JHCC

In the “fools rush in” department, I’m going to suggest that if you’re new to knife forging, you should (a) steer clear of something as sophisticated and precise as a Japanese-style blade and its furniture and (b) not think about messing with proven designs until you’ve got the chops to carry it off. I’m pretty new to bladesmithing myself, and the one thing I’ve learned so far is that I need to stick with basic stuff for the foreseeable future.

Excellent! Save it to use as a flux spoon when you get into forge welding.

Check out the Collection of Improvised Anvils thread for some low-cost ideas.

The green kind.

Finished up a knife for a friend.

An anvil so big, you have to put the smith on a stand!

You may also be thinking of Brandon Lee (Bruce's son) who was fatally wounded on-set by a squib load (from improperly prepared dummy rounds) propelled from the gun by the firing of a blank cartridge. Trivia. "Obscurata" does not mean "obscure things" in the sense we commonly use "obscure" nowadays (i.e., unknown), but rather to denote things that are deliberately hidden or kept secret.

Picture?

Unless you're already made it to the checkout counter, you can also let your turkey-frying friends that you'll accept donations of used fryer oil after Thanksgiving.

Does that mean that she's a member of the farrier sex?

I second everything @Will W. said, with the additional note that, so far as the finish of your knife goes, you can either leave part of it as-forged and the rest polished smooth, or grind the whole thing even, with no forging irregularities remaining. Either way is legitimate, but halfway in between just looks sloppy, like you couldn't be bothered to finish what you started. Good start, and I look forward to seeing your next.

My friend Paul who works for NASA was using gold wire to build a sensor array to measure the background radiation of the Big Bang, but (A) I think it was finer than what you want and (B) I'm pretty sure they wouldn't want it going to civilian uses. Sorry.

Hello, Pedro. I was in the middle of typing a reply, but @ThomasPowers got there first. Not a problem: his advice is always worth listening to. So, I will just say "Welcome to IFI" and please put your location in your profile settings, so that we will all know where you're from when you post or comment elsewhere.

If you turn the anvil 180°, you can sit down on the step for a breather without worrying about the horn poking you in the back of the head.

Interesting combination of the Tim Lively washtub and the JABOD. If you try this, I would recommend not capping the back end of the tuyere, but inserting a plunger that can be adjusted to regulate how much of the length actually delivers a blast.

You need a comma after "Well". Unless you meant "Well" to modify "could", in which case, no problem.

Before anything else, I'd get in touch with the customer and ask if he wants them blued. If no, you're fine. If yes, do a test on a piece of scrap and a spot weld to see how well it looks. If it's okay, it's okay. If it's not, consider the copper wrap.

True, but it has to be tuned properly if you're planning to forge with it!

Who am I to criticize someone for being pedantic?

If it does and you've relined all around both slots, it will look like you did it on purpose. It's a feature, not a bug!

Wow, that is impressive. Nice job.

So, if I understand you correctly, the inside of one slot has a divot from a misaligned hole? Why not grind both slots larger, mig or tig the inside of both, and regrind the slots? It will cost you a bit in time and material, but that way both slots will be identical.

I don't know if he's going to be able to count on getting that much snow in Alabama. Is that critical to the mounting system?

My son's pediatrician is great, not just for the usual kid stuff, but also (as it turns out -- we didn't know this when we first started seeing him) specializes in pediatric neurology and autism, with folks coming from all the way on the other side of Cleveland to see him. Super well-informed, always takes as much time as necessary to give you the information you need to make an informed decision, has no hesitation about giving you his unvarnished opinion about the effectiveness of whatever is the fancy new treatment or medication (and don't get him started on the profit-mongering of the drug companies), and is fantastic with the kids. Also plays classical cello, and I think I might be able to get him interested in trying out smithing.

You could certainly use homemade charcoal (see the various threads about making it), but briquettes (which are usually a combination of charcoal and binder, compressed with special machinery) are probably more trouble than they're worth.