Pr3ssure

So my dad brought me some copper that's chrome plated. I'll post some pictures here soon but I'm wondering how to remove the chrome. Would forging it remove it? Would forging with the chrome on it be a bad idea? I'm not sure.

Yeah, my dad said it just looks like varnish. I couldn't tell. It just looked good that it blended with the copper guard

So my dad ended up coming with a carload of stuff for me. Everything from 1/2 inch steel plate to a few little bars of copper. There's some giant chain, I beams some things that are like what they use as the canister for canister damascus, except thicker. I'm going to go take some pictures and post it all. The bench vise he got me is xxxxxxx huge. Plus he got another little arbor press.

So this is a knife I have that was my grandfathers, he gave it to me for skinning deer before he died. The knife seems to have a full through tang and you can see it in between the scales. I was wondering how the tang in between the scales looks like its brass/bronze of made of the same material as the guard. I know it's just colored to look good but I'm wondering how it got it's color. The blade is all silver like steel just the tang you can see looks the same color as the guard.

Yeah, I have been reading and watching videos about dressing hammers not a whole lot of mention about not getting the hammer too hot but I figured it wouldn't be a good idea anyway. I'm just gonna be sure to keep it nice and slow since I've never done it before. And I'm glad to finally be getting an angle grinder, they're so useful.

Alright, I will see if my dad can pick up a few sandpaper disks on his way home. Otherwise I'll just grab them when I can make it to town.

My dad's coming home tonight and is bringing me an angle grinder he got me. Should I use that? I don't have any rasps here, I need to buy some. I'm going to make a new forum for dressing my hammers I found in the shed after I take pictures of them.

Awesome, I appreciate it. I need to finish building my workbench so I can mount my bench grinder and vises. Would a bench grinder be ok to shape hammer handles and also dress a few hammer faces?

Yeah, I want to go back and try and get either a whole coal forge setup or just get a hand crank blower. Although I'd like to upgrade from my 22gallon drum forge I made. It works but it needs some tweaking to get the blower pipe in the right spot because I just have it setup as a side blast. I want to get it to a bottom blast, jut gotta figure out how I'm going to do it.

It's the guy at Atlas Forge in Union Town, his name is Ed. He has a beautiful shop.

Word, that's not too far from me. I went almost that far to pick up my anvil. I wonder if he knows the guy I got it from. Sounds good. I'll be sure to let you know when I decide to go.

I just looked it up, it's up by Pittsburgh, probably about an hour and twenty minute drive from me. Not too bad, I'll have to make a trip up and see what I can snag.

I used a wire brush to get the paint off the face of my anvil. I still need to get more off the horn and i'm gonna try and get it off the body. but don't need to right now.

Thanks for the encouragement guys. It means a lot.

Yeah, the recession dropped his pay almost an average of $400 a week, it's just now starting to get back to where it used to be. Plus 2 years ago the company he was with for over ten years fired him for getting in a wreck that was proven to not be his fault. So he found a new company in a few weeks. It's a smaller company but they treat him better.

Will do, he's been gone for almost six months this time. I'm glad he's able to come in for the holiday.

I just wanted to post on here that I appreciate everyones helpful comments on here, your information has been priceless. I'm going to start actually starting some practice pieces and see if I can make anything useful after Thanksgiving. So I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm thankful for you guys. Hope everyone has a lovely week.

Yeah, for practice i don't care about the carbon content. I'd only want to know so I know how soft/hard it would be. My dad right now I know he has a bunch of stuff he has found in dumpsters and just random stuff thrown in the scrap pile at places he delivers, he is the master of dumpster diving and sniffing out a deal. I'd say he would like to read about the TPAAT as well. I don't know what all he got for me but I'm sure it's more since he told me what he had last. He's coming in on Wednesday for thanksgiving. I'm really excited to get the angle grinder he got for me, plus the bench vise he picked up. Plus my grandma is bring me down my grandpas bench grinder since it doesn't get used anymore. I'm not sure where he found it but he found a JET 5 ton Arbor Press, I saw the same one online selling for $800, I think he paid $50. I'm trying to work out how I can use it. A few people gave me some ideas on here.

I guess that's something I've never understood either. Trust me, there's some times I've hated both of my parents, well not hated but been mad at them. You know, but I'll always have respect for them. They gave/give me everything I'll ever want if they can. It's crazy how some kinds disrespect their parents. My dad is the only reason I'm even pursuing blacksmithing. He's been supportive since I said anything about being interested in it, he actually bought me my anvil.

Yeah, maybe some places use it as more of a put down then others or maybe it's just an older thing and I'm too young to have heard it like that a lot. It's not something I've ever said or really heard used as an insult though. I understand, I just don't understand why anyone would have thought I'd be putting down an entire profession, let alone my dad.

To me it's like saying "It's just that he isn't home much" Yeah, I know. I'm just getting into it though so I'm just messing around until I figure it out. Although I hope to make all my own tools when I can. but yeah, what does he use to wire for?

I'm not sure I'd be able to take a 10-20 foot piece and heat a section to hot cut it. I don't have a nice torch, just a small propane one. Nor do I have a hot cut hardy tool. @BIGGUNDOCTOR what does your friend use the wire for? and is it really that thick?

By "just a truck driver" I didn't mean it as he's just a truck driver, that's not important. I meant it as He's just a truck driver so he isn't home much. I don't think. Which is what I said I guess. So don't think I'm being rude about it or anything, that JUST the way I said it. Not sure how that got misconstrued. Yeah, he had me drive his truck with a 52' trailer I think it was. I thought I was the master of reversing with a trailer doing it with a little towing trailer on an suv. I don't even understand how some people can back a 52' trailer up to a dock without wrecking. Also I have a lot of respect for anyone who has a family and a home but they aren't home but 3 times a year to enjoy everything they pay for.

I have a circular saw, but my dad has an angle grinder for me when he comes home. He's just a truck driver so he doesn't come home much. I think I'm gonna see him for thanks giving though. So I'm just gonna go with the angle grinder and a cut off wheel.

Yeah, it didn't sound right. More listings came up for suppliers around me that was just the closest.