craig

PS... As far as store bought goes...if you're looking at a blackmithing tool supply store then you're bound to find plenty. ;-)

You could use basically any scrap depending on the size you want, although coil spring, torsion bars, equipment shafts, sucker rod, and car axles would probably work fine and can be found in a variety if lengths and thicknesses.

That's awesome !! And it especially goes well with the picture.

Nice work !! And design as well...I always think it's gotta be tough designing something to look original but yet not too unordinary.

What are you making out of this stock ?

I searched before asking but didn't find what I was looking for. Trying to get a basic sense of what copper coated iron grounding rod is comprised of. It is half of what the round stock here goes for. Just curious as to your thoughts on what it's application could be. High carbon iron or just crap? I would love to use it on a few things I have in mind.

Your insight is appreciated.

Crazy...maybe a little over the top...but pretty cool...but I would rather have one of these I think
The Stainless Steel Special by Drivin' Ivan

Fantastic work but somehow Hofi just cannot get the "character" I get with my tongs

Hey, 2 out of 3 aint bad...I got an awful lot of stuff I wouldn't post pictures of.
As for the anvil, the last time I had the fire going I was straightening out one of the rear springs off my Taurus in the vise with the intention of making another pair of tongs and maybe some punches...but I haven't gotten much chance to try out the anvil yet...One thing I'm looking forward to is making some various hardy tools since it's got a 3/4" hardy hold as opposed to the 1" which, for me will make a big difference if I want to forge them out of solid bar...also it has a pritchel hole, something I never had before and wished I did...and a horn that is actually round and pointed instead of the flat topped stubby thing sticking out of the front of my ASO.
So, the short answer is, I'm happy with it so far !! :)

Nice Mark !! It's very creative, and I'm sure it will be appreciated...I don't think it's too disproportionate, and at least you know it's not going to blow over and burn the guys house down ...You say this is your 3rd piece...What was the 2nd ??

You don't need too much to start out with...You can do a lot with an improvised forge, anvil, and hammer.

That's nice !! I've never done any pattern welding (or much welding at all for that matter) But I imagine it's difficult enough getting a decent pattern let alone having nice straight edges welded along the length for the cutting edge...Did you take any pics of the entire piece ?

I dont really have any experience with metallurgy or blacksmithing ...(but I do have the equipment and the steel to cut out the shapes of blades)...but I had a question that I wish I could find out the answer to;

What if you started out with a small fairly flat bar of... lets say 52100 Alloy Steel, coated with liquid 6150, air cooled it, coated it again with liquid 5160, again air-cooled it... and so on and so forth using different combinations of steels that are best suited for eachother until its satisfactory enough (maybe even 4150 or adding some type of ceramic powder to the mix ). Then later Folding out the steel a few times, forging the blade, annealing and heat-treating the blade then laminating it in silicide (or vise versa?)...maybe even cold rolling it somewhere in that big mess up there...could you somehow significantly improve the quality of the blade as opposed to just using traditional methods?

I've never heard or read about anyone trying it this way before yet so many processes include "Dipping" metal into something that change the quality and characteristics of the steel.

Do you have any idea what this piece was originally from ?
Are those rust spots on it ?
It is unlikely to be stainless unless it was from some type of industrial food manufacturing equipment...

Man...I knew I shouldn't have written that huge post ;-)
Oh well, some thoughts to ponder for next time I suppose...
At least we all know what it is now !!

BP 0020 covers spark testing. Your blade material does NOT look like a high carbon steel to me.

Hi Mark, that is one nice looking candlestick holder !!
I don't know why, but I especially like the tapered curl at the top...maybe because it's so much work to do on a 1" bar.
Did you use your power hammer for that ?
But in any case, it looks like it turned out great !!
The only suggestion I can give is to make one for the guy you SOLD your other leg vise to ;)
Just kidding, can't wait to see more !!

Thanks for all the suggestions !!
I didn't ask for drops...From what I could see, the place looked more like just an installation type of spring shop...they just had pallets and pallets of springs.
What I got was just a plain leaf, it was already curved (but the ends were straight) and heat treated...I don't know if we have a place in town that actually makes and heat treats springs themselves.
Mainly I was just looking to find a "known" steel (I made sure to ask) so I knew what I was working with if I was going to spend a large amount of time and fuel for some larger blades.
I haven't used any of it yet, but I'll be sure to post when I do.
Thanks again !!

So I finally went out and bought a piece of brand new 5160 today from a local spring shop...I was surprised at the price...it was $30 for 4 feet of 1/4"x2" 5160
I thought it wasn't bad considering a local wrecker lists used leaf springs at $20 on their website.
Normally I just mess around with found materials...but I wanted to try a few larger blades and don't have much laying around that would be suitable.
I just wanted to ask if you think that is a reasonable price if I decide to buy more someday ?
Thanks !!

That's a nice looking combination of materials...especially the blade, bolsters, and the handle ;)

That looks awesome !!

Trying to replicate, I think you DID replicate it!

Nice knife too, you didn't happen to watch Tim Lively's video beforehand did you?

Just an update...this blade did not make it...:(

Nice knife. I just cut the two blades off of one of those and I plan to try my hand at making one of them into a tomahawk. that is if I can concentrate enough to weld the stuff. Do you have any ideas for what to do with the center piece? I'd rather not just throw it away if I have the option to use it.

There's all kinds of stuff to be found...although I'm certain I won't be scrounging any osage orange fence posts around here ....
I oil quenched this morning, but it didn't harden as well as I liked, so I water quenched but forgot to normalize again after the oil and it warped big time...so I'm going to have to try again, hopefully it survives...I've water quenched samples of this steel but I had the test pieces nicely sanded smooth, not "as forged" like this one...so we'll see what happens.