Rich Hale

Let us not confuse the comforting factor of an igloo as a place to get out of the even colder outside air with using a forge inside an igloo...forge makes it a death chamber. It does not matter wot kind of forge you use if it burns it needs fresh air in ,,as mentioned, the same volume as is exhausted. In Arizona everyf ew years we have poeple die of CO poisoning as a result of using charcoal, LPG or natural gas in a confined space without proper ventilation. We see few igloos in the desert parts where I live. But I have seen deaths in places we all live in and are safe in when poeple change the rules.

Stuart thesmith mentioned on here once that at a meeting they had lunch..each person had to forge something to use to eat with that day...a spin off of that would work great. A more lenghty test would be to forge a pair of tongs and use them to forge something else you have in mind for them. Judge tongs and the other item.

i would not ask anyone with ilttle forging experience to strike for me...Get them some anvil time so they know wot it is you are doing and maybe can see wot it is you wish. If you can not do that then do a couple of run throughs with cold material and work out the moves.

I think Rio Grande has some fairly pricey ones atat fit that..I have a good one I paid a lot for but theya re closed now.

Many smiths keep a barrel handy that is dark inside they can stick a hot part in and see a color...I work in bright sun most of the time even with a roof overhead,,,a barrel would confuse me.....

Not fair JK..I think not alot of us have a 32 lb...(or wotever it is) striking hammer to work with...

i moved to this forum when it opened. Hungry for knowledge of any kind i could get from anyone willing to share. I still almost daily come here for the same thing. But now I have different "Needs" if you will; Now more and more I want to see posts by someone that has the skills to tell me wot i need. Someone that is knowledgeable and has shop time and background to support wot they say. Why so picky now when I was not then?,,,,simply put the bar has been raised. the knowledge base here now is quite extensive and fabulous. We have postings and shared informatiioon from the best in the world on a regular timeline. Daily I read posts in here from those folks and am so glad they took the time from there day to share something with us. And almost qas often I find posts with answers from folks unfamiliar to me that are direct and come from someone willing to share and are for sure knowledgeable about wot they type. I do have a list in my mind of folks that I look for in here and I read most of wot they share even if it is not something I am likely to be involved in...learning is like that to me. i also look at subject titles for anything of rermote interest now or later,,,whenever that may be. If I read something that to me is off the beaten path I first ask myself where the information is coming from and why it seems foreign to me. If I can find information that supports my thoughts i will at times ask for more about them..in some case pictures of their work..or about where they learned or for published information. And in other cases..one not long ago that caused me to rethink and relearn something I had not done well with in the past. Then I weigh the information: Am I messed up in this thread or should I listen to new data? Can go either way. But often when I ask for more information about background and history including pics i get limited information...no answer at all or just wot i need to decide. Thanks so much to all of those that take the time in here to sit and type reliable information for us to learn from.

For those that are new to this craft and read the forums as much as i do or maybe even more I must express a few more thoughts on this matter of throwing heat treat knives on the floor and how safe it is: Smithing has its dangers for sure. hot steel heavy weights. misdirected or misused tools are allpart of that. With proper knowledge that is correct and proven a person can indeed forge hot steel with proper tonge and hammers and anvil and even begging can pretty well predict what will happen when we do. The same thoughts apply to grinding and using abrasives. There is certainly information on here and other sites that give a primer on how to work in a safef manner and what protection is needed. The rest of shop practices are pretty well the same. Deterrmine wot you wish to do..visit someone doing it for tips and instruction. read all you can find about it and step into the shallow end and work forward. I have no idea how any one can predict wot will happen when you throw a heat treated high carbon steel blade onto a concrete floor. We can guess it will react in some kind of manner but we cannot predict where it will land, how far,,,with how much energy, how much force it will have remaining etc. And for sure if you can cite references that are published about this I for one will read them in their entirety. For those new folks to smithing, please ...Do not try this!

I have not made any split crosses with stock smaller than yoiu did. I do one thing a wee different on mine. on the top part i draw it out long enough to roll it for a loop arouind the back to fit on a key chain ring....I have done alot of them at demos,,,precut of course...folks like to see them open up..never bring any home.

Somethin not mentioned yet,,,for anyone new to this forge welding billets: Welding chainsaw chain is not a starting point in learning. It can for sure be done, and in some cases maybe as a first project. but there is a high likelyhood of failure. Couple of ways: tack weld it at many points with electric welder so it is not like tapping on a moving snake,,,or as above welding in a can..and maybe with addition of some powdered metals..filling the can with high carbon powder may actually be a little easier. but welding the can takes a trained eye to make sure of thorough heat before forging. using powdered nickel about the same. except that may overload the final product with non carbon material that may actually prevent it from hardening well if used for a cutting blade. Simple to do the math and figure this out in advance.But then again that is not usually done as a starting point in billet making.

With that I think any one that wants to use this as one of their shop test procedures should certainly do so, I will stick with my normal routines.

Chris that is really nice,,,do you have any pictures of the other side of the blade?

Since retiring I spend wayyy too much time considering things like: follow the money. When someone creates a virus, who will profit in the bank account?,,,well could it be those that sell products that will remove those insults to our lives?

I spend a real lot of time in preperation for welding up a billet. Directly as a result of having had some failures in the early days related to incorrect materials and poor techniques. Now I have a pretty well laid out plan for a billet that I hope continues to have a high success rate. I select steels i know will work well, not only together in welding, but correct for the use when finished, and for me that is knife blades. A favorite high carbon steel match up is 1084 and 15N20 steels. The latter one has some nickel in it and makes the bright parts of the steel when etched. They do weld easy for anyone that has forge welding down well enough to assure they have it everytime. Each of these steels have enough carbon content that if used alone they make a nice blade. Of course depending on heat treat. And that is one more thing to assess when youi are planning a selection for a billet. They need to have similiar heat treat needs. I avoid using an air hardening steel with a oil or water hardened one. in the knife making lessons section in the part laveled 200 series, there is a section about pattern welding. There is also a supplier list so you can find materials. I order the steels new and they arrive in a day or so. Cost is reasonable if you consider wot it takes to drive around and find, buy, scrounge etc. And you know just wot you are getting and not guessing if it will even work for wot you wish to make.

Could sears possibly have parts after so long a time?

Best way is not the easy way..you can enlarge it and line it with sterling silver...i have not heard of anything else that will work. Have to compute the inside size so it will still fit when lined.

There are alot of ways to test a blade for edge holding. The tests that work are pretty well defined by the ABS for their process of testing.. i think for someone to post other ways on here that are not widely recognized makes me wonder about how many and wot kinds of knives have they made and would they share pics of some of their work?

Thanks Mac,,,I am not sure how I missed that in Flag back then...But glad to see it now!

Nice letter opener!

We creaated the suppliers list in the knife making section to help folks find things they may be stuck on. We encourage everyone to post in that area so they may possible help others looking for similiar things. I have not looked, did you post a source there for this?

Find Kenny Lyons Lee Greens Shoein shop in Yucaipa will know where you need to look.

Plane not sure where you are at with forging,,,but if someone would show him some work on his anvil mayhaps he would rethink?

One thing for sure to consider when you read all of this excellent advice posted here is: Who answered and how well they do at what they are speaking about. I like to see pics that truly define their abilities in that area to help me decide the value they have in the thread. In this case wot knives have they forged that are similiar to wot you wish to use as models for youir work, not shapes, styes or etc..but the finish you wish. Ask them for pics and I am sure they will post or pvt note to you. I will!

It took along timke for the anvil to become like it iws,,holding off any changes for a whiel will not hurt one thing. Theinformation youi looked for in here is indeed here..spend the time. One thing repeated in here is folks talking about anvil repairs that say they will post pics and a recap of how everything went and we never see them again...then there are those that do it well and share. That anvil will likely work well for alog time as is or with minor dressing..with a rush repair that may all change.

Grinding wheels are designed to be used while they are running true and balanced. To change those rules is asking for trouble. Such as: wheel failure with all that it may lead to. I am sad that you took offense to me pointing that out and hope you will take time to reflect on the way youi consider this matter. It is of couirse youir shop and youi make your rules there. Please read thoughts from others on this matter. And of course you could look into the manufacturers recomendations on the brand of wheels you use. '?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>>