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I Forge Iron

northtowntom

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  • Location
    North Las Vegas, NV
  • Occupation
    Outreach Specialist at a Homeless Veterans Center
  1. I found this on Craigslist this morning. I can't find any information about it anywhere. It claims to be a Western Chief, but, I've never seen one with a wheel like this. Photo - click here Any ideas??? Craigslist is copyrighted. The photos was removed and a link posted in its place. If you need to post the photo, contact the seller and ask permission. Usually they are glad to assist you.
  2. Here in North Las Vegas we've got almost the opposite problem. Tools seem to mysteriously vanish into thin air only to reappear at a swap meet or pawn shop. Perhaps I need to realign the polarity of my workbench. Hmm.
  3. Now there's a frood who really knows where his towel is! A very happy 2008 to all - and remember --
  4. Hard to look at! I'm gonna sell it - just you watch! Hand Forged Railroad Spike Knife Thanks to all for the helpful advice and for the friendly ribbing. To be honest, I knew it needed more time, but I got rather impatient. I wanted to get it sharp-ish and to start carving stuff up. It didn't even start as a knife. It started as me whacking away on a railroad spike just because and it kinda got knife-ish shaped and so I went with it. Truth be told, I had absolutely no desire to do any knifesmithing! (Though I do now feel it important to appease the knifemaker gods and to atone for my sins by making a less ugly knife at some point.) I won't make any excuses - it's ugly - but the lighting in the picture over-dramatizes just how ugly it is. But I kinda like ugly. It's 100% clear that it's made by hand, no? As for the hammer, it's already crowned (is that the right terminology - the edges of the face are already rounded?) and the resulting ugliness is completely due to lack of control and inability. Don't blame my poor hammer on my bad technique! She's already been through quite enough today!!!
  5. Okay. So here's my first ever... uhm... creation. Thing. I call it the paleolithic intimidator. Paleolithic for obvious reasons. Intimidator because that's about all it's good for. (It does cut! Sorta!) Tools used: Railroad Spike Mexican Cast Steel Anvil Whisper Momma at 6PSI Ball Peen Hammer Bastard File Scrap Leather Thong I know it's lame. But! It sure was a xxxx of a lot of fun to make!
  6. I got back to Las Vegas from a Christmas trip to St. Louis and, with a wad of newly-gotten cash in my pocket, I decided to forgo the shipping process and to see if anyone in Las Vegas sold forges. (I was too scared to make one. I'm new to metal!) While trying to buy a house I distinctly remembered that there are a number of horse properties in the valley, and so it seemed that there HAD to be a farrier supply that might - just might - have a forge. Unfortunately, all of the farrier supplies that I found in my online searches no longer exist, so I called the Tack Shack and they told me that IFA country store might have one. I called down there and they had two models - the Whisper Momma and the Whisper Baby. So I drove to investigate. They were asking $605 for the Whisper Momma (the one with only the backdoor opening) and so I mulled it over for a while and then asked the lovely lady at the counter - Doreen, of course - that I'd like to buy it but it was a bit overpriced. She rummaged around a bit and said she could go $525. Probably still overpriced, but I was eager to get started, so I caved. Went to the Home Depot, used my gift card (thank you aunt Betty!) for a propane tank, a ball peen hammer, a bucket and some vice grips, and sped home. Spent the better part of the night (and this morning, from 4am on) ruining perfectly good metal into pointless abstractions. Luckily I live in a Mexican neighborhood that appreciates the value of a hard day's work, and my neighbors have only looked on in curiosity. No angry CALLATE!'s yet! It's pretty much every bit as enjoyable as I've thought it would be. It's been 15 years in the making, and even though the process was very much... built up... in my head, it's beyond satisfying. Anywho - I'm off to the scrap yard to find more stuff to ruin. Thanks to everyone here for the reading material and inspiration! :) :)
  7. Click here To view the Mr. Fusion photo Copyrighted photo removed and replaced by a link
  8. I live in a fairly densely populated neighborhood of North Las Vegas and in order to curtail my run-ins with Johnny Law, I've decided that it's probably easier to go with a gas forge. I'm looking to do mainly small pieces - leather working tools, furniture hardware, etc., - so I'm not concerned about the capacity limitations of the forge. I'm mostly concerned about efficiency. There's a propane refilling station within walking distance, which is good, as every vehicle I own is two-wheeled. But I don't necessarily want to be running over there three or four times a day. I've looked around the web and on this site, and I've not been able to find that much information as to how much gas I will go through. And as I'm a leatherworker first and a woodworker second and a complete noob to metalworking, I don't have the ability to make my own. Even if it's really easy. My budget isn't enormous, but I'm definitely going to purchase one. I'll make the next one. I promise. So here are the questions: 1) Do you have good experiences with a commercial forge on the market? and 2) How often does it need a new tank? Thanks in advance, all!
  9. I'm up on the NE side, near the Silver Nugget / Jerry's. Got the anvil from Broadacres on Las Vegas Blvd. and Cheyenne. Not many blacksmiths in these parts then, eh? Not entirely surprising, given the demographic makeup, I suppose. We just bought our house with a "huge" 8100 sq.ft. lot, so I've got plenty of room to make a mess. All you folks from sensible parts of the country, please don't laugh at my lack of acreage. Pretty please. To all the rest, you're more than welcome to stop by for a cold one and some play time. Jerry's is within spitting distance and has the best prime rib in town for $6.99.
  10. A lot of what I've seen with wrapping is in the form of using braiding of one type or another. There is one book that stands out in the leatherworking community that deals with braiding: Amazon.com: Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Braiding.: Books: Bruce Grant It'd take decades to get proficient with all of the information found in the book. The basic tools required for cutting thongs are a knife and a piece of leather. I use an Australian strander to cut mine: Montana Leather Company: Australian Strander #3082 I then wet the throngs and run them through a board in which I've drilled progressively smaller holes in order to round them up and give them a better shape. This isn't necessary (or even acceptable), depending on what sort of look you're going for, of course. From there there are all sorts of ways to braid a handle and to finish it off with a nice knot. Whatever the case, you cannot go wrong with the book.
  11. Hi all, I'm new to the board, though a long-time lurker, and new at the whole blacksmithing thing. However - I've got about 14 years of leather working under my belt. I'm by no means a master, but I feel comfortable in offering help if you need questions answered in regards to the wonderful world of cow skin. I know there are plenty of leather working resources available on the web, but if you need anything that requires a quick answer, please feel free to drop me a line.
  12. Here's my brand new (to me), first ever anvil that will soon-ish blossom into a full-on shop. Mexican, I assume, because it has MEXICO stamped on the side, cast, and of indeterminate weight. It's been a while since I've lifted anything in the hundred-to-hundreds of pounds category, but almost certainly over 150# and less than 250#.
  13. Hi yall, Name's Tom. Since I was a kid I've been enamored with the idea of blacksmithing and as I've recently bought my first house and thereby have enough space to finally do it, I'm doing it. This morning I told my wife, "Wife, we're going to the swap meet to get an anvil." We both thought it was funny as I've been looking for one forever and have so far been unable to get one. Long story short, Cowboy Charlie is dropping it off in an hour and a half. Dunno about the make or model, other than it comes with its own stump. (I had to bargain for the stump.) $250. I'll share pix once I get them. I'd just like to thank everyone here for giving me lots of reading material in the past, and I hope you'll patiently weather my stupid questions. I didn't see any groups in Nevada, but if there are any Las Vegans around and about, please drop me a line.
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