench it in lukewarm water do not temper it afterwards. . ( I have started a new thread to see if anyone knows the recipe for this . .I'm also not sure about the not tempering it part. .but I am convinced that if you quench it properly . .tempering will do more harm then good.) let a professional sharpen it. . .and learn from him. .. if it didn't crack after the quenching . .it probably never will.

hmm ..I'm glad you asked that ...I thought that was their purpose. .. in one anvil I drove wooden pegs into them so I can attach a handle to it.

This reminds me of a saying I like " Brute force - It it ain't working you aren't using enough!" You could call it the DISEMBOWELLER!

When all your friends ask you for free swords and knives.

Good work! I love the tongs! . .If you reheat the jaws and beat em around a rod of steel you use often you could have a very specialized tool.

Definetely not an ordinary cutlass. . .more like an officer's sword .. My uncle/father/grandparents all had officer's swords. ..and they look way more like you blade. long and slender .. not thick and rough.

Usually just the supports of the bridge are cast . .as cast iron does well under compression. the majority is wrought :D

If you didn't speak to your uncle/dad for 2 weeks for leaving your good hammer out in the rain after using it for driving nails.

UU . .Museum quality!

Mine is clay with 2 inches of gravel on top ..it works pretty well.

Aww . .NeatGuy's anvil pic won;t load :(

I finally made Senior Member! Happy Holidays all!

Yes. .Cast grind harden sharpen polish mount . .then go and **** someone

True. ..if you go barefoot for like a week. ..you could have no problem with glass or pebbles.. but if you go barefoot your whole life.. .well. .you can easily do that

I make all my handles out of acacia wood. .it's a dense fibrous hardwood that's available in the forests here. .. Very strong and flexible. ..never breaks. Good for longbows :D

In Hollywood we say . .There's no business like show business. In Baghdad we say . . There's no business like goat business.

Thx Steve. .me love you longtime!. .:P

Yes what skunkriv said ..and after that . .forge welding, bending, twisting and maybe some polishing and sharpening classes for bladesmiths

Happy holidays! ..and when your anvil starts to rust ..you'll have to get back to work! ..Puppy or no puppy!

Kinda makes me feel guilty for letting 2 good anvils rust along with 30 something hammers and tongs while people like this guy use such primitive tools. I bet we would make very good work with our amount of resources.. . I still don;t get how the bellows work exactly.