lanchie76

Gee where were you 10 years ago i would have dropped everything and flown from Australia for that type of training but alas i now have a wife and a beautiful little baby girl that i have to think about. i wish you all the best in finding an apprentice Jim. (light bulb lights up over head) mate have you thought about doing some DVDs about blacksmith/bladesmithing exercises. i know it isn't as good as an apprentice but i know that there are alot of people out there (like me) who dont have anyone near them that they can learn off. all the blacksmiths around here wont allow you into the smith for fear of being sued. i tried them all 10 years ago, even told them i'd work for free on weekends to learn but all said the same thing about insurance so gave up and started on my own with my only resources being this forum and books that i've found over time (and yes i have the first 2 of yours ) and have found that i learn more in watching youtube (for good or bad) than hours of reading. if you have already can you tell me where i could get my hands on them or any others that you know of thanks Ben

ok i went to have a look at the anvil. it looked good apart from the face wasn't harden. after a long talk with my father (who is a retired boiler maker) i decided that if i got it and my father face hardening it, it will still come out cheaper then shipping one in. has anyone face harden an anvil lately? what are the best rods to use with an arc welder (going to ask BOC when i can get there but having some personal experience from people is always great)? and is there any new things my father should know (he has been out of the game for 10 years but can still do a mean weld. he has never hard faced an anvil only gearing and such). thanks Ben

thanks for the history on the design master Hofi and Grant, its always nice to learn new things. i quite like the design of it (the only problem is where the pritchel is, would have liked it on the flat) although when i saw one of your designs late last year Hofi i fell in love with it. you thought of everything that you would need. one day hopefully i can buy one off you (ha ha when i can convince my wife its an investment that i must have ). cheers Ben

just received a phone call from Helen but alas there are no anvils left only a large forge and a few small hammers but at least its good to see they have clean out their stock when they closed Ben

ARRRR isn't always the way i've live just around the corner from logan and yet everyone i've talked to in the metal trade and all the searches i've done in yellow pages and google didnt even mention them. thanks for the info Frank i've just fired them an email to see if they have anything left from the closing down sale. thanks again Ben

thanks for your feedback guys its not the Nimba Anvils for sure they look much too good and the horn looks much sharper and smoother on them. gee i wish i could get my hands on one of them i gave the company a ring today to ask about them, they didnt have anymore detail but the sales rep said he thinks that they may be #45 steel. im going to have a look at them on friday so i will let you know what i think when i see one first hand Ben

hey guys just a quick post to get some opinions on the cast steel anvils. i have a opportunity to buy a new 70kg cast steel anvil for just over $500 Australian in the area that i live (there are others in australia but the freight costs puts it way out of my range) the only information that i can get is :-Description Manufactured from Cast Steel with a square and a round hardy hole to accept tooling. Tooling with 3/4" and 7/8" shanks can be housed in the anvil. DIMENSIONS (L x W x H): 68 x 20 x 19.5 cm WEIGHT (Nett):70.00 kg the pictures below are the off their website any information would be great thanks Ben

Hey Guys I'm starting this tread to try and help with the over enthusiastic beginner (like me )to find out what he/she needs to master/learn before even attempting a sword. So all the Masters and Expert out there please drop a reply with all the parts/knowledge of Blacksmithing and Metallurgy that is needed for Swordsmithing and maybe some exercises (from beginner to advanced) to help build the these skills (I mean this as a teaching tread so please explain everything). I'm hoping that this answers alot of the repeat questions that are asked here and if it works like i hope it does you may want to think about pinning. looking forward to reading the replies Cheers Ben

when will people learn? this is a place of learning for most people (thats why they joined) and you dont get help by insulting people. the major advisers on this forum dont get paid for this, they are here because they like helping people and want to see this trade/hobby continue. they are not diplomats, they tell it how they see it. sometimes that comes across abit blunt but if you do some research on this forum you will see that most questions asked by new people are mostly the same and are asked all the time. these people dont have to reply to the threads, they dont know the people and its not their problem if someone gets hurt but they do anyway. take their advise or dont but please show them the respect they are due for taking the time to answer the questions asked. im new to black smithing/blade smithing but the reason i am saying this is because i read this forum at least daily, it give me knowledge and inspiration and i'd hate to see these advisers stop posting and losing their expertise/knowledge from this forum. BTW if one of these advisers said something was dangerous i would listen Ben

this site may help Daniel Winler, Master Bladesmith cheers Ben

thanks for your replies guys thanks John for the link Joan from it was very helpful although we still have no answer. its not sheffield she said for sure. She also said it might be from India or Australia (im in Australia and so was my great grandfather) i've been thinking about it, could it have been a bandsaw blade with the stamp that he's made into a knife? its weird that there is only one stamp midway down the blade some food for thought Ben

thanks Steve if you haven't heard of any then i think im pretty safe i think i might just let air cool Ben

hey guys just a quick one, i've finished shaping and sanding my first knife and am getting ready for my first harding attempt. i have read all the stickys and a xxxx of a lot of posts on this forum. the metal is/or was a old jackhammer tip of unknown metal type that i had to anneal to work and even then was pretty hard compared to a RR spike (the only carbon steel that i have really worked before). now i know i have to heat to non-magnetic (should be about cherry red) and my first quench im trying oil and that doesn't work i'll try water im planning to temper at 170c for 2 hours and depending on the hardness another for 1-2hrs at 200c. now heres my question do i quench after tempering? i have read that people when tempering with Differential tempering they quench to stop the heat radiating. is that the same with normal tempering that i want to stop the effects of the heat after it? thanks for reading Ben ps here a picture for you to look over too :)

thanks for you reply guys some great info there. i was trying to biuld these burners zoellerforge but couldn't find the part but i'll look into the other ones you have posted thanks again Ben