Colorado CJ

Friday night I finished shooting an interactive galaxy pair, The Whirlpool. These two galaxies are literally running into eachother, feeding off eachother and spewing stellar matter into the universe. This is my first time shooting M51, or the Whirlpool. When the first of the many images started showing up on my screen, I was awestruck. This is the first image completed with my new scope, a Skywatcher MN190 Mak Newt. Mak Newt designs aren't very popular for some reason, but I don't know why. They are a blend of refractor and reflector and are the best of both worlds. Both visually and image wise, mak newts perform as good as the equivalent size APO refractor, but with even less false color. This is a 7.5" mak newt. I bought it on sale for $1350. An equivalent sized APO Refractor costs between $15,000-$20,000. After seeing what this scope can do, I think I am going to really like it! Anyway, here is M51, or the Whirpool, shot for a total of 224 minutes. I am going to eventually shoot even more subs of this since the more information you gather, the sharper, more detailed and less grainy the image gets. Here's the time breakdown per filter Lum: 64 minutes Red: 32 minutes Green: 48 minutes Blue: 45 minutes H-Alpha: 35 minutes And here is a photo of the setup

Well, I did hammer out a few of these today while my computer was stacking astro imags Hammer Forged Leaf Necklace by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr I shot the Flame and Horse Head nebulas the other night. Tonight I finished the image. It isn't the best, but it is my first image of these two (I am pretty new to this). I did shoot over two hours of exposure, but when I uploaded the images, I seen that most have clouds throughout the images. So, this is a 55 image stack (50 seconds each at 1600 ISO). One thing I noticed is what looks like a lot of binary stars in this photo. It seems most of the bright stars are binaries! Man this astrophotography thing is addicting! The Flame and Horsehead - 54 Minutes by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr

Thanks everyone. I shot the Pleiades (man that is hard to spell ) last night for a total of 54 minutes. 65, 50 second exposures at 1600 ISO. Shot with my Pentax K-1 and Stellarvue SV80 Access. I think I got decent nebulosity for the short total exposure, but I am no expert. This is the first time I shot this object. Pleiades finished by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr Edit: Looks like I am going to have to find a different photo hosting service. Flickr is really making these last photos look grainy. There is no grain on my Photoshop screen.

Yeah, I have a pretty diverse set of hobbies. I also race FPV Drones in MultiGP :). Those globs are actually other galaxies, M32 and M110. There is a fourth galaxy in there, but it is hard to see since it is behind the spiral arm of Andromeda. Yeah, unfortunately, I tend to gravitate towards very expensive hobbies. Luckily (or unluckily) I am unmarried, so I have no one to tell me no ;). I think I am going to LOVE shooting with this scope. This is 75, 1 minute exposures taken with the Stellarvue Access 80 and Pentax K1. This is a work in progress. I still need to shoot lower exposures to get the Trapezium to show up. I'll be sure to post the final version here once I get it finished. It is sooo much nicer to use a real scope compared to just a camera lens. Great Orion Nebula - 75 Minutes by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr

Another hobby I am getting into is Astrophotography. I've had a 10" DOB for years and my main hobby is photography, so I thought I should try my hand at some astrophotography. I have been using just my camera and 300 mm lens so far, but I had ordered a 80mm APO scope to get better images. I received my new Stellarvue Access 80 ED yesterday. Luckily it was also a clear night! I set the scope up on my AZ-GTI in EQ mode and shot 1 minute subs. I probably could have went a little longer as the mount was tracking GREAT, I only had to reset it for the meridian flip. So far, I am really liking the scope. I am using The Stellarvue SFF3-25-48 field flattener, but I still see pretty bad coma around the edges using a full frame DSLR. with a slight crop they are gone though. Specs for the image are: Scope: Stellarvue Acess 80 with 2.5" focuser, SFF3-25-48 field flattener Focal Length: 560mm Focal Ratio: F7 Camera: Pentax K-1 ISO: 1600 Exposure: 60 sec. Shots: 100 I used Astro Pixel Processor for stacking. I am still learning the ropes with this program, so I am sure I am not doing things 100% correctly yet. I post processed in Photoshop and also in Nik Effects plugin. Here is the photo. Andromeda 100-60 sec 7 Dec 2018 by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr

It was some 5/8" square stock I bought on Amazon. I bead blasted them after I finished forging, then patina'd them with some Liver of Sulfur. I then buffed them a little with steel wool and clear coated them.

That is something I'd like to try. I need to watch a video to see how it's done. Forged more copper leaves yesterday. Copper sure feels different than steel. It actually takes me longer to make a copper leaf than it does a steel leaf for some reason. Hammer Forged Copper by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr

I'm starting to forge leaves out of copper. Thought I'd make them on my down time (I own a company and I sometimes have a slow week), and selling them on Etsy or somewhere. There are a lot of steel ones being sold and I think copper makes them a little nicer. Not a great photo of them. Forged Copper by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr

I did a little experimenting today with finishes. I was not happy with the amount of scale I've been getting. I adjusted the propane pressure as well as the air inlet to get as little scale as possible. The silver leaf I had too much air and the scale was thick. The last big leaf, I had the air inlet opening closed more and scale was thinner, giving a smoother appearance. I also wanted to bead blast the pieces to see the effect it would have. The silver leaf was bead blasted and allowed to cool where I could almost hold it before I brushed some wax on it. This gave a silver/gold appearance. The larger leaf I bead blasted, then heated up to a straw color, then brushed wax on. It gave it a greenish hue to the metal. The arrowhead I bead blasted, then heated it up a little hotter than straw, then brushed some wax on. That gave a more slate look. Pretty interesting so far. Forged by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr

I am new to blacksmithing, its been a little over a week since I fired up my forge for the first time. I have been using a couple of 2 lb. hammers that I picked up at my local farrier supply. While reading different threads in this forum I stumbled upon a photo of a nice looking larger hammer. It was just what I was looking for. I contacted littleblacksmith asking about the hammer, turns out he makes them! Well, I had to order one right then and there and a little over a week later, I have an awesome 3.5 lb rounding hammer in my hands. The quality is outstanding, better than I expected. He even included a little leaf he made with my new hammer as a test piece. I used it today, and man, does it move metal! Its a lot faster than using my 2 lb. hammers and exactly what I wanted. Thank you littleblacksmith for making me this great hammer, I am sure to be buying more from you (cross pein next I think).

Thanks. I'm taking some photos of the hammer and will be making a thread on it tonight

Finished my first knife, made from a railroad spike and quenched in Superquench formula. Hardened up nicely. Cocobolo for the handle. That was fun!

Thanks! I haven't finished the knife yet (too busy with work). I still have to sharpen the knife and finish smoothing out, thinning out the handle. It is coming along nicely though, much nicer than I thought it would be for my first knife. Railroad Spike Knife 2 by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr Railroad Spike Knife by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr I'll probably finish it up tomorrow, then on to something else.

Thanks guys. These spikes were advertised as the high carbon type spikes. I know it isn't near as good as specialty steels, but they were very cheap and I figured I might as well learn with cheap materials rather than the expensive stuff. Surprisingly this one turned out much better than I thought it would. I figured I'd go through a few spikes before getting something decent out of one.

I am brand new to forging/blacksmithing having just lighted my forge for the first time 2 days ago. So far I've made a few leaf keyrings, but today I wanted to try something different. I got some railroad spikes off of ebay, so I threw one in the forge and started heating it up. After about an hour and a half I had what I think is a decent start to a small camp knife. First Forged Knife by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr I forged the bevels in as best I could. Next I had to go to harbor freight and pick up a cheap $50.00 1 x 30 belt grinder. I've never had one before, always working with angle grinders when welding. I'd LOVE to get a 2x72 but they are so expensive. I might build one in the future though. Anyway, I got a rough grind done using an 80 grit belt. There weren't any hammer marks to grind out, just scale and some small pockets (I'm guessing from the scale). This is what I got so far. Forged Rail Road Spike Knife by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr My question now is, do I heat treat the blade now? What can I use for cooling when heat treating? I might try to just heat treat the blade edge and leave everything else softer metal. I am also going to have to watch some videos of final grinding to get some pointers. Any youtube videos you might recommend? I think I am going to use some black G10 I have in the shop (leftovers from a CNC project). I might try sandblasting it once I shape the handles to get a good grip surface.

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate it! Well, I got to the shop today and started heating metal. I didn't want to make another leaf keyring, and I had some railroad spikes I bought off ebay, so I started heating one of those up. An hour and a half or so later I finished forging a small camp knife. I didn't know forging would be this fun! Here's a photo, not a very good photo though. I left my camera at the house, so this was taken with my cell phone. First Forged Knife by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr I didn't have a belt grinder, so I went down to Harbor Freight and picked up a cheap $50.00 1 x 30 belt grinder. I've never used a stationary belt grinder before, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. I used an 80 grit belt to grind off all the scale and touch up the edges. The bevels I forged into the blade, so I didn't have to remove much steel to get a pretty clean blade. I think I am going to heat treat it before I grind any further. I've never made a knife before, so I need to do some reading up on the best heat treating and how to finish grind the knife. As for the handle, I think I am going to use some black G10 I have laying around the shop. I might sandblast the G10 after shaping to get a little bit of grip to the scales. Forged Rail Road Spike Knife by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr

Thanks! Photography is a large part of my life. I am not a professional, though I have sold some of my work. Here's a link to some of my photos, nothing is organized though: https://www.flickr.com/photos/55229792@N03/ I shoot both digital and film, my real love is my 4x5 large format film camera (I develop all my b&w, C41 and E6 at home). I am also starting to learn how to shoot wet plate. I have WAY too many hobbies, and blacksmithing is going to be another one I am really going to enjoy.

Thanks everyone. I just bought the stock from home depot because i wanted something right away. Rockstar, thanks for the tip, I'll definitely visit them for some steel. I also have contacts at CIM where I normally get my tube steel from. I forged my second leaf this morning. It came out much better than the first. It is a lot thinner, more leaf-like than the first forging. This is a lot of fun! 2nd Forged Leaf by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr

I completed my anvil stand yesterday. The anvil is sitting on a bed of silicon and held down by 6" x 1/2" lag bolts and 1/4 strapping. There is no ring at all when hammering on the anvil. I also used some flat stock and tigged up some hammer/tong/hardy hangars and bolted them to each side of the stand.

I finished lining the forge yesterday with refractory and slowly heated it up to cure it. Today was the big day! I picked up some 3/8" square stock from home depot and forged my first piece. It is probably what everyone forges for their first thing, as it is pretty simple, a leaf keyring. Took close to half an hour and I think it turned out pretty good, for my first hammered out piece. Man that was fun!

I picked up my first anvil today, a JHM Sharper 160 lb. I bought it from my local farrier/blacksmith shop. Its a lightly used anvil and I paid $600.00 for it. Think I got a pretty good deal! New Anvil by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr Now I just have to line my forge with refractory, cure it and I am all set to start learning how to blacksmith. I'm pretty excited!

Sorry about that. I am brand new to this site, most other sites allow for quoted replies. I tried to go back and edit out the photos, but the forum software doesn't allow me to edit to post, it states that too much time has past for the edit to go through.

I am a new member here, still getting everything together to start forging. Yesterday I started in on an anvil stand, its going to look pretty much like your's. I bought 4 pressure treated 4x4x10 posts and cut them to get my anvil height up to 35" (I am 6'4"). I used construction adhesive and straps to hold it all together for the glue to dry over night. Today I used flat stock, screws and a little welding to band it all together. A bit of sanding and two coats of Danish oil and here's how it looks. I specifically built this for an anvil I am picking up tomorrow, a JHM Sharper 160 lb. anvil.

Well, I stopped by the local farrier/blacksmith shop I found last week and picked up some refractory. As I was talking with the owner we started talking about anvils. He said that he as a used (but mint condition) JHM 160 lb. anvil at his south store and he'd let me have it for $600.00. That's $3.75/lb. I've been planning on just building a post anvil from a forklift tine, but this deal was too good to pass up. I'm picking it up on Monday!

Hello everyone. This is my first post on this site. I'm kind of an all round builder/fixer/maker. I have a pretty well stocked metal shop, wood shop and a CNC lathe and mill. The one thing I don't have, or have never done is Blacksmithing. It looks like it can be a lot of fun and I've wanted to try my hand at it for some time. One of my customers is a blacksmith and he invited me over to give me some pointers. I'm slowly getting the tools needed. I ordered a forge online instead of building one, a Devil Forge 2 burner setup (I will definitely be building one down the road). Yesterday I bought a forktruck tine from the scrap yard which will become a post anvil. I also found a local farriers/blacksmith shop that I bought a 2 lb rounding hammer and tongs from and will be buying refractory to line my forge. The shop owners are good people and put on blacksmithing classes that I'm sure to attend. All in all, I am very excited to finally get into blacksmithing. I'm sure it will be a fun, and frustrating at times, new experience for me.