larrynjr

His house is just amazing, hand built and filled with forged items.

I received the notice via email and I believe it's an open invitation to one and all. Should be a heck of a great time! I think I'll actually be able to make it too!

Jerry Culberson, Master at the Old Cedar Forge in Allyn, Wa. is having his birthday next month and is inviting all friends, students and blacksmith types to join in the celebration. Old Cedar Forge has a link to google maps for directions. Date is Sat. July 12th from noon until done!

Well the base price not including tax and shipping puts it at $5.05 a pound. It seems well worth it to me so far! :)

The very first piece was back in high school metal shop was a cold cut chisel. We had to cut a bolt in half with it to prove we had hardened and tempered it properly. At the blacksmithing course that really got me going, it was a round punch, to punch the hole in the tongs we made next, then a hot cut chisel using the tongs I had just made. That was day one.

My mom's second husband used to weld the tiles onto the shuttles. I remember him saying he and the other welders would leave their initials welded onto the tiles too. Hopefully that wasn't why the Columbia blew up!

I think I would try using it as is and see how much an issue the wrinkled face and damaged corner really are before commiting to any repairs.

Welcome Big Medicine, for ONLY your ninth knife, I would say you are well on your way. That's a nice looking Bowie.

Now that I'm on the West coast, while you are more than welcome to ask me anything, it's probably too far to do any smithing together. I'm glad to make your acquaintance though!

We need more Chet's around to pass the torch. My story is pretty plain, back in high school I was very into the Lord of the Rings and swords and knives like many other youngsters and had a vague interest in learning to blacksmith to make swords and knives. Other than a metal shop class where I did get to forge a chisel, I never did much about it. About 5 years ago during my divorce I found myself revisiting idea's of things I've always wanted to do but never had and discovered the blacksmithing dream was still there. I took a 3 day basic course from a well known Wa. blacksmith and discovered that I did and do still have the desire to blacksmith. I discovered though that making swords and knives are now very far down on my list and I'm more interested in ornamental ironwork and tool making. I love the idea of having the ability to make a needed tool instead of going down to the local big box hardware store and buy a mass produced questionable quality piece. I had a 2 year hiatus after that while moving and getting remarried but took a refresher course last fall and have been hitting the steel since. I hope to take an intermediate tool making class from that teacher in the fall.

Abenakis, I am still very thrilled with my Nimba, it proves it's worth everytime I hammer on it. I was punching a slot through the Hardie hole the other night and managed to get the punch onto the edge of the hole. The punch was slightly damaged but the anvil was not even marked! Guess it was a good thing I made the punch from mild rebar and not tool steel. Being from Maine originally I've spent a small amount of time near the city of Quebec but not Montreal, this though was long before I got into smithing. There seem to be plenty of blacksmiths in the New England states that I'm sure would welcome a brother smith down from the country of Quebec! oops I mean Province. I'm curious though about your name on the site, are you of the Abenaki tribe(s)?

Awesome score John!

Have a great time Matt, I'd love to return to Europe as a civilian, my time in the US Army didn't allow for as much exploration as I'd have liked. I know I have relatives in the Berlin area as well as Sweden.

I used an engine hoist to place my new Nimba. Very useful item for that.

I don't think I could lift a 250lb anvil on my best day, I'd certainly hate to rupture anything trying it!

Abenakis, where are you located? If you go up to the user CP at the top of the page you can update your location. Knowing where people are makes it easier for smiths local to you to help when they can.

I guess it wasn't so much hard to find a stump as I didn't look very hard for one because of my cement shop floor. I didn't want to have to try to cut the stump so that it was level perpendicular to the floor or bust a hole in the cement to plant a stump / log into the ground for the anvil. I like the box and sand method, it also gives me something non flammable for hot steel to land on instead of a wood surface.

I used the blueprint plans as my guide and basically made a wooden box then filled it with sand. I put a piece of plywood that was just slightly smaller than the interior of the box under the anvil then covered the base with additional sand. There is almost zero ring even when I hammer out at the tip of the horn. For me it's a great alternative to a hard wood stump. Those are very hard to come by here in Eastern Wa.

I think it would depend on the diameter of your handle and the size of your hand. I think the additional friction might cause extra blisters too.

When I've been able to get out and hammer, it's been great Sam. We are in the process of painting new decks and ramps here at our house so I haven't had as much time lately but the few times I've gotten out have been good. The anvil is not shifting at all now with a plywood baseplate under it and the sand on top gives me a nice place for my chisels and punches. If I get a chance this week, I'll take some pictures of the items I've made recently.

I started using that as my sig line about a month ago when I was reminded of the line while listening to the radio. Love that classic RUSH!

Very cool, once again I open my mouth only to exchange feet!

true, I didn't take that into account. I'll take it off and people can PM me and I'll email them the photo directly so as not to offend.