Wrought Iron Farm

Thanks y’all, I appreciate the info! 

Has anyone made copper brass or copper brass and quarter mokume in a kiln? If so would you mind sharing your process? Just got my evenheat kiln and was thinking it would be perfect for mokume. 

So I'm reading the Textbook Of Mokume Gane by Masaki Takahashi NPO Japan Mokumegane Research Institute. Its a good read and very inspirational. It has me wanting to make finger guards out of Mokume. I'm wondering if anyone has tried the nickel from Amazon? I have a bunch of copper sheets and brass sheets I scored from a scrap yard by my house.   Here is a link to the nickel in question.

I was pming with Glenn and he was saying pretty much the same thing you are. He suggested it would probably have to me the main topic then several subcategories. I just think it would be awesome to have a category for it and be able to easily access that info. Also the subcategories for hammers, hair pins, knives etc would also be a huge help. 

Steve, how come we have a Mokume Gane section but no Damascus section?

10 hours ago, Irondragon ForgeClay Works said:

I would recommend the The Pattern-Welded Blade: Artistry in Iron by Jim Hrisoulas a member here (JPH).

As it turns out I recognized the name on the book. I went into my office and was scanning my bookshelf and low and behold I had it the whole time. I got this this book when I first started making knives before I started forging. Thanks for the recommendation.

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Ive made several damascus blades and just winging it as I go along. I've been successful so far, until my last blade had some welds that didn't take. I use 1075 and 15n20 cut to size welded corners and soaked in kerosene. I don't use borax because I use a gas forge and don't want to degrade the bricks with the borax. All the info I have in my brain is from YouTube and a brief conversation with Jim Poore. So I'm looking for a book and I've checked out the book review section but didn't see anything within the first 4 pages. Is there a book that covers canister, pattern welding, Damascus techniques? The pic is the last knife I made and had to shorten because of the bad weld.  Any info is greatly appreciated  

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Anyone know anything about this old girl? She has a cracked cast iron pot, so I’m going to use an old farm disc as a pot. Here she is if anyone had information I would appreciate it. 

Short story of me. I started making knive by material removal about 8 yrs ago. Split with girlfriend and lost my shop 4 years ago. Stuff sat in boxes till last year, I set up shop in my new garage. Started removal knives again and dove head first into blacksmithing again.

History out of the way onto pin discussion,  I’ve made bunches on mosaic pins but want to find the pin stock with shapes. I’ve been looking since I started marking knives 8 yrs ago. I don’t know if I’m just garbage at googling or what but I can’t find stock anywhere. I can find complete pins but I want to make everything in-house.  

This is what I’m looking for the shapes in the center of the pin. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks 

My bad, I’m going to cut out a spade ♠️ shape and pop it in the forge then hammer  forge in the curvature. 

Hey y’all, want to make so garden tool for my wife and her family. I want1075 so that way it will hold a bit of an edge but don’t know which kind. Hot rolled, cold rolled annealed, scaleless blue tempered? What’s the best choice? Pic to show full list of options. Also what gauge would you guys suggest? I was thinking 14-16? 

5 hours ago, Timber Ridge Forge said:

Well I have spoken to Greg(Holland) many times he takes the process very seriously to make a high quality anvil. 

Oh yeah, he’s an awesome dude, No doubt about it. I have a Holland swage block and know they make quality products. This is a tool but it would be awesome to have a tool and an investment. 

6 hours ago, Wrought Iron Farm said:

Hey guys, I’m trying to decide on my next anvil it’s a toss up of a perfect shape S&S 387lbs no sideshelf north German or a holland north German style with a side shelf 466 lbs.

Not 466 it’s 440lbs 

Antique anvil from a company that has been gone for decades, I think will hold a higher value. Vs something someone can buy new. So if I spend 2600 on it die in ten years my family would probably get 1000? 

Hey guys, I’m trying to decide on my next anvil it’s a toss up of a perfect shape S&S 387lbs no sideshelf north German or a holland north German style with a side shelf 466 lbs. I’m really torn between the two. The s&s is lighter but older and has no side shelf but has the cool old factor going for it. I also think it’s going to increase in value and I think a used holland will depreciate. I’m thinking down the road for my family when I’m gone. This will be my dream worker anvil. Anyway, do Any of you guys that don’t have a side shelf wish that you did? Also you guys with a side shelf can you tell me the best advantages of having one? Any help as always is greatly appreciated. 

Hey guys, if this is the wrong spot for this I apologize. I want to make some stuff from nuts and bolts. What kind of bolts should I buy and how can I know a 100% that they have no harmful coatings? I want to  make a carving knife from a bolt and a ring from a nut. Also want to use them for various therapy projects. As always your help is greatly appreciated. 

23 hours ago, Mikey98118 said:

I'm pretty impressed too! If it doesn't come with a door, you can always use brick as a baffle wall, when heating small items; this would allow you to cut fuel consumption way back.

Vaughn T,

Have you considered lining the forge with ceramic fiber board? Your forge could gain a lot of insulation for a small reduction in volume. Be sure to paint the board with a seal coat, like Plistex, to keep the fiber where it is and lower wear and tear.

I used a brick sized piece of steel to block the front. Seemed to work well, here’s a pic. 

First impressions, smaller then I thought it would be. Looks a little cheesy but I fired it up and I was pretty impressed. Overall I’m stoked so far. Mind you this was the first fire up. I’ll let you know next week what my thoughts are. 

9 hours ago, Frosty said:

Two or three burner? Good choice, though I never understood why the "rear" door is steel rather than refractory like the front. Still, good quality and turn key, you're going to enjoy using it.

Keep us in the loop while you're having fun please. 

Frosty The Lucky.

I got the two burner. I probably will use the steel door as the front and only use the the back when I have a bigger project. I will definitely keep you guys posted. 

3 hours ago, Mikey98118 said:

So, what did he decide? We covered the three best options.

I ended up with the majestic artist deluxe. Should be here Tuesday

It’s like glass blowing and kilns tho. You buy a small one for 2/3 the price then out grow it in a year and have to buy a bigger one. I would rather just make the purchase one and be done. That’s my logic behind just getting a decent sized forge. 

Ok so I have a xxxx ton of money tied up in my setup and anvils, I just want to get a forge that works. So my question is, if you guys were to buy a forge big enough for two people to work out of, what forge would you buy? I make knives, key chains and leafs. My wife wants in and she wants to make leafs key chains and basically everything but knives. So we were looking at the majestic 3 burner with front door and both sides open. If you guys need a forge yesterday and were ordering one right now what would it be and why? Thank you for the info. Also I have looked through the gas forge section for the past day trying to figure out the best route to go. 

It is a weld mark reg, I’m a glass blower and have a bunch of regulators. We use them all for propane to run the glass torches. And for my big torch I use 20lbs of pro and 60lbs of oxy. 

I was given this forge by a friends, friend. It’s an old weed burner with an old non adjustable regulator. I took off that regulator and put on a Harris that goes up to 60lbs. I also have a kiln shelf I use as a door. I’m still just over cherry red on my steel and the forge doesn’t get that glow to the bricks. I’m running at 20psi with a fan blowing in the top of the weed burner. I’m going to try to post a video. If I can’t do the vid I’ll post a couple pics. Any information would be great. 

I have  97lb 1908 a&h, a 197lb 1901 a&h and 70lb Badger. Can anyone tell me about badgers? I’ve been reading they are a rare anvil.  Here is my anvil porn.