RiffRaff

@Bigfootnampa - I'm not sure who is confused, you or me, but you lost me when you mention something about the heat of handling, not sure what you were talking about there. The colored fillers is an intriguing idea. What did you use for the filler? @Fe-Wood - That's a new product to me since I've got limited woodworking experience. I pretty much know just enough to acomplish the task I have planned. Where would I get that at? Local hardware store? Is it just like a polyurethane that you brush on and the wood soaks it up? Or would I have to put it in an airtight container and apply suction to pull the air out of the wood to get it to fully penetrate?

Not sure if this is the right category to post this in, let me know if there's a better place and I'll move it. I'm in the process of restoring some old straight razors and in the process of removing the pins from the original scales I broke them. They were already cracked so it wasn't a big loss, but now I have to make new scales for it. I'm not sure if any of you have any experience in this, but scale making and handle making are similar so I thought I'd throw it out there. I went out today to my local lumber yards trying to see what kind of wood I could source locally and the only thing I could come up with was some CA black walnut that the guy at the hardwood specialty store was kind enough to pull out of a scrap pile, plane it out to the thickness that I was looking for (about 1/8-1/4 thick) and handed it to me for free. I was looking for a nice dark hardwood that would look good on a razor and looking at it in the shop it looked good. Once I got home and examined it a little more, it looks like it's got a very loose grain to it, and not a nice dense grain like I was looking for, but hey it was free so I'm not going to complain. My question is, have any of you used this wood for a handle? Once I shape it out, sand it down (I'll probably take it to between 800-1,000 grit sandpaper) will that close those grains up? Would 3 or 4 coats of shellac be enough to protect the wood. Keep in mind this is for a straight razor so it will be exposed to water. Should I try to nomalize it and seal it up, or just try some other wood. A little guidance would be great. Thanks guys!!

I know you specifically said (other than the law), but as a former Federal Law Enforcement Offficer with the US Forest Service, I HIGHLY recommend NOT doing this. just my 2c.

Oops....open mouh, insert foot haha. I did get a pdf copy of the book today, but then forgot that I got it so didn't read it. Got nothing planned for tomorrow though so I'll start reading through it :)

Thanks for the tip Glenn. The fan I have in the window is easily reversable so that is not a problem, but I am quite certain it doesn't move enough air for a full "change out" very often. My only concern about pulling the forge outside is that my driveway is far from level so I'm not sure how that would effect heating my work, if it would effect it at all (and I don't want hot work rolling out if I'm heating a small round. The incline is pretty steep in some parts and for safety reasons would even try to put a forge on it, but it does a "V" invert about 3-4 feet before entering the garage creating a nice trough for funnel water off so it doesn't run inside when it rains. That might be an ok spot, once I get the forge built I'll play around with different ways to level whatever kind of cart I use to put the forge on so it's safe and level on the incline. When you say big fan, do you mean industrial type fan, or would a typical box fan be enough. Just trying to get everything laid out in advance before I get started so I can be as safe as possible.

Are crosses a pretty standard "beginner" project or are they more a little more advanced? I saw a video on youtube of a HUGE cross being forged at some blacksmith conference or hammerin so I know the process, but wanted to ask. I have a feeling I'll be making quite a few of them for the neighbor kids as they start coming to see what the noise is all about haha.

I have dreams of creating a 7 day straight razor set with a GOT theme, with a miniature version of the throne as a holder for the razors and the brush....it'll be my eventual masterpiece haha

Sounds like an awesome find! Congrats!

So basically take a hammer with me when I go "shopping" to check the rebound?

Oh I didn't mean actual "anvil shape", I meant exactly what you said. Any hunk of sturdy steel I can get with a flat face on it in my price range haha. Sorry for the confusion. On that note of using scrap steel...I've seen videos of people demonstrating a "good" anvil from a "bad" anvil by listening to the ring when it's struck. Does that apply to using scrap? I guess the question would be is there anything to AVOID when looking for scrap steel to use.

Thanks for all the responses guys. Unfortunately I'm not in the market for a $500+ anvil at the moment. Looks like I'll have to get an anvil shaped object to start and work up to a traditional one in the future.

Samcro - I keep seeing that book title being promoted as a good place to start so I'll be getting a copy soon and devour the information. From some of the reviews I've seen not all of his recommendations are necessarily for beginners (making cable damascus for example) but it does sound like a great place to start. Love the name by the way, I'm going through withdrawls waiting for the new season! Fe-Wood - Thanks again for the great information. I'm looking into becoming a memeber of CBA, looks like this is the perfect time of year to join as there is a dicsount on the membership price right now. I wish I could get into a class sooner, but looks like I have to wait until Oct unless I want to spend a few hours driving each way. The farrier was more of an off-hand question about whether the pain of the work would be worth the gain of the experience, and altough I do like horses, it doesn't seem like a logical direction for me to go at this time.

Yes, no matter the design, I think I'm limited to gas due to local regulations but I'm still looking into it to make sure. Should've mentioned that in the original post sorry.

Hey George thanks for stopping in. Well since age and "young" can be very relative terms depending on the company I'll say that I'm 36, so although I don't feel "young" anymore, I also don't feel "old" yet...except for those times when I do haha.

Sorry didn't realize that. I tried to go back to edit the post myself to remove them, but couldn't figure out how to do that. Can we not edit posts here? That's good information to know. I just started shopping for an anvil so wasn't sure what to expect in my area. I'll probably end up having to get an anvil shaped object to start and hold out hopes for getting a traditional one in due time. Thanks for the info!

I rent so I am very limited on what kind of modifcations that I can make to the space itself (basically none). When forging, even indoors, I intend to have the forge near or at the garage opening with a fan blowing behind me to push as much CO outside as I can. The forge I plan to make at the moment is some variation of the zoeller forge firebrick forge, but after reading someone on a bladesmith forum I may change my mind to a pressure tank style. Need to research it a little more before making a final determination.

Yeah I saw that one too, it's still a little north of my price range though unfortunately. Saw this one as well. I hear there are some Hay-Budden fans around these parts :) link removed Saw this one after I made that post that was going for over $5.55/pound link removed crazy stuff going on around here. I have to say, I miss your area!!! I spend 4.5 years stationed in Whidbey Island back in my Navy days. Beautiful part of the country and by far my favorite of the 7 states I've lived in!

Saign thanks for posting those links. I devoured that entire series in one sitting, I couldn't stop watching. The chasing and repousse was very interesting and something that I've never considered, but it looks like something that like you said in one of the videos I might find incredibly relaxing. The amount of patience and attention to detail required are right up my alley. Aside from that....that hammer made me absolutely drool!!! Is that series still in the works? I can't wait to see you complete that project!!!!!!!

Before setting up and firing my 1st forge I'm trying to get as much safety info as possible. This is supposed to be fun, not deadly, and even though sometimes tempting death can be fun, playing with this kind of heat isn't/shouldn't be one of those times haha. Here's my current locational setup. I'll be forging in my garage (attached to the house). Asside from the roll-up door there is the door into the house and 1 window. My wife and I smoke out there now so the window is always open and we have one of the window mounted double fans in there blowing out acting as an exhaust for both the smoke and heat. I am not sure if that fan will be suffecient to exhaust the fumes of forging or if I'll have to upgrade, but I have a CO monitor out there already and I'll be keeping a good eye on it. Now onto my question. Does the direction the mouth of your forge face make any difference in safety at all? Does it affect how much heat and/or CO builds up in the space at all? In other words, will there be any difference between having the mouth of the forge facing in or out of the garage door?

So I'm looking around Craigslist for an anvil and I came across this post. Is this for real? Or just an unbelievably high price... One vintage blacksmith anvil - 200 lbs, manufactured by Trenton and made in the USA. $775

Frosty - as I'm sure you've been told many times...you are awesome, and I have a feeling I'm really going to like you haha!! Thanks again for an enlightening response to my question.

Fe-Wood - Wow I looked up that conference and it looks like a great time!! Why can't it be in Medford, or why can't I still be living in Whidbey Island, WA?!?! Looks to be about a 7 hour drive and with the short notice and tight budget I'm probably going to have to skip it, but xxxx that looks great!! Hopefully next year, assuming it's an annual event haha I spent some time on the CBA website today and after seeing a Level I & II class in Weaverville advertised I called Ken Morrissey who was listed as the contact lead for the class. He didn't seem to know anything about a class anytime soon. He says they shut down classes for the summer and won't have another one until Oct. He seemed like a great guy on the phone and we chated for probably half an hour or so. The class was crazy cheap as well, but you have to be a member of CBA to attend so I might have to cough up that membership fee, but I have a feeling it'll be money well spent, and that isn't much either anyway. I just noticed there's 2 other contacts listed on that notice on the CBA site so I'll give them a call tomorrow or on Monday. I kind of feel uncomfortable interrupting someone's weekend (especially considering I'd most likely be interrupting their forge time haha) and wouldn't have called Ken today but I forgot it was Saturday until he answered the phone lol. I've also contacted the board member of the ABANA closest to me via email (he's the one who 1st turned me onto the CBA). He also gave me contact info for who he thought were the Jefferson Smiths up in Weaverville, but it turned out to be a nice lady over in Humbolt county who I'm conversing back and forward with via email. She's trying to find a contact close to me to at least meet and maybe swing a hammer with. Thanks for the info!!

Sorry to hear about that, my condolences. I will definitely look into it thanks for the information!

Sorry about that promotional link, thanks for simply editing it out rather than insta banning me for it. I appologize, it won't happen again.

Thanks for the responses everyone! Another question I have is about ferriers. I know blacksmith is a pretty general term, and ferriers are a specialized niche within the community, but there are a lot of horses in my area and more ferriers than listed blacksmiths. Is that a decent way to both learn the skills of smithing and learn a needed trade to pay for the hobby side of learning what I actually want to do?