Daswulf

My friend finally sent me pictures of the dragon on his car.

Try posting "Looking for blacksmiths near Lincolnton NC" or something. Not sure otherwise.

"I'm fully expecting to make some absolutely terrible blades many times before i forge anything worth holding lol." And you would. But your also not looking to spend a ton of money at once. Well if you do your research and start small you won't be mangling the expensive larger amount of steel as you would by working on your hammer skills first then moving on to smaller blades to get to know what you are doing. I don't personally see how someone couldn't start off "trying" to make swords off the bat, but even with all the research in place and the drive and determination that would be a Very expensive start with possibly years of failure. The money in materials you could waste would probably be way more then taking a class or working with someone knowledgable. The replies you got are the best advice and starting points that you asked for. Do your research. There is a ton of information out there, both good and bad. Without the basics and hands on experience with starting small it's hard to understand or weed through.

You would have to explain cold short or hot short to me.

Another option are machine shops or fabrication shops. There is one out by me that is friendly and will sell their leftover stock. They have it arranged pretty orderly and marked or they know what it is. I have seen big chunks of 4140 and other steels that would probably make a great anvil. If there are any around give them a call and ask. They are happy to get paid twice for material and usually sell the leftover stock for less then any steel supplier.

Well, Welcome back Duck. Think I'd sell anything but my tools. Good luck in your hunt.

Proper fitting of tongs to the work piece is important. Even then sometimes the workpiece gets away.

^--- Thomas said everything I was going to mention and more. Try that. Big brass/ copper hammer goes a long way in the shop.

Aside from just cutting in the fuller I would like to forge it in for a start. I'm now leaning away from a spring fuller and thinking of making a hinged fuller for more control and uniformity. I'm no stranger to spending hours filing or sanding by hand. I've never done the scraping tecnique tho.

Bud, I'll be keeping you in my thoughts. Hope all goes well.

Thomas, I found info on the Sen. Wow that's all over the place on Google if you don't add related terms. I have only heard them called scrapers. That is an option. I may have to draw the test piece further. What I'm looking for is a little flexibility before it breaks. I'm thinking of making a couple more test pieces to see how it reacts to different heat treatment. Frosty, I'm using 3/4" automotive coil spring from a pre 80's vehicle. From what I can find it should be either 4063 or 5160.

I have nothing but sand paper and files Thomas. Well and lots of tools other then the right stuff. Well maybe other tools what is a sen? I'm not afraid of spending hours sanding or whatever and ok I'd prefer a fullered blade my initial question/statement is kind of vague and I deserve it I am having having trouble with tempering tho at least the test piece. so after hardening the test piece in peanut oil heated to 440 deg. F. tried two tempering a in the oven at 450 degrees F then again around 500 degrees F. with the test piece and it just snaps with no bend tho the file digs in a little better then after hardening. I'm trying a third temper now. Not sure what I'm looking for other then a little bend before breaking. Tempering a were at an hour each

Frosty, I've heard either way on higher carbon steel for tongs vs. mild steel. I think the only think to keep in mind with higher carbon tongs is not to quench them if they get hot.

My thoughts are with you Michael.

Make another pair while its fresh in your mind if you have time. Good job on making them out of spikes.

Ok. So I was working on other stuff tonight then I found a nice piece of 3/4" coil spring I had straightened out and felt like "trying" to make a dagger. spark test told me it was high carbon but I didn't really trust it. So after shaping it out I had a chunk left over and decided to hammer it out to about the thickness I would be quenching at and heated my peanut oil to around 440 degrees F. And quenched it. Well a file ( actually several) skated off it. So I think it hardened well. Now I'm thinking of fullering the center of it and have some axle stock to make a good fuller tool. Would a dagger be better sort of diamond shaped or fullered? And if you see anything else wrong with where I'm at now please feel free to mention it. I'm probably missing details but at the moment I can't think of it.

Awesome work Joel. Are the toes on the feet just weld beads? If so that worked out great.

They have flat black engine paint. Never tried soapstone on it but I would think chalk would probably work on it.

I have had good results using duplicolor engine paint. It goes straight on the bare metal after it's been cleaned and degreased. Holds up well for me. Being a work table about any paint will get scratched up tho.

Good to hear Frosty. Keep you both healthy and you'll stay continued in my thoughts. Home is where the heart is.

Sounds good Thomas. How about the camping/ tenting situation. Thought I heard that you can camp at the grounds.

Lol you are easy to spot, and you are a good guy. I don't entirely know what to expect at QS but I plan on trying to make it. If I do I'll be prepared for camping out.

That's a great first go Aus!

Smoggy, they were probably more offended that he split from the family brewery and then labeled himself as a black sheep like possibly he wasn't welcome in the family but that's just a wild guess on my part. Theres a comedian I saw somewhere on the Internet with a routine about what happens when people get offended. Basically, nothing haha. Nothing happens to you when you get offended. I thought it was pretty funny.