julian

Rich, I always hear you say that people come to your house once to try a billet on the power hammer--and they vow to never do it again Laminated Steel's tough to make any good.

cooter, I have the exact same anvil as you have, even the same weight . It's awesome for blades, I love mine! Welcome to IFI, it's a great site.

Did you make the flint blades on those knives? flintknapping takes a LONG time man. All those knives are great! I've done a couple drop-point hunters like the first two, they're fun :)

hey that dagger looks real neat! welcome to IFI it's a great site.:)

you said you have an NC anvil? Those are nice farriers anvils, it'll treat you well welcome

I'm assuming theres an opening in the end of the billet, not sure why he would do the edges before the middle (wouldnt it scale anyway? or would it burn off all the o2?). but if it works as good as any other way why not.

blacksmiths use flux for getting rid of spilled laundry soap and to keep a weld from oxidizing.

Welcome! this site is awesome, the guy who runs it, Glenn, does an excellent job in maintaining it, you'll have a lot of fun here

-Julian

regional- makeshift anvils are always a pretty good way to start. I'm glad i started off banging on non-anvil items (first bricks then RR track then anvil) because even though I didn't get much done it taught me some hammer control and how metal works, without putting dings in or abusing an anvil . An old sledge hammer head or RR track peice in cement using a 5- gallon bucket as a mould isn't bad (but the cement might crack eventually) and wont clean out your wallet. I would invest in a good forge, maybe even build a good one if you have the know-how, that gets metal good and hot and is easy to manage before buying a nice anvil. But if you do find a smokin' deal on a good anvil i would recommend grabbing it up

On the where to get an anvil question; farm auctions, friends' friends, local blacksmith meetings, flea markets.

Hope i helped some!

That's a great video oak, thanks a ton for sharing, i'll have to try some :)

i got mine at the home depit. the head on mine is coming loose too! :(

quench, i noticed i have the exact same hammer that's on your anvil in that pic. it's my cutoff hammer :)

this is the first spike knife i made 6 or so months ago. it was a hard twist with a little 5lb vise the pic's huge so here's a link

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c256/julian60/spikeknife2.jpg

looks awesome, both those blades are gonna look GREAT when they're finished. :)

sorry i was so slow on the reply ellen, computer was down and i havent looked at IFI ina while, i'll definitely give you a call though. I turn 16 tomorrow but i don't have a license, so i can't drive, but i'm sure i could get a ride out to your place.

squeeze, if all else fails with getting a grizzly, you can use an available/smaller belt grinder (i use 4"X36") to get to about 120-200 grit, then do fine sanding by hand. That is what i do, and it works okay, just takes more work. I just can't find finer grits for a 4"X36" grinder. But if you don't already have a small belt grinder, I would bite the bullet and save for the Grizzly.

that's awesome Jens. what grit is the blade polished to?

tyler real nice hawks, they look nice :)

Hey great, another zonie!!

reguards from scottsdale and welcome,

-Julian

Nick those are great! Were the hockey skate blades newer ones, or old ones? I thought they were stainless; how were they to forge? I was thinking about using skate blades as knives, but was unsure whethere they'd work.

Thanks for blazing the trail :)

lol--dodge i havent heard that pun before, but it gave me a chuckle :)

hi strix, i'm also in my 2nd year of hobby smithing i saw you at the bp last tuesday, this is a fun site, welcome!

Hi tyler, I'm 15, turn 16 in july, so we're sorta in the same boat. Welcome, this is a fun site.

I liked that bp Glenn :)

Nice knives woody! Is there filework on the guards? I like the handles

Jens, I've heard about maintenence on wenge, but I don't know what I should do to it. Any suggestions? Thanks :)