rustyshackleford

I've seen all kinds. I made a mild plate for the historical outfit in town. Good luck finding .25 copper nowadays, I'm sure it can be done though. My only adversion to it is that it might produce toxic fumes if the iron is on it for too long while hot enough. I may be paranoid.

In a similar tale, I knew a director of a museum that was smithing and hurt himself. he was working on a knife, and was notorious (to me) for using the wrong tool. Had a pair of button tongs squeezing a tang while he was hitting it. *smack smack smack smack* and the blade worked itself out, flew up, and caught him in the face. left a scar across his bridge, burned his cornea. Unfortunately his lack of judgement now means that everyone who works in the shop must wear safety glasses (18-19th century period shop)

Thanks Donnie, you'll appreciate my new one coming soon. I'm trying to finish "my" knives for reenacting. There was a minor setback with one, but I'm hopefully finishing it soon.

The bolster is a poured lead (will be replaced) band. I used paper and wrapped it, leaving a gap. before that I ground a relief in the blade for the lead to pour around and be a solid ring. I also fluxed the blade, but that probably did little since I only melted the lead and poured it into the paper mould.

that clear? let me know I'll show you with pics as best I can

nothing fancy

I'm not sure what it means to publicise your touchmark, can someone enlighten me?

Post it on here; register it with abana; register it with anvilfire, heck, trademark it

I really like the smallest one you did. I've used the crowns from antlers for what few knives I've produced, but like how your handles are proportioned!

Sure. publicise them both. Many that have two have an image, and some form of their initials as well. I've also seen positive and negative forms of the same image.

Thanks a lot Frosty, I also cut the tube down to 4.5" and used a #77 but for the nipple like you recommended. Your knowledge was invaluable for this, and it would not have come together as it did without you :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgbKHOUk7dI

Well, here's an update.

The gasser works now. i'm seeing a little oxidation, and may need to increase my reducing tee's size to accomidate more airflow. I got a flare and welded it onto the burner. If it wears out I'll just replace the whole affair and redo it more precisely, now that I know what needs to be done.

Cost:
10" of 6" pipe- $26
8" black iron nipple
1.25" to .5" reducing coupling
4" 1/8" brass nipple
1/8 brass cap
1/8 brass female-female coupling
(all above sans pipe- ~$15)
insulating wool- $8

misc other expenses for drill bits- $10-15

Waynesboro is the wrong side of Raleigh for me I'm up in the mountains. It's closer to Greenville, where I went to school

One consideration is to make the tool a little bit soft if you don't know what it is. That way you'll notice it wearing instead of noticing it shatter. A bent bickern or soft hardy is a lot easier to re-treat than re-forge

Also, update where you are located by going to the user CP in the upper right hand corner of the page. This way someone might be closer than you think, and can help you!

It's also a good excuse to fry a turkey this year! that's where I got my peanut oil a few years ago, still works fine :)

Looking good, wish I had the resources right now to start doing the same thing! I bet it will get toasty in there when they're all running

to answer your question about the swage, look for the saltfork craftsmen swage block, and if you need one even smaller check blacksmith's depot or centaur etc. for their smallest block. These would provide you with baby half rounds

Do want. :)

i've heard that gassers oxidize steel quicker, perhaps people interpret that as a sign that composition is affected....

me likeum both kinds shown i might invest n one of those rounding hammers. I'm building my arsenal one at a time. I started with a swedish, and like its feel. Now I've got a hofi style left diag. It will take some getting used to, but I've already found it handy (and that it almost necessitates his suggested stance/orientation). A rounding is next on the list, and with those three alone I feel I would be well equipped. In an ideal world I'll have a hammer from all the big names. Not because the "Tool makes the..." (an apt phrase though) but as a... documentary of this era in blacksmithing I suppose?

Bone handled knives do work, stabilizing is popular with the pros (you'll have to ask them how they go about it, I'm just now aware of the process). Shins are symmetrical, and have a nice slight flare at the butt that prevents the hand from slipping too much, so that's nice. You could also do the ball joint, but I'd reserve it for something like a sword, if you ever felt like doing one. some might argue against it, but you could fill the void with epoxy. You can also take silver solder and cast a decorative bolster at the same time. it's a little expensive, but offers immediate gratification, since you can buy it off the shelf, unlike pewter.

Heck, you got fire ants down there, when it warms up, throw the bone on the pile and leave it for a spell. it will be clean in no time. I got some bear feet this summer and never thought I wanted to see another fireant until that day... :)

Looking good Minotaur! I'm glad to see your progress, it looks like it will be done before you know it.

Woody's idea is pretty solid, the wire brushing pushes down/removes the softer wood layers, in effect raising the harder ones. THis is the same thing that happens durign weathering.

The ammonia is also not a bad idea. Use proper blah blah blah :)

Looks gooood. I like the vapor effect of the tempering

I need to work on my ambidexterity, just for giggles

yep, looks great! I get the impression that kind of work takes a lot of tooling monkey tools, chisels, punches, and drifts all for different sizes of stock

china's demand for scrap has ceased, but the steel made when they demanded high prices here are still on the shelves, and unlike oil, suppliers, etc. keep the price high. the demand for new stock is still there