junker

thanks, for the input guys, trying to figure out how im going to get back into smitthing once i get out of the army, ill be going to college so i won't be able to live out in the boonies anymore, trying to think of something i could maybe keep at my parents place or set up behind a rental in a more residential area

This is my first post in a long time and i was just wondering if anyone had tried just buying a shipping container and turning it into a shop, seems like with both sides open there would be plenty of ventilation, my only worry would be that constant vibrations going through the whole metal structure would deafen you

i've been stationed here in bamberg for about a month now and with this piled on top of basic and AIT im really starting to miss the forge. are there any german smiths here near bamberg? i'd really apreciate it

i just completed my basic and AIT with the army... im home on leave but will be stationed in bamberg germany. are there any smiths in that area on here... oh yeah... and it's good to be back

i actually saw this video a while back and have made a few roses useing the guidlelines intailed in it. so if the person who posted the video on here is the same person who made it i thank you very much, i've made quite a few of the ladies around here happy with them :D

simple as that, show us your first smithed knife, as rough as they are they're always interesting. i guess starting the thread makes it obligatory to post mine, so here it is

wells if you lived near me you could check ACME industrial surplus, they've always got large sheets of spring steel in at hand.

I LIKE IT!! it's always more satisfying to use tools you've made yourself, even if they take more time. when you make stuff yourself the little flaws become quirks that you wouldn't do without.

monger coal and oil in virginia, they have pocohantis vein "blacksmithing coal"

so cool... yet absolutely no clue what it is (other than a knife)

i have no power hammer so by hand it is

just wow... i equally like them both :P

yeah it's boiled. anybody else try anything like this? i heard it gives almost a stabilized durablitity to the wood (not quite but almost)

so i was looking at different ways to treat handles for knives and found one that i like. simply soak your handle blanks in linseed oil for about 1- 1/2 weeks then let dry. i've got a few of the cheaper blanks that i am trying this out on first. (cocablo, olivewood, and cheap black and white ebony cutoffs) at the end of their soak ill post pics of how they turned out and if they seem to have any wierd side effects.

i actually really like the little bit of pitting on that third one... did you do this on purpose?

im curious about the heat treat on them. is it really complicated? something you would care to share? ;)

this is just neat

wells if one of you guys are out near collins georgia you should try to find him. it was a BIG metal roofed house with a barn and a big tree (oak?) out front with a red post vice bolted to a post infront of the tree.

maybe in the form of a file? :blink:

check out monger coal and oil in virginia... i bought my last batch from them and it's great stuff.

i really wish i had a pic... this guy should be in a newspaper or something... he might be full of bull (but as i recall it was his wife who told me the million dollars thing) ... but this is teh largest collection of blacksmithing stuff i have ever seen (not saying much). he had tongs, hammers, forges, anvils, and a ton of things i didn't even recognize... and it's all just sitting there :(

since i am visiting with my aunt and uncle in georgia i was going around to different garage sales with them. when we got to a certain sale i noticed an old (but in the best condition i have ever seen) post vice bolted to a stump. when i asked about it the lady said her husband has had it in the familyfor years and it has infact been bolted to that same stump for over 100yrs. i then asked if her husband had any more blacksmithing stuff. she said yes and showed me out to their barn. when i walked inside i almost cried , it was beautiful, there was smithing equipment stacked taller than me on all four walls and in amazing condition. i counted atleast 5 anvils and thought i may have seen another. about that time her husband walked out and i asked him about the stuff. he told me that his family had been doing blacksmithing since the civil war and just never threw anything away. he said that his father was actually the first in his family to not be a smith. i asked him if i could buy a few pieces off of him but sadly he declined. i was told that a group of collecters had offered him over a million for the lot of it and he had declined them seeing as he just could not part with any of it. on the good side atleast it hasn't gone to a collector yet but on the sad side i hate to see the day when he dies and his kids just sell it all off instead of keeping it in the family.

as far as i can tell they're wrought (visible splitting in some places and suprising lack of rust for being over 100yrs old) they're probably 30-40ibs apiece. about 4-5in wide and 1/2-2/3 in thick

i got 3 wagon rims. wrought iron and about 3 1/2 or 4ft tall

yeah but i bet you can pick up coal pretty easily ;)