Sam Falzone

Hi gang. Can a cold chisel be re-profiled into a hot cut chisel? That's what I did to an old 1" cold chisel I had and I was wondering if it would work. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I figured I would ask around first. What better place than here? So ... will it work? Sam

I was just thinking, looking at it, that if you mounted it standing by your porch door, it would make a neat boot-scraper. Just an idea. sam

Over the holidays there was a rather lengthy thread about crucifiction nails, so I figured there might be some interest in this archaeology article I got today - has a pretty good photo of an actual nail instead of the grainy black and white photos or sketches you usually get. Nail from Christs crucifixion found? Sam The above link sets off the virus protection and the link was removed. The nail was about 4 inches long.

Thought I'd post some more pictures of some recent stuff. This Thor's Hammer, bracelet and the previous Hesselbjerg amulet are all gifts for friends. I'm having a lot of fun with this. Hope you like them - I would love to hear what your thoughts are. Sam.

My main forge space is a small corner of my classroom (fortunately my classroom is the school shop). Came equipted with a small Wayne gas forge, anvil and some tools. Small but just the right size for what I do. My travel forge is somewhat more "airy". I like using this one alot. Plans are to eventually turn my backyard shed into my home smithy - sometime down the line. Sam

I'm with John. I use a 3/8" mild steel plate and it works just fine. If it's going to be a sacrificial cutting surface, then cheapest makes more sense to me. Not to mention that mild steel is easier to get a hold of that brass in the same thickness (at least for me - your mileage may vary ) Sam

Hi folks, Finished my latest silver project on Monday. It's my version of the Hesselbjerg amulet which was unearthed in 1970 and is currently in the collection of the Moesgaard Museum, in Denmark (see attachment). The fire steel is slightly different and I added some stamping to the Thor's hammer. I also made the ring out of a thin strip of sheet silver because I didn't have any silver wire at the time. It took me around 2 hours to make. Hope you like it. Sam

Thank you all. E-mail contact has been established. I love this place. Sam (Aeneas in the SCA)

Greetings all, This is a question for Finn and all the other long-time SCA smiths out there. I'm looking for the website or email address for Danr at Irontree forge. I can't find him on a google search and I had a book-resource question for him. Can anyone help? Sam

Greetings all, Does anyone on the forum have plans for an 1812 era army forge wagon they would be willing to share? Either American or British. Thanks. Sam

Yes it is a rune stave ... it's also my maker's mark. Sam Oakhammer Forge

Yeah ... I've seen those youtube videos before ... and been informed about the historical significance behind anvil shooting ... I still don't get it. Breaks my poor tender heart to see something like that happen to a poor defenceless anvil. Maybe we could start up an Anvil Rescue Shelter and Rehabilitation Center. We could start our own chapter of PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Anvils. We could have bumper stickers and t-shirts that say "Friends don't let friends blow up Anvils ... there's gotta be some other useless junk you could blow up !!!" ... Join me brothers and sisters, together we can save the endangered wild anvil ... ... ummm ... errr ... ... sorry ... gotta bit carried away there ... back to my quiet corner ... Sam

Hi Mike. Fergus is just north of Guelph, Ontario. You can bet I'll be there. Sam

Just to let the IFI team know, I've been having problems attaching .jpgs to posts today. Is this a glitch yet to be ironed out or am I doing something wrong? Is anyone else having problems attaching images? Thanks for all your work team - the site looks great. Sam

Hi everyone. First off, thanks to the IFI team for the upgrades made to the site ... looks great. Also, one of the new features allows me to do something I asked about a few months ago, and that is to change my ID name. I changed my ID from Aeneas (which is my SCA persona) to my legal name Sam Falzone. So just thought I would let people know about that in case anyone was looking to get a hold of or looking for an old post from "Aeneas". Happy New Year all. Sam

Seasons Greetings everyone. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and a happy healthy and prosperous New Year to come. Hot off the OABA website are the meeting dates for January and February. January Saturday January 16 Bob and Shirley Young 285 Brant Rd 22 Ancaster. They are south of Hwy 403 between Hamilton and Brantford. It is easiest to take the "Copetown" cut-off from the 403. From the cut-off follow Trinity Rd for approximately 8km even when the name changes to Sawmill Rd at a sharp curve and then Brant Rd 22 is about 2km further - the next road to the right. Their place is about 1km on the right. After the cut-off follow the "Grand River Dinner Cruises" signs as the "Boat Farm" is a couple of kilometres past their place. FEBRUARY Saturday February 13 Waldie's Blacksmith Shop Milton, ON. Waldie’s is located at ... 16 James Street Milton, Ontario. (905) 875-4156. www.miltonhistoricalsociety.ca Directions: Travel along Hwy. 401 and take the RR-25 exit (exit #320) towards Milton. Turn right onto Hwy. 25 which will eventually turn into Martin St. Turn right onto Mill Street, then Left onto James Street. AND Mark this down in your calendars boys and girls, CanIron VIII will be in Fergus Ontario in 2011. July 28 to August 1 Cheers. Sam

Greetings all, Where ever your travels take you this holiday season, I hope you and yours have a safe and Merry Christmas. Sam

My silver class has 2 rolling mills - very convenient. I don't know how I'll do this at home when my class is done (rolling mills are really expensive). I'll probably try torch annealling and hammering the silver flat, and then repeating the process as needed since silver will work-harden. That's as old-school as it gets Sam

I decided to make Norse inspired jewellery for my silver course this time around. I bought some pin punches and made some stamps. I made my first bracelet on Monday. I actually made my own sheet for it too - I puddled scrap silver and annealled and rolled it repeatedly until I had a dead-soft strip. I still have to tumble it with steel shot to work harden it again (it's REALLY soft). I think my next pieces will be thicker - this one is a bit too thin for my liking, but my wife likes it. Sam

It's actually not even a cold shut - it's just a thin fold-over from a bad hit. Thanks for the advice though. BTW I've been meaning to come out and visit your shop sometime since you're so close to my house. Between schoolwork, classes and everything else, I'm hoping sometime before the holidays. Maybe I'll come buy myself a small swage block for christmas Sam

Jamie from Polarbear Forge makes them. He supplies them to Dan from Irontree Forge and I bought them from him at an SCA event (Called Pennsic) 2 years ago. Jamie also makes bolt tong blanks too (I bought 2 pairs this year). He's on the forum so look him up. They're nice to work with, I'm looking forward to playing with the others. Sam

Forged my first set of tongs today ... kinda ... I bought 5 sets of tong blanks 2 years ago. After inheriting 40 pairs of old tongs, I didn't know what to do with the blanks. Then I had the brainstorm of forging them to look like Norse-style tongs for my re-enacting kit. That's what I made today - and while I didnt make it from scratch, the modifications were a lot of work. I like the way they turned out - not fabulour repros, but I still like em. Sam

The picture below is a box-style forge I made for my Norse reenactment group. It runns on charcoal and is a side-blast. I want to cover over the firebrick and line the inside of the firepot - raise the floor of the pot by 1 - 1.5 inches. What kind of refractory cement would work best? I want something durable that won't crack or flake off. Any suggestions? :confused: :confused: :confused: Hmmm ... seems like I still can't load thumbnails. The forge is a simple plank box that is lined with 2 layers of soft firebrick. The firebox is 12"x12"x4" deep. Hope that helps. Sam

ah ... that explains it Thanks :D

Anyone else having problems viewing attached thumbnails? All I get is an empty box. Sam