Old South Creations

very cool...neat story

another article about his life and death... Renowned SC blacksmith dies at 97 - Breaking News - The State

Absolutely beautiful!

nice job! hope my wife doesn't see it :)

Nice job...really like the dragonfly!

Great job! I love making yard & junk art...I'm inspired :)

Hey, those are awesome! Thanks for sharing

Drako11, I don't agree with everything you said but I'm sure you probably wouldn't agree with everything I say It's a learning experience in more ways than one! I agree with Mike Ameling- "EVERYTHING needs to be considered HOT - until you verify otherwise!" I forget this more than anything else. Especially when it comes to heat transferred to tongs, vise, jigs you may be bending metal around, etc...they may not glow but they can get VERY hot! Black heat is still ptretty darn hot! Drako11, I really like your #16- "Failure is the first step to success, that club you try to tell people is a knife will get better and better every time." As long as you learn from your mistakes, there's really no such thing as failure...keep it up! :)

Nice...I really like the design

Nice job...I love yard art! I working on some pieces myself right now.

I was going to say the same thing. Looks good as is but will look a little more "realistic" if you bend the tips this way, that way, any way...whatever you think a rose petal looks like. I used a pair of needlenose pliers that were ground down smooth to bend mine. Also texturing the petals before you bend them will add more realism. I got my inspiration and knowledge from this youtube video. It shows a blacksmith making a copper rose and I just transferred that to steel. There are many other ways to do it. YouTube - Museum of America: Blacksmith pt 2 Making a Copper Rose I think it looks great...I only added my 2 cents worth because you asked :)

Wow, that's nice! The "grain" looks great.

Great job. I never had to opportunity to do anything like that in school. They're lucky to have such a talented teacher.

Very nice...I like that a lot. You make it look so easy!

Nice work...I'm sure your mom loved it!

congrats! Nice to see another car wheel forge...that's what I have too! I like your portable vise stand

Tempering, etc isn't necessary. You can use it just fine as is. Do a search on here for RR anvils and you can find a fair amount of info. A hardy hole, etc isn't mandatory either. If you have a vise it can hold any cut off's, etc that you need to use until you can get a "real anvil". Many people get started on RR anvils. You'll find that when you actually get started smithing, a lot of the answers to your questions will make more sense. It takes time and patience and practice.

VERY cool!!!

A lot of the small rivet forges had the blowers attached directly to the forge. I have a similar blower and I made a stand by making a "frame" for the air hole part of the blower to sit down in (I pointed it down so gravity will help hold it). I made the frame so it is as tight a fit as possible. The stand is simply made out of angle iron. If it were me I would slap some duct tape on there and get her goin'! my wife says that's my answer to everything! :)

hey, I got some of those $240 "leaves" too! :)

They're not completely useless for blades...they're great for letter openers, oyster shuckers, etc. If you're looking for something that will hold a sharp edge, however, RR spikes just won't do it. If you just want to make something that looks good I've seen some beautiful knives made from spikes but if you want something that will hold an edge they're just not the right material. As far as blowers go, I found an inexpensive electric blower on eBay for my forge (around $45 I think). My first blower was a $1 hair dryer I bought at a thrift store. My first anvil a piece of RR rail (no horn) and I still use my first forge which I made out of an old car wheel. It doesn't have to cost a fortune to get started in blacksmithing. I've seen anvils made form RR rail, fork lift forks, large chunks of steel, etc . Forges made from plow discs, lawn mower frames, old sinks, etc. Blowers made from hair dryers, vacuum cleaners, etc. There are lots of ways to "get started". Get started! and once you do you you will have a thousand more questions but you will also start to not only answer your own questions but to understand the answers from others a lot better. Just like everything "worth it", it takes time to be good and more importantly, it takes practice to be good.

It was on the blacksmithing/general discussion forum. This link will take you there- http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/rose-mothers-day-11763/ I'm going to try this technique also!

hey Frosty...I wasn't trying to contradict your post. I was actually slow typing and by the time I finished you had beat me to it! I had read that the HC spikes are a very low "high" but that is being VERY generous. Your description is far more accurate...a high "mild"...but still MILD steel. A lot of confusion out there about the HC spikes...I didn't mean to add to it :)

I like you enthusiasm but I want to a repeat what's already been said...you'll be better off to learn some basic forging before you jump into making a swords. If you can find someone offering classes in your area that's probably the best way to get started (in my opinion). I was lucky enough to take couple of classes to get me going and I don't know what I would have done otherwise...probably just gotten frustrated and given up. Just like everything else worth doing, it takes time and it takes practice to be good. Reading is great and I think important but there's nothing like getting your hands dirty! By the way, that RR anvil will serve you well until you can get something different. A lot of smiths have started off that way.