Junksmith

I've used old Ford wrenches from the early 1900's to make knives. I anneal then super quench with good results. Not like spring steel, but better than a spike knife. It's the Ford logo that really sells them.

Making your own tools may be my favorite part of being a blacksmith!

All wonderful ideas. Alan, yours in particular are going to be a game changer. Mr. Woolridge, I do have a v shaped jig made of angle iron welded to a flat. I just need to weld on a bit of a stabilizer so it doesn't walk on me.

Thank you everyone. The pilot holes weren't the greatest idea, but at least they'll be on the inside.

I'm in the middle of a garden trellis that requires pieces of 1/2" round bar to intersect perpendicularly at a few spots. The plan all along has been to slit the horizontal pieces of 1/2" round so the solid pieces can pass through vertically. Essentially a section of grate. What's killing me is slitting and drifting the round bar. I can make a single hole that's not too off center, but I need three in a row and can't get them lined up. I drilled pilot holes which was probably a mistake. the essential question is, can I take a length of 1/2" round bar and put 3 roughly aligned 1/2" holes in it? Wish I could use square. thanks

Hay-budden produced anvils between 1880 and 1920 in Brooklyn, NY. That at least gives you a date range. I've got two. Love 'em!

Off to a running start! Love the hammer. Let us know how it holds up with use. I'd like to redo an old one I have too.

I have a handful of farriers rasps and I can't bring myself to burn them up because they work so darned well! They'll file and rasp mild steel well enough, and I used one today to shape out an axe handle for a project. I'm going to need to get a few more before I can bear to experiment on any.

If you're in a hurry, a shot bath in muriatic acid will do the job in minutes... Of course you won't want to breathe that either!

I admit I do often have trouble with letter punches "skipping" away when I hit them. They're so tiny and I think my sausage fingers chicken out at the last minute when the hammer comes down. One thing that has helped is to make sure the item being marked is braced on a solid surface like the anvil. A wooden benchtop makes it harder to do.

Good ideas all. Fortunately, the individual has opted to sell or give it to a gunsmith for re-use since it is in good shape. I do have an old 12 guage breech that I cut off, welded shut and use as a horizontal mandrel for forming uniform J hooks. The lug under the barrel is perfect for clamping in a vice. Thanks for the input!

Before anybody gets alarmed, I am NOT making a gun of any kind. I have a friend who is offering me a Ruger 10/22 barrel to forge something out of. I told him I would rather see it put into a working firearm rather than waste it. If he insists, however, has anybody ever used an old barrel for a project? What kind of steel is it? I'm having trouble getting an answer for that online and I searched it here, but the term "gun" is banned in the search. I understand why. We don't want anybody getting blown up trying to forge one. Any thoughts? Unless they are perfect for some unusual project, I'm inclined to sell or donate it to a local gunsmith. Thanks!

You could try heating the welds with a torch until the temper color turns dark. Often when I'm finishing a piece, I'll heat the entire thing to black and dip it in oil (or beeswax). It makes a nice uniform finish. We'd love to see a picture.

Excellent rescources. I've downloaded them all to my tablet. Thanks for sharing!

People I know who have been in combat say that despite the best of plans, all bets are off when the shooting starts. I think craft fairs are like that in a way - hopefully with less shooting though :P. Still, there are some common sense considerations that will help things along. You can't have too much of anything. I don't understand the phenomenon, but I have observed that people seem more likely to select items presented in quantity (in a basket, on a rack, etc). Your best bet is to observe what sells and make more of it for next time, but remember that even items that prove to be poor sellers are worth bringing back because they add "bulk" to your overall offerings. My items range in price from $3 to over $100, but I find the majority of sales these days are in the $5 to $10 range and they add up! Sales of more expensive items then become icing on the cake. To cite a relevant example. I was at a craft fair last week which put a big dent in my inventory. That's a good thing, but I have another fair this weekend! The first thing I'm going to do is bring my smaller shelves so they don't look as empty. Now as I go over my sales list, I see that $5 key fobs (iron baubles put on craft store keyrings) were the biggest single seller. I can only afford to take one day off from my regular job this week, so guess what I'll spend tomorrow making? You got it! Since I'm also demonstrating, I'm pre-cutting stock to make other popular items that can be finished quickly. I will not only enhance my inventory quickly, but will also have plenty of demo projects lined up for Saturday and Sunday that will go right to the shelf... I hope. It's going to be a long 3 days. As for finish. Most times I just dip products in a can of motor & linseed oil as they are cooling down - like Frosty says: 'hot but not HOT'. Let them finish cooling off and wipe off the excess. If the item may be used close to the skin or with food (such as a meat fork) I just rub it down with beeswax while still warm. Well, that was a mouthful. Hope it helps!

I do most of my pickling in a 5 gallon bucket. As a way to speed things up a little, I gorilla-taped a vibrating motor from an old massager to the side. I get the best results when I suspend the bucket and let the vibration shake the scale off a little faster. Kind of like a poor man's ultrasonic cleaner!