julian

this is a good idea robert. I tried one without soaking the spacers in epoxy, i just put a lot in between each spacer. A few came un-stuck, so your way sounds better :)

I agree with Thomas; rather than using mild steel, use a leaf spring or coil spring which you can buy for a few bucks. Not only will you get experience from working with actual high carbon steel, but your end product will be usable. You have a whole lot of steel on a single leaf spring, no need to worry about messing up.

couldn't think of "rush", that's what it's called :)

really nice stuff tek :)

nice damascus steve!

I tap the anvil somewhat subconsciously; I think when I'm turning or looking at the piece i let the hammer down on the anvil and it taps a few times.

I like it leaf, good thought put into what it will be used for. Do you heat treat your stuff? What kind of steel was it (grade of the steel)?

that's pretty interesting! Doesn't look like a great blower though, I don't see anywhere to put oil and if fire came back up into it the wood wouldn't do so great.

I've been thinking about combining glass and steel for quite some time now, but the one main problem you will always face: glass cracks. Glass is basically like super high carbon steel; if you cool it off too quick it will crack. If you let any glass besides pyrex cool in air, it will crack due to stress. Pyrex is really expensive stuff, especially in colors. If you did art with both glass and metal it would cost a pretty penny, but sure would look nice. Always something to experiment with if you have the equipment!

Look at the dog run away in the beginning lol, I think he knew he'd have singed fur if he didn't get outta there quick... Interesting hammer, though more "modern" hammers would have much more control and power; I still like it's personality ;)

have you guys ever seen the incense holder/candle stick made out of a pair of tongs? It may be in the blacksmithing book up for auction on IFI right now. I like those incense holders very cool

If you want to know more about how steel works and what you can do to manipulate it look at this thread; scroll down and there's a link where you can download a large pdf file on metallurgy. In short: quenching lowers a steel's temperature very rapidly and makes it hard, tempering raises a steel's temperature slowly and softens the steel enough to make it tough but durable. http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f14/metallurgy-steel-bladesmiths-1896/

I like that a lot cooter, wood handles take a lot more work than just wrapping the tang with something. I'll bet the customer likes it :)

alright, I'm back home in Arizona now; Stan's computer didn't want to take the pictures from my camera, but I have them here. Here's pictures of doing powdered damascus as well as stacked layers, the SIU carbondale forge (they had a big press, several air hammers, a bunch of coal/gas forges, and lots of tools!), and a large smithy we visited with a 300lb Nazel air hammer (they were making a bronze gate). They're kinda mixed up, but mostly the pictures of welding and billets are before/after things. I'll have pictures of some finished products when they ship here. There's a couple big cans of powdered damsacus in the making there, they welded up nice Stan is the guy holding billets, I was doing the picture taking. I had a blast in Illinois, I learned a ton, made some fun stuff, met a bunch of people, and now have lots of ideas for college! Picture232.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Picture231.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Picture230.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Picture229.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Picture228.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Picture227.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Picture226.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Picture225.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Picture224.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Picture223.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Picture222.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Picture221.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Picture220.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Picture219.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Picture218.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Picture217.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Picture216.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Picture215.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Picture214.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Picture213.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

leafshadow: for most knives, the rivets aren't actually rivets, they are just pins. What I mean is that the "rivet" isn't actually riveted, it is just epoxied into a hole of it's diameter; no hammering involved. To keep them from simply falling out or coming loose too easy, grind or file a spiral groove in the middle of the pin for glue to stick better. These grind lines won't be seen as they will be on the part of the pin that is inside the handle. Actually riveting a pin into a knife is dangerous because you take a huge risk of cracking the handle and it will usually warp the pin, causing an unsightly gap in the pin hole and pin itself. Knife Making Supplies I know has some good pin stock with drill bits of the same size, but if you can find a better price elsewhere go for it! I'm glad you're asking about how to do handles; afterall they are half of what makes a knife look good! Knives have lots of subtleties and when you can pinpoint them you'll get a great end product.

very cool sculpture, I like it

bon anniversaire andy! where's the cake?! ;)

Cap'n Ahab nailed a spanish dubloon to the Pequod's mast

keller those will work fine. Keep in mind that the bottom of the forge isn't in the actual fire, just under it, so the heat won't get to it as much. I'm glad you're looking for a clinker breaker, those make a nice easy to clean/clear fire, much better than a peice of steel with slots/holes drilled.

that looked nice in person steve, good job

I like it! I bought an old ballpein head the other day to try one of them, they're pretty neet. Did you re-drift the hole with a tomahawk drift or just leave it as is?

update: we decided to head out Saturday night from Possum's, it was fun my camera is still full of pictures but I'm sure someone there had a camera. I got to meet a bunch of folks from IFI and talked a lot about laminated/damascus steel, one of the main things I'm concentrating on right now. I only got about a week more here so I'll make the most of it. I'll start uploading pictures now, they'll be up sometime today.

sorry you can't make it Dutchman Stan's PC is pretty slow uploading pictures and most of my time is spent at the forge or in the shop, so I'll put off uploading pictures until tomorrow. Today I got some good ones of pattern welding...I think I fell in love with the gas forge :)

I agree with being original, it's what sets one aparts from others. I'm just saying that instead of completely blazing a trail as a beginner, do a few things that have already been done by others and either build on them or use your gained experience to research new methods/techniques/designs. I like the hammer but I'm not one to determine if you're more or less advanced than a beginner.

Hi all, Stan Schwartz, aka trying_it, invited me out to southern Illinois for a couple weeks! Here are some pictures of the forge I'm using, a commissioned spear tip I finished a couple days ago, and the nice landscape around Stan's place. Tomorrow I get to go to the SIUC smithy and meet Daryl Meier, so I'll have pictures of that as well as Possum's hammerin this weekend.