Chad J

Dang Nice Jim, after looking at your accomplishments, i have a hard time posting any pics of mine! And all of the sudden feel in adequate. :D

Heat treat before you put the handle on of course. Put the knife together, drilling holes for pins. Then for stainless I would send out for heat treatment. I don't know or experimented enough with stainless to talk you through it. I don't want to offend or make you feel dumb by saying this, I felt i needed to be stated. And post pics, either of the process or finish product. The old saying: "pictures are worth a thousand words".

This is a Iowa white tail horn that a friend gave me 5 years ago. All i did was drill out the antler to accept the tang then drilled through for some brass brazing rod i had. then used 30 min 2 part epoxy, trying to fill all voids with out making a mess. and i haven't put anything on the antler as a finish. Looking at it now i guess i should put somthing on it.:rolleyes:

Thud....Good.....Rattley....Bad. Got it Thanks Grant

Frosty was the resident expert on this subject, Get well brother you are missed.

They look like a good anvil, i was saving up for one and make a trip up to Jackson. My sweetie has family in Afton anyway. and its been ahwhile since i been there and Jackson's hole. :)

Thanks for that, i was doing some research on it last night and that's when i seen everybody was talking about this Postman. What, a postman is a expert on anvils whatever. :confused: Then started to read about his book anvils in America, I like history anyway and thought maybe i should get it. sounds like a good book any how. But i appreciate the info. :D

When i was tapping the heel with my fingernails, it made a nice ring and as i worked my way to the sweet spot it sounded more of a thud. Thats why i was saying maybe it was delamination, But I'm no expert, But still Happy! I put it on the bathroom scale and it said 127.5 lbs so right close to what it says on it. Thats what it was used for, but i don't know right of hand. Yes Yes, I'm quite happy with it and i'll leave it the way it is. I like the old well used look. Thanks Quite Happy. This usally never happens for me. Pretty sure that will be everybodys answer.:p

So there i was, Yesterday reading through the local classified ads when i came across this anvil for sale. so i started to look at the pictures real close, the anvil was beat up pretty bad. but on the side you could clearly see the HAY BUDDEN on the side. so i called the number it just dumped me into his voice mail. I was thinking, well i'm probably to late anyway. Which was ashame it was only the next town to the south of me which is 10 miles! I went down to the barn and feed cows and puttered around for a sec then came back up to the house. So i looked up the anvil again just to say "man i wish i had a HAY BUDDEN". So i called again and he answered, come to find out i was the first one to call! so i told him i would come right down to check it out. it was a little beat up, well a lot beat up but for 30 dollars i couldn't pass it up. I was talking to him try it get history for the anvil. he was telling me he once was a farrier and the guy who he apprenticed under, had found this and a bigger anvil in somebody's yard while he was cleaning it up. so the took the bigger one and Chris ( the guy who sold me the anvil) took this one. It was defiantly a user and looks like the top is delaminating. I was thinking to about getting the book Anvils in america, to see how old it is. I don't care, i like it whether its a user or decoration. I have a HAY BUDDEN. :D

Seeing this thread sparked a memory from about six months ago a friend who is a crane operator, gave me some 10', 1" dia. of herring bone pattered lay, when his company re cabled his crane.(if i was faster in asking i could have had the whole spool but turns out that one of their yard workers took it home to use as fencing for his horses.) Then this also sparked a memory from about a month ago on another job site a tower crane operator had his lines get snagged on some rebar and kinked some strands. Safety dept. said that it was no longer reliable so they re strung his crane. It sat on the ground in the bone yard for about a week, i pretty much forgot about it then seen it in the metal recycle bin the following week. i started brain storming on how to get it home but got distracted with work and forgot about it until now, of course. :rolleyes:

that is beautiful, way more complicated than what i have achieved!

Saturday i made a small press (12 bottle jack) for a die with my touch mark. today if the rain permits, i'll be a logger.

Sorry to hear.... Best Wishes

dang nice, you got nothing to be ashamed with there! Chad J

that's awesome great job Chad J

if you said that was your first i was going to be very jealous.... that is very nice. Chad J

didn't even notice it before.. Thanks Chad J

thanks irnsrgn for starting this thread and unicorn forge for the info, learned somthing other than blacksmithing ..... cool Chad J

that's beautiful! Is this your First? how about the tusba? are you goning to try to make one? did you etch to bring out the habuchi? or is that from the polishing? I'm slowly working my way up to that, need to make a few more knife blades first...:rolleyes:

i didn't know about those other sites, thanks for the info. It's always better to have more then one source anyway. if you know of any more don't be afraid to post them:) I would like to check them out. again thank you. Chad J

like i said i really like that site. my sweetie turned me on to it during the presidential election when there was mass emails with false information in them. and ever since then when i get an email with questionable material I'll look at snopes first before i send it on to others. Just my 2 cents. Chad J

thanks all i appreciate the info. Double y sorry for taking over your thread. i seen some good info and wanted more! johnptc i have that book. it is very informative even to the depth of explaining the safety factor of steel used for the frame. when i seen Randy's frame and that it was a i beam cut down the middle i thought what cool idea never would of thought of that. Again Sorry for hijacking your thread Double Y! Chad

hey Randy, do you have info on your press such as type of i beam used, top and bottom rail used? i'm in the process of building my own press and kind of stuck on design of the frame and trying to get ideas. Chad ps your videos were awesome, very well done

hey Charlotte, here is a web site for Walter Sorrels a swordsmith, more specifically Japanese style blades. he also has videos for how he makes every part, from the blade to the saya. HOME******* ABOUT WALTER more books that i found of interest: The art of Japanese Sword Polishing, Takaiwa, Yoshihara, Kapp Lethal Elegance, Earle The Japanese Sword, Sato The Samurai Sword, Yumoto and The Craft of the Japanese Sword, Leon and Hiroko Kapp, Yoshindo, Yoshara which was already stated above. These were the few that was recomended for me and i have found them to be very informative. Hope this helps, Chad

oh man, i really like the look of quilted maple.....well any figured wood for that matter! that is very nice!