Mr Smith

I keep the face of my forging hammer rounded, to prevent hammer marks, and my tooling hammer much flatter. For this reason, I don't strike chisels, etc with my forging hammer, otherwise it'd likely slip off and bust up a finger or something.

I think Dan wins the prize. :-)

Fantastic! An axe is definitely on my "to-do" list. Even more so, now. Thanks for sharing!

Here's how I do it.

Bongo, Have you been to see the Blacksmiths' Association in Claremont?? That'd be your best bet.

Hey! I'm from WA too! In answer to your question, I'd say no. It'd be a job that is harder than it needs to be, for a result that is not as good as it could be. Hope that helps!! :-)

Enjoying the high-level discourse here, guys. :-)

That looks neat! That's added to my things to do list! :-D

Before this goes *too* far off topic - I agree with you on the points that sometimes you'll get an "expert" who sees what they want to see, *but* my main argument is that *theory* means something totally in a scientific context. The definition you've used above is accurate, but for something we figure is correct, but have not tested, we use the word "hypothesis". Totally agree with questioning what you've been told and testing it for yourself - that's what science is. :-) Likewise, totally agree that people will "find" what is fashionable or convenient (look at the depiction of dinosaurs over the years) - after all, science is a human endeavour, and, well, like in all things, money talks! :-) As for these out-of-place objects.... well.. The Greeks were well advanced, but some of the other stuff... I don't know. Apologies for dragging this out yet further. :-)

I'm not arguing. I think the guy posting in bold and all caps might be, though... :-) I'll admit it's off topic, but it's connected to the thread of this discussion. Sometimes discussions go that way.

Caleb, I think a lot of your confusion comes from the fact that "theory" has a different meaning in a scientific context, compared to what it has in a regular, everyday context. For the record when we're discussing science, "Theory" means "everything we know about a particular phenomenon". For example, the theory of gravity, atomic theory, heck, even piano theory. Secondly, I'm not sure where you get this idea that rock strata have never proven to be indicators of age. Sedimentary rocks build up over centuries. The recent stuff is going to be the stuff that is dumped on top, and will obviously be older than the stuff down lower - we call that "relative dating". We have very reliable test that can tell us how long certain isotopes of rock take to decompose into other isotopes. By working out the relative amounts of each isotope, we can tell the age of the rock - we call that "absolute dating". Sure, we have all these tales of out of place objects, or "OOPs", but show me one that has been discovered in the last twenty years or so - Most of them are based on eyewitness accounts from the 19th century. Lastly, with mineral deposition, where the minerals are deposited makes all the difference. The point of a stalagmite or stalagtite is a very small area, compared to the width of a path. Deposition would be much faster on a wider object. The bottom line is that science is an ongoing process, and until something is backed up by hard evidence, it just ain't science. Nothing would make an expert's day quite like making some kind of new discovery - the real recognition is in finding new stuff.

Randy - would you say the same applies to charcoal?

My understanding is they are both a heat sink and a source of impurities.

These have been really popular as gifts. I can't keep up with demand! Firstly, here's the "How-to" http://i1178.photobu...ttleopeners.jpg Here's photos of the process... The original spike: http://i1178.photobu.../openers002.jpg Putting in the "step" http://i1178.photobu.../openers003.jpg Punching the slot http://i1178.photobu.../openers005.jpg Round off the slot http://i1178.photobu.../openers001.jpg Put the "tab" in http://i1178.photobu.../openers008.jpg Lastly, I recommend making them in batches of six... for.. er... "testing" purposes. Once I know they work, I clean them up and give them a coat of something. Enjoy! http://i1178.photobu.../openers009.jpg

Here you go, guys. This is an old one, but worth a look, I'm sure. Disclaimer: I did not make these, a 'smith by the name of Malcolm Paine did. Anyhoo, enjoy.