dablacksmith

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...

who ha bothered to see the new rambo movie? whats stalone gona do for a sequil rambo breaks out of the nurseing home???? hes gettin a little long in the tooth for the action hero dont ya think?

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 ...

I have been able to figure it out for a work week (10am to 4 pm 5 days) i use 1 bag of coke (50 lb) average .. that has been over 4 months of forgeing so it is pretty accurate ... it has helped me to figure out how much I need to buy for the season ...

does the dutch oven have a lid? if its a old one you might get more for it than a good cast tewere costs! i wouldnt use it for a forge ... you can fabricate sumthing for a firepot ...

it gets better with time!! you get to make stuff you used to think was inpossable to make! have fun!

never heard of shoeing elephants and never had anyone ask that... sounds like a wierd one... and ide answer it like I do horses ya i shoe horses ... SHOO SHOO GO AWAY HORSE!!! and i do flies also! as far as the " you dont know what your doing here " ide say if you think ime shoeing elephants then you are the one who dosnt know whats going on...

The problem with rebar is you dont know what it is made of... theyre are lots of manafacturers and types and some of it was scrap melted and used... so for knives and swords if you want sumthing usable get something where you know what steel it is so you can harden and temper it.. its real frustrateing to spend a bunch of time on a knife or especially on a sword only to have it break or bend easily ... It can ruin your day...

ya did a nice job restoreing that!! ive had that style of forge and thaey work well but can be tireing to run full out all day long ... it might have been the andle of the handle for my hight but it flat wore me out!! have fun !

hummmm i think those type 4 way valves have a spring to move the valve one direction and theyre is a airvalve that when activated moves it the other direction... it might bwe that you have to change which side the spring is on...i ended up with a 4 way valve on my hammer with 2 swich ports (so a swich to move it up and one to move it down) i dont know if it makes any sence to you but it was a stab without haveing the valve in hand its hard to figure..good luck!