MarcyOHH

you and me both haha

I will find that out as well, but I am also interested to see how much burned off during the process, there was SO MUCH SCALE!

I can't say exactly but 100lbs or more, I can find out for you!

Hey everyone! So I can not take all the credit for this awesomeness, I just "supervised" and reminded the guys to wear their PPEs, but here are some pictures from over the weekend. A few guys from PABA got together to forge weld a 20# 1" piece of o1 on to a 150# wrought iron anvil missing it's face plate (possibly mouse hole but unknown make). I will say, it was SUPER HOT! Still need to cleaned up and heat treat still. I apologize I do not have the finished pictures, only ones from during the process. I will try to get finished pictures from the others! Videos to follow at some point (I need to edit them still). Enjoy!

So I made my very first bottle opener today. Here it is!!!

Well to be fair I am heckled often about how I curse forges, that I'm THE sandwich maker, and such. The old saying is to only dish out as much as you are willing to take and with that I am keeping steady. It's my forge as well sooooooo..

I may not be the best blacksmith, but I am very good at heckling my husband while he forges. Does that count for anything?

I made a music note keychain for my mom. I will have to hijack her keys and snap a photo of it to post.

The only ghostly figure I see is Nick when he stumbles out of bed in the morning....more like a zombie than a ghost but same difference. lol

Oh man! I wish I would have seen this before Halloween! I definitely would have made NickOHH go buy some pumpkins so I could carve a few....but alas it is November now

Haha, thanks Frosty! And yes I agree with you Judson, if I come off as seeming rude, it is not my intention. And I also agree that basic principles of blacksmithing need to be acquired before getting into crazy difficult things. I can say with certainty that I can made a knife, after a year and a half of blacksmithing, but it is crude at best. I can also say making billets is much harder than just beating some metal together. Blacksmithing is a trade of love and failure, once you start, you cannot stop, but it will frustrate you to no end. Forge welding is about knowing how to get the metal clean enough, hot enough, and how to hit it soft enough to stick. I know that last line seems backwards to what you would think blacksmithing is, but not all hammer work is hitting hard, it's about control. I would say to start small and work your way up because starting big and complicated you aren't going to find your real passion, you will just get extremely frustrated. Marcy

As Frosty said, you should get the basics of blacksmithing down first. Forge welding is its own beast and using a power or treadle hammer are not good ideas for making damascus. In reality if you wanted to make billets without taking the time to learn how to forge weld you would need a press, not a power hammer.

Hi Sven, Few quick questions, have you done any blacksmithing yet? Do you have an anvil and a trusty hammer, tongs, and a forge? Also, what is it you are actually trying to make, is it just Demascus billets you are really interested in making?

So I decided yesterday that I wanted to make a little music note keychain for my mom. I already knew it would be extremely heat sensitive but I learned a lot along the way of making it. I took 3/8" round bar and tapered it down to 1/8" round. After coiling it up on its self I kept burning my fingers trying to finish the other end! I did end up finishing the project but decided I either need better tongs for small work or a smaller fire to protect my fingers.

I thought I told when I was out there with Nick to not be so crazy...though I think I also reminded you laughing at that statement. Get better soon!!!

In times of doubt, I blame Nick.

I'll come clean it up for you, can't guarantee you'll still have everything...or that any of it will work when I am done. But it'll be clean!

Women being onboard, sharks, the kraken. The usual. Haha

After visiting a friend's forge in January he has been "cursed" and unable to forge weld. This got me thinking, are blacksmiths like pirates and highly superstitious? If so, what are some of your superstitions when it comes to the art?

Why does every topic I ever post on become a discussion about food?

I'm not sure, but I think that means yes. But don't quote me!

No, we are just quietly flirting with the line.

Couldn't you chafe your sword rubbing it like that?

I don't know if Nick with make it but I snuck on to this barge...

No but you like me more than NickOHH anyway