Louie DeBono

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. 

3 minutes ago, JHCC said:

Welcome to IFI, where you should not ask a question unless you want an honest answer!

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 

13 minutes ago, genesaika said:

Well, it looks like you did good work, but wow do I not like it.... I would have taken the weight off on the bottom and top to make it more of a bearded axe style. 

Thx I think. Lol I have  no idea what I'm doin. Only been into this 3 mths. Trial and error. Heh

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 

26 minutes ago, JHCC said:

What fuel will you be burning?

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? 

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

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! 

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 

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. 

16 hours ago, David Einhorn said:

You may like books by  Fumio Demura such as :

Fumio Demura's: Karate Weapons of Self-Defense: The Complete Edition 

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. 

16 hours ago, JHCC said:

Cast iron (which is what this vise is made of) can break if hammered on. The force of the blows will also be absorbed by the mechanism, which could break.

A blacksmith's post vise is designed to direct the force of the blows around the mechanism and into the ground. They are also usually made from mild steel or wrought iron and will usually bend before they break.

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! 

16 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Unless you know differently; vises tend to be made from cast iron and so heavy hammering can result in broken vises.  The best grades of modern vises go with malleable or "semisteel" and cost a LOT!

Now some old chipping vises were expected to be hammered on and so they are massive hulking things---150 pound would be common and heavier not unheard of.

So machinist vises in a smithy are generally used for twisting or filing and not for hammering.  Blacksmith vises AKA Leg Vises  are designed for hammering on!

And thank you as well brother   appreciate you guys taking the time to share your knowledge 

19 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Just don't hammer on it!

Thomas... Please elaborate... Cas I have been beating this thing senseless... And your comment has both intrigued and alarmed me.... Heh

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. 

13 minutes ago, Charles R. Stevens said:

Well we started hanging out on Glenn’s virtual front porch...

...things have kindove grown and overflowed into the streets. 

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 

5 minutes ago, Charles R. Stevens said:

Welcome to Glenn’s international block party (hammer in?). 

 

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

On 12/11/2017 at 5:43 PM, Frosty said:

Welcome aboard Louie, glad to have you. Thanks for serving. 

If you have some pics of your set up I'm sure we'll be able to come up with suggestions. Some might even be helpful.  

Frosty The Lucky.

Thx brother. I'm really so new to this and am learning as I go, and from studying the stuff you guys post. I started with just a pocket knife to widdle the wood into handles and a Porter Cable angle grinder for cutting the metal. Since I recently quit  drinking (not as easy as it sounds, I've been buying one tool a month when I get my Veterans pension. So far I have acquired a Fortney stick welder, a dremel tool, circular saw, some wood carving chisels, a table saw, an air compressor and rotary tool, a Littletown No 25 vise, and a variety of hand tools.. Hammers, an antique brace (drill) and so on. (it's amazing how much money I was spending on booze haha). All my materials are recycled from our local dump. Old lawnmower blades, chair legs etc. I built a forge but am still studying how to use em. Still working out the kinks  on a bellows. 

Well, I'm what my kids call Noob,  in the world of knife making. Been into this new passion of mine for about three months. I just finished my first Tactical Tomahawk. Tools I used were my standard stuff. Porter Cable angle grinder, dremel tool, Ryobi Impact /drill, and various woodcarving hand tools. I made this one out of a lawnmower blade and a leg from an old bar stool. All my materials are recycled from our local dump. Would love your opinions and advice. Thx 

Just got this as a gift from my mother's neighbor  up in Wears Valley  Tennessee. Apparently it's a good, solid vise with a great reputation. My  favorite feature is that it has the ability to rotate 180 degrees, and then locked into place. I have it mounted on an old bar stool and bolted to the  floor. Love my Littletown No 25!!

What's up folks. Louie here.. Army veteran and proud American hailing from Suwannee County FL off the banks of the Suwannee river. According to my kids I'm a "noob" in the knife making game, and stumbled onto this forum. I have so many questions, but thougt I'd introduce myself. For the past 3 months I've been turning old lawnmower blades and broken chair legs  into knives,  with only an angle grinder and a dremel tool. I just recently built a forge,  as best  I could from a tank off an old air compressor. Can yall recommend, in addition to this site, any other sources for info on forges, blacksmithing and knife making? Threw in a pic of some of my non forged lawnmower blade knives. Thank in advance. And God bless