Dabbsterinn

here's me holding a nail that got Iceland 1st place in the Nordic blacksmithing championship, the competition was who could make the longest nail, unfortinately i can't remember the size, im about 5,7 for comparison (i feel like i should add that i had no part in the making of that nail)

mostly Sabaton, Amon Amarth, Ensiferum and Skálmöld, heavy metal music for heavy metal workin, great to stay in rythm while hammering, and pass time when waiting for large stock to heat up. Also keeps me pumped up after 5 good hours of forging, without that i think i'd be worn out

well, here's my forge, one of them atleast, i know that it ain't the prettiest one or the most functional due to lack of knowledge when making it, but it does what i want it to, so im pleased, i've been thinking about making a spacer for it, to control the size of the fire better

well, i don't use gloves when working with power tools for that reason, I prefer wearing the gloves because my blower is a tad bit too powerful and it happens now and then that i get an eruption, and it's a habit of mine to have my left hand on the valve for immediate shutdown if i notice the top of the coal lifting, i know it's an accident waiting to happen, im working on fixing it. thanks for the safety tips though, they are well appreciated and shall be kept in mind

i think the elf part is just to make it sound more fancy, and we have very similar or even the same folklore about elves, it's a really interesting subject, and due to the grammatical rules of icelandic, the correct term in that context would be álfkonuhnífur

you're right dodge, those are actually just intended at decorational knives, now a thing to compare my most recent work (will upload some of it soon) in case i need a confidence booster,or emergency butterknives

i mostly use leather gloves made by norhand, I get them from time to time from my dads workplace, they're thin, strong and resist heat rather well, only problem is the seams tend to burn apart if you're not careful, often at the fingertips so you don't necessarily see it, i figured that out the hard way, but i highly recommend them, good strong gloves and will last a long time if properly taken care of as for the wrist thing, it is possibly to shake them off, it just takes a bit of a force to get them off, i've actually just folded my sleeve over that to prevent burning coal from flying there, but only time will tell how well that works

so, I was wondering about whether it would be profitable using those welding goggles for forging, not only because of the almost complete coverage of the eyes, my father, who works a lot with angle grinders and wire wheels, can tell you just how painful it is to have a metal splinter embedded into your eye, I:m sure a few here can also testify for that Another possible advantage is for easier judgement and finding small things that i tend to drop now and then into the fire, the darker glass helps counter the blinding brightness of the fire, i suppose the fire also has some damaging effects for the eye, not really sure about that but i remember overhearing something about that, could be related to a thing called glass blowers blindness, where the radiation of the hot glass does something to the cornea, but this is all just stuff I've heard and have no way of saying whether that is true or not

the dagger is almost complete, i'll post pictures of it when i remember taking it home with me from my smithy, and you are right, leather does give good grip, but i prefer the bark, mostly because i don't have access to leather

although that is all good and true, I've found a new #77 kanca anvil, I've heard good things about those and suppose that one would suit my needs better, along with a home made stake anvil for finishing up sockets and tight scrolls. After welding a hardox plate on my ASO it's ringing horribly, that doesn't bother me because i listen to music and wear ear protection while I'm forging but I'm more worried about my sister and brother in law being pissed off at the ringing, it is quite bothersome. If anyone has recommendations and just any knowledge about kanca anvils, that's greatly appreciated

that's not the problem, my parents are supportive of me being a blacksmith, but a #286 anvil is indeed a tad bit too big for my smithy, which is nothing more than a tiny space between a house and a container

im currently negotiating with my parents and my friend about money and permission for the anvil, currently my mother is completely against it, according to her those things only belong in workshops and things like that, but i haven't talked to my father about it yet, i think he might have a different view, i might also be able to get my brother on my side. and if i don't manage to get the money, i can probably make some in the demo that's on saturday, anyways, i'll keep this forum informed on my anvil adventures

if this is a peter wright, then i'd walk there and carry it home on my back if i had to, but im going to buy that anvil any means necessary, i'll fight other buyers to the last drop of blood in me, i really want this anvil