dablacksmith

nice hammer ! it looks like it really flys!

I dont know if blacksmithing is "ART" but it sells to regular folk so it probably isnt...Becides ifin ime an artist then my stuff wont go up in value until ime dead... And by then it wont matter ta me anyway!!!

thats why i have blackpowder guns ifin i have ta i can make me own powder ... and gun or sword also... try to ban my skill !!!!!

ive had mice in my ko wool ... was nasty ..

ya i got one that the ball bearings are literally falling out ... ime slowly dissasembleing it to put new bearings in it ..

nice dezign tho the idea isnt new.... If you get the book Pounding out the profits it shows a few different dezigns that have a height adjustment .... nice work !

ive repaired one by brazeing it .... worked well for as long as i had it . I dont line my forges anymore .. I found the lineing to be more of a pain than it was worth ... the lineing would crack and clinkers were always sticking to it .. I use a portable forge i made with a 14 ga pan with no lineing and its been going for years .......

just made one and u did it like the factory jobs ... i used gorilla tape to hold it in.... you can make a ledge to set the mirror into then tape it in .. it should last ....

ive made a few spears ... I usually use spring steel (leaf springs) and forge a socket.. My latest was a billhook ... I dont harden um but they are still pretty tough I prefer sumthin that will hold up to abuse ...dont know what ime gona do with my load of rr spikes ... had a guy that wanted a knife made from one so I told him ide forge one out if he brought a bunch of spikes in trade so now ive got a bunch of um ....o well ile figure sumthin to do with um...

I appreciate all the pictures .... Ime going to make something with 4x4s and a sledge ... will post pictures when ime done .. Ime figureing something simple with wood as the upright and base would be more time pereod correct...

that is a good anvil!!! it will last your lifetime... the edge problems arnt good but you can work around them .... ya it wasnt cheap but i might have bought it and ime notoriously cheap (poor)!

Ime finding stuff by doing demos.... the people come by and say "ive got a anvil i want to get rid of " or" ive got a bunch of old tools leftover from my dad" stuff like that ...also haunt craigs list and ask friends... I got my best deal on a anvil from a friend talking to one of his friends...

sounds like a bad weld in the billet ... I would get ahold of the supplyer and see if he will replace the billet.... Ive never bought any damascus (too cheap) Ive made a few billets of it tho and its always possable to have this happen... its one of the reasons damascus is expencive....

last anvil I bought was about 140 lbs came into my shop wasnt looking for one so told the guy i could only afford to pay 100 dollars for it ...was unmarked and not to bad of shape sold it within a week for double my money to a guy who had his anvil stolen this was a couple of months ago.... anvil before that was a 100 lb anvil I bought at a aaba gettogether for 130. along with a swage block for 75.that was about 4 years ago...best deal my fisher 200 lb main anvil got it out of the budwizer hidroplane shop paid 100. for it ... that was about 20 years ago ...

looks like a big lump o steel to me... no idea otherwise.....

I saw a demo useing induction heating (nwba fall conference darel nelson gary eagle) . It looked good after the initial cost (i heard 5000 +) the electrical cost wasnt bad according to demonstrator...it did give nice localized heats and fairly quick! i think it could work for some things but not everything ..not sure about forge welding ...but industry uses um alot... na I like the smell of coal!!!!

ya ive recently gotten insurance for my shop... The museum required insurance as part of the lease so I got it... its about 1000 a year and its the minimum i could get by with...hope i never have to use it..

I do my talkin to him on the way home from the shop ... hes been good to me in getting me a nice place to demo/sell for the months ime not on the road .Ive been thanking him a lot lately!!

ya if its a real question mark it might not be worth messing with .. haveing said that a lot of things are obviously spring steel and will work .. Car leaf springs and coil springs are a couple that are obvious ...i use a lot of garage dor springs for small knives and strikers they are easy to come by and usually pretty good steel . I cut a section of coils(about 5 inches worth) heat in forge till its all red or better grab one end with tongs .I put a round rod or pipe in my vice slip the coils over it and give a good pull .... straitens out a section nice and long to work with! now if you were into damascus you could weld the unknowns with a good edge holding known and try it .. might not get a good pattern but should end up with a knife that will hold a edge...

save the files for forming the steel they do not make that good a knife (to high a carbon content) get some old spring you can use charcoal and if you dont have a blower what about a piece of pipe for a blow tube ? and a lump of sumthing for an anvil grab a hammer and forge it!! check forum for inprovised anvils and any chunk of spring will make a knife and probably be better than a file (less likeley to break)

yes propane can get to forge welding temp but they are sometimes hard to get there .there is always a trade off .. I run bolth ... the propane is nice for long heats and ease of use ...coal is good for isolated heats and getting real hot (to burning) heats ...you want to make damascus ? are you using a power hammer or press??is coal smoke a problem in your neiborhood?? cost is something that changes with the wind...better is subjective its what works for you... if you can try bolth and decide which you like ... have fun

looks good to me! i usually make um out of mild with a steel insert for the edge (forge weld a chunk of steel in the middle) but whatever works for ya ! i made my first hawk mandrel then bought one and sold my homemade one to another smith...nice hawk!

good info all of these posts these things are complex ! and so many different ways of doing somthing I figured was "simple" !the chain makeing video is nice ! tho those guys must be getting overtime pay to move so fast....the model oliver is interesting might use that spring dezign (ive got a few leaf springs laying around) those images will help thank you!

also how are your neibors??? if your reasonable on your hours and are nice its usualy not a problem in my opinion.I had a 50 lb little giant that sat within 2 ft of property line the neabors garage was 7 ft away! It was a attached garage and no complaints in fact I asked if it bothered him and he said "what hammer?" he had a garage band that would practice on weekends tho so he might not hear so good anymore!! The secret I think is be concencious and work reasonable hours ..good luck!