Medic Zack

With how rich it forge appears to be running after he put the billet in, my money is on kerosene. Especially if y'all have seen other videos by him using the same technique on stacked steel billets as there would be no reason to degrease freshly ground steel. Soaking a billet in kerosene as an alternative to the more traditional borax flux is a technique I have read about extensively on the ABS forums. One of the explainations I heard for this technique is that when the kerosene burns it coats the steel in a layer of carbon soot which prevents oxygen from coming in contact with the steel thus preventing the formation of scale. Which seems to make sense to me, though I am sure that there is someone that could provide a much better, more in depth explaination. While I am by no means a master at making Damascus, I have tried this technique on a few weld with good results. 

Let me add that I have seen numerous comparable blowers sell in my area recently for around the $200 mark. My question is more so about the combo with the rivet forge as I haven't seen many good comps sell recently. And we all know what prices have been doing with anything blacksmithing related. 

An antique picker I know sent me some pictures today of a champion forge and hand crank blower that he is looking to sell. He had it in his shop when I purchased my anvil from him not long ago. Everything appeared to be in good shape. There were no cracks in the fire pot and the blower did work though there was a little play in the bearing of the crank. Anybody know what these are going for these days?

5 hours ago, Charles R. Stevens said:

A 2 1/2” mainline in fog in front of that beast would nock down most brush fires.

That would be interesting. The county fire guys use this one as a ventilation fan. They use that ply wood door on the side of the trailer to hook it directly into a building then pressurize the whole building to clear smoke. Pretty sure there would be nothing left standing of my shop if i were to try to crank that thing up.

So I found a large squirrel cage fan at work.... But it might be a bit big to serve as a blower. What do y'all think?

9 hours ago, Daswulf said:

Ok, I googled EMT and got lots of Emergency Medical Technician reference. I don't believe I want to hit them with a hammer on my anvil

Das, we would certain appreciate you refraining from excessive hammering of EMTs. I try to only give my EMT partner one every now and then to keep them in line.

Thanks for for invite Joe. That is actually a day that works with my work schedule as I don't have to be there till 1900 on the 1st. I will try to make it. 

As for the anvil situation, I rode over and took a look at them today. I ended up buying the Peter wright one that you suggested Daswulf. The rebound on it was much superior to the other one. And while the heel is cracked off and there is one decent chip on the edge, there is no delamination of the face. Still even rings pretty good. Plus I ended up getting for about $0.80 per lbs. So a pretty good score in my opinion. 

Thank Jon. And yes, I am very aware of the anvils being sold out of Denver. I believe that I actually meet the gentleman (if I am thinking of the right guy) a few months ago at an estate sale where we watched a 198 lbs shop anvil sell for almost $1300... Hence why I have yet to buy an actual anvil. Like I said, up until know I have been using my improvised "anvils" and have been very happy. Just thinking that I might be able to get one of these at a decent deal since they are missing the heel. And there are plenty of ways to work around not having a hardie hole. 

As for the group at the fair ground, I have meet them a few times mostly during the Dixie classic as I am usually there at least 4 days of it providing incident command for the event and they always have the forged manned. They seem like a great group of people. And I hope to be able to go to more of their demos in the near future. But the way they have them schedule isn't necessarily the easiest with my work schedule. 

So up until now, I have gotten buy just fine with improvised anvils. Whether it is a old sledgehammer head mounted in a log that I used for primary "anvil", the 1/2 inch angle iron I mounted on the edge of my work bench for straightening, or the "mandrel" I used which is really a top maul. I have gotten by just fine. Especially since all the anvils I have been able to find in my area in NC go for more than $4 per pound, with some even being much higher ($6-8). Well I have found a guy on Craigslist that is selling various "anvils and anvi-like objects". He has some various pieces of rail and I beams like most other people. He does have some 16x6x1.5 steel plate that he is selling for $5 that I will be most likely picking up from him. But then he has two anvils that might be worth consideration. 

Both of the anvils have broken heels and are missing their hardie holes. One is labeled as a wright anvil and in it's current state weights approx 125 lbs he wants $175 for this anvil. The other anvil has no obvious marking on it but weight 110 lbs and he is asking $150. From the picture the wright anvil looks to have some sway and a few significant edge chips. The other anvil's face and edges looks to be in slightly better condition. Obviously I will be checking both anvils over in great detail in person before buying either and checking rebound. My question is (and yes I have read every other thread that I could find on here about broken heel anvils which advise to pay very little, ie less than $1 per pound if not a lot less) but considering the current market climate for anvils in my area, are these worth it considering that they lack a heel and hardie hole? And in consideration of their overall condition. 

I need a few last minute gifts this year, so i decided to try my hand at a few simple bottle openers. Turned out decently for first attempt. And they actually work really well.  

Thanks Latticino. And yes, I tempered the knife in the oven at 400 for a total of 2 hours. I also did a series of 3 normalization before my quench. 

So I am very, very new to forging. And my plan was to spend a significant amount  of time learning the basics of blacksmithing making decorative pieces and tools. But my fiance had different ideas... Her birthday is today and despite multiple attempts to convince he to let me make her something simple and decorative, she had her heart set on a knife. And of course you have to give the lady what she wants. 

So this is my first attempt at making a knife. It is forged out of 1080 1/2 inch bar stock and modeled after one of her favorite kitchen knives that she uses to chop vegetables. The blade is 4.5 inches long by 1.5 inches. It has a hidden tang that is 4 inches long by 1 inch thick. The handle is made out of an old sledge hammer handle. 

Overall I am very happy with the knife for my first attempt. The heat treatment took some trial and error, but in the end the blade will pass a file test and did not warp. I feel like my fit and finish leaves something to be desire. But this ended up being a wonderful learning experience. 

I would like to say a special thank you too all of you on here that have shared your knowledge of blacksmithing and blademaking. Especially Steve and Rich for the knife making classes. They were invaluable. 

I do like the gutter idea. I have them soaking in some vinegar right now. But the gutter would be much better doing long prices than the plastic container I use now. Thanks Marc.

That is what I was thinking. Better than the mild steel I have been working with. Not as good as the tool or spring steel I have.

Well curiosity got the better of me. I had a few minutes before heading to work tonight, so I cut one of the rods and ground the galvanization back enough to do a spark test in the core metal. Here is the result. What do y'all think.

14 minutes ago, Daswulf said:

However, why not just safely remove the galvanizing and spark test it. 

Spark testing is the plan. Got it stripping now. I will let y'all know how it goes. Though probably won't be till Sunday as that is my next day off.  I just didn't know if maybe we had a lineman or somebody who works with these and might know the composition.

1 hour ago, ianinsa said:

hmm. this seems like the sort of test that is ......how do I put it?????? questionable? ???? and if they don't bend ? does that mean your tractor just isn't up to scratch?

The validity of that sort of testing is going to be directly proportional to the size of Daswulf's tractor in my opinion.... but we may need something a little more definitive before passing judgement on the steel.

In the scrap pile at the family farm I have found a number of these (see attached picture). By my research, they are double eye guy line anchor rods used to stabilize utility poles. They are obviously galvanize. I am unable to identify any manufacturer. But the comparable one that i have found online state that they are high tensil strength steel. I have not had time to strip one and do a spark test yet. My question is has anyone else ever forged one of these or does anyone have any further information on what type of steel they maybe? 

Thanks Frosty. I haven't gotten a chance to do too much forging with them yet. But they are definitely a huge step up from the vice grips I was using before.

First of all, I would like to introduce myself as I am new to both the form and blacksmithing. My name is Zack and I am a sergeant with a large EMS agency in NC. I would also like to thank everyone on this site especially the old timers for sharing their knowledge. Even though this is my first post, I have spent countless hours reading previous threads over the past months and the knowledge I have gained has been invaluable. It is only because of this that I have recently been able to construct my first forge and start the long learning process of hammering steel. 

So today, I had some time off (which is a huge rarity working EMS) and decided to attempt making a set of tong as a learning experience. I had some scrap 1/2 inch round and square stock just laying thay were both about 18 inches and seemed up to the task. I didn't have any particular design in mind when I started other than something that would help me grab flat bar stock.

Overall, I am very proud of the results. Mostly the fact that I actually have a working set of to tongs even if they aren't the pretty ones around. I am particularly happy about the way the reins turned out as the contours ended up fiting my hand wonderfully. I know that I have a long way to go, especially with my hammering technique as you can tell by all the marks, but feel as though this was a great start.