Chris Keppler

I have one of those portable army forges as pictured above. I was told by a very old blacksmith that it was a army forge and a lot of them got sold as army surplus I suppose after WWI. They do not have a fire pit so that can be a bit of a challenge but if I made a nice mound of coke when forging I could easily burn up the piece i was working if i didn't pay attention. You could also get welding heats. Chris

Looks like English Ivy to me. Chris

Comcast.net: Indianapolis woman dies trying to stop sword fight Just seen this on the web and thought it might be of interest to someone. Swordsmith related only in the fact i often see posted the question WHY do you want to make a sword?

My suit case like forge can easily get up to welding heat with no fire pit at all. I just mound up the coke over the blast so that i have a small hill and put the steel right in the middle of the hill and mound up a little more over the top. It easily can get sparkling hot the only problem is you will likely have to re-mound your hill each time because removing the steel and putting it back into the mound tends to break it up a bit. Chris

I have seen on youtube videos people pouring water in the middle of the twist so that it cools at the same rate as the outside ends. Atleast that was my take on why they would pour water on the twist. After looking at this link i am also guessing that the water helps losen the scale? Chris YouTube - Ornamental Wrought Iron I Pt.5 of 6

Dodge, I have been thinking of having a chunk of steel flame cut like your anvil. What steel did you use for yours? And it looks like there is no face plate? How many hours of actual cutting was invovled in that anvil? Chris

Is it just acidic foods? Because the copper in a whiskey still actually improves the flavor of the whiskey apparently at no harm to the drinker but the temperature is far lower then normal cooking temps. Also candy makers use large copper pots for melting chocolate and candy in and i don't remember seeing tin in there pots. Chris

They only two times i have known people that tried to cut/weld old gas tanks it went very badly. Both of them followed the "instructions" for removing all traces of gas. The first time was when I was a kid but I still remember the explosion and my uncle received a broken arm and there was some stitches to go around. The second time was just recently when a friend of a friend of the family did the same thing but he actually died from the accident. I suppose there is a way to work on old tanks but you wont catch me trying. Chris

Why would cooper showing through to the inside make them not usable? Chris

More blast should raise the heat in the fire pot right? Chris

Well i'm to fat, hairy, and ugly to be a ballerina so i guess i have no choice but to give this blacksmithing thing a try. Chris

I've been thinking about the feasibility of getting a chunk of plate steel flame cut into a ASO and then finish grinding the horn and having a harden steel plate professionally welded on. I was thinking about using hot rolled mild steel for the body and horn because i have access to some large scrap or if i had to buy it new it would be cheaper. If i did not use mild steel i would try to use something like 4140 with no plate welded and then figure out some way to heat treat. Think this would work? Chris

On edge makes sense the 12x12 seemed to be an excessively large face. Chris

When i was at the steel supply shop i seen in there cheap stuff a couple large chunks of plate probably 3.5x12x12 probably about 150lb. I was told mild steel but could it be used as a cheap hornless anvil? Would it be harder then the cheap cast harbor freight anvil i have?(hot steal can dent its face) Chris

W2 is supposed to make a good knife. But at the local steel supplier they sell W1. Is W1 simillar to W2? Would it make a good knife steel? Thanks, Chris

In your area in the 1850's both the Applegate trail and the Bohemia mines where in use. So i would think mining supplies and wagon repairs would have been in demand. Logging would have also been going on so axes and saws would have been important. Further west on the coast ship yards and fishing probably needed blacksmiths aswell. And i am sure the fur trappers and fur buying companys needed blacksmiths to. Chris