divermike

If I come visit you, it will be to learn, nice stuff, keep it up!!

I also peen mine, but finish with WD-40 which is essentially fish oils. Kinda stinks when burned, but comes out pretty nice, much like beeswax. It is just a small squirt for a small piece.

if you go the way I did, before too long you will have picked up so much stuff, that you will run out of space. I am always looking for more, but the old furrow rakes and farming stuff is abundant around here. Old fencing, leaf springs, rail road spikes, just about any old steel is something waiting to be transformed into other stuff. Occasionally I go to auctions and by scrap piles because it is wayyyy cheap, good luck, my interest in this endevour has transformed my life into something so much better than it was before.

I started out calling mine "Forge in the Forest" because when I lived in California, we used to go to this restaurant for bread pudding in Carmel Ca. When I told my buddy Bob Trout about it, he made me aware of the Francis Whittaker connection there, and even though It is a full continent away, I felt it might be a bit presumptuous to keep that name. We are in the beautiful finger lakes area of western New York, and my forge is indeed set in the forest, so what do you guys think, should I leave it, or use it??

I'll be driving down with John Rausch and Dick Geier, 2 guys from New York, looking forward to hanging out with the Alabama forge group again this year. Oh yeah, and seeing Lorelei again yeeehawww!!

last year at quad state, some guys painted Clay's demo hammer pink, and they did a good job!! I painted mine colonial red, and it also looks great, which led me to name it big red! Congrats, and enjoy!!1 I love mine!

Mine is just under 7 feet, I installed it myself with my John Deere tractor, forget the fly press, get the hammer, it's grrrrrrrreat!

I have had no problems at all with mine, but I followed Clay's advice, make sure to check everything every time before operation, and don't treat it like a #250 lb hammer, gentle and slow, it gets the job done. We had a blast building them, and I'm having a blast learning how to use it.

If it is an atmospheric like mine, something as simple as a spider web in the throat or orifice can lead to this issue. I was recently very pleased when I disassembled mine and cleaned it completely. It had slowly diminished in it's capacity, until it was clear something was wrong. After cleaning, wow, it is too hot to handle.

Not long ago, I had a railroad spike knife yanked from my hand swung around the buffing wheel, and thrown back into my left shoulder. I always stand just slightly off to the side, and this time it really paid off. Fortunately the blunt handle came first, and thus I was spared a trip to Dr. Riggs, but man what a bruise, and a wakeup. Now I understand what those cute little knive vices are for! I was always told the wire wheel is the most dangerous tool in the shop, but now, I believe it has a rival in my mind, same danger, different medium. As I am fairly new, I would like to alert any other new knife makers, clamp when buffing, sheesh, I almost wet myself, and of course, the day ended early.

I once applied wd-40 which is a fish oil base, the product came out nice, it was a bit uneven though, probably the handler, not the product.

where can I find Japanese drier?

I have both and hardly use them, but I'm still trying to figure out which end of the hammer to grab first.

Classic rock and easy listening, need a better sound system though, all the banging and blower noise kinda wipes the cheap speakers out.

I trained my Rott to stay in the corner, and kicked him out when welding was done, he always looked hurt, but better that than what I'm hearing about, dog cataracts? what's next? pony piles?

My Peter Wright anvil is a 300lb+ and sits on a stand filled with concrete that weighs another 300lbs. It has a small chip in the front corner above the table, and has a dead thud when struck. But the rebound gives back a whole bunch, and I don't mind the lack of ringing in my ears that my Budden has. I believe my anvil would say " Go ahead and try to pick me up, I love the sound of squishing disks in the morning" I traded the big one for a 115lb anvil "mousehole" because the guy could not move it around his shop easily enough, and had no offers on it, I think I paid 125 for the mousehole. Best deal I ever made.

elbow infection

2 knives, a handful of coins and lint

Yup got a mustache and goatee, my wife would kill me if I shaved it off, last time I did she stopped kissing me because "it felt weird!!"

while inspecting a deck, I saw this beauty in a 40 yard dumpster, after inquiry, it was decided I could take it with me, spring steel goodies!!

I was part of a group that built 12 last year, in Western NY. Clay was like the energizer bunny, answering questions, wrenching, jigging, you name it. I recommend taking the course and enjoying the friendships. I love my hammer, turns out it was the 300th hammer he built. His experience and attitude made the days of work seem like play. He is a wealth of information, take advantage of it.