JME1149

It depends a lot on the style you're going for. You can use the head for the blade portion and just use your cross pein to move the metal into the direction you need it to go. I guess you could try to upset just below the head to get a little more mass for moving/shaping.

If you want to leave the head intact and use the spike end for the blade, maybe just fold an inch or so beyond the point over at a 90 degree bend, then draw out the shape using the cross pein.

Either way you go, it would probably be easier in the long run if you slit the shank for the future handle hole before you start shaping the blade.

I found a reference to an add that listed capacity of the 36" model (R-636) as 22 Ga. and the 24" model (R-624) as 20 Ga., so I'd guess you might be able to roll at least 20 Ga steel with it, maybe just a bit heavier.

Markings tend to point to a 200# Trenton, overall shape also looks like Trenton, bottom surface shape could confirm it. Most likely will find a pill-shaped depression.

Impressive as always. I don't recall seeing that lock mechanism before, very creative way to hold the knife in the scabbard.

 

Help! What is the Tolkien reference? 

Perhaps Mr Overhill is a cousin to Mr Underhill

I get what you are trying to do, but I have to agree that the lettering of the NAZZ is too busy. As a suggestion, bump the letters apart by one pixel to separate them and compensate by increasing the anvil outline by one pixel all around. I like the shape of the sword on the left better than the right. Add one clear pixel between the hammer handle and anvil to separate them.

A college sponsored club might be another option, if your school promotes such things.

I like it so far. The only thing that looks a little off to me may be the lengths of the legs on the cross. The horizontal bars appear to be much longer than the top vertical bar, that might be what is throwing it off just a bit. Scrolls look pretty uniform and have a nice flow to them.

Look forward to seeing the finished project.

Use it as-is and get/make a portable hole for any hardy tooling. Attempting to "repair" it won't add to the value, more likely it will reduce it and the heat input from that much welding will impact the hardness of the existing face. I wouldn't want to think about re-heat treating an anvil that big. I'm glad you saved it from a life as an address marker, put it to use.

Photos not showing for me, just a string of numbers in their place.

Nice hammers. As a side note, it looks like the corners of the slot you punched have pretty sharp corners. This could lead to stress risers and cracking. Might want to consider rounding the corners off of the slot punch.

Sounds interesting in theory, but borax has a melting temp of 1369°F so you'd be looking at a crucible heated to at least that temp, and I have no idea what would happen when you cool it down at the end of the session (can you reheat and reuse?). I'd also think you'd need a significant amount in the pot to melt down initially.

Very nicely executed. One minor comment, I might have shortened up the scales just in front of the finger slot. They look a little fragile being that thin right at the cutting edge of the blade.

Beautiful work. I really appreciate all the details you put into this gate. The upsets, wraps, rivets, and collars all flow with the overall design nicely.

My very crude estimate puts that swage block around 200 pounds, and the stand probably weighs close to that also. They look to be in great shape and have many useful shapes. It will also make a perfect horizontal surface to stack many more things on top of it.

Both the roses and the box are very nicely done. Looks like the texturing on the box took a while to do. On the roses, is that a steel stem/leaves or is that copper also?

One thing I always liked was to add some serrations to the edges of the leaves for a little more realistic take on them.

Looking at the leaf attempt, I might have a couple suggestions that could help. Only rotate the bar to set-down the leaf part 0° and 90° (not all four sides), and it looks like you may have had your tong hand too high. When doing the set-down, hold the bar at a lower angle to the anvil face (looks like you may have been lifted up at 45°). This will give you a more defined shoulder. Only work the mild steel in the orange-yellow range, when it drops down into the reds it fights you more. You can straighten that twist out pretty easy when the bar is hot.

Get yourself a block of modeling clay to practice on, moves a lot like hot metal without wasting the fuel and heating time.

I would also recommend Brian Brazeal's youtube video for tong making. Very good instruction regardless of the type of bar you use. Practice making the working end a couple times to get that process down before you go all out drawing the reins down. From my own experience, you probably want 5/8" or larger size to make decent tongs for general use.

As has been said many times already, rebar is not the best material to work with, but use what you have until you can get something better. Just don't expect to make a sword from a piece of rebar.

Another option once you get a little cash flow is to buy tong kits, essentially tong shape burnouts that you finish and assemble. You can get these for around $12-15 a set from multiple sources.

I really like the leaf shape, the fullering is very well done and it's a different take on the common leaf shape.

It's hard to tell from the photo, but the handle looks a little big for the hammer head size. A smaller slot would probably improve the proportions, but good for you for making a hammer. That's on my list of things yet to do.

What a stunning pattern. Beautiful job.

Looks like a perfect size for a door pull. I like the polished surface, the size and proportions are great too.

Looks like the tail fell off to me also. Still plenty of usable surface, assuming they didn't overheat the top when cutting off the broken hardy hole. I'm not sure of the brand, but it looks like a cast anvil, probably not one of the higher quality brands. 

As I was looking at the photos, I was saying to myself that I really like the guard and pommel but not a real big fan of the blade shape, then I read the commentary. As long as the customer is happy and you're satisfied with your efforts, what more could you ask for? I think you did a great job completing someone else's vision.

Very nicely done, I bet that's one heavy bench. My favorite features are the reverse twists and the leg wraps.

Let's see, you've made a relatively inexpensive charcoal forge, you are using wood charcoal (not briquettes), you've successfully heated the steel and formed it into a passable rake, and you listed your location with your first post. Congratulations, you're off to a great start. Now it's time to start refining the process. As Charles said above, a deeper firepot will serve you better and reducing the pressure of the airflow will also help. Think volume more than pressure. Maybe a bathroom exhaust fan or hair dryer set on low.

Looking forward to seeing your progress.