Savage11

JHCC, great point. I need to expand my learning outside of making Jhooks and dinner bell triangles.

Thanks JLPSERVICEINC for the information and encouragement.  I have to learn how to forge them. Its the only way I can improve as a newbie. Those skull nails are really cool. 

CTG, I have a bunch of whitney punch dies, I think I might be able to turn one of them into a nail header. Ill have to look this weekend.

Fine work BillyBones. Forging nails looks a bit difficult from what I've seen. Via youtube some smiths can forge them in one heat. Being a newbie, I'm a bit intimidated to try and forge one.

Alexandr,

Your chandeliers are amazing and your shop is awesome. I've always been a fan of Russian ingenuity and resourcefulness. Making more from less seems to be a Russian trademark.  Im a huge fan of Avtomat Kalashnikova 7.62x39 and 5.45x39. Awesome work!!

Welcome, I grew up in Little Elm Tx Denton County.

This is a simple but effective way to bend thick stock. 

If anyone has a harbor freight press and a welder, one can build a simple press from 2x2x1/4 angle and a small piece of pipe. Ive bent 1/4" flat stock with it like butter. Im not sure how to post videos. If anyone is interested ill figure it out. And 3/8th square stock easily.

Wow, those roses are perfect. It blows my mind how life like they are. The raw talent on this forum is very humbling and inspiring.  Im glad I stumbled upon this forum.

Thanks, my brake wont shear metal. It will bend flat metal to various degrees. With the current dies Im limited to 16ga or thinner. I do have other dies for it. The mosin carbines M38, M44 have wicked recoil. My M38 tanker model will shoot a three foot fire ball at night. Its a shoulder killer though. Man, these old milsurp guns have shot up in price over the years. My BYF 43 K98 is worth 4x what I paid for it. Great investments. The 37xc has my attention beautiful weapon.

That is amazing accuracy, dang I want one now. Id have to find a range. My ten acres is hilly. The longest shot I can take on my land is roughly 350 yards. 

Beautiful knife, make short work of a deer carcass.

Jasent,

Wow, that sniper rifle is beautiful. I must admit I've never heard of it before. Looks like it's time to do some research.  I do have a 43 mosin sniper and a PSL DMR both in 7.62x54r. Very nice man. How does she shoot.

Yup, the concussion from it will never leave my memory. Good times!

Lol, a friend of mine brought his 50 BMG armalite sniper rifle over last year. I admit I was nervous pulling the trigger on it. Wow, it was a blast other than the $6.00 per shot ammo. It put smiles on everyone's face that day. 

Lol, it doesnt shoot anything, its a training aid for the troops in WW2. Browning Automatic Rifle. 

Lol, yeah, that is a BAR 200 over scale WW2 trainer. Its quite the conversational piece.

A couple of years ago I designed and built a bottle jack press brake. The difference in my build is that both dies top and bottom can be removed. The 16ga dies in it didn't look this good when I got them. I sanded and buffed them out. All the material to build it I saved from work over the years. The only expense was the bottle jack. Im very proud of my press brake, it took years of thinking about it and a weekend to build it.

This has been a warm rainy winter here as well, which is better than snow and below zero temps. Im loving it this winter.

If you debone and process the deer yourself it wont be gamy. The deer processing involves a lot of deer, butchers cutting through bone. The bone marrow is what gives it a gamy taste. I process my deer as I dont trust the processing centers. There's no guarantee one will get the deer he or she shot. 

I didnt get a change to deer hunt this past season, too many hours spent at work. 

Lol, I bet one could cook a steak superfast on a coal forge!

JLPSERVICEINC,

You are an amazing blacksmith, I wish I had 1/10th of 1% the talent you have.  The fact you documented your career is awesome and worthy of a book!

Chris C,

Is your tombstone welder AC, or does it have DC as well? If it has DCEN you can dry line tig with it. 

Jasent, 

How did you get the black finish on the 3rd horse bottle opener? That is an amazing finish!

I use the charcoal to start my fire. Once the fire gets going I bury it with nut coal and turn on the bathroom fan. The coal is from a farming supply store