gerald brostek

Welcome aboard Robert, If you haven't joined Saltfork Craftsmen yet you should consider doing so. Gerald

Thank you all for the complements. Most of these are not for use, just wall hangers. Steevo99 You are welcome to stop by and see my shop and other creations anytime. Call when you are passing through and I can give you an address.

Attached is my latest axe made of 1095, 15-N-20 and pure nickel.( center of pic.) 27 layers total and a 3/4 twist. Handel of Bodark with a bit of turquois inlayed to fill the big worm hole. All hand work. Only power tool used was the buffing wheel. Also pic. of older axes I may have posted before.

Your right. I could have,and saved some money, but I could afford it, and now I have a top of the line machine with 5 different size wheels, 4 additional attachments, and I am using it instead of building it. my dicision to buy was based on the fact that I could afford it and needed it Now.

Nice work. I like the bold pattern that can be seen from a distance. The 1095 and 15N20 give a nice contrast. Here is a double bit I did from 1095 15N20 and a piece of pure nickel. 15 pieces total. Handle of Osage Orange.

I too have a 2X72 Knife makers grinder from Grizley tools. Have had it for 5 years. A great tool for the money.It has one disadvantage, that being it only runs at one speed, and that is too fast for some work. I reciently coughed up a small fortune and bought a Burr-King with all the attachments. This is a top of the line machine suitable for the professional metal smith, $3,600.00 it has variable speeds and is the best and most usefull tool I own.

Around 1942 my father tiled the entire barn floor with them. ( about 40 X 40) used cinders from an abandoned RR line to bed them. He found a way to use everything that could be gotten for free. Back then the RR Repair crews just pitched them to the side and never recycled them. Poor folks have poor ways.

I burn L brand forge coke. They claim it it MET coke. Has no real bad smell. It makes a hot fire and does Ok for welds but, it seems dirty as it makes a lot of clinker. Wish I could find good clean coke. PaulE, do you have a contact for that NY coke?

All, if you live in town and in a neighborhood where the houses are close, there will be "Ordances", against operating a busness in a residential area. If someone complains to the City/Village/Town etc. They will come and shut you down. I would suggest you have an answer ready. Mine is, I am not operating a busness, " this is my hobby" or "I was sharping my mower blade. Just don't say "this is my bussness" or they will hang you faster than a speeding bullet.

responce to post 38. George, Yes I completely forgot about the orange snow. Made me laugh when I read your post. Across the river from Republic Steel was J&L Steel so we not only had orange snow but also orange houses and at the end of your shift you went to find your vehicle among all the other orange ones in the parking lot. Sure was tough on the paint. A lot of the steel workers in the Cleveland area were Russians, Poles and Serbians and few spoke very many words in english. And yes, as I said it was a dirty, dangerious and hotter than hell. I also remember the yellow salt tablet despencers that were everywhere and you were encouraged to "take several each hour". I now suffer from cronic lung diease and wear hearing aids in both ears. The price one has to pay for being poor, uneducated and having to work in a steel mill in the 60s. Aside from that, I saw and experienced things that few ever have or will.

1963, discharged from the Marines after 4-years of service. lookin for work, found a job as a crane operator in a steel mill in Cleveland Ohio (Republic Steel). Learned/watched how steel was made. I worked mostly in the bar-mills. Watching a 8 inch square billet, 30 feet long come out of the furnace and pass through a series of rollers and come out as bar stock, maybe a half mile long if it was 1/2' round or square is something to see! As it passes through each set of rollers it gets smaller and moves faster. When it exits the final set of rollers it is traveling at a high rate of speed as it runs down the trolf for 1/4 to 1/2 mile, all done in one heat. From here it gets sheared into 20 and 40 ft legnths and is the stuff we buy. As a crane operator I would load the finished bar-stock onto trucks and rail cars for shipment to the world. This was when America was strong and produced things. Before we outsourced everything to Mexico and China. This is where I got hooked on the elasticiy of near white hot steel and how easly it can be moved to produce another shape. It was a dirty, hot and dangerious place to work but I thank God that I was lucky enough to have had the first hand experience. I worked there 7 years. OSHA, and the EPA ran all the steel mills out of busness with their safety regulations.

Wow what a mind you have! I want one.

Ever get any of them tiny fiberglass splinders in your hand ? they are nearly invisable and want to keep burroing deeper and deeper. Then you notice the infection !

I will be bringing a load of Saltfork Swage blocks and we will have our floor cone mandrels. save you shipping costs.

It does cost to blacksmith. It costs to live, it costs to breath, So except for the few professionals who do it for a living, why do the rest of us do it? Could it be for "love of the craft"?