scjohnson243

Ausfire - If that was your first attempt, wow. Great job.

Those are some great twists... Really add to it!

That was an awesome bench, and a GREAT tribute. Well done!

So I recently Took a job here and have been looking to meet new blacksmiths and knifemakers! Does anyone know of any in the area? I searched the groups here, and the website has not been updated since 2001.... :( Also, I just tried a search on the website and keep getting a java error, but I think that has something to do with my machine, I just had a java update fail. Sorry if this is in the wrong area, and thank you very much!!!

Todd, along with everyone else thank YOU for your service! One thing I may pass along, all the punches/chisels and such you will need are fairly easy to make yourself - If you stop by an automotive junkyard, you can get some auto spring steel (coiled spring) free, or VERY cheap - thats been great for me for making my tools I need as I am fairly new myself - Also since I assume you have internet access (If you can get it by where you forge) you can find some GREAT information on Youtube (Especially look up Brian Brazeal's's channel) As much as I read here, sometimes I'm a little hard headed and SEEING it done helps quite a bit!! Good luck to you, keep us posted on whats going on, and I agree, Pictures would be awesome as you grow as a smith. Again, thank you for your service - We all owe you!

Great Work! Seems like a great class!!!

Very good! I like it a lot has great Symmatry (sp)

Just echo'ing that I would love to see a solo hammer video... I made mine with Ed and Brian at his place with my striking and it still took a lot of beating, I cant imagine doing that solo without a powerhammer. (of course, my striking left a lot to be desired, I think Ed may still be scarred!) :) I agree drifting the hole would suck - I seem stuck with that lately, made my son a nice tomahawk out of a RR spike, tried to drift the hole for the handle last, needless to say was a mistake, scrapped the whole thing.

Awesome Example John! I cant wait to give this a try this weekend at the forge, Thanks for the pictures!!!

Chuck - Love that piece you posted... Very cool design!

hahahahah... Great one!

I dont really want to come off rude or offensive in any way, but I dont know if you will find exactly what your looking for - I'm going to assume your a "younger" feller. I'm in law enforcement / computer programming - but I didn't just get into this line of work; I worked for years in crappy jobs (Selling cars, and I'm probably the most antisocial person I know). Every chance I got I would take a class or get a book on what I really WANTED to do and dive into it as much as I could while still selling cars(and hating life). After a while I was able to get a job in the "entry" level of something I really DID enjoy and could get out of the business I hated at the time. If I were you, I would advise you to do whatever you can to make ends meet now, and every bit of spare money/time you get sink it into what you really WANT to do - dedicate yourself to taking some classes from someone thats very good at what you want to do, offer to clean up for them, offer to help them with something you *DO* know (Your in construction, I would imagine you can find lots of value in building, or repairing things around a shop/house)... I really do hope you find what your looking for, this life is way to short to be miserable - but sometimes you have to do what it takes to get your foot in the door of something you really do enjoy! I wish you luck!

Double Post - Very sorry

Thanks All - I have to admit - I was starting with a round "punch" and then after making my hole trying to drive a drift through it. Obviously this never worked - I need to use the chisel to get a better opening for my drift. I also think I was trying to force it when it was cooled off to much. I was watching youtube of Mark Asberry(sp) and he was doing drifting and I thought I would give it a try - Of course it starts with him drifting, not punching the hole - I assumed since he was drifting a round hole he was using a round punch to start with. Kind of silly now that I look back at it, and the amount of time I spent trying to make a "clean" drift. /sigh... Thank you all again for the information Its appreciated!

So today I spent a few hours working on punching and drifting. I seem to have a problem after I get the hole punch, and try to drift something through it (Using a pointed 1" peice of round stock) It seems like the metal starts to get "pulled" down while I'm drifiting. On the videos it shows you get a nice "punch" in the metal - then drive the drift through the pritchel hole. It goes from my stock getting "Stuck" in the hole, or all the metal tears on the way through... Watching videos it doesn't seem very difficult, I am assuming I dont have my metal hot enough, but its "yellow" when I start, and it cools off very quickly as im driving. can anyone offer some tips? Thanks

Ok, That was GREAT.. Loved the whole thing. Good quality, Richard!

Thanks, Fellow Baton Rouge'r. I have looked around that page, (and never seen it so apparently my search wasn't as good as yours) but dont see anything specific to drafting. Its possible I have just missed it at work, but I'll take a more detailed look today when I get home. Thanks again for the link.

In looking at this http://www.etsy.com/listing/76455554/hand-forged-railroad-spike-tomahawk I guess I should just forge the "head" out of the other end of the spike? I was hoping for a bigger edged side, but... I dunno! :)

So I got a really good deal on some railroad spikes, and my son has been asking me to make him a "throwing" axe. I took out a spike and gave it a shot yesterday. I was planning on using the spike head as the blade end, but there is not a lot of metal there to make a decent sized axe head - does anyone make these out of railway nails? I have thought of cutting the top of the nail in "half" and inserting a nice piece of steel in the end and welding them together to give it more material to get a good, broad blade out of it. Anyway, anyone tried this? how has it worked? Will try a google search and see what I can find, but so far you guys are my first choice to get info from! :) Thanks again!

Very cool.. I'm curious how you pulled it off though - I would assume you had some flat pieces you hammered into your stock and then pulled them out, but I'm not sure how that would not "Pull" the small edges over every time you tried it.... Mind letting on a bit on how it was done? (Its probably very obvious to everyone, but im new! ) :)

WOW... I dont know what else to say! Looking at your website its full of amazing artwork! Great job, Nailed the monkey!!! All your work is outstanding!

Simon, yeah - those programs can definitely do that, but finding someone with the experience here is going to be a challenge - You would be much better off on a 3DS board asking specific questions on how to cut the faces, add verticies, etc for things you will need for this project. To do what your asking you will not need a lot of smiting experience, but would need programming experience for people familiar with whichever software platform you decide to go with. Not that I doubt any knowledge on this board, but the specific information you will need is way more "Software" related as opposed to hammering metal. Just my 2c.

I was actually there a part of the time Pugh was there - and I can honestly say I have never been around a nicer group of people! I have no real experience blacksmithing, and took a Day long class with Ed - and I learned more in those 8 hours than I have in a month by myself.. Ed has GREAT patience, he took his time with me and explained the basics. I am completly out of shape, and at the end of the day I was running on fumes, my hands hurt, and my muscles were aching from swinging the sledge! I am going to give it a few weeks, practice the things that Ed showed me and try to get another few days of training. Karen, Ed, Brian - they are great people, and I would recomend a few days of classes for ANYONE looking to learn this craft, the amount of experience there is amazing, and they all have a real talent for teaching!

I like them, very simple and clean design! great work.

I thought that too, Bryan - As far as I have read the "blood groove" is to save metal and make the sword lighter... But, the idea in the video sounds much cooler. :) I enjoyed watching it - I've never forged a sword, (or even knife yet) so its nice to see different methods!