JMcCormick

On 6/18/2012 at 9:27 PM, MOblacksmith0530 said:

Slit and drift. I am going to say something next that may piss you off but that is not the intent.

I think you may be starting out a little above your skill set if you don't know this much. You will need to make a slit punch and a drift of the appropriate sizes before you can make the hole. Go to the tool forum and search slit punch and this will get you started. There are many way to do this and until you have mastered some basics making this hammer may be beyond you.

You did not xxxx me off at all. On the contrary I would like to thank you for the advice. I am trying to learn this on my own and I need someone to tell me when I am going beyone my skill set. So again thank you for letting me know that this is a very advanced process. I think I will set the warhammer aside for now and start tapering bars and making snakes and such untill I progress more. Thank you again, and I will check out that slit punch in the tool forum.

How do I get the hole in the center of a hammer head for the handle? I am tring to forge a warhammer and I can not for the life of me figure out how Im going to make the hole for the handle..... Did I mess up by starting with a soild piece of barstock? Any help is very much appreciated!

Well this is my second try at the forge. I got the taper down I think. So far I have learned quite a bit form this site! Thanks to everyone for helping me with the explanation of how to taper. Anyhow I designed this one a little different. I think it looks alot better than my first try. Here are a few pics of it.









Compare to my first try......

Hey J, glad to see that you are getting started well. Tapering is easy. Like everything else it just takes practice.

Where are you in NC? It would be great if you were somewhat close. I am in the far upper right corner. there are many blacksmiths in NC and more will chime in shortly.

Mark <><
Between Elizabeth City and Hertford.

Nice work. You didn't want to taper the tail?

Well this is just a piece of rebar with some bends. I was mainly getting a feel for the heating process. First I started out trying to make and S bend then I thought well I'll make a snake instead. Then I though well why not take it one step further and try to flatten the rebar out and make a hooded up cobra..... Well as you can see I didn't get it flattened out alot. I am going to try and work on it somemore tomorrow. My neighbors were all out staring at my at about 9:30 since I was still just hammering away. I think they were getting mad at me...... ha ha ha ha ha. Oh well I was having a blast. anyway here are some pics.

proximity to scranton

I have supplied many newbies in this forum with inexpensive anvils. My sole purpose in doing this is to keep these relics out of the hands of collectors. I have a legion of people, near me in Pennsylvania, who "hook me up" with inexpensive blacksmith tools, including anvils. Right now I have a slightly bellied 142 pound mousehole which is available. I fully intend, in the next two weeks, to resurface this anvil................one of the greatest blacksmiths I know, who has refaced many many anvils, is going to give me a lesson on fixing anvils, free of charge. "Hit me up" in the PM!

MRobb, I did learn a very Important lesson. I had no clue galvanised meatals had the potential to kill a person! I was under the impression they would make you slightly sick and if you burned off the zinc before you got near it there would be no problem. I am glad I asked before I started that first fire! jmcustomeknives I am so pumped about all the things I can possibly make! Thanks for the replys!

So I'm sure you all are loving all the newbi question I have.... Sorry. I am super Interested in this hobby / possible future profession. I would have a fire burning now but I am removing the zinc from the pipes on my first homemade forge. I diddnt really know galvanized pipe was deadly! Thanks for pointing that out Ridgewayforge!! So as for my forge. What other kinds of things can I forge besides knives? Of course my main focus is knives simply because I am fascinated by them. But I am also intrested in forging anything I can with a brake drum forge. Also what is a good anvil for a beginner? I'm not looking for a $1000 french or german made anvile.... Just something simple maybe 75 - 100 Lbs. sufficent for a beginning smith. Any help is appreciated!

Привет мы друг! Где в России вы? Я из Санкт-Петербурга. Кроме того, ваша работа очень хорошо!

Actually that part of your forge will not be likely to get hot enough to melt the zinc. Still, to be thoroughly cautious, go ahead and disassemble the galvanized pipes from the rest of the forge and soak them in vinegar for a day or two (until the galvanizing is all removed). No need to burn it off and this way you'll actually get it clean.

I was going to burn the forge for a few hours outside awayfrom everything to get the stuff off of it. Everywhere I went either did not carry 2" black Iron or was out so I got the galvanized and figured a good long burn outside would take the stuff off of it.

Hello from Asheville, NC! I just finished my first brake drum forge. I am very intrested in smithing and would like to try my hand at knife making. I have a few questions though. What does HT, RC, and HRc stand for? Also Would I be better off using coke or coal? Lastly I have been told a good thing to try my first kinfe out of is a non case hardened file. How do I tell if they have been case hardened or not? Any input on these subjects is appreciated!


A few pics of the brake drum forge I just built! Completed it for just under $40,