Pault17

Steve, thanks for the link. good reading keep at it M.

What about one of those commercial grade mower blades? I this apprenticeman made a sword from one.

The birdy doorknocker in My gallery is for my parents. l'm working an a rattlesnake doorknocker for a friend. hooks mounted on wood for the wife. if I have time,:rolleyes:maybe some split crosses from RR spikes.

Rainsfire, thanks for the post. I been foolin with the idea about other-than-gas forging but just don't want the the list of issues with coal. your post gives hope. Happy thanks giving to you and IFI members.

Stefano, absolutely beautiful! but you already knew that.

mace mace mace wassup with the three words, btw?

I was parked between inspections and saw three "foundation bolts" leaning against a tree. In normal construction these are usually 10-14 inches long and 3/8 to 1/2 inch rod, bent in an "L" and threaded on the long end. The three I picked up were all of three feet long and 7/8 inch diameter. They are almost walking canes. they weigh a bit for that though. (pics to follow) Now my problem is that my little balloon-tyme forge is too small to heat them up. On that one, my loving, beautiful wife told me to stop on the side of the road and picked up two empty "balloon tyme" tanks that were just laying there. Then, bless her heart, she asked "how much would it take to make two more forges?":D the little one is my 2-year old - G

The colors and quality... I am at a true loss of words. thanks

holy heck!! that just about blows any ideas I had of just quenching in a bucket of used motor oil right out the window:o OTOH, I know that I am not anywhere near ready to even pretend any knife-making attemp. Beautiful work and thanks for the explanations.

Having been a full-time carpenter at one time, U put a 7 1/2 inch metal cutting fiber blade on my knockabout skill saw and cut away. Makes nice clean lines and cuts through. Downside is that the saw is more or less useless for anything else now and its not instantaneous.

tint tint tint

Sam, you created that monster. It is doable. Looking in Bealers book, a very simple one could use just the 1/2 inch bar:D the turkey head is another matter.

kind of like a MacGuyver trick. a nine volt battery, an old #2 pencil and a japanese paper fan, and Shazam, you have a plasma cutter:D

HE listens when you ask. Glad to hear of the return home.

Glenn, You and all of the people who make this site so enjoyable are just amazing!! You keep adding things that only improve the site that much more. thanks. Clay, welcome to the forum. There is definitely a wealth of knowlege here. check out the blueprints for starters. Also, I have lately been going through all of the old posts and threads just in the http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/ area and am learning lots and lots. even answers to questions like "what kind of steel should I use". Seriously (look around the the 50-62 page area).

reading through all this is both thought provoking and amazing. REgarding the use of mud-dauber nests, when I was working in the smithy at the state fair, I noticed a coffee can full of the things. when I asked what they were for, they said welding but that nobody had ever tried.

Man. you guys made it hard. I already started with RR spike and a chunk of 1/4x1, although mine was longer than 6 inches. I finished it with min-wax spray on lacquer (sp). I am doing a limited run of knockers for Christmas presents. I will try the limits mentioned above, although the turkey idea is a little ahead of my time:o

how about cool door knockers?

Congrats on saving the farm Patrick. My dad's family went through a nasty internal family "will" problem some years ago and the sides still haven't made up. The "bad" member even apologized and restituted many years ago as well. Great joss for you!!

As they say in the South, so I have been told, "Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx!"

As most of my stock is scrap that is found on the side of the road and elsewhere, I use tongs almost all the time. My favorite pair of tongs are a pair short wolf-jaw from kayne & son. I used another smiths longer set and was amazed at the comfort. I also make extensive use of my first pair made following Sean Conner's anvilfire blueprint (very, very simple to make and teaches good tapering and drawing skills). They are flat jaw and I have been known to drop but never fling a piece of warm steel. I also have been using more and more the long, very thin set of tongs that I made (my second set). the jaws and reins are drawn real thin and I first thought they were a good mistake to learn from. However, after using them a bit, they actually hold lighter stuff well and work good as pickup tongs too I am currently eye-balling the gstong site thanks to multiple comments in this thread.

I have a tendancy to "dance" around all sides of the anvil, depending on what I am working on.

Sam, you could write this up as a blue-print? I like the "simple' idea, and even though many people tell me I "need" a power hammer, when the power is out, the treadle still bangs:D

Love your forge. it reminds me of mine. Great start!