Tzelik Hammar

Try Anatolian shepherds. Giant puppies when they aren't working, amazing guard dogs when they are on duty. I love mine. They are like perenese without the drool and excessive shedding

I'll try some bar stock tomorrow. Wednesdays I take off to forge. I use a rivet forge though so the ends won't hang off for tongs ;p

Right. Valid point.

Huh. ok. well, that explains why I cant find it. Damp dirt in the desert is hard to come by I was trying to take a piece of flat stock and coil it so it kind of held itself inside the tuyere with spring tension. Probably overthinking things again. I only have access to a welder at work, so ill try to pull something together this afternoon. I probably could have just made a bar grate 5-6 times over while jacking with the silly spring idea...

I've been searching around the website here to see what to try. Search is not as useful when you don't know what phrase you are after. I figure some sort of fire-resistent paste exists, but not sure how to make one. Mostly been trying to make a new plate that fits properly, but its an odd oval so I keep messing up and it either falls in or doesn't fit. I keep getting distracted looking for replacement parts for my blower. Not knowing the names of the parts makes it quite frustrating.

tagging for replies. interested in this as well

Goats are fun (and delicious)! Just gotta stay away from the buck pens during rut... its pretty awful.

Mr. Stevens is right on all counts. However, if your heart is set on using a piece from budk, I would cut off the end of the Tang (not the bolt, the actual Tang) and get it analyzed, then try and find a heat treat shop once you know the composition. Budk sells some real weird things (I used to resell them in HS) and you really don't want to get hurt. If it didn't come factory hardened and tapered, it's most likely not a blade you can make into a functional thing. Your 40$ would have gone better towards a camp machete or something. Budk also tends to favor the "rat tail" Tang with big hollow handles. After a couple of whacks the little bolt breaks loose and it comes apart, which can hurt you. Their blades are poorly set for actual contact and tend to leave you with quite a bit of vibration, adding to the danger of spontaneous disassembly with every swing. I looked up the piece you are talking about, and you would need to remove a considerable amount of stock to get it to be more sword than club. Really... Put it back together, hang it up (especially if you sprang for engraving), and go buy a machete, or read around, pick up the craft bug, and work your way up to making your own awesome things.

The big like chemistry goggles?

Old thread, but appropriate place to post. Any suggestions on a decent place to pick up prescription safety glasses? Obviously i can Google all day but that won't always lead me to a respectable vendor. I wear glasses full time and have xxxx getting the big safety glasses to stay over them, so I mostly use corner Shields.

How smithing REALLY works...

Excellent. Thank you on both counts.

That sounds really fun! I don't fully understand it but with the terms I bet I can use some Google fu for more info.. I have an idea for a mokume project involving spent .45 brass with a copper pipe inside, then a tig rod core, think that would work? I'm trying to figure out what to put between the shells so there is no air gap (like using powder steel in canister Damascus) but currently drawing a blank. Say... 12 shells in 3 rows, each with the copper and Tig. If I can figure out the filler I might try this one my fire control gets better. Still adjusting to anthracite. My tuyere plate broke so I made a temporary one out of a cast iron comal, but it doesn't seal tight and my fire wanders as air escapes around the edges, 3-4 inches out from the tuyere itself.

There are a remarkable number of threads that mention the process, including a BP, though it wasn't heavy on details. I put it on the list in my smithing journal of projects to (research and)try. I have to keep a list or my brains takes ideas out into the woods and they have "hunting accidents"...

This may seem silly, but what separates a good power hammer from a bad? size? force? adjustability? If I end up with a power hammer I will most certainly have had to build it (I'm muddling through the ABANA treadle hammer plans currently), so it would be good to know criteria to judge plans by! On another note, fairly similar... would a wood splitter make a decent press? I have a hand one (two handles for pumping at different speeds), and could probably get my hands on a gasoline powered one from a local wood yard.

Current quarters or older stock? I know they have changed the composition a couple times. That seems like a fun project!

That is amazing. The Wikipedia article makes it seem extremely complex, but fascinating!

I was thinking about trying that, basically. You cut me off at the post before I could ask about it! I was still doing through posts to see if someone mentioned copper forge welding and hasn't found anything yet, and I don't risk the wrath of the curmudgeons without at least poking around a bit.

I'm working on acquiring a treadle hammer, if that would work. I am open to any suggestions for a home built power hammer but I haven't come across plans for that in my board crawl yet.

Oh, no. This is an eventually thing. I plan on as much practice beforehand as I can to get clean forge welds consistently before I start. The question is more what kind of things should I pick up for such projects. I work in a mechanic's shop and I kinda pack-rat materials way ahead of actual projects because they will sell them to me at scrap price or sometimes just give it to me. I'm looking for materials that will provide a good contrast so I know what to look for around the yard as far as materials for the time in the future when I start Damascus. Should I be collecting bearings, for instance? Will they contrast with the coil spring steel well enough to see after proper etching? If it's simply "buy xxxx steel or don't bother" I'd like to know to save my salvage time and money. I'm still working my way through the rather large number of posts on this website but have not come across a post discussing which steels provide solid contrasts yet.

That's very kind Frosty. Thank you!

Great! A fairly solid bronze-ish. It will lighten up some when I attach the spine trim, but I'll keep the edge in water and I think it will be ok. I pulled it all the way back to working temp and beveled it better and fixed a minor warp from the first go. Then back to non magnetic and quench in oil again. Much cleaner, but still have the rustic look I want. Also ran the copper for the spine through the forge to spread it out and get it ready. Test fit looked amazing. Can 't find my solder for the life of me but they sell it at work so that's not terrible. Working on figuring out how to turn copper tubing or a copper battery plate into a nice big pin to fit in the handle.

I try to plan way ahead, because I gather materials when I can afford them and eventually knock out a project. That being said, I have a fair stock of 5160 laying around and my plan had extended into Damascus or pattern welded steels. I have Harley chains im saving for the purpose because that pattern is pretty and I've had to replace my chain a couple times, but I'm wondering what a good "intro" contrast material would be, to get the technique down without shelling tons of cash into specialty steps. If I missed a sticky, let me know but I think I'm good.

Oh, not using a camp stove. Using a preheated and thermometer checked house oven. It turned out perfect! The skillet was the only thing I was allowed to take, so I used what I could. 1 hour 20 at 450 (figured the sand and skillet would take time to get to temp so I added twenty minutes)

Finally something I'm doing right. Lol. Thanks for the heads up on the grinder!