metalbender

do you have a fluent understanding of the core skills do you own and maintain a complete shop and use it as your primary source of employment do your customers return and recommend your work to others have you trained at least 3 apprentices that have subsequently gone on to make their living as a full time smith with the knowledge you imparted as the primary base of their success? do you share your knowledge willingly and help others in need are you a inspiration to those in our profession? then you are, in my eyes anyway, a master smith. I consider myself a very competent journeyman.....

buy the best you can afford and treat them like their free, try to use ceramic for hogging (36-40grits), zircs or ceramics to 120 then 220 after. i prefer hermes and nortons, i run fast powerful machines, Ive got 4 pheers with 1.5 to 3 hp motors depending on the machine, my hogging machine has a 6 inch drive wheel. preferred grits are 36-40 for hogging, 120 and 220 for cleanup, on my hollow grinder im then using 400 then 600, everything else im straight to abrasive stones. no buffers allowed in my shop, im deathly afraid of them. for what its worth I do both production, semi-custom and bespoke, average weekly production is about 40. hope any of this helps.

lol, wouldnt have it any other way

are you thomas "bog iron" powers from the old neo-tribal forum? if so hi! so here is where ya got off to

to the original poster, anouther option is to use abrasive stones instead of your grinder for final grits , go check out congress tools online,

redkneck carp i see your in austin, stop by my forge at sherwood forest faire this feb/march im just down from the top of the hill near the REALLY big tavern and the castle, near the potter, follow your nose im burnin coal. we will have a nice long talk about bladesmithing, blacksmithing, and why you should buy a steel building right away *grins* Shane Stainton Red Dog Forge

my bad, I had called a freind carl when we were doing live discussion and Im glad I did! Id confused joint fatigue with damage and made assumptions about vibration and mass. Carl told me that the reason for aching joints was that with no rebound from a smaller anvil having to LIFT the hammer constantly was what was causing the problem and that was why you wanted mass. basically the opposite of my statement above. Im still keeping my anvil though :P

if your anvil doesnt have the mass to absorb vibration, you are the mass absorbing vibration, ill keep my hay budden. for those that are needing something cheap head to the scrap yard and pick up a 100 lb block of solid steel for scrap price, and mount THAT vertical.

hi all I'm the blacksmith that Richard met at TRF that made the flint striker I am indeed a full time blacksmith and custom knife maker although to be honest since 2008 I've relied heavily on knives to make a living. Home decor took a real hard hit in the housing bubble burst. I work 3 major renaissance faires NYRF, Georgia, and sherwood. TRF has let go of all three smiths this year, *shrugs* I have a building at NYRF and this year am adding another hearth to it as well as a bloomery pen. I have a stone platform and hearth at Georgia and money willing will be building a structure over it soon ( trenton's old gig. and by the way Mr Tye has done amazing installation pieces in L.A., has trained people, run 3 shops, built equipment and pays the bills with his work, in my book that makes him a master. using yellin, simmons, or hofi as the standard as to wether your a master is like telling the head violinist of the boston philharmonic since he cant play like issac perlman hes not a virtuoso, bars a tad high there bub) I do not consider myself a master smith but Id confidently call myself a journeyman smith as far as demonstrating, I look at it as an opportunity to educate and amuse, I LIKE demonstrating, I can make just as much money selling at gun and knife shows as at renn faires but demonstrating smithing and seeing peoples eyes light up makes the extra work of demonstrating worth every hammer blow. aching elbows and shoulders and all. Ive been at this now for about 12 years and been full time since 2005 and wouldn't trade it for the world I want to thank Richard for his kind words and hope this finds you all well and hammering :) Regards Shane Stainton Red Dog Forge

open hammer in! come one come all! First Annual Fort Klock Hammer-in June 13th and 14th, 2009 Come one and all to the first annual Fort Klock Open Hammer-in! This weekend event will be held on the grounds of Historic Fort Klock on Saturday the 13th and Sunday 14th. This is a camping event and there is plenty of space for tentage. Folks wishing to set up on the evening of Friday the 12th are more than welcome to do so, please inform the event co-ordinator Shane Stainton if you intend to do so. this is not a strictly 18th century period event but by all means feel free to bring your period encampments, also the Fort's main house will be open to the public this weekend so those interested in touring the Fort can do so. Activities planned include smithing, music, smithing, barbeque, smithing,camping,smithing, and heck maybe even a good old fashioned barn dance! Oh and lets not forget smithing! Shane will be teaching the basics of knife making and proper heat treating. If you have a portable forge there is PLENTY of space for you to bring yours and your encouraged and welcome to do so! If you've never tried your hand at blacksmithing but always wanted to do so now is your chance! Those wishing to demonstrate or teach please let Shane know ASAP. There is no fee however any and all donations to the Fort would be GREATLY appreciated, there is much to be done here at the Fort, not the least of which is a new wooden floor for the smithy. Event Coordinator Shane Stainton 518 770 1578 knives@forgedknives.net Those wishing to make a donation but unable to attend please go to the donation page of the Fort's site, and thank you for your support! directions to the fort can be found here http://www.fortklockrestoration.org/maptabletest.htm

rule 6 of my master's rules of apprenticeship is my shop motto ( and Im tooling it onto the bib of my apron in latin heh) #6 If your going to be dumb you better be tough.

heya Matt, I'm in broadalbin ( near sacandaga lake ) about 40 min from you. let me know if youd like to come over for some pointers some time throw me a email at knives@forgedknives.net some time Shane