Chris C

I came home with a piece of 4140 that weighed 7 pounds and was 2 and 7/8" round. The guy told me it weighed almost 9 pounds. I didn't believe him, but for $10 I wasn't complaining. Ought to make some good hammer heads. (something I'm hoping to do someday) Still lookin' for a cast off leaf spring. I need to make a draw knife to pull of the bark of this tree stump base I cut for my anvil stand.

Pretty impressive. You could finish it out in no time with a 2x72 belt grinder................so I fully understand your statement. Nice forging for your first go at it.

Indeed.

That's some nice work 58er. Impressive.

WOW! Steppin' it up, huh?

I was a professional woodworker for 17 years. I've worn out more bandsaws than a lot of people have ever seen in person. (I've got a 20" Delta, in excellent shape, for sale if anyone is interested) Every single time I've seen someone "try" and retrofit a woodworking bandsaw into a metalworking bandsaw, it has failed. I recently thought I knew enough to do it myself (go figger!) My design failed to meet the necessary requirements. (on paper, so no harm done) It's just not worth it when you can pick up a good used horizontal bandsaw so inexpensively. I've seen good ones go for under $300 in my area. The framework of even the most well built wood cutting bandsaws are not substancial enough to maintain the tension required for metal cutting.

Ditto that!!!!!

Think I should post a picture of my new stump stand and anvil, Frosty?

Wish we had a "green with envy" emoji here on the forum..................for I am seriously lusting over that beautiful anvil. I could only hope someday to even get to use one like it, much less own one like it. Congratulations. It should serve you well.

Well, as I told Thomas, my trip to OKC was a bust. My friend who owns a machine shop didn't have what I needed and after a long talk he finally said I'd be better off investing in the Black Robin. Headed to the scrap yard for the fork lift tine.............................and the early bird got the worm. No, I wasn't the early bird and both tines were gone. Back to square one. I don't have a forge yet, so don't really have a need for an anvil yet. I'll just have to exhibit some of my patience.

You are probably right, pnut. But if I'm going to be honest with myself, I 'll have to admit being a "blacksmith" isn't my real goal here. I've no desire to make hinges, hasps, plant hanger brackets and all the other wonderful things I see you folks exhibit. I think it's fantastic blacksmiths are so capable of making anything they need. I'm building a forge to be able to attempt some of that..............................but my goal in pursuing all of this is to make knives. My wood carving knives have blades that are under 2" long, mostly, with tangs of the same length. I hope to make small every-day-carry knives which will have blades from 3-4" with full-length tangs. I don't have any real need to curl things on a horn. So basically, all I need is a small surface to work with. Thomas sent me a link to Marco Borromei's pictorial review of his forklift tine anvil. Truth be told (as Thomas mentioned) all I need is a work surface larger than my hammer face. Would I be proud to own a 250# German style anvil...............oh heck yes. Does it really make sense that I should have one? Probably not. A Black Robin anvil would probably suit my real purposes just fine.................I just don't have $460 plus freight to spend on one. I'm headed to the scrap dealer as soon as I finish my breakfast to pick up one of the forklift tines I saw the last time I was there. If the work surface is large enough, it should serve me nicely until I decide what I "really" want to do with this new hobby. At .34/lb, scrap spring steel will do for my purposes, I think.

Believe me, Frosty, I've asked everyone I can think of. Kids? Ha-ha, we don't have kids out where I live in the country. Anyway, I think I'm going to run into town tomorrow and pick up one of those forklift tines I saw day before yesterday at the scrap yard. I like the idea in the link Thomas showed me. At .34 cents a pound, that would make a pretty inexpensive and useful working surface, I'd think. I'm never going to be able to afford an anvil............and, honestly, it would probably be a waste for me to own one. Would probably be a vanity thing more than anything else.

Didn't get on the Internet until I put some WTB in Craigslist. Won't be doing it again. It's a waste of time considering the financial condition I'm in. I've got a12" chunk of railroad rail and a 50# Vulcan anvil. That's probably a better start than a lot of people get, so I should quit complaining.

Thanks, Steve. Guess I've been using the TPAAAT method all along. I keep mentioning it to delivery truck drivers, tree cutting services, and most anyone I can think of who might have access to someone who might have an anvil for sale...............or wanting to "get rid of". Guess my real problem is I'm trying to find that seller who asks "Is $50 too much? I've put ads in Craigslist in OKC, Dallas, Ft. Smith and Wichita. Had one fellow from Ft. Smith get back with me and said he had an anvil he want $550 for. I don't even have that kind of money to spend, so didn't ask what kind of anvil or anything about it's condition. Had a woman from Ft. Smith respond to say she'd seen one in front of a local pawn shop "a while back"...............but didn't know anything about it or even the name of the pawn shop. One fellow contacted me from Dallas and said he had an old Fisher from 1881 (I think) but he was going to want a "ton" for it. Didn't even ask him any more about it. I guess I should just shut up and keep searching the scrap yards for a large hunk of steel because I'm not really going to be making anything much larger than a knife on it. I'd love to see a beautiful German style anvil sittin' on my anvil base, but the truth of the matter is it would be wasted.

...........and TPAAAT means what?

Don't even get me started on "glider school". I'd give my right arm to learn to fly fixed wing gliders. I've even latched onto Bruno Sassel's gliding video site so I can fly "with" him. There was something very intimidating about flying a soft winged aircraft that could fold up at any second and dump you 3,000+ feet to the ground. The only thing about fixed wing gliders is the cost. I think you know how difficult it's been to come up with enough money to build my forge, so surely you can understand why fixed wing flying would be completely unattainable. And, on top of that, as you say, I'm trying to "stretch" out the length of time I've got on God's green earth, so I'm not inclined to push my luck.

I done figger'd I'd need a pokin' stick, so your comments are no surprise. I feel somewhat intimidated, but I guess since others have accomplished it, so can I.

My plan was to make a "collapsible" form out of Plexiglas that has the polyethylene protective sheet on it. Crisco the heck out of it. Then when the KOL sets up, collapse the form. (well, it works in my mind!) I figured pushing the KOL down into the void would work. Of course, I've never seen KOL worked and don't really know what to expect.

I was planning on building a square interior form (just like pouring concrete) and not spreading it on like peanut butter. Is that the wrong thing to do?

As must the employees! I'd hate to have someone in my home who worked there. They leave there with the smell of death in their pores. I've smelled enough of that in my lifetime. Can't stay there longer than it takes to unload a llama.

Yup, Skulls Unlimited is where I take my llamas when they die during the Summer when it's too danged hot to grab a shovel and bury them. They use the skeletons at the Veterinary Schools in their class work. Good people at Skulls Unlimited.............but I can't stay there more than a half hour or I get sick to my stomach at the smell. Can't imagine working there. But you are right, SLAG, they bury the bones in soil filled with beetles and the little critters eat happily away.

Then you know the "Pull" to be airborne. Two or three hours flying and circling in thermals is hard to explain to someone who's never experienced it. Really spectacular to share a thermal with a hawk or buzzard. Back to the subject. I'm waiting on a phone call from the folks where I bought my soft bricks. Received all my refractory materials today, so I'm all ginned up to get started. Question: Will the KOL stick to the soft brick or am I going to have to put some "tooth" on the surface of the brick to get it to adhere?

Yup, recovering from bouncing is what made me stop flying paragliders a couple of years back. In fact, I cancelled my membership and turned in my license number just this week. I don't heal so fast at my age. Love the sky, but terra firma is much more reassuring.

Have to keep light on my toes!

No pics, but I made a trip to the scrap yard on Monday and came home with some more bits and pieces for my ribbon burner and forge. Inch by inch, step by step..............I'll get there eventually.