civilwarblacksmith

A full length tang that is in the shape of the handle desired. 2 slabs of wood roughly 2 - 2 1/4" wide and about 3/8" thick. Length will be just a little longer than handle. One trick also is to cut the excess material down near to the handle. It will be less you have to sand. Drill 2, 1/8" holes in handle. I would use a torch to temper the tang to a bluebird blue in order to get it soft for drilling. Make sure the pins, whether brass or steel fit the holes. You might need to sand them down a little or widen the holes. After holes are drilled in tang, put handle material on one side and clamp. Drill the hole through the handle material using the holes in the tang as placement guides. Do the same to the opposite side. Add adhesive to the tang. Then place the handle material on one side, run the pins through the tang and place handle material on the other side running the pins through it also. Clamp and let set up. After it has set up, you will be able to shape the handle.

Is the tang, a hidden tang or a full tang? That way we know which type of handle you are looking to put on.

I use 3 different fuels as of now. Coal; Coke; and propane. Might be using charcoal also.

Should have been able to pick more than one. My main shop uses coal, my home shop uses propane and coke.

That is neat. Never thought of needing anything like that, but might be just fun to play around with.

hello JW, great to have you here. When you get a chance go to the usercp at the top of the page and put in a location. Sometimes it helps in answering question if we know the area your in. Where about in Arkansas are ya. I lived in Blytheville (northeast corner under MO. boot heal) for 3 1/2 years. I was in the Air Force there.

Most harbor freight tools are cheap chinese junk. I'e had some things that broke quickly and have had some things that have done OK. At the time of buying this equipment it was all I could afford and at the same cheap enough that if I get a few years out of it, it will have paid for it self. Also if it breaks, it is cheap enough to replace.

I carry stuff in boxes, crates, tool box all stuffed into a 6 x 12 ft cargo trailer. Really need to downsize.

I weld it on the anvil face and just continually turn it as I hammer.

First you need to measure what size belt you will need. Take a string and wrap it around the flywheel to your blower and then back. If you have an adjustable flywheel to set the tension, make sure you put the flywheel where you want it. As for belts, they can be leather or the material used for machinery drive belts that ran off of tractors. You might get lucky and it could be a standard waist belt size. Punch some holes into the ends and sew together or get a belt lacer. With a belt lacer it will put a metal lacing on both ends and is then put together and locked into place with a metal pin or wire.

If the forge is at least 1/4'' or more and you are not using it dayin and dayout 8hrs + each day, don't worry about lining it. just don't throw alot of water into it if you water down your coal. Put holes in the side of the can for sprinkling the water on to the coals. I have 3 different portable forges. 2 are cast and the other one has a steel bottom that I put in. The one that now has the steel plate was lined because it had a 14 gauge (1/16'') metal bottom in it. I will run it for 3 days at a re-enactment for about 10 hrs each day with no problem.

Here are some knives I finished this weekend and today. Pic#1: This is the knife made from the ditchwitch tooth. It has a sambar stag handle with hand made brass guard and butt cap. The blade is 5 1/2" and the handle is 4 1/4" Pic#2: This knife was made from a lawn mower blade (5160). Handle is buffalo horn. The blade is 5" and the handle is 4 1/2" long. Pic#3: This is a knife made from 1095 with oak handle. It has a hand made guard and screwed on butt cap. Blade is 6" and handle is about 5". Pic#4: This one was a better attempt at a rail road knife. The handle was flattened out to be able to put on wooden scales. The handle is purple heart and about 4" long. the blade is 7 3/8". Question is, What do I put on the buffalo horn and the purple heart to put a finish on it? Also does the stag handle need any kind of protectant on it?

Ok, finally finished the ditchwitch knife. It turned out fairly nice for being the second knife fully completed. The blade is 5 1/2" and the handle is 4 1/4" with sambar stag handle. Handmade brass guard and buttplate that was piened on. Is there anything I should put on the handle?

That's a really nice knife. I have one made from a motorcycle chain.

These are the rail road spike coat and hat hooks. As far as the steak turners, they are simply the texas steak fork using the RR spike for a handle. Leave yourself enough room for a handle and draw out the rest to about 1/4" - 3/8" square or round. Form hook on end and bend it 90 degrees. To do the coat hooks, Heat up the RR spikes and come down about half way and start to taper. You can pretty much taper as long as you want just remember this is for clothing so we don't want a tapered pig tail at the end. Instead flatten end and then do a scroll end or whale tail. This way it won't tear clothing. Come down from top about 2". You'll a piece of 1"round to act as a one sided fuller. With the spike yellow heat, place the 1" round across it and hammer it until fairly flat. If you wish, you can take a ball pein hammer to the edges to widen. Bend the top part out above the flattened area. Drill 2 holes and put on a finish.

The original post for insurance at demos and events was mine. The underwriters for Hartford that ABANA promotes would not insure me because I allowed people in my work area. These people happened to be guild members as well as quality blacksmith. they just were not my employees. Unfortunately that didn't matter. They saw them in my webpage. Dave (unicornForge) and I were talking about this at my shop in Union MIlls. If other smiths are insured with Hartford and are demonstrating at someone's hammer-in. Anyone helping them with the forge and are not their employee could void the insurance. This is why he wondering how some of the insurances are worded. I'm still in need of insurance.

That a great looking knife. Very cool looking sheath.

I tend to use an apron more when forge welding than any other time unless I'm doing a historical presentation.

I'm probably not going to generate that much. It was just one of the things I noticed in some info about making sure the adhesives will take the heat when you are grinding the handles so the don't break down and loosen. It may not even be an issue, I'm new to making knives. I took a class at our guild last march and they showed how to do a hidden that goes all the way through and using a brass end screwed on to tighten. They didn't go into a lot detail on the variety of handle installation.

the guild I belong to gives out scholarships to their members I believe after so long as a member. There is a requirement though, the receiver has to write a newsletter article about what they learned, and do a demonstration on what they learned.

Thanks for all the info. I will probably use the JB weld on this one with the hidden tang and get other Epoxy. Will the west systems epoxy take the heat of grinding?

I went through the search and either I didn't use the right key words or something. Anyway, I'm about ready to add the handle to some knives but need to find adhesives for them. Some are hidden tang and some will be scales, so I need to know kinds of adhesives for both. They need to take the heat of grinding and be capable of being bought from a store and not mail order.

I have just started making knives, but it seems easier and quicker to forge the knife into shape and then use the grinder to finish and clean up. I am a blacksmith first and tend to enjoy the forging process. I have a pile of blades I'm finishing now.

MSC has chimney pipe available in different sizes.

One question would be, How thick are the walls and floor of your forge. If the are 1/4 thick or thicker and you are not a professional full time smith that will be operating the forge 8-10 hrs a day everyday, you really don't need to line the forge with anything. I have 2 forges that are at the least 1/4'' and have no lining material. One is used about everyweekend for re-enactments. I just picked up a used forge and fixed it up for use on the following weekend. When bought, this forge had a refractory material in it. I believe it was cement. The sides are 14 - 12 guage and after breaking the material off the bottom I found it to be about 14 guage (heavy 1/16") metal. That was why they lined it. I have since replaced the bottom with 1/4" plate and do not need lining.