Woodeye

Nice - times gone by. Obviously pre-OSHA and the vilification of smoking - light your pipe with a red hot axe head blank, manly indeed.

Very cool stuff. I need to find a way to break out of what I'd call the "traditional" blacksmith pieces. Hooks and leafs and fire pokers and the like. Even if I could make those with cleaner more sculpted lines I'd feel better.

I have a store bought suede Bib type - got if from Centaur Forge and it has worked great but is heavy. I do have three tanned deer hides in the basement that I keep think about as raw material for a custom made (by me) apron but whenever I have time for Blacksmithing activities I just go out and smith and the leather sits - the day will come though for that project, the leather has a long shelf life so I'm not to worried, maybe when I destroy my current apron I'll be motivated to do some leather work - maybe

Good lookin' Dog too - French Brittany?

Thanks - More knife than I thought it was though. Its so hard really judge size in a photo, at least for me. I take it you epoxied the tang, I can't see any pins.

Nice job - what kind of tang did you use and what are the blade dimensions? It looks to be sized to be a great all around hunter. I really like how the wood, copper and damascus colors go together.

I have a couple favorite hammers that I like to rotate during a session so my hammer hand muscles get a bit of variation. For me the worst thing to do is hammer with a glove on - I forget to take it off sometimes after doing something else that needed two gloved hands and have found that the unconscious extra grip strength that is needed to overcome the slip of the glove fatigues my hand and forearm muscles like right now

Well done indeed - now the real fun begins!

I'm likin the lastest hold down tools I've seen here recently - might be nice to string together if that hasn't happened in the past already. These are motivating me to come up with something more creative that my old bicycle chain with a window sash wieght hanging from it. Might help me stop burning my fingers when I grab the chain to lift it up on the second heat :)

I'm a big fan of 5160 coil spring material as well. I get all kinds of unknown "hardenable" steel from my local scrap yard but a couple good sized coil springs go a long way and once I have the hardening/tempering figured out it goes much easier as I make tools - and the price is so right. I know there are much better steels but not that I can buy on any given Saturday morning in my neck of the woods.

Nice Job - Add some tool holders and maybe a hammer holder or two and some kind of third hand set-up and you'll me a smithin' fool

Cool - I've had one of these on my "gotta have" list for a long time but can never seem to get the bucks together long enough to pull it off - have fun with that baby

Very Nice - I've made a rose here and there and leafs galour but working it all together into a piece like is something I have yet to tackle - well done! I am sure your aunt will cherish this for a long time to come

Nathan's hammers are very nice indeed - you should enjoying it for a long time. Usually I give my new hammers a couple of workouts before I do anything to them. When I do decide to dress them a bit of modify the handles I tend to do it very carefully and a little bit a a time until its "just so"

Woodeye

Well done young Man - I am at work today (spending a little lunchtime as close to smithin' as I am going to get today)

My first thought as I started to read your post was "How did he split that?" and right then you answered my very question - So you got some splitting practice in did you?

I am sure your Mother will LOVE it

Need to run - work beckens

Woodeye

I started one of these based on the description in the Tenon string - good to see some photos here and better to see that what I am working on matches the concept - now if the Wisconsin temp can get more than 5 degrees above zero I'll finish it off.

Thanks to all for the great information

mbrothers - Well Done - you did way better than I did today in my unheated Waterford, Wisconsin forge. Way cold! I was having trouble getting 3/8 Rd. stock to orange let alone 1 in Hex to yellow.

My propane heater got the shed up to about 38 degrees but that was all she would do.

Keep up the good work

One of the best protective coats I have used on my knifes is Briwax. A couple of years ago there was a comparative article in Blade Magazine and Briwax far out performed the other materials - including renaissance wax, various oils and I don't remember what all else but the difference was significant. Give it a try!

I am with petersonj20 - but I can no longer say mine mix is equal parts -but that is about where I started. I managed to score a cast iron kettle at a Goodwill store for $6.00 so I put the mix in that and kepp it near the fire whilst forging to melt it up good in my unheated Wisconsin forge and just add a bit of one of the three ingredents from time to time and its working great. For food contact I simply go with Crisco.

I'm a Marvel Mystery Oil user for my blowers and general lubrication needs around the forge and have had no issues in my unheated Wisconsin man cave.

I will be the off one out - I angle my fire tool handles at 45 degrees from the flat of the working end. This has always felt the most comfortable for using as the wrist seems to be in a natural neutral position.

Well done Archiphile - I have been reading those vary same ABANA instructions this week regrettably after I pretty much messed up a first attempt. I hope to find time this weekend though I have a few other items folks have asked be to make up for X-mas.

Tong making skill development is something I have set down as a goal for the upcoming year. I have plenty of tongs collected over the years so have never put much into it. I have just decided it is a skill I should have as I continue to pursue my smithing interests.

Great Fun it all is!

Very nice memorial cross - rugged elegance. I too am sorry for your loss - the emotions that I am sure flowed heavy while the cross was being created will make it a special addition to the garden.

Right - good idea not to use the torch. Does it get cold enough in Asheville to really have a problem with LP? My house is heated with LP here in Wisconsin as are many others and we all have these huge tanks outside with no problem. I have never really had any problems with the smaller tanks in my forge for that matter either. Perhaps you don't really need to worry about it.

Chris your are correct - Grainger is the supplier with the ABANA discount.