Steve McCarthy

Here's what I did. Go to the lumber yard and buy some corrigated barn tin. Fold it around into a circle, drill some holes and pop rivet the seam together. Mine is almost 11" around and 12' tall. I've had it up for 3 years so far. It won't be perfictly round, but works great for me.

Again I rediscover why I read most forums daily..I just googled and WD40 contains >40% aliphatic hydrocarbons. Now if I can only remember that new information!

Peace be with you and your family.

Welcome. As already stated, check out bamsite.org. There are several talented smiths pretty close to you. Our anual confrence is at Sedalia end of April. There is information on the site about meetings and for the confrence.

Found this

Really nice work Steve. Look forward to seeing you and seeing it up close at BAM this year.

Steve, It's awesome. Did you happen to get any pictures while you were building it? Or is this where I need to "buy the book".
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I didn't take any pictures in progress. There is a pattern for the bird in Mark's book. It is cut out of 3/16 plate. I transfered the pattern to the plate and cut it out with a torch. Then traced out the bird again and filed to the lines. I cut lines in the wing and tale with a creaser I made from a ball peen hammer. I used about a 3/16 hand fuller to texture between the cut lines. A little bit of dishing to the body and head gives it some depth.

The branch was made from 1/2 x 1. You split pieces off to create the smaller twigs. The backside of the foot is welded to the branch. The big end of the branch is riveted to the ring, and one of the small twigs is welded to the ring on the other side.I don't get to spend much time at the forge. I started this project 3 weeks ago, but only have about 5 hours in it. I work pretty slow. A plasma cutter would have saved about an hour and a half, but I used what I have.

Makr Aspery's books are a great resorce. They are easy to understand, very detailed, and well worth the asking price.

Thanks again to everyone for the comments.

I really appreciate the kind words.

Thanks guys.

This ring will go on a garden arbor that BAM is making to auction at this years conference. Both bird and split work branch are from Mark Aspery's 2nd book. I was pleased with the way it turned out.

I also would be concerned about condition of the grinding wheels. Give them a ring test before adding a power source.

I'm with Sask Mark, a 2 lb hammer moving at greater speed will do more than a slower 3 lb hammer. I have proven it to myself, now if you can get a 15 lber moving like the guys in the chain making movies, well well well

Thanks to all for the information and help. As I said before, I have a few projects to finish before starting this one. I'll post pics when I have something good enough to look at.

Thanks again.

Thanks Sam. I don't type very fast and had 2 replys in the time it took me to ask Rich another question. Shaping the tang is what I had the biggest question about. Cutting it out as you suggested sounds much easier.

Thanks for the reply Rich. Splitting the pelvis was during the butchering not field dressing.

Now to the cleaver. I have no experience with knife making, so my questions may sound like I'm kind of thick headed. To keep the spine and top of the tang in line, I suppose I would lay the spine on the anvil and fuller the bottom with a cross pien at the end of the blade? Would it be better to start at the end of the tang and work the taper toward the blade?

While cleaning deer this weekend I couldn't find the bone saw, so used a Gerber camp ax to split the pelvis and cut off the hind legs. Splitting the pelvis was done while the deer was hanging and the hams were on wood when I cut the leg bones. After the chopping was done I was disappointed to see several knicks in the Gerber's blade. I know the ax was ment to chop wood and not bone, but still. I know several of you have probably made meat cleavers. Could you please give me a little advice? I have a sullpy of leaf spring for stock. Pointers on length, thickness, width, and drawing out the handle would be much appreciated. I have a few Christmas presents to finish, so it will be a month or so before I start,

Thanks

Robo Chucky?

Happy birthday to all my fellow Devil Dogs!! Semper Fi

When my son was in the Royal Rangers, they did lots of camp outs and campfire cooking. SO I would think BBQ forks, dutch oven lid lifters, weenie roasting forks, and that like would be fun for them

What can be said? There is no earthly reason behind this. Any act on your part is justifyed in my book.
Peace and comfort to your wife brother.

Mount a blower off to the side of your chemny.Connect pipe from the blower outlet to the chemny at a sharp angle upward. This keeps the blower/fan out of the heat and smoke, while keeping a good draft going. Just like an induced draft fan on a wood fired boiler.

The NTBA web site has a pretty simple how to on a hawk from solid round stock.

A sandwich bag full of dryer lint is very handy for fire starter when backpacking.

Wore out pipe thread dies would work if you flattened them out a bit.

Making it to Touchstone isn't an option, but I hope that will be covered in your next book. That is an amazing element.

Thanks Ed. These instructions will really help my attempts at a servicable fish gig. The socket is what has been giving me the most trouble. I like the nail tab at the base. After I get the socket down pat, I want to start forge welding them together.