rthibeau

methinks he's asking for a flat surface to check his blade making........c channel laid over the anvil face or just on the work bench/table as you are only going to lay the blade on it to check for straight, or a piece of 1 - 2 " flat plate just sitting on the table, or anything that is in fact flat and larger than your blade.....plenty of scrap for that.

knife sharpeners are only a couple inches long. if those sharp edges are above the line of the wood frame, I'd go with the wall paper remover idea.

if anyone can make it to tryin_it's Hammer-In. I can bring a lot of stuff to there.

good fishing in Michigan???? Shirley you jest....

it's only a one day drive from most places in the lower 48...........so a long weekend would be a really nice road trip...plus you get to visit another shop, drink, have fun, get some good Stuff.....just do it.... ^_^ Northwest corner of the Lower Peninsula in Michigan...google or mapquest it.

I'm nearing the end of my blacksmithing days and have a shop full of odds and ends and leftover materials. Odd pieces of good steel, nuts, bolts, stuff, wire, electrical bits and pieces, tools, partially worked projects, things you just can't just throw away but have no immediate use for......basically a lot of good Stuff that's accumulated over the years. It's in Traverse City, MI, so if anyone wants to stop by to look and see if there is anything you want, come on by. The Odds and Ends are free (bring beer), the big stuff costs money, but bring beer and we'll talk. Seriously, I want to get it to someone who can find a use for it. The ultimate objective is to empty the building and sell the property before I pass on.

leave it as it is.....if you need pristine, buy a new one. Any changes to it would be more effort than it'd be worth

John Larson gives good advice. Definitely have the working height of the steel in a press up higher so you can look straight at it. Each tool with get you off on a long chase to get/make tooling, jigs, special thingys, and so on. Money versus time is a major consideration. You can build a perfectly good hydraulic press AND get a fly press for the same money or close as a power hammer. I'm not a fan of treadle hammers meself, but they have their place. Of course, if you can afford it, one of everything is always the way to go. -_-

where in "mid Michigan" ??

need a picture of that gitup before I can figure out what he's saying...

either one is good....depends on price which to choose I reckon

pics and location, please?

good basket twist

it's been my experience that it is faster and easier to grind using 60 grit flap disks to get the exact shape I want than it is to forge the peins without a big power hammer. Everyone else's mileage may vary. The hammers I get from Menards are way soft to begin with and easy to shape before a proper heat treat.

http://www.iforgeiron.com/uploads/gallery/album_24/gallery_344_24_63128.jpg http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/19955-choppers-hammer/ http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/18076-double-diagonal-peen-hammer/ I call what LastRonin is asking about "double diagonal" hammers. Easy to make by grinding the ends of a double faced or engineer's hammer. Reheat treat after done grinding.

oh, man.....bad news to hear.......prayers to OnR to heal quick....let us know if we can help

it will probably get cleaned up and resold for twice that

jeremyk has them wizard heads down pat...hopefully he will jump in here and give you some pointers.... :)

Dress the face of that hammer and the end of the rr rail...see if you get better results...... -_-

so.....how much for a dozen???

needs pics Ric Furrer.... :)

after you do the heavy work with a flap disk on an angle grinder, finish it up with a bench top belt sander.....instead of buying higher grit belts, I use the older worn 60/80 grit belts. Not a "mirror polish" but close enough. The slack part of the belt off the platen gives the best results I've found.