son_of_bluegrass

I learned from the book "The Complete Book of Pocketknife Repair". I can't think if the author at the moment. That show the layout of how a folding knife fits together. I then fired up the forge and forged a blade and backspring and went from there. ron

I don't see what steel was used. That may make a difference. I wouldn't recommend trying to bend it cold. If you left it at the typical hardness for a razor, it will probably snap trying to straighten it. You may be able to grind it out. I'd have to see it in person to know. Most steels I use I can be heat treated a few times with no ill effects if the edge is thick enough. I've had some success with edges around 25 thousandths thick but not thinner. I generally shoot for 40 thousandths for heat treat. If you think it needs to be scrapped then go ahead and try again, you're only losing the time anf fuel it takes to re-heat treat. If you start completely over, you'll spend more time and energy than if it works. ron

PIctures? The maple I've put vinegar / steel wool on turned a brown as opposed to the black that comes with wood with more tannins. ron

If you cut limbs then expect only 1 in 6 to end up usable maybe less. For hammer handle you want straight, clear (free from knots) grain. I find if the branch is smaller than 4 or 5 inches diameter there are too many knots to get much usable for hammer handles. And limb wood is more prone to warping while drying. That being said... Split the wood through the pith (center). You generally don't want pith in the handle and it will reduce the checking (splitting from an end during drying). It won't eliminate the check. You can split down to something about 2 X 2 inches and 2 to 4 inches longer than you intend the handle to be. That will air dry in 18 to 30 months depending on your environment and where you put it. The faster it drys the more checking there will be. The smaller you split it the better you'll have to stack it to reduce warping. Seal the end grain. You can use wax, carpenters glue, varnish, laquer, shellac, grain sealer or paint. Each has different advantages and disadvantages. Paint is the worst but better than nothing. Stack it so there is some air circulation around each piece. If you cut or split the pieces smaller than 3 inches, it needs to be stacked, stickered and weighted. It should be stacked away from the weather and in an area that doesn't get too hot (figure it should stay under 100 or 110 degrees F, if those are common summer temps try to find someplace it will stay a bit cooler) and with plenty of air circulation. Wait. Check occasionally for signs of insect infestation (the appearance of holes or sawdust), mold growth and maybe restack if the stack is large enough (moving middle pieces to the outside). Depending on way too many variables to type here you may need to wait anywhere from a year to 4 or 5. You can check progress with a moisture meter or by weighing a sample (when the weight stabilizes it is dry to your local). ron

I agree. That grain is too big. Before you quench you should normalize or anneal. During this step you can refine the grain. Watch your heat carefully when heat treating so you don't grow the grain during the heat treat. The specifics for the heat treat depend on the alloy you are using. I commonly hear of prybars being 1060 to 1080. But I don't know if this is true or not. ron

It depends on how smart of a businessman he is.

I'm gonna try to explain the way I hammer with the bad pictures below for illustration. If you have Streeter's book "Professional Smithing" he has a picture with the thumb on top and a caption stating that is the correct grip for a hammer. If you have Schwarzkopf's book "Plain and Ornamental Forging" he has a picture with the thumb on the side and says that is the correct grip for a hammer. You need to find what works for you. In the first picture you will see what most tell you not to do. That is how I hold a hammer. It allows me to hammer in any direction from overhead to sideways to down. Very useful when nailing in construction (when I was deployed as a carpenter in the army we mostly used hammers, in the civilian world we mostly use nail guns). The trick is that I only use 2 fingers to hold the hammer that is shown in the next picture. And I have swung my hammer just like that with the thumb, forefinger and little finger held away from the handle to illustrate that I don't use my thumb at all. The 2 fingers keep the handle against my palm. Because I don't use my thumb it does not transfer shock up my arm. My thumb will actually slide past the handle if need be. When I follow the directions Glenn has above, I don't get any pressure or rotation of the wrist or any other part because the handle pivots where it does. In the 3 picture the point of the pencil shows about where the handle pivots during the swing. That point is between the 2 fingers that hold the handle so it is a secure grip. In the 4th picture I show the grip without the hammer. That shows the cross section for my hammer handles. The last picture shows the cross section of the handle when it is held between the thumb and forefinger. That is what I meant when I said some people like a slab sided handle. Does that make it clear as mud? ron

There are lots of ways to hold and swing a hammer. You need to find what works for you. That being said some of the common reasons for pain in the wrist can be (in no order) - too heavy of a hammer. If you are swinging a hammer much heavier than you are used to it can cause stress. - holding the hammer handle too tight. That will prut more of the shock of the impact in you. That results in vibration that aggravates connective tissue. - a sloppy swing. What I mean by that is you should be swinging straight. You shouldn't have to make a lot of adjustments to hit where you're aiming, a lot of people try to make such adjustments from the wrist, which can overwork the wrist. - hammer handle shape. I prefer an oversized oval cross section. Most folks I know who use a grip like I think you're describing find a slab-sided smaller handle works better. I swing from the shoulder keeping my elbow close to but not touching my body. There is a little elbow movement but not much. I hold the hammer in a "carpenters grip" with my thumb on top, usually. I have a larger than normal handle which I find easier to hold without over-gripping. The hammer can pivot around a point in the palm of my hand which can compensate a little for variation in anvil height (maybe 1/2 inch up or down). ron

Yes it is full tang. The story of the grapevine. When I was house sitting for my brother in Texas, there was an old oak tree, that due to a treaty being signed under it, had some historical significance. Growing on this tree was a grapevine. The oak and grapevine were growing close to the dirt road my brother lived on. The county came along to pave the road and decided the oak was in the way. Before they could get the oak cut down, someone noticed what they were doing and stopped them due to the aforementioned history. But they had already cut the grapevine. After letting it lay there a day or two, I decided I needed to snag a piece of the vine since after all when was I ever going to see another grapevine that was some 8 or 10 inches in diameter. The picture is of some of that vine and that piece is about 2 foot long. It set around for a few years. I decided to cut into a month or two back and was not impressed. In hardness it is close to (maybe just a bit softer than) soft maple. Not the ideal for a knife handle but not real bad. The intricacies of the vine did not appear until I put a coat of oil on it. ron

Yes the handle really is grapevine. The blade is 1095. Overall length 11 3/8" Handle length 5 1/2" ron

Have you poked around Lindsay Publications Books Available They have books on making wind and solar based power sources and well as books on many other subjects. ron

Here is a knife I just finished. (Actually one of 2 finished, but I don't have picts of the other one yet.) The blade is 1/4 inch "music wire" from the hobby store which I hear is something like 1080 or 1095. And the way it works I can believe that. The handle is antler. This is my first use of antler. Dimentions Overall 8.5 inches Handle 4.75 inches Cutting edge 2.5 inches ron

I fence with a recreation group and have made my own clam shell guard and cross guards to fit epee, schlager, and dagger. I also know someone in the group who has made mortuary hilts for some of the group. So with that background, what is it you are looking for? There are a lot of different styles of hilts, historic and fantasy. Where are you located? There maybe someone close you can meet with face to face. If you want to use this for sport fencing, are there rules to keep the hilt legal? If you want to send me a PM you can. ron

If you spread both tine out at 180 degrees, you can upset the crotch of the tines and remove all traces of the split. It also upsets just behind where the tines join at the base and some people find that aestically pleasing. ron

And here I thought I gave enough information to answer that question above. Anyway, having used both side and bottom blast with charcoal (and coal), I think charcoal works better with side blast and coal works ok with side blast and ok with bottom blast. The biggest advantage I see to bottom blast are that the tuyere doesn't burn up and an ash dump may be easier to design into a bottom blast. I find less of a problem with clinker and ash with charcoal. The biggest problem with charcoal is it is less dense than coal meaning it requires more feeding the fire with fuel. ron

I read somewhere that the theoritical upper limit for both charcoal and coal is around 4000 degrees F. Just a bit of useless trivia I picked up somewhere. ron

With charcoal it is easier to design a side blast forge. I use charcoal often and it is real easy to blow the charcoal out of the fire pot with a bottom blast design. It will work with just a "hole in the wall", but that will limit somewhat the size of fire you can get hot. On the other hand, having the pipe in the middle of the fire will eventually burn the pipe up if it isn't water cooled. If you have an ash dump then theoretically it can be at the bottom, if you don't then a couple of inches for the accumulation of ash is sufficient. ron

Have you removed the factory finish from the hammer handle? That is put there to protect the handle during shipping and will make it harder to hold, control and use the hammer. You should also shape the handle to your hand. I didn't see if you said what material the hammer handle is, wood is best. There are a number of different ways of holding a hammer that may or may not work, I use more of a carpenters hold because I've done more carpentry than anything else. I also frequently have my thumb on top (heresy I know) and there is nothing wrong with that as it fits will how I hold and swing the hammer (if you are interested Streeter in "Professional Smithing" shows a picture of "correct hammer grip" with the thumb on top). The most important thing is to not hold the hammer with a death grip. The pain in your arm may indicate you are holding to tight (or are using too heavy of a hammer). One possible cure for holding the hammer too tight is to use a bigger handle. I make most of my handles and make them bigger than most folks like. I also make a definate oval cross section to facilitate correct oreintation of the hammer. ron

You should have a lot more lawn mower blade than you need. So take several samples and test different procedures. Start with a spark test, that will give you an idea where to start. If played with a couple of lawn mower blades, one was very close to mild steel (I'd guess 1050), one was something that shattered when quenched in water and was red short. ron

Can you give a brand/model of a clear face shield that has ir protection. When I was looking I couldn't find anything clear that specified a rating for IR, I did see some that gave the level of UV protection. I'm not interested in a autodarkening helmet, just a face shield. thanks. ron

If I understand your description right the the air gets to the fire through two 1/8 inch holes. If so, I don't expect you are getting enough air through those holes. Increase both the number and size and try again. ron

A solid fuel forge is easy to make and you can make it any size you want or need. Remember the smaller the fire pot the more difficult fire management is (at least I find it so). Perhaps the simplest way to go small is to put a hole in the side of a suitably sized metal can (or other container) for a sacrifical air pipe, line with wood ashes to the desired size and you're set. I use a forge made from an old bbq grill built like this. ron

Not so much in the fire as at the edge. From what I understand, if the fire is reducing so there is no oxygen to combined with the sulfur, it is gaseous in the middle of the fire due to the heat and as it leaves the fire it condenses on whatever is cool enough. ron

Were you using coal? Under some conditions I've seen sulfur form similar to what you describe if the coal had a high sulfur content. ron