3DistinctKnocks

Beautiful work, Theo!  I love that little spike!  The guard and handle on the fighter looks very functional as well as beautiful.  Great work!

That accident is on par with the time someone accidentally dropped an Oreo cookie into a glass of milk!

Very unique.

^{Used hoof rasps.  The fellow that wanted the two rasp knives gave me his grandfather's old double length hoof rasp.  Probably over 100 years old.  Really tough stuff.  After heat treating and tempering, they really took a nice edge.  I love the first one the most, too.  It really turned out to be a nice knife IMO.}

I haven't been on in a while.  Been hugely busy with work and play.  I've been doing some hoof rasp knives for friends and family.  Not the best work in the world, but its something handy and hand-made.

The little twisted-all-metal knife turned out to be a pretty decent little skinner.  Went through a whitetail deer's hide and sternum like butter and held a good edge.  I love the little loop on the end.  When not in use, it hangs on the gambrel perfectly.  Its not pretty...just a knock up first try at that style.

Thank you all.  I will pass on the remarks to her.

Thanks, BCROB and Matt.  Interestingly, Peggy's twin sister is named Jayme.  My nickname is Jamie as well!

My 12 year old daughter, Peggy was watching me at my forge this morning.  She decided to write a poem as a gift to the members of this forum.

The Blacksmith

by Peggy R. McMillen

Surrounded by his tools,

the fire leaping to and fro,

the blacksmith will weld and forge

Everyday, all day long.

Cinder and rust will float in the air.

The small flies of fire

making sure that he will choke.

But still the blacksmith will weld and forge

Everyday, all day long.

In the hot blinding sun,

he still continues his labor.

The cinders choking him as he forges on

the hot metal burns his hands and face.

But still the blacksmith will weld and forge

Everyday, all day long.

I just finished the first stage of cleaning on a blower I picked up along with a Fulton anvil from a fellow about a mile from my house.  Turns out, my blower is identical to Ngtmrknife's.  I don't have the base, unfortunately.  Also, the mounting section of the housing had been cracked and repaired with a brazing rod...looks like it was done a WHILE back.  It was caked with coal dust and completely locked up.  I got into it and freed up the gears, hosed everything down with WD40 and let it soak overnight.  I've still got some scrubbing to do on the outside of the housing.  Man, I wish I had that base!!  Anyhow, I gave $150 for both the 100# anvil and the blower.  It sure puts out some air!  I informed my 12 year old daughter that her indentured servitude began as soon as that crank turned.

Great discussion as I'm about to *attempt* to break in to a hand crank blower that I recently picked up.

I'm just catching this thread.  I wish you all the best and well wishes for the girls.  My twins were born at 24 weeks gestation, so I know exactly what you've been going through.  It is a tough road.  My twins are 12 years old now and are two of the smartest kids in their class.  Never give up hope, even when times are rough and things seem to be so overwhelming.  I hope Mom and the girls are well, and continue to be well.  Being a father of extreme premmies, I wish you all the best...and some peace to go along with it!

This is probably a ridiculous question, but shouldn't there be some type of "gas escape" for the smaller drum or would that cause the charred wood to ignite?  I'm thinking of making a retort and want to get all the specifics down pat so I don't waste time, money, and wood.

Very steampunk, especially if you continue the theme with the base.  Very nice work.  Once again, I made the mistake of showing it to my wife.  And once again, another project for me to do for her.

As mentioned in previous postings, I just aquired a 100# range Fulton anvil.  I'm completely new to the craft, having only made a couple of "knives" from horse shoes for my kids.  These two items are the first made on my anvil.  The handle is a cabinet/drawer handle made from .5" round in the "Gary Huston" style (YouTube vid) and is the first project off my anvil.  The second is a hunting knife WIP for my father-in-law's Christmas present made from a used farrier rasp. 

Thanks guys.  I plan to cut a lob off of an old telephone pole for a stand as this one is way too tall.

Info on Fulton anvils from worthpoint listing of matchless antiques:

"FULTON" was a Sears & Robuck Trademark. Sears offered a Cast Steel anvil with the name FULTON on it between 1920-1923. The anvil was named after the street that ran in front of Sears main offices in Chicago, Illinois. Because Sears only sold these anvils for a short time, they are relitively scarce. Sears only sold the Fulton anvil, they did not manufacture it. It is now known that Fulton anvils were made by The Columbian Hardware Company, of Cleveland, Ohio, that sold Columbian anvils. According to Richard Postman's book, Anvils In America, "Cast steel anvils are made out of "open hearth" steel and were not produced in the United States until shortly after the start of the 20th century." There are few examples of later American made cast steel anvils found today. Fulton is one of these later types that can found today. Mr. Postman goes on to say that he considered it (fulton) to be a very good anvil. "Sears dropped this cast-steel anvil and went back to selling wrought-iron anvils in its place." Information credited to Anvils In America.

Picture Heavy!  Here's my Fulton #5 anvil before and after a little clean up.

Congratulations on the excellent find!

Mr. Powers, I could kiss your feet!  Well, not really, but I'll shake your hand and buy you a beer.

I've been throwing out "feelers" to anyone who might even look like they have or know of someone with an anvil.  My wife and I went over to an old feller's house that she's known all her life.  We went over to look at some fencing panels for our goats, horses and burro.  After deciding on a price per panel, I said, "I ask everyone this...you wouldn't happen to have an old anvil you want to get rid of, would ya?"  He said, yep...follow me.  We went down to his old barn and he showed me a Fulton anvil in decent shape.  Feels like its in the 125# range.  We talked a bit and he said, "Hey, there's an old hand crank blower over here...might want to take a look at it."

Sure enough, there it was.  Its locked up at the moment, and I didn't see a maker's name.  We haggled a bit and settled on $150 for both.  He threw in an old disc blade for free that I'll use as a base for a hoof stand.

I'll post pics of the Fulton and blower once I get them cleaned up a tad.  They've been kicking around that old barn for probably 30-40 years now.

Not sure if this is the best place for this topic (thought about the tailgate section, but it didn't really fit IMO), but I've got a pretty good lead on used farrier rasps.  There is a pretty good sized Amish community just a couple of miles from my house and they have 3 farriers.  I stopped in just a little bit ago and asked one ("Peanut") if he had some old used rasps he'd like to get rid of.  He's got a pile.  I bought 4 for $10, or $2.50/pc.  This is after doing a little shopping on eBay for used rasps to turn into this-that-and-the-other.  He and I chatted a while over some delicious boiled peanuts.  Nice guy.  Young guy and a great farrier to boot.  In fact, I'll be printing off the 55 Forge design for him.  So, if you need some old rasps, let me know and we'll work something out.  I'm not selling anything and I'm not making anything off of it...just volunteering as sort of an unpaid middle-man.  Just letting y'all know I've got a decent source of rasps for those who don't have access to them.

Its probably not worth a dime...I'll be a nice guy and take it off your hands for free.

;)

My dog.  Mason likes to hang out with me while I'm banging metal.  Its funny to watch him when the "fireflies" start to fall on him.  He'll get up, snort, then move to a safer area.  Seeing that I've only had 3 forging sessions so far on my makeshift rig, a shop would be nice...along with a cooler.

I first heard about using golf balls as rasp knobs while watching Gary Huston on YouTube.  I stuck one on my farrier's rasp and it worked like a charm while trimming up a horse's hooves.  You don't worry about jabbing the horse with a bare tang, you have much better control on the rasp, and it feels great in the hand.  I obtained a golf ball from my dad, who had a bunch laying around.  Told him I was stealing a golf ball.  He asked why since I don't play.  Told him I was going to use it for a rasp knob.  He had to see it for himself. 

Gator gar's scales are so hard you pretty much have to shoot them with a bow equipped with a fishing rig.  I don't know if any hand thrown spear would penetrate those scales.  Maybe on a young gator gar.  Great looking spear, Jason.  I really like the 7 prong design.  That'd be a WONDERFUL frog gig if the prongs were a little smaller diameter.  I see you're in MI...you'll have a ball hitting pike and similar fish.

Great looking bowie!  I agree...take a little off the guard.  Love that buckeye burl.  The wood complements the pattern weld very well.

I made the "knife" with a relatively soft edge to be used when parting hide from flesh.  We all know that a knife doesn't really have to be sharp to do that.  It will cut with out a lot of force.  The knife is relatively sharp, but being made of soft steel, it will dull quickly.  All my knifes that I use are "suicide sharp" as my wife calls it.  The daughter that has received the knife was standing right next to me when I made a stupid mistake and sliced my old Case pocketknife right through the meat of my hand.  She knows what a sharp knife can do if you use it in an irresponsible manner.

The horseshoe knife is really nothing more than a letter opener as another poster said.  In my humble opinion, this is an entry-level knife that won't do a lot of harm if she slips or makes a stupid mistake (like her daddy is prone to do!!).  She hunts with her own .22 rifle and she can handle it very well.  Would I trust her to handle my 12 gauge Remington 1100?  No...it would knock her on her XXX.  Similarly, I trust her to use her horseshoe knife where I wouldn't allow her to use my WWII USMC KBar with a wicked edge. 

The horseshoe knife has a serviceable edge but will dull quickly since its made with low carbon mild steel.  In my way of thinking, this will also give her plenty of opportunity to learn how to sharpen a knife with proper angles and pressure on the stone.

I understand your concern and I thank you for bringing this issue up.

Here's the deal with my handle.  All the Freemasons on the site will know what one side of the equation means.  I am a proud Freemason and Past Master of Pontotoc Lodge #81 Free and Accepted Masons under the Grand Jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Mississippi, F&AM.  There is a section of each ritual which refers to "three distinct knocks" which alludes to the particular values taught by each of the Blue Lodge degrees.  On the other side of the coin, I have three beautiful daughters.  My twin girls are 12 and our youngest is 7.  Even though they are twins, each child is very distinct.  All three are "country girls" and love to ride horses, hunt, and fish.  They come in from school and do the feeding, watering, and egg gathering before they have a snack without being asked to do so.  Jayme is our rough and tumble girly-girl in pink and pony tail.  Peggy is our "death-metal-goth" child wearing black and mossy oak camo.  Morran (pronounced more-ran) is our cuddly sweetheart that isn't afraid to ride anything with hair or hide.  They're not afraid to help me skin and gut a deer, rabbit, or chicken and they don't mind Dad giving them a hug and kiss in front of their friends.  3 Distinct Knocks...all the way around!

Thanks for the comments, fellas.