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I Forge Iron

DaMaakus

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Everything posted by DaMaakus

  1. Nice idea, rocketman! 58er, those look very good! Desmato, well, crossing my fingers they don't hurt themselves. I made something today, too. Tried my first flower, since I thought it might become a christmas gift. It didn't work out like I wanted. The inner petals tore apart, so only two instead of three layers. Peening the stem didn't work, so I had to weld for the first time. Looks bad and the inner leaf still rotates a little, despite the giant blob in the middle. I also forgot to round the edges of the petals. It's kind of a disaster. I'm still tempted to gift it, though. If I find a way to stop the rattle.
  2. The shape looks very nice! Keep us informed.
  3. Desmato, your work is really neat! Not sure what to think about the "kids will play with the pointy metal bars", though.
  4. I really like the engravings! And the raindrops look very good as well.
  5. I think it's regulated in the EU since 2009. It seems like people used Borax as nutritional supplement, like magnesium and stuff. And it looks like animal test showed, it can be dangerous in larger quantities. I'm pretty sure, salt can be dangerous too, if you eat 5kg of it. Yet it isn't banned. I have no idea what this is about. Maybe they still sell it in pharmacys... If you come around to test the welding sticks theory, let us know how it went! That is a good idea.
  6. Thank you toadboy for the explanation! And for using metric. That rifle looks pretty nice! I actually have the fever dream of one day making such a rifle by myself. Unfortunatly, I would have to get a gun license which is expensive and usually hard to come by here. You had a coal forge on your balcony?! I'm not even allowed to set up an electric grill on mine...
  7. Thank you guys! That is some good information and I will look into it. I didn't want to hijack toadboy65 's thread, sorry for that. Just a last remark - Daswulf : Exactly that shop is a good example. They sell borax, but they might want to see your business license. As I said, mainly private persons, like I am, are forbidden to buy it anymore. But thanks guys! I will see if I can get some, seeing that a small amount might go a long way, and / or find some alternatives.
  8. Hello ThomasPowers, I live in Germany. Borax has been banned here a few years ago, it seems. It's now classified as poisonous or something. You can only buy it now if you have a business AND you have to bring evidence, that you really need that stuff. It's a bunch of bull, if you ask me. But, here I am, not able to buy borax like the rest of the world. On the other hand, I'm a beginner and can't even get a nail right. So, forge welding (and especially making Damascus) is far off, anyways, for now. Maybe I find another way till then. Also, I don't even know how much borax a person needs. Maybe I could get my hands on, like, 500gr. But I don't even know if it's worth the hassle for that amount, if I need the whole batch for one connection between two bars or something. Anyways, it's a little discouraging.
  9. Thank you, Daswulf! Then I might post here in the future as well and hope there will be some recognizable progress.
  10. Thank you! Yes, indeed, swinging hammers and hitting steel is neccessary to get better, so I'm not discouraged by my pieces being ugly. I only hope the weather this weekend will be good enough for me to fire up my new JABOD version and try it for the first time. It will probably be one of the last times till spring comes around. But I'm antsy about getting some hooks and maybe some more nails done! Also, cutting up some spring steel and make a chisel or punch or so.
  11. Not sure if my noob stuff qualifies for this thread, but I took a beginner's class over the weekend and made this: My first ever nail (head was way off), below it a bottle opener and on top a bulls head I probably will nail to my JABOD forge with the second nail I made, to cover the ugly hole in it. That second nail was still ugly (i ground the head round), but I made it a lot faster than the first one. That's something, I guess.
  12. That is very cool, congrats! Did you work the billet by hand? Also, maybe you can answer me this question: Making damascus seems to be a flux intensive endeavour. I can't have borax, so I already asked myself, if canister damascus could solve my problem. So, did you need borax at any point of making the billet? I also like your anvil! And your little helper, of course.
  13. That is good to hear, thank you for experimenting on your wife!
  14. The staining might be a problem, true. Don't know about the oily feeling though. I sprayed the cross, wiped off the excess and didn't have that feeling while handling it afterwards. But maybe that's just me. Yeah, the smell fresh out of the can is weird. But I had the impression it's hard to detect once it's on the piece and not in the air anymore. What does your wife say at that stage? My sister didn't complain about it on the cross.
  15. Cool, thanks JHCC! Maybe someone has used it on skin over a longer period. The article only mentions briefly that a diluted version can cancel out acidic influences from the skin, but it sounds more like he talked about finger prints and such, not long term contact like in a bracelet. Anyways, at least it seems I can use it as rust protection for the most part, which is nice. Thanks again!
  16. To piggyback on the question of keeping the damascus / steel from oxidizing: Has anyone of you tried Balistol for a longer term? I'm not sure if it exists in the States, but since it was introduced as a gun maintenance oil, they would be crazy not to cover your guys market. On paper it looks good (even food safe), but I can't tell how it would work when being used on jewelery (wear and tear from skin contact). I sprayed a cross with it to protect it from rust, which I gifted to my sister but I lack the long-term experience.
  17. Maybe braceletts? Some square stock, flatening or maybe even scrolling the ends, twisting it while keeping a cm or so from each side straight, put a slight bend in it to fit around the persons wrist. Might need some sanding or slight hammering on the inside to dull the edges.
  18. Thank you Thomas. They seem to tend more towards pros and commercial blacksmiths, but I guess I can send them an e-mail as soon as I know what to ask.
  19. To be honest, I thought about it. But as I said, I wanted a more mobile forge anyways, since the old one already started to mold and stuff. The new one, I should be able to roll it in and out the shop, no more being damp/wet all the time. I only hope the fire pit will deliver. Also, I think about putting kitty litter clay on top, but I'm not yet sure. Thank you for your advice!
  20. I don't think there are fixed installations near me, but thank you! What is near me is a blacksmith shop that offers two day beginner courses. I'm going for that. Thanks! Yes, that is a problem with my first forge, I had to stick the stock down at a very steep angle (led to the burnt cross, too). I hope to achieve a more accessible and "flater" heat with the new version, so I have a wider area to heat.
  21. Hello, my name is Markus and I'm from Germany. Bavaria, to be more precise. I'm 36 and a complete beginner, in terms of blacksmithing and crafting in general. My father was a metal worker though, so I can fall back on some tools (which most of them I have no idea how to use properly). But even the best tools can't compensate for my lack of basic skills. For now, I have about three days (4 to 6 hours each) of forging under my belt, since I only get to it every other weekend, at best. I built a JABOD forge (with charcoal fuel) and did some small stuff (a curl prototype for a friends garden, a cross for my sisters birthday, a really xxxxxx pair of tongs from rebar) and last weekend I tried to make an updated version of a JABOD, to make it more mobile and smaller. I probably will post it in the solid fuel section, since I'm not sure this one is viable. Other than that, I want to keep going, I aim to take a blacksmithing class the next few months and my next big goal is to make a small box out of wood (another thing I want to learn is a little bit of woodworking) and combine it with some self-made hinges and maybe a decorative front piece. If I reached that goal, I will aim for another project. Also, I want to apologize in advance for my English and the possibly improper use of blacksmithing terms, it's hard to learn that. And inches vs. cm. I will be using a lot of cm and mm. Sorry guys. Here are some pictures, if that is okay: First forge with my (fathers) anvil in the background (hard to spot the little thing) Scroll prototype (couldn't get the egg shape to be round) Cross (burnt an arm) New forge (WIP, have to ask questions in the JABOD sub)
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