Kal

If you are going to do the ABANA program, you must follow the prints for all 3 levels.  Each item is to be built to the exact size & shape of the printout, not what is on a video. Level I is not too hard but levels II & III are another matter entirely.  The scrolling must be perfect with no kinks or flat spots.  The frames must be square & to size... You get the idea. 

The attached picture of a successful Level III grill is NOT my work, I'm nowhere near as skilled as the smith who built it.

Thank you for posting the picture. I like your loop, nice and round.  How close did you have to get to the lengths? 

Can you post a pic of your finished hook? I'd like to see a real world completed level I hook. 

My problem has been with all the opportunities to screw up, (overall length, length of hook, curve , ring size) I always find one or more item that just doesn't measure up.

Now that y'all have been at it awhile, has any one successfully finished the gate latch?  From what I've seen it has to be prefect to the ABANA drawing, not Mark Aspery's video.  Print the drawing (Found on ABANA's web site under education) as full size.  I've made 10+ and still don't have it right.

The bi-annual SBA conference in Madison GA has been canceled.  The next one will be in May of 2023.  See their web site for details:

Southern Blacksmith Association Conference – Madison, Georgia- May 18-20, 2023 – Gathering to Learn (sbaconference.org)

Coke and charcoal are 2 different things.  Coke is cooked coal, meaning after you have burned off all the gases from the coal you end up with coke,  Coke is what you are burning in a coal forge after the 'green smoke' quits.  Charcoal on the other hand is cooked wood.  You can make charcoal from scarp hardwood by burning off the gases in an enclosed container or gather it up from a fireplace or campfire.  I'm pretty sure there are instructions online.  Both coke and charcoal give off very little smoke.  Coke will last longer but is harder to light.  If you leave the blower on between heats you will go through a lot of charcoal.

Don't get so comfortable with a tool or process that you're tempted to take short cuts.  

Very nice hammer.  I like the way the head is secured in its tube.  For future reference too prevent the lead from coming loose weld some ears into the inside of the head or run a a rod from one side to the other to give the lead something to form around.

From what I've read about HT 4140 it depends on the thickness of the piece as to weather to use water or oil for the quench.  If the piece is 2" or more use oil, anything less use water. 

I like the idea of having the handle stand out from the mounting plate.  I might use it for a garage or shop door.

Here's a variation on the leaf.  I can't take credit for it though, it was part of Alan Kress's demo at the AACB Christmas meeting.  Instead of drawing the metal out to both sides only push it to one side to make the body. 

After reading through the whole thread, I didn't notice if any one suggested that a few more windows on the other side of the coop may help.  You had mentioned that there was not much air moment inside.  Cross venting may help move the bad stuff out even when you're not using it.

I've got a set of tongs that I made from NASCAR axle steel.  They don't call it high tuff for nothing.  The tongs are nice and light with a fair amount of spring to them.  I did crack one of the bosses while punching the hole, I let it get too cold.  After grinding the crack and welding it the repair is working just fine. Like said earlier, high alloy steels need to be hot to forge.

I ran both sides of a 220 from the house to the shop using direct bury cable, the same stuff used by the electric company uses to feed your house.  They were each fed from 60 amp breakers.  Once at the shop they were run into its own box with 6 breaker slots. The 220 circuit uses a pair of 30 amp breakers and #10 wire.  Each of the other circuits uses 20 amp breakers and 12 gauge wire.  The only thing the inspector wanted was ground fault out outlets as the very first one in the circuit.

I know that in 5 days at John C Campbell Folk School I can go through somewhere between 75 & 100 pounds.  Of course those are long days.

Steve, you might want to check out Alex Bealer Blacksmith guild at http://www.alexbealer.org/   We meet the third Saturday of each month.  Charcoal can be made in a steel barrel, a 55 gal one works best.  If I remember correctly:

1. place a screen of heavy rod about 6 inches or so from the bottom.
2. cut a hole in the side below the screen
3. place a draft pipe from the screen to the top of the barrel. I'm pretty sure it should have some holes in it.
4. align the pipe with a hole in the lid.
5. fill the barrel with hard wood scraps
6. Light a fire under the screen
7. You can adjust the draft by blocking off the hole in the lid
8. The charcoal is ready once the smoke becomes clear, not smokey

The whole idea of charcoal is to burn off most of the impurities and leave only the carbon from the wood. Of course if I have got any of this wrong, feel free to add to or correct these lines.

A neighbor of mine wants a RR spike knife for his son.  I know that the base steel of spikes makes poor knives but is it possible to run a layer of weld along the edge before finishing the forging to give it a layer of harden able steel? 

I just re-watched the video on the Viking sword,  Rik Furrer  does temper it just before the polishing portion.  They don't cover it very well but it is mentioned.

The Forged in Fire show is pretty lame.  Nothing is said about materials and very little about processes that we all know the Smiths had to use.  It reminds me of just another 'reality' show. 

Bolt grade are by physical specification not by chemistry.  Basically a grade 8 bolt can be made from any alloy as long as it meets the physical specs.  The following company site explains a little but because it does not list the alloys only the carbon content it's hard to say what kind of steel is used.

http://www.portlandbolt.com/technical/specifications/sae-j429/  

Maybe it's because whoever posted the video is more caught up in himself than he is about trying to pass along information.  What do I use to pound nails a hammer or a die?

If you want to use tape in the fittings, you can get gas tape.  It's yellow and about twice as thick as the white stuff.

You could make them into key chains.

I I had an old Vaughen linemans hammer head that had sat in a celar for no telling how long.  It was pretty much covered with dust. After soaking it in a jar of muriatic acid for an hour or so it came out clean as the day it was made.  As said earlier, good ventilation is a must.  I set mine outside by itself while I did something else.  Besides the fumes in your lungs are a bad thing, the fumes will rust most anything made of iron.

My brother & I built the shop.  It's 16x16 with a 4 foot front porch.  Lots of electric including 220 but no water.  Next time I'll run a water line along with the power.