Ross_FL

Yeah, nothing has ever bothered me as far as allergies goes, and I've been severely burned before. I gotta say, the initial pain of the bee sting was worse then when I had a leg engulfed in flames. The bee sting went away after a few minutes though. But yeah, I'll take both over a nail to the hand. Frosty, I think bees may be attracted to something when forging. I noticed many today and usually they don't stick around as long as they were today. I live in the middle of orange grove country here in central Florida and personally have about half an acre of citrus very close to the house, you can't really keep the bees down, so you just half to live with them. I actually have killer bees which can be dangerous, I'ev had a guy combat them with a flame thrower 3 years ago when they were posing a threat to people. Apparently they're ready for round two.

Agreed, that piece is now in the junk bin, too much work when I can just find something that's already dimensionally similar, at least for a beginner. The $20 shipping cost at Admiral just scared me off, I need to just find a local supplier.

That almost exactly what I was looking for. I will definitely be going through this site before I fire up again.

I know, I don't think your post had shown up yet when I hit reply. So what are you leaning towards for blade style?

Today I fired up the forge to begin reshaping a piece of golf course muncher blade. I was having trouble working the steel, my tongs wouldn't hold the piece very well, I wasn't comfortable with my work space as my anvil and forge are still set up on the ground, it just wasn't working out very well and I may consider wholesale changes in the setup and the piece of metal before I fire it up again. This piece of metal just didn't seem to want to be forged today. Anyway, that's not the reason for the post. While the forge was burning, I noticed a killer bee flying around near the forge. It seemed to want to get close to it. Usually they'll leave if you swat at them, so I swatted at this particular bee. I wacked it to the ground, but this bee was xxxx bent on getting near the forge. I swatted it again a few minutes later with my glove, and it vanished, I thought nothing of it. Minutes later I had pulled the piece onto the anvil when I felt severe pain on my palm, I thought somehow a piece of metal had gotten inside the glove, when I took the glove off, there's the bee!!! When I swatted it the second time if went down inside the glove!! I'm just glad I wasn't holding the piece, or the hammer for that matter, it could have been a dangerous situation. I guess this just goes to show that when anything is out of the ordinary, the best thing to do is step back, take your time and make sure that a problem cannot arrive.

Very cool. What a fun project that must be. Did you take any pictures of the meteorite before began the can weld?

Yeah, that's is what I was planning on doing, and also leaving the opposite edge hanging off the anvil like so. Just didn't know if this was the "norm" as far as general reshaping goes. I'll post some pictures of the days events later this afternoon, Thanks Steve!

I used quite a bit of pine when I re did the crown and base molding in my house, I live in Florida so I am assuming it was yellow pine, the hardest pine apparently. I would not recommend this wood. It was somewhat tough, but not hard at all, very easily dented and nails went through like butter.

I guess the problem I'm having, and I may not have illustrated it very well, is that I am not starting out with the elongated rectangle that is typical of every resource I have found thus far. I need to get to that shape. I have a 3" x 6" that's only 1/4" thick that I need to get to a 2" x 9" and retain the same thickness. A solution other bladesmiths might employ is simply folding the piece in half, welding it, and stretching it using a cross pein hammer. This is my second attempt however and I don't want to try any welding.

So far, no luck. I did find this book....The Modern Blacksmith - A. Weygers at the library just now, but a quick scan tells me I won't find the one particular operation that's got me stumped.

I've been through every inch of cashenblades.com, it's really a neat site. I realy like his steel selection page, with the square pegs and round holes! Thanks.

I've looked at the blue prints numerous times, but not the Hofi Series 1000, I'll give it a look. Thanks.

Yes, the result is 1,000 posts containing the words "technique" or "shaping". I bet if I tried it now, my post would be the top result. Thanks though.

You'll be glad to know, after looking at prices and considering my skill level, I have settled on a mulcher blade! It was free of course, and my friend at the golf course said there's plenty more where it came from. It sparks well, and according to the charts I have consulted, it appears to be somewhere between %0.25 and %0.80 carbon steel, so hopefully it won't be a flop, IF I get it all put together.

Looking for a good online (free) resource to read about hammer techniques such as stretching a piece of steel while reducing the width and so on. I can't seem to find anything. UTube.com actually has a few videos, but not much discussion. If anyone has any favorite sites, they would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

I read every sticky regarding steel (thanks for posting them BTW). They were informative, I also found quite a bit on the net. I still had questions and I'll leave it at that.

Ahhh, I see. It lists it as (L6 Alternative). It looks like the alternative is short in chromium, manganese, nickel and moly.... wow, no where close. And I was actually considering the L6 for it's large blade qualities, thanks for the heads up! Looking at the

Charlotte, I have read that 5160 is good for large blades. However, with the thickness I want this blade to be, around 3/16", you pretty much don't have to worry about the improved toughness of the 5160. But, the price IS a major factor and I see the 5160 would be a much better choice for my first blade. Thanks for the input!

UPDATE: Here is an article with L6, D2 and 52100 going head to head. According to this article, the L6 fared the worst, while the D2 held it's edge best against various soft materials while the 52100 excelled in damage resistance against concrete. The 52100 alloy is also available at Admiral, hmmm, I may have a decision to make. I guess it will depend on what I plan on chopping as the finished product will be a machete. The only negative I see is Kevin Cashen's article in which he has some pretty harsh words for this steel, and it's tricky treatment.

My first attempt will be a mono tool steel blade. On Admiralsteel, they have A2, D2, L6 and O1. These are the steels I have to choose from. Right off the bat I eliminated the high nickel L6. This chart has a good break down of specific properties and grades out each tool steel for each property category. Here's the chart... Tool Steel Chart According to the chart, the high carbon high chrome D2 grades out well along with the A2, but the D2 has a BEST in wear resistance in exchange for the POOR machinability rating. I've also had W1 recommended, but Admiral no longer carries it apparently. Does anyone have any experience with D2? Sound like a good choice? Thanks

Mike, you don't even have a forge yet? I hate to say this, but you're wasting your time worrying about this stuff right now. It's great to read, and be interested, but worry about getting a forge that will get the job done first because that IMO is the major task at hand for anyone who wants to be a hobby bladesmith. You can have all the supplies and materials needed, but if you don't get your forge but you're going nowhere fast. If you want, I can give show you how I built mine and I had steel sparking last night.

Wow, that does look like a hot forge. It looks to me like his forge is built a little more rigid then mine, I don't see any wool and his liner is much thicker. I also like his housing, but I don't have access to a welder so I am stuck with the can. That flame is intense, I havn't gotten that from my T-Rex, maybe I should check the flame next time.

BTW, that last picture looking directly into the forge was at the pinnacle of last nights heat, the 3rd from the last was shortly after firing it up, not much heat at that point.

I understand that. The portability of the gas forge was what attracted me to it. I would love to have the space for a coal forge. Also, I don't know how readily available coal is in central Florida. Question, would adding coal bits inside the forge enhance it in any way? I hear burning coal has a pleasant smell, much more so then the powder coat burning off my steel bucket!!

I based my opinion on two factors, or qualifiers. The first, I wanted the color to match the chart below, for forging temp you should see the 3rd down, a yellow, or 1250C, according to the sites data. Second, I wanted to see the piece emitting quite a bit of energy in the form of light because my chemistry background would tell me I need particles excited to the point of photon (light) ejection, at which point bonding would be able to take place. My assessment, I came pretty close to the color, I am sure I could kick the pressure up a notch, but I wasn't anywhere close to the light I wanted to see. I am also basing this on what I have seen in videos on the internet in which highly radiant metals and smoking metals are being pulled out and put in an auto hammer (which I don't have). I will try again, I just wanted to post pictures of last night before I went all in with the pressure. Tonight I will reassemble the forge in an area that will be a little bit safer in case of failure. Question, should I remove the aluminum conduit from the forge exterior? I looked today while I was on lunch and could not find a steel conduit that size. Any other ideas for housing the T-Rex burner? Thanks!