Awrksmokey

That is darn cool. Nice work!

Some people put a tube or a piece of angle iron in their forge and that helps the steel inside to get a more even heat. This takes a lot of heat to do though. I'd just say learn some forge maintaining skills and if you move the blade slowly back and forth in the hot spot it will eventually get up to a nice even heat. 

Dang, that's really impressive. Nice work!

The first part of attemp #2: 

it’s going much better this time. I’m doing a mono steel construction like the one I saw in mark aspery’s video. The screw part is a bit wonky but I’ll fix it when I get more fuel. My only problem so far is that I punched the hole a bit too big again. I could fix this by tapping it in a bit more from the top, but I like how the loop is looking now... I’ll decide tomorrow what I want to do  unless you guys have any ideas?

I attempted a corkscrew. A few things went wrong. I didn't do enough research, and after watching Mark Aspery's video I now realized that this design isn't what people usually do. Also I didn't realize the handle part was actually wrought iron, so there's a significant crack and one of the ends split a bit, and I miscalculated the hole size I punched so the fitup isn't great. But it was actually a ton of fun, and I'm going to try to perfect my corkscrew making skills and make a better one. Or two. Here's the pics of the first: 

I also etched it for over 24 hours, I just think my acid is weak haha

that kind of bottle opener would look great in wrought iron. I still think it looks better then you're giving it credit for anyway

Some good news and some bad news. 

The good news is that it's been upped to a 7x20 foot space! That's a lot more then I was initially thinking and I'm super stoked. I took your advice and laid a bit of it out in the actual space to see what it would be like, and most of it works nicely. The rolling barn doors thing is likely gonna be a yes. The bad news is coronavirus. I'm not sure when we will be able to build it. Hopefully later this summer, but honestly with the fact it's unlikely I'm even going back to school, I'm not sure when its going to be. 

On 2/10/2020 at 12:19 PM, ThomasPowers said:

We really need to know what you plan to forge to guess if that set up will work---bottle openers and key rings take a lot less space than garden gates and chandeliers!

I really want to learn to make hammers and blacksmithing tools, like ethan harty, mark ling, and some other tool makers i've seen here. Not exclusively, but they seem like a lot of fun. 

Pretty nice forged shape! What does it look like ground with a handle? 

I love the look of the faceted corners on those hammers. I've seen ferric chloride, muratic acid, hot vinegar, and instant coffee as an etchant for WI

Nice, they look ready for work. There is a 'tongs' section if you'd like to post this there  

too late now we moved this one , also reposting in multiple places is spamming

That's a nice looking stool Cannon Cocker.

I made a few more punches today out of a coilspring. They hardened alright but that was the toughest piece of steel I've ever hit! 

Really incredible work!

Thank ya, I'll check it!

such a cool concept! hopefully I'll try making one soon!

I have no idea if this is true or not, but a guy I took a smithing class with a few years ago told me this story about Mark Aspery. Apparently, he made the wrong orientation of tongs once and his blacksmithing teacher welded the reins behind his head sort if like a necklace, and he spent a while hacksawing them off. It's a pretty funny story  

300 is definitely able to get a secondary bevel from no bevel at all, but after 600, I've always had better luck with getting to around 800/1000/1200 grit before stropping. 

It looks beautiful, I especially like the texture you put around the base. 

I made this from tool steel, quenched then tempered to a dark straw colour. Any massive flaws I've missed? I haven't had the chance to try it out yet, but hopefully it will work well. 

It's great to be able to read about your experiences with blacksmithing, this is such a cool thread to follow along, even when it gets sidetracked by car talk and other stuff  

It wasn't the most ideal situation with the anvil stand, the ground underneath was pretty uneven, but I've since moved it to be more stable. 

proper fitting tongs would definitely help! Another future project.

The hammer is the 3 lbs crosspein from harbor freight, I will probably end up grinding a lot off it anyways from the surface mushrooming, but I will definitely look into a smaller hammer. I had a 2lbs crosspein at some point but I'm not sure where it went. I should be more organized. I had also turned down the forge while I was hammering, usually it does not have the soft flame thing. My forge is pretty weak in general though, I am in the process of building a coal forge that will be much more fuel efficient and will get hotter. 

Thanks for the advice! 

They look great! I like the wrapped steel rod, it's a nice touch.  

Thanks! I'll be sure to put it back in the forge when it gets there again. 

made my first few horse head bottle openers. I like how the biggest one turned out, not so sure about the other two. 

This is the second half of the heat, where i did a bit more hammering and less tweaking, i'm making my first horse head bottle opener. Is my hammer control and technique good or bad? Criticism or advice?

thanks

hmmm, I can try to re upload it. 

4 hours ago, ChiefLittleBair said:

Check out how Roy from Christ Centered Ironworks mounts his little 66 pounder

Will do, thanks for the tip!