Pault17

I know it's crude looking, but I wanted to try a few different techniques that I have been studying and thinking about. The knocker is a spike that has been drawn out. The bird/eagle head at the pointy end was an accidental afterthought. When I finished the curves on the knocker I realized that the point end looked kind of bird-like. I realized after the fact that I should do the animal head, or any other fancy stuff BEFORE the curves are put in. The top was an attempt at a one-piece fleur-de-lis.

Brian C, I like your setup. that looks like it would work well in my own situation. how much time do you get out of a twenty pounder on average?

Very nice Karl. I like the way it blends.

What's the color of the pooch? clinker does have a really nice ring to it (no pun intended). Pritchel sounds neat, but I don't know if you would want to be callingyour dog a small hole:rolleyes:

ramm, my first two forges were the bean-can with the bernzomatic j.... I then purchased the shorty from hybrid burners. I currently work small and have had not problems with either type.

JPH, well? Where'd you get your materials? is it available to all or did you get a REALLY good deal?

Bob, I really like the handle. The OAL is also very comfortable sounding. For years in teh military, My favorite carry was the airmans survival knive. It was long enough to do anything that didn't need to be shot.

Hey JPH, I have been developing an interest in building a treadle hammer. I have copied the plans in the blueprints to word so I can read and read and memorize. Would you happen to have a picture of yours in the galleries? would love to see it for reference. thanks

My first forge was a bean-can fired with mapp. I did accidentally make one forgeweld but didn't find it till much later: now I have no idea how I did it. my latest forge is a "balloon time" forge fired with a Rex Price Shorty. The sides and rear are lined with 2 inches of kao-wool coated in satanite then itc-100. The bottom is 1-inch firebrick front to rear, with large opening in front small in rear. I haven't tried to forge weld in it yet, but everything I have worked on, which is to say anything I can fit in or through the cavity, has been worked at a regular bright orange using only 3-4 psi. sometimes as much as 5 when I fill the chamber up. I have built all of them following directions from here, anvilfire and rex price. I never really did any calculations. I guess I just got lucky:D

thanks Habu. point taken - I wasn't thinking about the blade speed issue on the hand saw

congrats BB. nice anvil. great day

I used a black & decker skil saw to cut an ASO out of a 20" chunk of RR rail. I also have used it countles times for cutting up large-to-me (1 3/4 inch or larger) round axles and for cutting the duckbill of my russian HF anvil to put more of a point on it. Sparks are interesting and the guard gets real warm.

I'm gong to the beach next week and teach the kids to boogie board

very nice clean shapes. I like your idea of banging to shape.

great deal Ian. I read about it somewhere once, how to impress fellow smiths, and I tried it on a piece of 5/16 round. I too, only managed a low cherry red. I was using a short handled 2-lb drilling hammer

Thanks John. My creative juices flip flop a lot. yours flow nicely. very cool

The anvil is a euroanvil. monster big

john, very cool. my first project other than hooks was a humming bird ala Bill Epps. What does the whole wall hanging look like? is it in the gallery?

man-oh-man Greg, Envy is not a thing of God but that pushes the limits. Congrats on a fabulous start

I Can't think of zilch is that a word:o

Thanks All! The next time I fire things up I will give it a try as well. thanks for guinea pigging ralphy. the fear factor has been reduced:D

oooh. that would not be good. darn

being a newbie smith wannabe, and having never managed to make a forge weld on purpose, are the sparks that are flying when he first pulls the chunk out of the forge excessive?