Tyler Murch

Why Frosty? The texture came from what it was poured on to. The top side is smooth.

Borax works. Borax all the way, baby!!! I've welded stainless just fine with it too.

Grand idea Thomas.

At our last blacksmith's guild meeting, there was a short and simple demo on aluminum casting, and it made me want to try it. I knew somebody who had several old ladles from an ironworks shop that went out of business long ago, and I bought four of them.

So far I have done one casting.

It WAS going to be a bowl.

Dan, first of all a rounding hammer's face spreads material in all directions in an equal amount while a cross peen spreads nearly all of the material in only two directions. I prefer the mellow, large radius like this one. It covers more surface, does not sink in as deeply, and compared to most of the extremely narrow peens out there, it could be called a hybrid peen/face.

Thank you all. I'm glad it looks so comfy!

Lump charcoal, real charcoal, natural charcoal is what the stuff you want is called.

This is my latest hammer. I'm keeping this one:)

It's about 3-3/4 pounds. Forged from 1-3/4" 4140. Oil hardened and selectively tempered.
I make these for sale as well. Contact me.

I'm right handed and I use the horn to the left. For me it's easier to work with because I can work at the face and the horn without moving my feet. If the horn were to the right, I would need to move my feet.

Look at hardy holes. When a hardy hole is located on the tail, and your horn is facing to the left, there is the danger of your hand coming in contact with a hardy tool while you are working on the face while there is a tool in the hole. Now, English pattern anvils have the hardy hole on the tail,but MANY, and probably the majority, of anvil patterns have the hardy hole on the horn side near the junction of horn and face. Example: The German anvil, the French anvil, the Italian anvil, the Euroanvil, the Hofi anvil, the Tom Clark anvil, and more.

....p.s. Horned anvils have only been in wide use for a small fraction of the time that blacksmithing has been practiced.

Art is human influence. It comes from the world behind the eyes.

"The world today doesn't make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do?"

Pablo Picasso said that.

That's very good for a first. Here is a tip for the next one. Know that with a hatchet like this, when you set it down so that the blade and the end of the handle is touching the ground, the center of the cutting edge (perhaps a little above the center considering your hand isn't at the very bottom) should touch the ground while the end of the handle is on the ground. Your hand at the bottom of the handle is the pivot point so it needs to be in cahoots with the center of the edge....kind of hard to explain right now. If you are going to make axes, hatchets, and tomahawks, a copy of The Ax Book by Dudley Cook is great to have. He covers what I am talking about in it. There is a great chapter where he explains what makes an efficient ax.

The words "too many" and the word "tongs" can be used together in a sentence only if one is pointing out that one can never have too many tongs. . .

LOAN me a dollar......please

And drop like a block of LEAD

ps. I was wishing the reply to my last one would be kerf, as in saw kerf. don't know why.

why thank you. looking at them now, there is much room for improvement.

One big piece of charcoal? That is the same as trying to light a log versus trying to light a twig.

Put some crumpled up paper down, a little charcoal on top. Light the paper, then turn on the air.

Or, the easy way, take one of the small hardware store propane torches, hold it to the charcoal for a few seconds until it lights, then turn the air on and let it spread. This is what I do, because half of the ash in your shop will be from the paper you use to light the charcoal.

Charcoal lights easier than coal, and even coke.

working like a SERF sure ain't fun..

The working end needs to be hardened, and the striking end needs to be pretty soft; that's as-forged (or if you're a perfectionist, normalized).

Heat only the working end to quench. If you don't want it hard, don't get it hot. So only heat the working end to quench.

Now the way to heat to temper, there are several ways that work. You can hold it above (or outside the mouth) of your forge and let it heat slowly while rotating it. You can heat the striking end with your forge or a torch and let the colors run to the end. Remember that steel heats from the outside-inward. You must heat it very slowly to allow the temperature to be mostly equal inside and out.

The only time I practice the method where you quench the end and let the residual heat run and draw the temper is if it is a water quench, and I would not quench a coil spring in water.

I have the habit to make a hot punch or hot chisel real quick for a quick job and not heat treat it. Many times, being that since it is ALLOY or HC steel it is durable enough for the job without having to be heat treated. In fact, not too long ago I punched and drifted a 7/8" hole through a 1-3/4" thick piece of steel with a single punch/drift made from 1018 mild steel, a simple, yet laborous feat for a lone blacksmith with hand tools only at ANY rate.

I heat and forge the steel with the chrome STILL on. It forges right along with the steel until it desintegrates after it becomes so thin. I am CAREFUL with it. I have good ventilation, and I DO NOT HANG AROUND THE FORGE while it is heating. You GUYS ARE RIGHT, BUT I would still rather have my hammer. MY WAY IS NOT BY THE BOOKS, but it is what I would do. Gotta die of something eventually anyways.

yeah, you messed it up.

I'll save it though. I'm not too LATE

I'm not a knifemaker anyway, I'm a blacksmith. I can count the knives I've made on one hand. I think the pov I was sharing is still applicable though.

I'll say that in the grand scheme of things, I'm a beginner at blacksmithing, but am I right when I say that my current work is better than that of a beginner's?

Sam, I have no clue what you are speaking of.

Steak's best RARE

BAKE some of them brownies..

Roll the DICE...