KYBOY

There is something like 1002 or .02% carbon..Bladesmiths were getting aldo to obtain that same stuff for their san mai..Its not really pure iron, just very low carbon content steel from what Ive read. The carbon content of the iron from the pureiron.com place was about .005% carbon..Big difference.. Im looking for some good pure iron myself and would love to have some in bar stock..We have been using anchor chain and structural iron and am about out..

We have had one of stamp mans for about 5-6 years now..Its stamped hundreds and hundreds of "things" and has held up great..

I always used the step and scarf method but Ive also tacked them with a welder and then forge welded like Bill Epp's did..

I saw a set of Yaters go for about $750 some years ago and I seriously considered buying them to use but I already had three swage blocks..Now they have started to skyrocket..Ive saw them go for $1200, then $1600 then about $2000 and then this set for $2500..Id like to have a set but Im not going to go to war with the tool collectors on ebay for them..I already have one of centaur forges version and it works just as well..I remember when good deals could be had on the bay' now they are far-few and between.. ----------------------------------- I occasionally see beat to death post vices local but they are always prices at $200+..I saw one gentleman that had a 100# fisher, a rivet forge and a 5" Columbian vice posted as a "full blacksmith shop"...Price, $5000

I keep a couple pair of my very first ones around to remind me were I come from but boy are they painful to look at :blink:

Make sure you got a good hold on a 4 pound chunk of 4150 before you put it under the power hammer..When it whizzes by your head it looks like a meteor coming at you..

I always(almost always) jump welded on my reins so they were smooth 3/8" round to start..

I have that episode of woodwrights shop saved on my DVR..All of the blacksmith related episodes actually..Peter Ross is an amazing smith..One of the very best for sure..

Im a trapper myself, have been for years..Most longsprings use something along the lines of 1080- 1095'ish steel..Thickness is pretty much the same but may go up as the size trap goes up..You can find the stock from many places..

Probably a possum killing spear..

The main reason I don't wear gloves is that I wear 3x large size gloves..I have to order them, they are expensive and I just wear them out fast..I slide on a paid of welding gloves(they don't fit but I get them over my hand) when Im welding(electric welding) but that's about it..I was raised on a farm and started welding/metal working when I was about 15 so my hands are just mostly callus now anyway..

My personal bag axe that Ive carried with my muzzleloading gear..About 12" overall and weighs just under 16 ounces with handle..

yes friend Id say your right..If someone can post an axe picture I can probably find a historical picture of one like it in the book "Firearms,traps and tools of the mountain man" Excellent book and shows many,many axe pictures taken from historical records and findings. What the dude was doing was basically taking a 1" bar of steel, punching a slot(and drifting it) for the handle and flaring out one end for the blade.About the most basic way there is to make an axe and he calls it "his design"...really????? I mean its a great way to make an axe but hardly new or undone. I like sharing knowledge and if nothing else ill do it just make people like that mad.. :P

There are still plenty of smiths out there unwilling to share..When it comes to things they sell and make money from then some can get very stingy with their knowledge. I saw one blast a new kid on a popular internet site once over asking "how he made the handle hole"..crawled all over the kid accusing him of trying to "rip him off" just because he wanted to know how to slit and drift a handle hole..It was shameful..

There use to be a lot of industrial smiths around the Louisville area, that's why the association was formed there..Many are retired now and many don't have the time it seems and like Dave said are so thinly spread out over the state it makes it hard.

They are(were anyway) made from simple carbon steel of around 1.25% carbon content.I still use them and they act just like they always did..Ive seen several spec tests done on them..In thin sections, oil quench..The tink fairy will visit you in the water often..Normalize,normalize....normalize..

Its possible, there are talents in life that people just naturally excel at. Ive been around and involved in shooting sports all my life..Ive seen 8-9 year old kids who had just picked a gun up and could do things many shooters with years couldent do. Ive always thought that you can teach almost anyone, anything but to be truly great you just have to have that god given talent to excel at it..Just like sports. Now I don't know the video your talking about and just like monstermetal said vid's are easy to fake..Perhaps the person has a background in the trades, that would help greatly..Ive found that other craftsman, like woodworkers generally take to smithing much easier and faster than folks with no trade skills. Besides, he may make something that "looks" like a katana but will it "be" a katana..thats a different question entirely?????????????? A really great smith knows the basics too I think. Though terms like "great" are very subjective..Great in ones mind might not be great in another..

Ive found that the thicker steel rings better. We use 1/2" mild steel and it rings great..

A belt axe, a trade axe, a adze and a carving axe..

It depends on the person. If you can swing a 5 pounder all day without hurting yourself then have it, if your limit is a 1 1/2 pounder then that's fine too.

We have three of them and use at least one of them every time we forge..It really depends on what you make. They have many more uses than most give them credit for..Stakes and hardy tools that wont fit your anvil will often fit in the block.

Cutting edge with strikers on the spine like striker knives and recently a axe head shaped striker with a sharpened edge..Also a belt buckle striker and some sort of cloak pin/striker..Mostly the bladed type though.

Its as much about a solid heat treat..Normalize them a couple times or a good stress relief cycle before hardening. Full harden and polish the face. You wont have any brittleness issues with good grain structure from normalizing. Most good American files are something along the lines of 1.25%-1.30% carbon content..Dump rake tines Ive seen were about the same surprisingly. I prefer simple carbon steels other than O-1..O-1 produces a very hot orange spark.In fact the bushcraft folk have become a large part of Lisa's business and often request O-1 strikers..Plain ol' 1095, forged,normalized fully hardened will make a striker that will throw showers of sparks.

good ol' cheap 1095 works great..O1 works great..Recycled files work great.

We quench most of our strikers in Parks 50 and leave them dead hard..They keys to stopping brittleness is stress relief. We use several normalizations or a 2 hour stress relief cycle @ °1200..