Dan C

Very nice! What are the handles/scales?

Do you have a stand for the anvil? My first projects were done on a piece of RR track horizontally on the ground. Yes it worked but jumped all over the place, very inefficient and my knees hurt the next day. I used rebar for a poker n fire rake. You could draw the spikes out but on your setup it's a lot of work. Its a lot on a traditional anvil. Definitely first tools you need though, as well as tongs.

Those would be tough s hooks. I'd make bottle openers out of them or gardening tools. First thing I forged was this ugly bottle opener out of a spike. Still have it too, very functional and also opens paint cans. When my friends saw it they all wanted one, eventually sold enough and bought my current anvil.

The kid must've deleted his account. His name now shows up as oops. Was only a banned member returning to stir the pot with an alternate log in,

C'mon Frosty, don't you already have these in Alaska for the darker months of the year? My kids have some interest in these games, though they've been spending more & more time in the garage with me wanting to learn how to make things. I'm thinking these candles could be a good father/son/daughter project that we can sell to their various video game friends. Wouldn't be too hard to redesign it to avoid forge welding or riveting the legs. Just wondering now about the cost of the wax & horn...maybe we need to know more about Skyrim to target that market. Another option would be to lookup the local ABANA group in your area & attend a meeting. Someone there might like the idea and help you make the holder you need.

hmm, interesting...someone could knock out a bunch of these and with as many people who pop up on this forum asking to make swords & such I assume there is a market out there. You should put your location in your profile as there's probably a member in your area that might be interested in helping. The skill required to do this is a little above that of a beginner. You'd need to either forge weld or rivet the legs into place. You could setup yourself up to do this, but it's gonna take time to get the tools together and then develop the needed skills. Search the forum for building a forge and anvil alternatives. You want to learn the basics first, The Backyard Blacksmith is a good book for a beginner which projects build the skills you'd need for this. Where do you get the horns? I might want to knock some of these out myself if it's cost effective and they sell.

Welcome to the group! I would suggest doing some research in the forum first, then learning how to apply basic techniques before considering swords or even knives. This would be a good thread to read thru and learn from. http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/34169-using-rebar-for-sword-making/

Congratulations getting over that first step! In addition to tongs you're going to need some tools for working your forge, ie. fire rake at least. This is one of the first things I ever made and still use it all the time.

I meant to ask you what your touchmark was. Now I see it matches your screen icon, very cool! This is off subject, but how'd you make your touchmark? I know what you mean by upsetting taking some time. The spike hawk I made required taking a RR spike down to 3" or so. I need to time it the next time I do one to have a better idea of time spent.

I'd still recommend making some basic first, your forge tools, tongs, s-hooks, etc.

I like that very much! Do you know how long each one is taking right now? One thing a bartender suggested to me on mine was making a hole or some means of attaching a lanyard to it so he wouldn't lose it when working.

Reminded me of this clock which my grandmother had when I was little. I remember watching it for what seemed like hours. I need to replace one if the gears inside as he doesn't hammer on the anvil anymore. At least the forge still glows though

More time for doing the projects I want to do, more knowledge on using the tools I already have, and knowing what tools I should forge which will save me time.

If you can buy or borrow a copy of The Backyard Blacksmith there's a lot of good project ideas, including things you can sell if you so desire. You're going to need tools for working your forge, tongs as mentioned, punches, drifts. As it sounds like you're going to have RR spikes might as well make some bottle openers. They're fun to make and sell well. I started on a RR track anvil mounted vertically and from the sales of bottle openers & gardening tools bought a used 190# Peter Wright that I'm using now

If you want to experiment with rebar make yourself a fire rake or poker for your forge. That was one of the first things I forged and I still find it a useful tool. It's pretty common for someone just getting interested in blacksmithing to desire to make a sword, and as already stated above there's a lot of reasons not to do so. First learn the basics, join a local ABANA group. A very good book for starting out would be The Backyard Blacksmith. There's lots of projects in there that will get you started and won't end up in frustration. After doing those try forging a small paring knife. After making a lot of small knives I have no desire for making a sword. Too much work & skill involved with not much of a chance to get compensated for your time unless you can really turn out quality work. Or disregard the advice on this forum and prove otherwise, but it seems like most who go down this path either give up, quit entirely or become interested in making something that's useful and fulfilling. I only make knives now because people keep asking for them. I'd much rather make gardening tools & beer openers.

This all explains at least why it didn't work for me. I only mixed it with water and didn't grind it up beforehand.

Nicely done, that looks fantastic! Now I'm curious how you got it so even on the edges or sides.

Yes I'd seen many online that said they used it. It just wasn't working for me at least. So i decided to quit messing with as I just wanted to get going. There was another thread out here about another alternative. Search refractory cement n u should find it. My only experience with it was 2-3 days it still wasn't dried and what did dry cracked. As recommended I'd bought the cheapest I could find without any scent or perfume.

I gave up on cat litter and got refractory cement w some crushed firebrick

Very nice, congrats on getting her home! Now I think it's time to take your wife out for dinner or something special.

Sweet thanks for sharing! Where did u have to drive? Couldn't tell from the website where they're located.

More testing needed...

Those new ones look great as well. I'm gonna add some of those to my to do list.

Here are the pictures after i ground away the overhang of the mushroomed edges. 4.5" grinder w 40 grit stone, then an 80 grit flapper disc. I didn't touch the top.

Quality control is crucial to what we do. I used to be pretty good about not beer drinking but each of these openers must be tested multiple times and work just as well when the user has had 1 beer or 10. It's a tough job.