Rich Hale

And if it is bed frame steel a bandsaw will shed teeth

All of the ways you suggest that we use a grinder are dangerous,,,,,,,,,,

Rockstar I understand just wot you mean,,,,,and will not change one bit,,,I will continue in my quest to be a gold standard curmudgeon. There are times when I may answer a question in the forum. but not at my expense any longer.

Since you brought this up there are a lot of notes written on this forum that cover just wot you mentioned. And the very first thing that glares at me is that you were hitting steel too cold. hot steel will not have the inclination to jump anywhere. It will get thinner between the top and bottom dies. Of course you should use correct tongs. and there is information on here on how to adjust the jaws to fit the stock...and that may change as you thin and reshape the stock..simple to do once you learn and use it. Good that you put this in here as it is is another reminder: My shop is completely safe until I enter.

Some times after alot of welding a billet, a gasser can get apuddle of molten flux in the bottom. Even on the last normalizing heat a billet may get a coat ing of this that comes out when it is removed from heat. a wire brush removes it. Or heat it again and wire brush. This routine becomes easy to follow when you have welded for a long time.

Just read original post again..A three lb ball pein most likely has a rounded face, that I think is easier to beging forging with, but most of the time a lighter weight hammer will help develop body mechanics to smooth finished work out and a face properly dressed wil also help once you have developed the ability to strike accurately with proper force. That usually comes along about the time you learn fire control...

The steels a new maker is using and the skills, are at times distant from wot they have or are prepared to use....Best if they take all of this advice to heart,,

A bit over an hour of my time extremely well spent,,, Thank youi!

I hollow grind bars that are flat and have parellel sides. i leave enough of an edge ,,about a dimes thickness to help wredouce warpage in heat treat. I have forged one straight razor. I ground the hollows after heat treat. If youi wish to see how I hollow grind i did a bp,,0235 and it is in the blade making lesson on here....Not likely to retype all of in this wee box.

Nonjic, when I read the forums, almost daily, I try to understand a bit about who is posting and at time perhaps why. Pretty tough challenge but that is a big part of who I am in life. The big reason for the time i spent her in the past and likely to conitue is to pick up someting i can actually do and add to my skill list. (bag of tricks?) When someone posts a note about wot they have done or perhaps show a pic with the note I am at times quuite interested. When they add information to that note that enhances the overall I most times can for sure see a lot more in my tired old brain about wot they have done. i am truly blessed with a ability, (mayybe curse?) to read about something and head to the shop for a test run. Rarely does that work out but with a couple of rereads and lab experiments many times I can come up with something I like. now and then someone posts a thread thatt really gives us information that is just wot we need to hit the shop. San mai is not on my list at this time..however i do not remember reading your post. Times may again change and i will scour the site seeking anything you may have posted. Wot I am saying is if you feel snubbed and have withdrawn the that is how it is. If yoiu will allow one person to control wot you want to do that may be another thing. Your shop, your rules. If you wish to contribute that would be a bonus for folks that use this wonderful resource. When we staerted the knife chat we said tha4t anyone that wishes coupld post pics of their progress either in the forum or private to us and we wold offer suggestions. We received pics of two knives. Pretty sad but there were still a lot of folks keeping and eye on the lessons and still are. We were not able to then or now, move folks to do anything they were not comfortable doing. Nor did we expect to. Back to topic: When I once again type that we have covered it in the lessons. It saves me from typping a realy short recap of something that has been mentioned at length. And I do know that in the overall short knife making lessons we for sure did not cover much in that at depth lengths that we could have. And as you mentioned San mai is one example. When I know someone that has a large bag of trick in this area has posted a question i never give them wot might by some seem like a brush off. I will share wot I know and likely will learrn in the process. if anyone shuts down and asks no more from us and stears clear of the lessons..that is their choice. There are those that have changed alot in the products they turn out and the prices they attach to wot they now sell. That was a goal i believe we had and continue.

There is simply too much in thart video for new follks to learn from in just one viewing.. Thanks Glenn!

I guess I really come off bad when I answer the same way so many times when someone asks a question that maybe could for sure be answered once again in a few rather short sentences by myself or any of the others that have put together threrads that have covered the exact same or really similiar questions in the past. Consider our side of this: as mentioned above considering shop time; We gave up shop time and other draws on our life to compile, sort and type that info. And for the knife making lessons that meant our shop time for those lessons were not profitable or necessarily funs shop days. We repeated basics that are no longer needed in our shops. And in my case I got a friend to come take the pictures we added to perhaps more clearly illustrate wot we wished to pass along. We gave that time for you to use as you please. And for my part it was a way to put back into this site as a way to try and pay for all the information I have received since it began. And in keeping with the way it has been since then. My thoughts or motivation will not change your rights to ask the same questions any time you wish. And even though I have refered the same folks several times to where the answers that are already in print. They are not in any way obligated to click into a page link and read the wealth of information they will find. they can ask again here in the forums. and historically someone will answer...As for me i will continue to suggest that they read what is there and offer help if they have a time with any part of the information that I had a hand in. I hope this does not seem harch and uncaring,,but if someone is offended I think I will get over it.

We for sure covered all of that in the knife making classes as steve suggested...and you need a quart!

I have welded up two aluminum boats. one minor and the other quite alot of welding. On both of them I used and oxy/acet set up and flux core rod. i also welded a lot of aluminum in that time period with the same set up and on a bit i welded two aluminum soda cans together on the tops. I wouild have never been able to do any of it with stick rods and my lincoln tombstone. I never took the time to learn how to use that set up. For each of the boat repairs i put the hulls in position to not have to do much in the way of position welding. One of them was about 20 long so that took a bit with good help. Best advice I can offer is walk away from this and pass it on to someoone set up and skilled.

Good work and real good for a first piece. Welcome to the site...If you would like to see the work of others on similiar pieces check in the axes and tomahawks section down the page a bit....

I have some questions if you do not mind...Are you thinking that with a brake drum forge you will not have to have a vent pipe like with the buffalo forge?,,,,you will..fumes can get ya!, Not sure wot you will need the lid for,,,,looks like youi have a good start,,,keep at it...

Copper will not hurt a blade!

I have a very old one somewhere..seems tp be heat treated really well as even though I have only used it minimal to shave down hickory hammer handles It has never needed sharpening...

Mark Larson in Camp Verde AZ can do it...not sure he will. I do not have his contact information....If you cannot find him call Amy at Pieh tool there and see if she will have him call you.

Win do yoiu have any pictures of your pattern welded blades you have used this process to weld?

We covered can welding pretty well in the knife making lessons posted on here. try the 200 series..I may not type all of it over again in this little bx.. :)

If anything you find in your searches through here leave questions. link us to them and we will try to get you over the speed bump.

A and M university in Texas did some involved work with scanners to determine pressure points and centers of gravity with the horse at rest and in motion. And repeated the work after foot was trimmed and again after being shod...Dr. Hood if i remember right. Would be interesting to know if he is adding this technology to the program.

The shape of a horses hoof is in direct relationship to the internal bone inside,,the coffin bone. I have had maybe a hundresd of these bones in my hands over the years and not one of them is symetrical. they are longer around the outside edge than they are the inside edge. And the hoof properly trimmed will be the same. And of course I suspect there must somewhere be an abnormally shaped one that defies the norm. The shoe pictured appears to me to be the same shape on inside branch as it is on the outside branch. Which means in all likely hood wouild mean shaping to fit the foot. And that means the same for all four of the feet. A good farrier can hot shape that properly. Not sure it will look the same when fitted correctly! Steel or aluminum keg shoes have the same problem...some brands need to be reshaped entirely to fit a well trimmed hoof,,,some other brands not so much involved. If the shoe in the pic is not symertrical and does indeed fit the hoof properly or if this is one of the abnormal foot horses that does not follow the rest of the herd then nevermind all I just said.

Great piece!