fire4ged

I started by sanding with 80, 120, 220, and 400 grit in that order. Then I sprayed them with WD-40 and went back over them with 400 again. After that, I buffed them with brown rouge.

If this is in the wrong place, let me know. Just wanted some honest opinions on a couple of my RR spike knives. They seem to be a little different than most that I see.

There's a place not far from here where I can get coal for $75- $100 per ton last I checked. Been a while since I bought any though.

I built one of those a few years ago as well. Let me tell you, they get HOT. I stacked some concrete blocks around it about a foot and a half away from the sides of the barrel and used some old tin roofing for the top. Unfortunately, when you live in town people don't find it very appealing. After a visit from the local FD, I had to stop.
A note on safety: do not let anyone open the barrel for a good 8 hrs or so. If your barrel is sealed, that means the fuel inside is starved for oxygen so opening it can ignite it in a very violent manner if it isn't cooled down first.

Great pics. #8 is my favorite.

If you live outside of town, you could make your own lump charcoal. Do a search on youtube for Purgatory Ironworks, there is a video on making it in a 55 gallon drum that looks pretty easy. Might get you by until you find a good coal supplier.

Awesome!!! gotta be proud of that. Cant wait to see some of his projects.

I quench my spike hawks in something called "super quench". I found the recipe online. It goes something like this:
1- 28 oz bottle regular dawn dishwashing liquid
1- 8 oz bottle jet dry rinse agent
4- 1lb boxes table salt
5 gallons water

mix all ingredients thoroughly it will be a bluish color . As it loses its effectiveness, the color will change to green.

I've used this stuff for 2yrs off and on( about 50 spike knives and 10-15 spike hawks) and its still usable. Hope it helps.

What are the thoughts on using Super Quench after it has been normalized? I used it on a couple of 1018 tent stakes once and drove the point of one through a buried brick. Just a thought.

does this help?

I hear ya there. Unfortunately, my wife knows that I grew up building cabinets so I can't even play dumb. She does ask for forged hardware sometimes though.:)

I've had this shear for a couple of years now but can't find any info on it. The markings on it say NEW DOTY MANUFG CO 4.0 JANESVILLE WIS. Does anyone have a clue about this thing?

I just thought that I would say hello and introduce myself. I first got bit by the "hammer bug" maybe 5 or 6 years ago, but only tinker a bit as of late. I still have alot to learn that's for sure. I work full time in sheet metal assembly, but I love doing ornamental iron.