C-1ToolSteel

Here ya go.

Finished up some 3/8" V-bit bolt tongs that I started yesterday. Nowhere near as good as what @Ranchmanben makes, but I'm happy with them.

Really nice stuff, Mark. I love the trivet. The guitar is cool, too. You could do a banjo by keeping the main part round and doing four tuning pegs (punch marks) on the head with another tuning peg off to the side, about 1/3 of the way down the neck.

Looks like a significant improvement from 1 and 2, so that's what you want. I like the smaller one. Reminds my of what they call a nesmuk (I think) blade. Just a good multi purpose, outdoorsman's sorta knife. The handle material on the larger one is gorgeous, but it looks pretty blocky. Could be partly camera angle, though. How does it fit in your hand?

Beautiful! I hope it brings a pretty penny at the auction and goes to someone who can really apreciate it.

Yep, great job. And if it's over 100 lbs, I'd say you can get away with it as is with nothing bolting it down.

I'm not an expert on this subject, but here's my $0.02. Yes, you are moving metal and thus introducing stress in the steel, just like every other part of forging the blade. That's why we normalize and all that good stuff. A picture is worth 1,000 words, yet again. What do you mean when you say "hammered finish"? Here's a couple pics of two types of what I would consider a "hammered finish" (neither of which could be achieved cold).

Beauties!

Definitely unique, but it looks well executed. Nice.

Wow. I feel very sorry for the town and especialy for the person who started it, no matter how careless it was. From the two articles I read, there doesn't seem to be hardly any information yet as to how the accident happened. We don't know enough yet to call him an idiot. We have all made mistakes, and I am thankful that none of mine have started something like this. I think this is an extremely good reminder for all of us as to what can happen when we aren't prepared to stop a worst case scenario from getting out of hand. Should this thread be pinned as a reference for why we care so much about safety?

Praying for the whole family and for abundant strength and great blessing. You are on His side, and as hard as it is, He is always there for you.

If you give us the serial number, (located on the front foot under the horn) we can give an approximate year it was made which will determine whether or not it has a face plate. Milling a faceplate clean down to the wrought iron body is REALLY BAD, but milling a plateless anvil down just a little is less catastrophic. The more you mill, though, the more heat treated steel will be lost. In other words, Just because it might be high carbon from the waist up doesn't mean it is *hard* from the waist up. I hope she's still alright.

Didn't do any blacksmithing today, but I did poke around in the other shop a little. Took a few things out of the overnight vinegar soak. (I added the Collins HB axe to the vinegar after the pic was taken) First I cleaned up the double bit Kelly axe and re-profiled the edges. (I sharpen double bits with a steep angle on one bit and a thinner angle on the other side.) I had it looking really nice with new edges until I picked it up again and decided I wanted it a lot thinner... It looks terrible now with all the grinding marks going almost to the eye, but I guess it's a little thinner. Ugh. The cleaver is something I found in an old trash pile by a ranch in Colorado. There was some pretty cool stuff in that pile... It looks better than in the pic, and I'm planning to re-handle it. (Anything jumping out to y'all that would look special and be dishwasher safe?) Also stuck a ball peen in the vinegar just cuz. The real thing I'm looking forward to is re-handling this Collins Hudson Bay pattern axe. It's an old military issue with a US stamp and some green paint left. Ran out of seasoned hickory, so I had to order a handle. The head is in great shape with just a little surface pitting. Edge was so good that sharpening it was like sharpening a knife. Went ahead and made a sheath for it the other day, while waiting for the handle.

You do make some good points. ....and those do look 1,000 times better than my first attempt at making tongs!

Piddler: I hear ya. I'm not trying to pick on you, and if you read my post, I said that rebar WILL work for tongs if that is all you have. The thing is, though, if you are going to make tongs, it means you will be using those tongs to make something else. 99 times out of 100, rebar won't be a good choice for the things you make with the tongs you made, so why not just buy a good selection of suitable steel in the first place? Again, not trying to pick on you, just trying to give constructive food for thought. If I was going to put the effort into making a pair of tongs, I would want to know whether or not they will crack when quenched during use, *before* I made them. Now again, if you don't yet have anything else to use, it is better to use what you got than use nothing at all. I would want to have some kind of disclaimer, though, before I made a thousand newbies watching the video leave thinking rebar is an ideal material to work with. Remember that you can post "let's learn together" videos rather than authoritative "how to" videos when you are just dipping your toe into something you don't have very much experience with. I hope this comes across as something to help you out rather than just slow you down. Just remember, though, sometimes slowing down is the best way to help yourself out.

Instead of "how to make tongs from rebar" how about "rebar tongs experiment". You can even explain at the beginning of the video how rebar is inconsistent and isn't recommended for most smithing applications. It works for tongs if you have nothing else, but you could take advantage of the opportunity to research and discuss why rebar isn't suitable for knives, etc. Do a little research, and I think a good little talk about the dos and don'ts of rebar would really boost the level of how informative a video it is.

Welcome aboard. Interesting design. A big improvement would be to shape dirt in sort of a U along the length of the drum, cutting the ends of the drum to match the U in the dirt. In the center, you could make just enough of an additional bowl shape to expose about 6" of the pipe. Since you are working with wood that is in more or less sticks rather than chunks, the U shape would really help keep your fire contained and let the hot coals concentrate in the center. BUT you should get a non-galvanized pipe if you make any changes that will expose the pipe to the heat of the fire. I also noticed that your poker lookes like it was repurposed from something that could very well have been zinc coated. I strongly suggest that you read up on the risks of zink fumes and how to avoid them. Here are a couple rough illustrations:

@JHCC I could see that.

Also depends on what "it" is. Being a London or German pattern is usually a big plus for a lot of people. Being in good condition is a big plus for everybody. The more you think about very generic questions such as "how do you price an anvil", the more factors you will dig up. There is no "THE way" for pricing anvils, but if you look up a *SOLD* listing for a similar anvil on eBay, You will see what a similar anvil at a particular time sold for to a particular person in a particular location.

Most likely ASO or Vulcan equivalent at best. When you see super thick heels on cast anvils it means they were probably worried about it breaking off!

I believe Frozenforge is correct. I see the "?E?E?" Remaining of the word "PETER". I also think the pritchel hole in the left of the picture was later drilled and not how it came from the factory. Nice anvil in good condition.

Flamed maple would really compliment the Damascus and still have sufficient strength.

I know you have gotten plenty of responses, but let me just ad my $0.02. Sure, you could have improved your design with more research, but don't sweat it. It isn't just the newbies on YouTube that recommend horizontal rail anvils, either. I know of popular professional blacksmiths that recommend them. Not saying they are right. I'm just saying it isn't stupid. This forum is a melting pot of different people and diferent ideas, and thanks to the masters on this forum that have EXPERIENCE, lots of preconceived notions, and false information has really been strained out on I Forge Iron. We all have different specialties, and new ideas and concepts are always being put to the test and held up against true experience. As a result, I believe that the information we are able to give for people starting out is the best information that exists on the subject. No one person can figure everything out, but when you have a collaboration of experts, you have something very valuable. My recommendation is that you take advantage of the resources here. You have the opportunity to share the product of generations of refining these practices, if you will learn from the things that are established here. No more guesswork. The percentage of "how to..." videos related to beginning blacksmithing is overwhelmingly choked out by people that don't know what they are talking about. Show them how to learn the right way. Not that every video has to be about processes that have been brought down to a science. Just don't blurr the line between experiments and experience. If you want to try something you don't have personal experience with, there's nothing wrong with making a video titled "wooden anvil experiment"! Just make it clear that it is an experiment. That's how you will separate yourself from the people pretending to have athority that....just don't. I like your catchy name, and I look forward to seeing more videos from you in the future. Best wishes in your endeavor.

Pure eye candy. I'm a huge fan of your Bowies. I don't even feel qualified to say that you did a good job!

Very nicely done. The random ball peen marks add a nice unique touch, in my opinion.