Dan C

You could build your own. There's no weld kits as well as plenty of free plans that include welding online. I built mine for ~$300 using an 8" contact wheel and a motor from a treadmill. These are the plans I used. http://www.shankcustomknives.com/how-to-make-a-belt-grinder.html

These threads may be useful to you. '?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>> '?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>> There's a ton of information in this forum, though it may take awhile to learn how to find what you're looking for. You can use Google. Type in the phrase or words you want to search for, then add this at the end: site:iforgeiron.com. Welcome.

I haven't done blind tacks but as a teenager my first experience arc welding I got a very bad sunburn on my arm as I didn't know better. At age 40 I discovered a spot of melanoma in that same area. Maybe just a coincidence but I always cover up when welding.

Looks good, I'm sure your dad will love it! Horseshoes would be another good material for you to work with for a small knife or hoofpick.

I've enjoyed seeing the updates on FB. The swords are turning out very nice! I like how everyone has gotten to forge different styles. Golden opportunity for someone wanting to forge their own sword.

Thank you both for clarifying, I wasn't aware that forging itself interrupted the grain growth. I typically normalize 1-2 times as Steve suggested above.

Hi Steve, I'm confused "hammering will fracture most of them into smaller grains". Isn't that the same as edge packing which is considered obsolete? Granted your next sentence says what is really effective in reducing grain size is the normalizing multiple times.

Beaumont Metalworks, except for the 8" contact wheel which came from USA Knife Makers. I mostly followed this design, http://www.shankcustomknives.com/how-to-make-a-belt-grinder.html If you're serious about making a straight razor, I'd highly recommend joining this forum. This thread should be helpful to you. http://straightrazorplace.com/forge/89678-hollow-grinding-help.html

I know people who have done a hollow grind by hand though they've said if they were planning to do another they'd get a belt grinder. You could build one. Here is my 2x72 which uses a treadmill motor and has variable speed by using the treadmill's controller. I've got about $250 invested in it. The big expense was the wheels.

I got a 200 lb PW for $300 because a friend who lived in Pittsburgh offered to bring one down on a moving truck if I could locate one. By letting friends, relatives and your local ABANA group know what you're looking for with patience you'll be successful.

That and if the sandal is supposed to give you an idea of the anvil's size, you have no idea what size shoe it is. Children's shoe or Shaquille O'Neal?

I like it! Now can you add a knife and a corkscrew?

You could burn a mixture of charcoal with the coke/coal. That keeps it from dying out when the air is turned off. Search online for how to make homemade charcoal.

Drilling the pilot holes is good to do regardless as it helps to get the eye straight. Looks good!

It passed the test yesterday in that I was able to put a hollow grind on this straight razor. It removed metal well at 3, the treadmill's speed goes up to 10. I need to go back and clean up the rough grind though before HT'ing. I stopped yesterday though so I could watch again this video on making a razor.

Very nice build! Where did you get your motor and VSC?

Don't need store bought equipment. I have a similar setup, ran into same issue and addressed it as I said above. Who's to say store bought gear won't have issues? I'd rather make my own when I can and be more familiar with it and not afraid to modify it as I learn n see fit.

Stir it more often and use the dump gate. Since you're not using charcoal you would probably be better with a grate made of a few bars of 1/4" sq spaced a 1/4" apart. You'll still need to stir the pot to clear clinkers and ashes. I turn the air off when doing this. I ran into the same thing with my forge, especially when forge welding after it'd been going for 3-4 hrs

I figured it out when watching the video below. I noticed at 2:10 he changes from the large lower wheel or pulley step to the small lower and vice versa on the upper pulley thus slowing down the speed. That was exactly how mine was running so I cut a groove in the treadmill motor's flywheel and made some changes above so it could run this way Once I did this it began hogging metal. Runs smoothly and relatively quiet, tracks well. I really need to add wheels to make it mobile, it's gotten heavy to drag around.

I should mention I'm using an 8" contact wheel and a 4" drive wheel with a 3" pulley.

Loneforge what sort of treadmill motor are you running your 2x72 with and what size pulley do you have on the motor? I did a test run on my 2x72 build yesterday. The tracking works well but I found it easily bogs down with the treadmill motor that I have shown in this picture. It didn't seem to matter whether it was running at half or full speed using a 120 grit belt. I'm wondering if putting a pulley on the motor would help as I just filed down the pulley that was on there for the treadmill which is very small, or if I should start looking for an alternate source for motors.

For the ones where I don't forge weld in better steel, I quench in ice water and then bake in the oven at 350 for one hour only to relieve forging stress. I haven't had one crack yet.

I filled the tubing for the stand with sand and oil to add weight before sealing it. Hopefully that will help. I did the same thing when building my anvil stand. I did redo the arm today for the contact wheel using a solid piece of cold rolled square.

Good so far!

Ok, I have no experience with one like that. I have thought about making one for when I don't have time to fire my charcoal/coal forge. What type of forge are you building?