BlasterJoe

im by no means a traditionalist. I am doing the clean up with a grinder and belt sander. I just find a hot cut and a file better for finer work. i Think the holes would help to make things a little more even. If I had a more defined stopping point on the tines they would have turned out better. My eyeball is more of a problem than my hands if that makes sense.

Thanks for the input. Charles and Joel, I will try the holes like you are saying. I cut the tines in with a hot cut and had to do a lot of filing to clean them up. I have to work today but should have it finished tonight. I will post more pictures. P.S I hate sporks too.

So I started to make a camp fork spoon. I haven’t dished the spoon part yet. Or cleaned it up. The fork tines were a huge pain to keep even. Is there an easier way? I made a cross shape and drew them out then bent them around. Any criticism is surely welcome.

If you can get your hands on copper sulfate, it will make a copper finish on steel. We use it mining and the steel scoop we use gets a nice copper coating I haven’t tried it on a forged project though.

Looks great norman.What kind of hanger does it have?

I have been pulling apart looking to make it electric. Can anyone direct me toward a good size for a blower. I will try to match the discharge size so I can keep the ash dump that's on it.

Always love you Damascus bob. I can't wait to see a spoon. I bet the pattern would be awesome if you ground in the dishing for it.

Jasent is that stainless magnetic or no. some of the SS grades are air hardening or work hardening. I don't remember the numbers for it. I just know it has a really narrow heat range for being workable. And when it's done it's done.

Made a jar holder in class yesterday. I saw them probably on this thread some where and had to make one.

Made my first Fredrick cross today

Made some tongs today in class at the tonapah mining park. They are bolt tongs with a different bend on the jaws. The idea is when your upsetting or hammering back on them they won't want to open up.

Very cool info. It has a champion blower on it that looks original. i couldn't find a serial number any where on it and nothing on the ducks nest.

I found this sitting outside a turquoise shop in Austin nv today. It was a steal. It has like a centrifical clutch on the big wheel running the blower. All the belts are long gone and the cross member on the top is broken. One of the leather belts are still intact but the other is broke. The blower is free and spinning but will need sealed up. There is one oil port that still has the screw on cap but the other 3 are missing and will need cleaned out. is this a common type of drive system? All I have seen before was gearbox and crank. It also came with another bowl and blower. The other blower is pretty roached but might be salvageable. Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks guys. When the temperature is high enough will it grow a new grain structure or should I stick with working the grain that is already established. I guess what I'm saying is does it go through the same martensite/ Austinite process a steel? I will definitely remember that for forever!

Hello all, im sure it's been covered but I can't find it. If anyone could direct me I would appreciate it. i found a large chunk of wrought iron out in the desert one day and brought it home. No idea what it was. I spark tested it and it has grain to it. any how my question is why did it crumble on me. Too hot or too cold. Do you have to only work with the grain or can it be altered when heated? any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

I just recently made a karambit out of a box end none plated wrench. I was surprised how easily the metal moved. If you do forge them use a soft hand. For hardening I heated to nonmagnetic and quenched in vegetable oil. It seemed to do the trick. If you look at my thread some of the guys had some really info on wrenches and vanadium. https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/51118-wrench-karambit/

Great info all. Thanks a lot. Slag, oddly enough the wrench was made in India.

Made this one out of an old mining rail spike. I find them all the time when metal detecting.

This wrench was not plated. I looked into potential hazards before heating. One thing I wasn't sure about was vandium. I didn't find any negetive info on it.

It doesn't compare to high carbon. It hardened enough for a file to skate and it took an edge. I'm Not expecting it to be anything more than what it is. A fun project that will sit with my railroad spike tomahatchet and horseshoe knife and anything I made from rebar. I would say wall hanger but it's not pretty enough for that.

I saw a video on YouTube for a wrench karambit and had to give it a try. It pretty comfortable in my hand. I was really surprised how easy the metal was to work. It hardened up ok.

Wow, what a great "thing". Do the marbles come out pretty clean looking or do you have to shine them up?

My daughters got me this book. Easy to read and good pictures. I really like it. Full of ideas for new blacksmiths.

Great looking pieces. I love antler handles. On the horn handle is it stabilized? If it's not it needs to have a thick finish on it so it doesn't peel up.

Very cool pieces. I really like the art work on the leather sheath.