new guy

actually i was trying that but, i was looking for leaf springs at an auto repair shop. i was looking for some scrap axles to make an anvil from and i found an anvil! don't go ebay beacause you can get screwed pretty bad. i think local works best. although no good anvils in my area. just some messed up vulcans and a 35lb farriers anvil. thanks for the idea. try rubbing some chalk on it or some flour. i heard that works for geting out images.

how long have you been smithiing? that is a great knife. looks profesional to me. way to go.

that is really cool! great job

good luck on replacing your dads knife. try to get some old leaf springs for the blade. i have used them on a knife and it turned out well. also make some practice blades first beacause you will make mistakes (like me). have fun and get good quality leather from the tandy leather factory (5-6 oz or 7-9 oz tooling bellies are good).

looks decent. definatley going to go into the hands of an avnil collector. or a really rich blacksmith who needs to out bid those anvil collectors. that thing is pretty cool

yeah that is a really cool axe. that would be great for carving heads and totem poles. good job.

i agree with dodge. any way you may have some techniques to help us newbies. :)

ok yeah still a good image though and here it is along with my little baby skinner. oh yeah and somehow i really don't get alot of scaling in my forge. i burn alot of wood with a little blower. thanks for the posts

yeah that ought to be edited. sorry pics are in the pipes.

wood works pretty well. i have a wood burning forge (it works ok). if you light it with some big chinks of wood and leave it without a blower for 20 or 25 min you can come back with a nice bed of coals. that is the only fuel i have. with a hair dryer i can get bright orange in full daylight. good luck with your forge.

ok i will have photos asap. it was still hot and cooling off when i edited my last post. all of the things i mentioned were actually still hot. i think i can have photos this afternoon.

wood ash works fine for 5160. it works for me too. although i have heard both work equally well. good luck with getting the right stuff

i normalized my hardy cutter today as i was forging up a knife ( a little baby skinner). i thiink that i will quench it and temper it to a dark blue. does that sound about right? or should i normalize it?

i can do rivets! i can even copy the idea and make my own guiltine out of scrap metal plates. thank you all should i normalize a hardy tool or temper it to dark blue?

i think i do actually. thanks, although now i have to pay off my mom for the anvil. i will totaly get that thing asap

that looks great jimbob, but i do not have an oxy torch or $100 ( ran out of cash getting an anvil). thanks for the idea though.

bobjs that is a really good idea. that wil be useful later on (when there is more then one anvil nearby0 :)

that is a cool anvil. i would love to use that. very cool.

i wonder, is there a way to make a guotine without welding? that would be a really cool tool. thanks for the replies.

fit some shims in the 1 1/2 in one to make in 3/4 in i have heard that will work. or (like me) have only one anvil with hardy tools. the smaller one will be easier to make. just my .02 worth good luck.

1/2"?? That's almost the size of my pritchel hole. Never seen one that small, but it should make fabbing a hardy that much easier w/o power tools; smaller material requirements, hence easier forging.

dodge i lied. i eyeballed my hardy and it turns out to be mre like 3/4 in or 7/8. i made a hot cutter today i have to heat treat it tomorrow. also i cut the section to make a slitting chisel. i think 1in wide is the right size for a slitting chisel. that sound about right? thanks for the posts. i cannot wait til i get to use these tools! thanks again. :rolleyes:

yeah my anvil is 125lb fisher norris. the thing is give or take 150 years old. the prichel is maybe 1/4 inch diamater. i think the hardy is TINY but it makes it easier to fab tools.

thanks jimbob good to know. although i was at mystic village in ct once and the smith at he shipsmith shop showed me how to scroll and hot cut. i might jsut check it out.

i hope that serves that soldier well. it is awful people have to go to war. but he/she will be very happy with that knife. heckuva job.

don't touch your anvil for a while. i just got an antique anvil last week and the idea of changing things has not occured to me. although the anvil is in pretty good shape. don't play with it until you are sure you need to fix it. good luck on your anvil though. have fun hammering away!