Al Stephens

The Athens Forge a member of the AFC will meet Sat. Sept. 23 at 10 AM. This meeting will focus on materials for knife handles and their decoration. There will be an Iron In The Hat.  A special item, a completed knife by Calvin Garland, will be a separate drawing. There will be open forge time for AFC members.

Altho this years meeting have been dedicated to knife making, we are a general blacksmithing group and plans are in the works for next years meetings, so bring your ideas and suggestions.

Visitors are always welcome, for more info. see www.athensforge.com, or Athens Forge on FB

Very,Very Nice!  Al

Give Brandon a piece of modeling clay, he can work out the steps of what he wants to make, before he does it on the anvil, and dress anyway he wants. And MastaStan, remember, patience, patience, patience.  Al

Thanks for taking the time to post all these Charles. I hope EVERYBODY takes the time to go thru them. A lot of nice, and necessary  work, can/has/will be done on non traditional anvils. Al

Mark, beautiful piece of work. Seems we always do our best, for a gift. Al

Hi Stich, yes, fill your column with sand. It really helped the hammer I built almost 10 years ago. I use it almost every day. Al

Always remember that the insides of your boss's, need to be flat and smooth. The two need to fit together and work smoothly following riveting. This is true for any style or size of tong. Al

Here's a "leaf" punch I made about 20 years ago. Cut the veins with a chisel, ground it to shape on a belt sander. Made from an old 3/8" allen wrench. Leaf measures about 1/4" square. I've used it on brass, copper, aluminum, cold mild steel. 

GMoore a simple punch can be made from anything, see picture

As I've been told my whole life, and it has served me well, " Poor boy's got poor way's". Great Job!! 

Hotmetal, I'm not a bottle opener guy, but your work is beautiful! Thanks for sharing, and I'm sure inspiring others.  Al

I know a few you can rent by the hour, hmmm.

The Athens Forge, a member of the AFC will meet Sat. 8/26, at 10AM. We will continue the plan to focus the rest of the 2017 meeting on knife making. There will be demonstrations on forging different blade styles, by Athens Forge members George Ezell, and Steve Alford. Open forge time for AFC members will follow. 

Visitors are always welcome, for more info. see  www.athensforge.com

On Sept 8-10, 2017 the AFC will hold their annual conference at Tannehill State Park. Demonstrators this year will be, Jymm Hoffman, Raymond Head, Steve Alford. The demonstrators bio's can be viewed at www.athensforge.com

Well said Iyuv, the effort and accomplishment needs to be applauded. Thanks for your patience Theo, keep up the good work. Al

Very Nice, I would suggest recording how you did everything, you'll probably be making many more in years to come. Al

You've made a good start. I still have my first "s" hook, it's an antique now! The best advise I ever received was to connect with a local blacksmith group, even if you have to expand "local" to several hours travel. I have learned most of what I know by my association with other smiths, and I bet there is someone in the group that will show you how to make tongs. With good tongs, things become way easier, and practice,practice, practice.

Al 

For JSPool, that's one of the most original stands I've ever seen. Thanks for the pic. Al

Looks good Lou. If you ever wear it out, let us know. Al

The Athens Forge, a member of the AFC will meet Sat. July 22, at 10AM. We will continue the plan to focus the rest of the 2017 meetings on knife making. In April we talked about the different parts and styles of blades, and some common steels to use. In May we talked about the basic tools needed for knife making, and some tricky filing and fitting jigs, even had a box jaw tong demo. June was about abrasives. This meeting the focus will be on heat treatment. There will be open forge time for AFC members, and possibly a short forging demo.  

Visitors always welcome, for more info. see www.athensforge.com.

On Sept 8-10, 2017 the AFC will hold their annual conference at Tannehill State Park. Demonstrators this year will be, Jymm Hoffman, Raymond Head, and Steve Alford. The demonstrator bio's can be viewed at www.athensforge.com.

Wonderful idea!! I hope a lot of people view this. We need more examples of creative thinking, and working with minimal equipment. Does the anvil travel in the tube or the bag?

Al

Lets all give him a hand!!  Very nice.

Al

Very nice. Al

Wonderful forging. Great idea. I'm sure someone will point out that you might want to consider a sleeve of some type to cover the wire connections. 

Al

My main forge is set up on a mechanics roll around tool box, the mouth is about 44" from the ground. The drawers have provided good storage for useful tools, and other valuable stuff. I have enough hose that I can move the forge around when needed. There is a ball valve shut off at the back of the forge, another one step away on the wall. I run off a 250 gal. tank.

Al

Have you even had fire in your brand new gas forge yet? Yes I know it's hot.

Al