wolfshieldrx

I'm probably behind the times quite a bit but just finished reading "The Revolutionary Blacksmith" by Paw Paw Wilson. Good read! I can highly recommend it. Bart

Cool, a broad faced hog killing hammer! LOL!! I think thats what I'll start calling all my flatters. Bart

Those look great...especially tke hammer! Was at Smoky Mt Knife Works back in the fall. In their museum I saw some really small tongs...looked just like full-sized tongs but only aboyt a foot long and made from what I guessed to be 1/4 inch square stock. Thought about making some tho I dont know what I'd use them for.

My way of looking at price vs value. "Price" is how much the seller wants for an item and "value" is what I am willing to pay for it. For example, a seller may want $100.00 for a vise whether you buy it or I buy it. That's its price. I may be willing to pay $100.00 while you will only pay $50.00. That's its value. Maybe oversimplified but I'm pretty simple ;-) bart

Thanks guys. After doing a little research, I found that the "spring stock" I am using is 1070. Will try the oven temper tonight. Thanks again...bart

My son collects watches. He has a punch for removing the pins that hold the band links together. The punch has replaceable pins. The pins that came with the punch are brittle and break easily. I tried replacing them with some mild steel ones I made but they bend too easily. I have been trying to make up some from round spring stock. As supplied, it seems too hard and breaks easily...so far my attempts to draw back the temper has been unsuccesful. I either get them too hard (breaks) or too soft (bends). Any suggestions for tempering these small pins? They are only about 1/32 inch in diameter and less than 1 inch long. I seem to remember someone tempering small tools by heating to red/orange and plunging in either a bar of soap(!) or a chunk of beeswax. I don't remember which. thanks in advance...bart

Welcome to the Dark Side. Try to find some like-minded souls near you. You wont regret it. I use coal, live in WV so its relatively cheap tho sometimes hard to find (most of the good coal is being shipped overseas). 2-2.5 lb crosspeenhammer is probably the mosr versitile starting out. Ditto on the bolt tongs. Buy/make other tools as you need them. Make tongs from mild steel...high carbon will get brittle if you get them hot and then quench. Get a couple good books...do a search of this forum for some recommendations. Hang out here and soak it up! Im a relative newbie hobbysmith and have increased my knowlege exponentially by listening to these guys. Welcome again and enjoy!

sick, Sick, SICK! LOL!!

Here's the tiny ball peen i mentioned earlier. Bart

I have the smallest ball peen hammer I have ever seen. Never weighed it and dont have it at hand as I write this but would be surprised if it is over an ounce. The wife says its "cute". Ive used it for peening 1/16 inch rivets holding knife scales to liners. Will try to get a picture later. Bart

Nice work. Someone will be pleased. Merry Christmas. Bart

Merry Christmas...may you all find your stockings full of coal! Bart

Yes just heat, lock one end of the twist in the vise, and twist with a wrench. Thanks for the positive comments. Bart

Not quite up to the quality I'm used to seeing on this site but I know they will be pleased. Merry Christmas, Y'all! bart

On the other hand, as a hobby-smith, I really enjoy making my own tools. Whether I spend my time forging tools, or making something else, its still forge time...and I enjoy every minute of it. Plus there is the intangible...I like being able to make something else using tools that I made myself. If I depended on my forging to keep me fed and living indoors, I would probably feel differently, but for me the ability to make my own tools has a BIG cool factor. bart

Gorgeous! Got to try one of those. Soon. Bart

Best blacksmithing video ive seen in a long time! Treasure it! Bart

Moxon is a great resource for trades of the time...blacksmithing, joinery, housebuilding. The joinery portion was recently reprinted with modern interpretive footnotes. Highly recommend it. Would be great if someone did the same with the blacksmith section. Any takers? :-) bart

I started out with two for my wife then a couple for gifts and then a couple more special requests ("i want leaves on mine...")... Glad those are working out well for you...bart

I think Al Gore invented them... ;-)

Both very good points. I dont weld (outside the forge!) so i learned something. I'm just learning the spark test thing, but appeared to be about the same as auto coil spring. And yes, meant to say drift. Thanks a bunch...bart

Took a bunch of pix last week while forging. Finally got a chance to look at them tonight. Thought this one looked really cool. Looks like the leaf was "crawling" out of the fire but decided to turn around for another look... bart

Not sure if this belongs in TOOLS or HEAT TREATING, but here goes... A buddy gave me two of these auto body? tools. I reworked one to use as a handled punch. Cut off the flat end, forged down the pointy end, filed everything smooth and air cooled. My question is should this tool be rehardened/tempered or used as is? If I did temper it, oil or water? My best guess would be oil, but??? Also, when I was filing it, it seemed pretty hard just air-cooled. Plus, even if I did temper it, when I use it as a hot punch, won't the hot steel draw the temper anyway? Whattaya think, huh? Thanks in advance...bart

Thanks guys. I was afraid the latch was a little too robust for such a small box. And then after everything was together I noticed the latch "lists to leeward"...or is it starboard?? Anyway, its crooked! Thanks for the kind comments. Bart

Inspired by you guys I decided to build my own dedicated blacksmith toolbox. Criteria were that it fit behind the seat of my standard cab pickup truck, that it be relatively light, that it hold a reasonable amount of tools for an evening forging away from my shop and that it said "This is a blacksmith's toolbox...". I'm not a professional smith like some of you are, but really had a blast making this one. Oh, one more thing, I wanted to make it from scraps I already had on hand...this was accomplished...comments welcomed. Size is 22 inches long by 7 inches high by 7 inches wide at the base. It tapers to 6 inches wide at the top. The lid is curved so that it looks "coopered". I made it from white pine scraps I had left over from other projects. thanks for looking...bart