dablacksmith

hammer styles are a personal thing .... I like the sweedish pattern but i have big hands.. i see the hofi hammers and i couldnt use it there is not enuf height from hammer face to where the handle is but that is my personal preference and not for everybody .. if you like the looks of the french style hammer get one and try it... ive got a bunch of different hammers (blacksmith tend to accumulate them) and ive tride a few at hammer ins ... if it works for you then enjoy!!!

if i was going to buy a comercial belt sander/ grinder and didnt want to shell out the big bucks i would go with the grizzly ... its not as versatile as some others but the price is much more reasonable and i think you will get your moneys worth out of it ... i built my own belt sander/ grinder but unless you have good tinkering skills it will be cheaper to buy one..the 1 + hp motor and contact wheel will set you back about what the grizzly costs .. but if you have the bucks then go for one of the purpose built knife grinders they are awsome! i got to use one at a friends shop and it was nice! the variable speed is worth the extra if tou go the big bucks route.. good luck!

I believe that the champion 400 does not hold oil .... ive got 2 of them one is working in my shop the other is dissasembled to replace the bearings (they were wiped out bad) as far as i can tell there is no oil seal ... i know some guy posted on ebay blog about haveing seal but i think he was mistaken... if it runs freely i would put oil on the bearings and oil the gears thru the oiler (if its still there)...ive read that the bearings are available for these but i havnt gotten to that point yet .

ide use one larger... ive not seen anyone use 2 tho...i would go 8 in minimum...

for some reason there is no thumnail on it.... try clicking on the x... it comes up on my comp on my anvil the face and edges are fine its the body thats really badly pockmarked (its almost a inch deep in places....)



Thumbnail repaired and photo included into the post.

i picked this anvil a few years ago with the thought of possably useing it for classes but it is a old pattern and ive been looking at possably fixing it up for my demo anvil..I was told it was used by 3 generations of blacksmith for sharpening picks and the pock marks are where they tested the pick.I was thinking of welding it up with my mig ... just lay weld beads to build it back up then grind it to get it looking better ... any ideas ?


by the way the face looks pretty good ... a few small dings but pretty nice considering the age...

I went with the p5 ... I can do everything I want to do with it .... also consider how long you will be useing it in a day..... the extra weight in flywheel will equil extra effort to run flywheel ! what to you plan on useing it for? I use mine to do die work (make acorns on 3/8 sq and other dies) and sheet work(makes ladles real nice!). I occasionally do other things with it but thats my main use...so do you need the extra power? dont know but eather one will be nice!

bellows are nice but you will probably have to build your own ... also they take up a bit of room if space is a problem...

I can't believe that no one has mentioned the new Rambo movie . Who knew that John Rambo was a blacksmith? Also the early Gunsmoke series portrays Burt Reynolds as the blacksmith and several episodes show him working in his shop.

i put a little beeswax on the handle if ime thinking its too smooth.. dont think ide braid it...

nice work! how are you cutting in the fullers? ive done a few and tried a few different ways (started um with dremel line , forge line , 4 in grinder on edge) havnt found a real good method yet.. always end up finishing um with a hand file ( time consumeing) is a siya a sheath? sorry for my ignorance ive done europeian style blades and havnt learned other termonolgy..

nice hammers! bummer about the shop... keep looking tho and check out museums ... you might be able to get a shop built for demos and make what you want while demoing for the museum! its worth a try... good luck!

my favorite is a group called the wicked tinkers ... they play digerydo bagpipes and lamberg drums ... got a great song about blacksmiths...

I like the gates ! and the premade leaves arnt the best... but the overall gates are still nice ! ya learned and did the customer like um? if it was what they wanted and ya got paid what you wanted then GREAT! next time ya know to make your own leaves!!! have fun!!!

depends on how much you want to spend ... you could go concrete floor... as far as wood shop goes that isnt a problem (most of the shops ive been in are wood) it sounds like a perfect shop! if it isnt falling apart i think you could make a great shop from a barn! good luck!

i have just put it on the rack... same as the gunsmith i learned it from you need to leave it in there a wile tho so it all gets up to an even temp....

Case hardening as I make each of the folds would allow layers of 1000th mil high carbon right? That is what you guys are saying. I know I am going to be fooling around with the temper as I do this. I also know that it will take a long time and lots of stages and folds to get what i am thinking of, but it might work out in the end. Or am I just wasting time even trying?

short anwser yes!
you should read a few books on damascus and pattern welding ... they will give the color differencial you are looking for ...corosion resistance isnt something you should have to worry about (its a SWORD) ! as far as innernet security how is the place you live going to make any difference? If they want to track you they dont need your state or country to do so... the reason we want to know where you are is to find out if there are any smiths in the area you could learn from .... good luck!

this is how i make mine ... ive made a few pipe tommahawks over the years and ive tried various methods of drilling (special bits , lathe ect) and it rarely works so i decided that the cut and glue method is best i use a table saw and cut a grove in the middle with the sawblade 1/8 of an inch up makes a nice hole and not to hard! good luck!

sounds like someone has been feeding you fables... a lot of hogwash in that stuff if you want to make a sword that has a soft core with a hard edge look up pattern welding or damascus. the case hardening you could do by method decribed is really crude and not worth messing with ...also case hardening is not good idea for edged weapons (usually only goes 10-20 thousanths of a inch thick) as wear and sharpening will go thru to the soft core.. this kinda stuff is in the mith buster catagory and not nessary for a good sword... if you are starting out just use a good steel (like 5160 or 1095) and harden and temper it correctly (check under hardening steel on this websight)..good luck!

have fun in atlanta!!

from a quick look at his websight his prices look reasonable... I think his prices are right in the ballpark for what ive seen and sold ....

if you keep haveing cracks forming i would switch to oil... it will cool down slower (relativeley) but less chance of stress crack .. also could be problems in forgeing .. if you overheat the steel in forgeing or heat it too long you can get grain growth ..also forgeing too cold can create problems sometimes ... good luck....

not bad for your first hawks! you might get a tommahawk handle to use in them ...they work better and last longer because they are tapered like a pick handle so as you throw they try to tighten themselves ..good luck!

ya the crackerjack is a direct copy of a perfect power hammer ... it looks like its in pretty good shape .. the welded in bottom die is a fairly common thing as dies loosen up people have uses all kinds of things to make um tight and welding is one .. there is a kerryhard also for sale ...