Mark Ling

Been messing around with some different ideas. Littleblacksmith

That's a sweet anvil! I found a post vise like that one at the scrap yard a year or so ago that I had to also straighten the leg out cause it was bent. It's perfectly usable now though. Littleblacksmith

Thanks Ben! yeah, it works good for marking where to set down, and then you have to move to another section of the anvil where the stop isnt in the way, cause obviosly as you forge out the jaw it lengthens, and so the stop would get in the way. Thanks Frosty! well, I'm not sure if you would call this a kiss block. This isn't used to know when to stop forging the thickness of the jaws down, but is used simply as a stop for doing the first set down. I take the bar, butt it up angianst the stop, give it a couple hits, then move to another section of the anvil so its not in the way. No kissing involved . Just used as a stop, but maybe it would still be called a kiss block. Littleblacksmith

Yeah, the wheel is the perfect size for that. That's interesting. I'd love to see a picture. Littleblacksmith

Thanks! I actually even made a little stop for my anvil for doing the first set down so all the jaws would be similar sizes, so less grinding. It's crude but worked. Littleblacksmith

Pm Sent Littleblacksmith

oh man, been a while since Ive seen a shot of your shop, its real nice! forged out 4 pairs of flat jaw tongs. All drawn out by hand, was surprised I was able to make 4 in the little time I had. Littleblacksmith And here is a hammer eye punch Bounty forge and I made the other night out of some 5160. Still got a few more tongs to make until I am where I want to be, and then this winter I will make some more.

from my latest scrap yard trip. did allright. Got a reed pipe vise, griddle, 4-1/2" hydraulic shaft, and some larger steel plate, including a piece of 1-1/2" thick plate that I will make into basically a swage block for making flatters. will have a 1-1/2" square hole that will be plugged at the bottom to uppset the flatters in if that makes any sense. Littleblacksmith Take a look at this axe head! no telling how old it could be.

haha, yeah I was kinda thinkin it was a dumb thing to do. And the other thing was there was a small micro crack that I think was from forging the bevel in too cold. It broke where the small crack was. I also should have normalized it, that would have helped with the grain size some. Oh well, was a good learning experience. Littleblacksmith

Well we all have failures. Was going to be a nice draw knife. It broke while I was putting the handle on. I was using file handles, and I wanted it on further so I was holding one end of the draw knife and hitting the other end on the anvil to drive the handle on further. The way it broke and how it broke could have been a scene from forged in fire it was so bad haha.

Hey man! My grandmother actually owns land in Livingston that we hunt at. Let me know if you are ever near me in college station and I'll show you my shop and we could maybe forge something. I'll also soon be giving tool and hammer making classes. Littleblacksmith

Hey! let me know if you are ever near me and I'll show you my shop and we can maybe forge something. Littleblacksmith

you should try and take a trip to Matt Marti's sometime. He has the procces down good, he is very efficient and clean, he forges a hammer in about 30 minutes. I was there recently and it was a joy to watch and listen to all the little tips and trick he has to cut down on time. Yeah, I was wanting to stop but my parents said no, my dad says he wants to move to Clarendon. I would love it, I really really dont like college station. Littleblacksmith

I know I'm a little late, but nice hammer ranchmanBen, we also drove through Clarendon a couple days ago on our way back from new mexico. I like the town alot. Littleblacksmith

Like I said, that was maybe a bad example. And the thing is, is I actually enjoy watching the farrier competitions, its quite enjoyable. And yesterday I watched a live stream that Stan Bryant was filming a guy making a shoe and that was neat. I maybe should have just said that I know more of what I wanna do now, and so I focus more time learning stuff for that focus, rather that watching random videos and reading books that don't pertain to where I am wanting to go with my forging. Not to say that I don't occasionally watch a video of some one forging a sword ( I don't make swords, and don't enjoy making knives) or watch someone forging a shoe, yes I can still learn from them, but I could learn more watching someone forging something that I make more often, and learn more useful Information. Littleblacksmith.

Thank you! And that fork that you made was very nice too. My work has gotten a lot cleaner looking, and I am now focusing on the little details, rather than more of just " Is this functional?". I think of smithing more as a business somewhat, I have to make money to pay for stuff, and so I think of it more strategically. I go to my shop with a list and try and cross something off of it at least. The other day I forged 16 horse shoe hearts. I used to not enjoy doing the same thing over and over, but now it doesn't bother me, I kinda enjoy it, you just get to work but you don't have to think about it because you have done it so many times. As for sharing, I want to share what I know. I would love to do more classes, and even just when some one stops by to buy some (blacksmithing) coke, I try to share stuff with them, weather its tips and tricks, or steel and materials, or where to find materials. Learning, I am maybe more selective. I realize that not all sources are credible, and you can't just always take information and go with it, you have to analyze it and ask your self just how smart and credible it sounds. And also, I know what I want to do in the forge, so when I am looking for Ideas, I don't go looking up, for example, how to forge a horse shoe, because I know I don't wanna be a farrier. That was a bad example, but I think you know what I mean. Thank you Irondragon Forge & Clay! Littleblacksmith

Thank you Das! I will try Littleblacksmith

Why thank you! I like it alot too. Littleblacksmith

seems like it's been forever since I posted here. Anyways, here is some of the recent highlights. Littleblacksmith

Here is my most recent one I did with Bounty Forge. Littleblacksmith

Yup let me know if you'd like to make one. I will be offering classes soon. Littleblacksmith

I really like that hammer mudman. Littleblacksmith

nicely done. What scrapyard in houston was that picked up at? Littleblacksmith

1045 for hammers, its easier to forge, cut, grind, and basically everything. 4140 for struck tools, especialy hammer punches. If you make hammer punch from 1045 it will bend, its got to be 4xxx or 5160 to hold up. And I prefer 4140 for top tools just because they last longer, they dont mushroom as fast. 1045 will work for most top tools, its just that they dont last as long and mushroom quickly. Littleblacksmith

I'll be attending this one this Saturday in Bellville, should be pretty cool. Bounty forge will be there with a booth with Steel Wool. Anyone from here gonna be there?