Benton Frisse

Too cool!

Holy vamboozles, batman! That's a set of tongs! Question, how old is that anvil in your third pic you posted, in front of the power hammer? It's a beaut!

Good old fashioned jackpot!

Welcome, DAN17, I hope you find all of the good stuff on here as helpful as I have! Enjoy this place and don't take it for granted, some really great people have posted on here (and still are doing so)! I don't have nearly the forging experience as some of these folks, but I agree with Mr. Frosty up there... high orange should work just fine!

I share your ignorance, Dodge! I thought it was fiberglass of some sort... but I do not know exactly what it's made from, just that it's nasty stuff on the lungs!

Yeah, I've heard the stuff is nasty. I didn't have a full blown respirator, but I had one of those white masks that people use for doing drywall and such. Thanks, BIGGUNDOCTOR!

Thanks, Mitch! I like working with G10 so far, it works easier than wood it seems, and is much easier to clean up!

Here's my most recent knife. This was my first time using a file to make a knife and a first for working with G10. I still have a lot to learn, and each time I make a knife I learn something new. I didn't get all of the scratches and file texture out of this one, I was already getting thinner than I wanted when polishing, so I gave up on that part. But then I gave it a vinegar bath to put the dark color on the blade. I like that look. I'm going to hit the G10 with a bit finer grit paper. I didn't have a respirator, but I did have one of those white masks that basically suffocate you. It was a fun project. I really don't want to part with it... but I remember my cousin telling me "Every knife you make, you won't want to part with." I'm finding that's true. Still need to sharpen it and do a sheathe for it. Here's some photos, enjoy! I'm open to some constructive criticism as always!

Uhhhhh... wow. Stunning! Simply stunning!

That's arguably the most beautiful pattern I've ever laid eyes on!

Thanks! Same to you!

Our Diamond rounders came with those coatings, too! I didn't realize it at first, went out and fired up the forge, and started hammering on a piece of steel and the most awful smell emitted from the hammer lol. I've pretty well gotten rid of the majority of it from use. Some of the black paint on the rest of the hammer head is finally starting to wear off too. I"m not real big on coatings on hammers... but the way I look at is that until it's all worked off or burned off from use, it'll just keep the rust off of 'er for that much longer!

Oh yeah! We ate with you one time, too! You were telling my step dad and I the joke about saving your name tag and coming in on some random Friday night and getting free fried chicken, right? I remember that tomahawk you made! It looks awesome!

Man, as usual, you produce some beautiful work. That handle is beautiful too!

That was actually how I did it. I smacked it while still in the brace until it kinda fell out lol. The brace... well... it didn't fare too well...

Were you there this year?!

Those look good! Way better than the ones I made! What size stock did you start with?

Thanks for the advice, Chinobi! Do you happen to have a photo you'd be willing to share of your set you use? I just used some scrap fence channel we had laying around. Although I wish I would have had some 1/4 flatbar laying around. I'd like to do more of this stuff, especially for knife fittings and maybe even moving on to some fittings for some of my nihonto and iaito I own! I wasn't real sure of how much I should polish it. I really almost didn't want to etch it, because for some odd reason I like subtlety with pattern welds and stuff. But I decided to give it a whirl! I literally squirted a splash of ferric chloride into the bucket and it almost ate that thing alive in less than 30 seconds. So i diluted it down big time. I agree, next time i'm going to start with some kind of 220 grit of some sort. What materials do you prefer to use when making your mokume-gane? Thanks for the encouragement and tips!

The food was awesome! I was introduced to grits... and fell in love with grits! But on a more serious note, everything there was awesome. I learned quickly, don't eat at the table with the other blacksmiths or you won't get much food! lol I had forge welded before, but not with a lot of success. A few solid welds here and there. The class really helped my ability to forge weld and correct some things that I was really doing wrong.

Well... it's not the greatest, but here's my first crack at mokume-gane. It was supposed to be 12 layers, but I lost a layer or two in the first initial weld. I plan to do more of this stuff, it's relatively easy and looks pretty darn cool in my opinion. I don't really like ferric chloride, so I'm going to just use white vinegar next time. FC is just too nasty. My pattern was supposed to be an X... but I didn't do it quite deep enough and lost most of that design due to grinding. I decided to give this little "medallion" to my buddy who's going back to Italy Saturday. I won't call this a total success... but I enjoyed trying something new and foreign to me. Any tips? I didn't quite get all of the scratches out. My 80 grit belt sander did some damage. I hit it with some 220 then 600 and then a cotton wheel that had a bit of jeweler's rouge on it. Thanks for looking everyone!

I did my first 2 hour temper the other day, a friend gave me an old toaster oven. Hammered out a blade from tool steel, cranked the beast up to 450 and left it in there for 2 hours. Came out a beautiful straw color and took a wicked edge! I just always assumed 2 hours was a good rule of thumb, depending on the steel type.

Looks good! I've made a few rail road things myself, and they're a lot of fun to make and sell super easy. I like your bevels and twists!

Beautiful pattern!