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I Forge Iron

Louie DeBono

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Live Oak, FL on the glorious Suwannee River
  • Interests
    Knife making, Wing Chun Kungfu and military history (I'm a veteran on the US Army Signal Corps)

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  1. Hey folks. Just finished my first attempt at making a forge. I used an old propane tank. Being a proud and ever cautious single parent of an eight year old little girl, I actually chose to place it in the ground, partially covered with soil. I lined the hole with red brick. I used a heavy steel pipe for a chimney of sorts and also as an access point for a bellows. Which is where I got stuck for a bit. No local stores had any old school bellows, so I was forced to make do with what I had I hand and used an old electric sir mattress inflator, which I converted to cordless using a battery pack from a busted dremel tool. I'm a little sketchy on this item as I didn't have any real heat resistant tubing and had to make due with heavy gage rubber hose, with a brass coupling on the end, which hopefully will so the job. Any recommendations on fuel? I live in a rural area and have a pine forest along our property. So that's convenient. I included some photos of this monstrosity.
  2. Nah... I want nothing but honesty. I've only been making knives and such for 3 months and need all the corrective criticism I can get. BTW what's a bearded axe
  3. Thx I think. Lol I have no idea what I'm doin. Only been into this 3 mths. Trial and error. Heh
  4. Let me jus say thanks to all yall. I joined this site to gain a little knowledge... Meet a few folks. But never expected such a great group of fellas with such knowledge and a willingness to share it. Thx yall... Sniffle.. Cry. OK, enough of the Hallmark moment. I'm gonna go wipe my tears, put on a pot of coffee and get to building a forge. HEHE thx brothers
  5. Well I thought about jus going old school and using wood, after all I do live in the woods more or less, but s buddy recently gave me a couple good sized burners from an old propane camping stove. So maybe propane. which you recommend?
  6. I had so much fun on my first hatchet /tactical tomahawk build, I jus had to try another. A buddy of mine gave me an old full size axe when he broke the handle, and said "Do what you want, I'm buying a new one" haha. So I decided to make it into a little back pack, survival hatchet. The main issue was that the axe head itself, was a FULL SIZE AXE HEAD, so the weight was all insanely top heavy once I got it on the newly designed, and majorly smaller hatchet size handle. To compensate, I skeletonized (is that the right term) the axe head, taking out a significant portion of the center using a dremel 3000 with a couple re enforced cutting wheels. (took about two hours and used up 3 disks.. I need a plasma cutter). I guessed right and the weight distribution is perfect. Would love opinions and pointers. Thx guys
  7. Thank you so much.. I actually designed the handle based in my daily use of a store bought hand axe. What I mean is I designed the handle to include features that DID NOT exist in the store bought one. My daughter and I live in a very rural area in Suwannee County FL, off the Suwannee River, and spend, alot of time outside. The hand axe is a regular part of our everyday work and play. Thanks again for your encouragement! I'm new to this and appreciate your words immensely!
  8. So I made a forge out of an old Dewalt air compressor tank. One benefit is that it has a perfectly placed hole where the air hose ran, that I can attack my bellows to. What I planned on using for my bellows was an old air mattress pump /inflator. My problem is the air mattress pumps hose is of course light weight flexible plastic, which would pretty much melt instantly from the heat of the forge. Can anyone provide a solution? A buddy of mine suggested attach copper tuning to the end of the hose, in between the forge and the air mattress pump, as it will sufficiently reduce the heat, to the point of not melting he hose. Remember in very new to this. So be nice. Lol
  9. Though I'm a diehard Army fella, I have always had a great respect and admiration for my brothers and sisters in the Marine Corps. To show my appreciation for those folks I did a Kabar build, the combat fighting knife of the Marine Corps, to honor alll you fighting leather necks. So here's to yall. SEMPER FI.
  10. Thx Dave for the tip. I've heard of Demora I think. My Si-gung, Grandmaster, is William Cheung, top fighter at the school in Hong Kong ran by the famous Yip Man. He was also best friends and senior training partner of Bruce Lee in his first years in martial arts.
  11. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.. I very learned an immense amount in just the three short days I've been a member of the forum. Good stuff bro! And thank you as well brother appreciate you guys taking the time to share your knowledge
  12. Thomas... Please elaborate... Cas I have been beating this thing senseless... And your comment has both intrigued and alarmed me.... Heh
  13. This is my first attempt at sword making. It's the first, in a set of two, that I am making and presenting to my Sifu, or instructor, on his birthday in January. They come in pairs, and in Wing Chun are used as extensions of the hands, rather than a seperate wielded weapon, with all of the attacks and defenses performed as if one was fighting empty handed. I made this from a piece of metal salvaged from a trailer assembly used for pulling mobile homes. The handle is made from a broken wheel barrow handle.
  14. Well that sounds right up my alley. Yall be thankful I quit drinking... I've been known to shed my clothes and do a little break dancing after too much Jameson and and Guinness. Haha You got a link my friend? How do I get to there
  15. Hey my brother. I'm not sure exactly what this is about, but you had me at PARTY! Heh heh count me in my friend
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