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I Forge Iron

happycat

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Everything posted by happycat

  1. Hi folks. I picked this up last summer in a ridiculously wonderful stroke of luck. Guy coming to me to buy a bike had it loaded on his truck and delivered it when he came to get the bike. Five minutes before he got here with it, a lowboy pulled up next door with a bobcat forklift to move some stuff for my neighbor. Within 24 hours of "Aww xxxxxxx !!! My truck is down. There's no way I'm going to pull this off."... there it was in my back yard.. OK that was the good part. The bad part is I never got to talk to the guys who built it in person and (of course) lost their number shortly after I got it. My little pancake compressor is good for about one hit, so there it sits awaiting a compressor big enough to make it go. What I'm hoping you guys can do for me is give me some advice on what size compressor to get. If anyone recognizes the style or plan maybe I can find out more about it and its needs. I can pick up a 60 gal 6HP compressor for about 300.00, but not sure if that's enough tank or not. Don't know what kind of pressure or volume it wants. I know I should get the biggest I can manage, but funding is usually a problem so I"m also trying to figure out the smallest/cheapest I can get a way with too..... I'm starting to feel more and more guilty when I look out there and see it sitting idle. Any help or advise is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Ed
  2. Really Nice! I really like the middle one because its so different from what I usually see/do. I also like the fact that you did something different with each of the handles on the others. Great job.!
  3. Beautiful stuff! I am truly inspired. One of the things I like about Giger's work (and yours) is the detail and the incredible amount of interesting things to see. I'm struggling with language here, but what I mean is that you could look at your work a hundred times and still be finding new things to appreciate. I love that, and marvel at the incredible amount of time, thought, and work that must have gone into these. Thanks for sharing them! Ed
  4. Beautiful work! I'm glad that you took time to make something for yourself. Frosty, that last post really made me laugh thank you! I am a great procrastinaor and starter of projects. As evidenced by my 3/4 finished (for two years now) hot shop. I really like this idea of making nice stuff for ourselves rather than getting rid of it all. Particularly with tools or objects we use every day. I thik its well worth the effort to go that extra bit that makes you smile every time you see/use them. Ed
  5. That is one beautiful knife! The hamon is spectacular and I love the lines. It looks like one of those that you just wouldn't want to put down. I really like the angle of the guard in relation to the blade, and the junction of the bottom of the guard and handle. Basically, I love the whole thing! Great job and thanks for sharing. Ed
  6. I've been having a ball playing with some coil springs I scrounged last fall. These are the results. Not sure how good the file work pic came out, but I love having the dichotomy between the rough forged scale and the fancy file work. I used the second from the bottom to dress a road kill deer now in my freezer. Worked like a charm. Held an edge pretty well too! Thanks for looking. This is my first picture post here. Hope it works:rolleyes: Ed PS: I've got Tim's video too and would recommend it to anyone! Thanks Tim!
  7. I agree. I think you will have much better performance with a pipe shaped chamber and koawool. It contains and reflects the heat much better, and the circular chamber will also give you a more even heat, swirling the flame and avoiding the hot spots you tend to get with a rectangular chamber. If you want an easy inexpensive to build forge, a bladesmith named Indian George Rabello, has plans posted on his website. The same plans are also on Ellis custom knifeworks website. Darrin Ellis sells pretty much anything you would need to build a great forge. Most of the parts for this forge you can get at the hardware store. The rest you can get from him.http://forgegallery.elliscustomknifeworks.com I've made two based on Georges plans and they work great. Also they were simple enough even I could build one. Good luck and happy forging! Ed
  8. So I'm off all this week and think it might be a good time to finish the back wall on my shop so the wind does't blow directly into my forge. Then I can spend the rest of the week forging. The ladder kicked out as I was coming down and I caught myself by the armpits on the rafters.....saving me from a nasty fall. Unfortunately my little finger got mashed in the process and is now swollen and stiff. I don't think I'll be able to hold anything with it to hit..... So here I am typing with one hand, the other on ice. If I can get the swelling down, maybe I can be forging by the end of the week...... Until then, I'll be here looking for the next project to tackle...... Littlewolf, if you want that anvil guy's info PM me. He's in Masonville, not far from you at all. Ed
  9. Ahh, the things you see when you don't have a spare grand lying around...Harrumph:mad:
  10. This is a great thread as a friend wants a few spike knives for his shop. Looking at the hose head, I had an idea. Anyone ever see one with a dragon head? May have a new project for tomorrow. Ed
  11. Dereck, I don't know the answer, but I love the question. I have a 50 lb ASO and a piece of 5160 about 3/4" thick (brush hog blade), that would seem to be a good match. What do you think guys, would this work? ED
  12. I figured it was only fitting for Happycat Forge to have a happy catforge:D Ed
  13. Good thread. I've been thinking about making some as well. I was thinking of using some curly maple. Anybody see any problems with that? I"m a bladesmith, so the idea of using "boring" looking wood to handle anything just rubs the wrong way. Any thoughts? Ed
  14. Thanks guys. I contacted the NYSBD and will be heading up there. I appreciate the help. I wasn't aware of that one, and will be joining that group. Thanks again, Ed
  15. I think one of the heavy duty canvas tool bags would work great. They have a zipper on top, and are pretty bomb proof. The bottom half is double thick as are the sides half way up. Thats what I carry my hammers, tongs, etc in when I travel (though I admit I have never taken it on a plane). I think it would hold up pretty well though. The thing I'm talking about used to be called mason's tool bag, but you can get pretty fancy ones at lowes, home depot etc. What ever you do, I like the idea of zip tying your tools together into "clumps". Seems it would make it less likely that things would get pilfered that way. Good luck and have fun! Ed
  16. Does anyone know of any Hammer In in the NY state area this weekend (11/8-11/9)? I know theres one in Virginia. I also heard there may be something near Middletown NY which I think may be this weekend, but I'm sketchy on details, date, place, private/open to public etc. I would really like to make it to at least one hammer in this year, and I'm running out of year. I've either not been able to get to them or found out after the fact. Any info you think might be helpful would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Ed Wilson Happycat Forge
  17. The latest is a cute little antique bench top table saw with a nice sturdy fence and miter gage. I stopped at the auction yesterday at lunch and they had it in back for me. I put in a 20.00 absentee bid about three weeks ago and won it, but they lost my phone number. This will replace the little 10.00 table saw I got there about 6 months ago (no fence or miter gage been using angle iron clamped to the table). these little saws are real handy for cutting handle slabs for my knives. Ed
  18. If you're not already aware of it Ellis Custom Knifeworks website is a great resource for forge building supplies and pictures of what others have done. I bult mine from a tutorial link there. Check out Indian George Rabello's tutorial on that site. Its very simple, very adjustable, very adaptable. I made my big one out of 10" pipe with fire brick stacked to block the ends. Found it was much bigger than I needed for most work. Made another out of 7" tank of some sort. This has an end at the rear and fire brick at the front. If I were to do another, I would opt for the hinged or removable rear with a small work door in it. Might even go for something like that in front too in the name of effeciency, gas costing what it does. Ed
  19. I was holding pretty well there as far as not buying tools for awhile.....at least not expensive ones. Then I started thinking about this old guy who sells old tools who I haven't checked on in awhile. Couldn't get it out of my head and finally just stopped by, just to chat mind you, inquire as to his health mostly.... He had not one, but six SIX anvils in his garage, .... and a crank blower, ....and four post vises.....and ......I had four dollars in my wallet:( I got a really cool hot cutter though, and he let me scrounge through his scrap pile:D Now, a week later, I just got paid. Have just enough money to pay the taxes on the house........I think maybe I'd better give my car keys and check book to my wife to hold for me....Feeling weak again..... I don't have to go all week without buying tools, just today, Ok just for the next 12 hours, uhh... one hour?? Honey, wheres my check book?
  20. I'd probably go for the cheaper one as long as the holes don't interfere with the work surface. If it's still in nice shape even with the holes, 250.00 is a lot to pay for an extra 50 lbs of steel (for the big anvil). Of course, if you can swing the bucks, buy em both and sell the one you don't like on ebay. They seem to fetch pretty good money there.... Ed
  21. That's a beautiful piece. What a generous gift. Ed
  22. That is incredible! You must have some serious time into these. Beautiful work. Ed
  23. Metal Muncher, glad to help. I'm sure she will love having a knife made by you. there's something about using a tool, be it pen, knife, whatever that was hand crafted (especially by someone you know), that is just a pleasure. I've made a few chef knives for friends, but mine generally turn out looking like something Steven Segal would use, kind of a tactical kitchen knife. Apprenticeman, pretty much what Frosty said. I couldn't quote you a source about 5160 leaf springs, its just something that I've been told, read about, heard about for years. Frosty thanks for the coil spring info. I didn't know that. Does it make good knives, tools etc? I've heard about people using coil spring for knives, just assumed it was 5160. Beaverdam, I didn't mention about the chicken blood, magnetic north, or the full moon...... You should see me forge on Halloween:o I'm not enough of a metalurgist to describe why normalizing works, but I've seen the results. Particularly if you forge really HOT, you get grain growth (large grain bad...), you can see the diff if you heat some high carbon steel up to almost yellow hot and quench it, then take a similar piece keep it down in the red/orange range, normalize, quench. Then break the two and look at the break. The "hot one" will be sparkley, the normalized one will be smooth and sort of satiny. You can really see the diff in the grain size. Ed
  24. PS: If you want to see the quench line on 5160, you will probably have to give it a light etch for it to really be visible. I use ferric chloide and distilled water 4:1( water to ferric). Warm vinegar will also work and is not so toxic or hard to find. Ed
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