Rikadyn

First read the thread title on the front of the forum, and thought "if it's not on him, can't be that bad of a place" However this might be on the short list of worse places...

"Perfect axe for the French Lumberjack"

Yea, seems like a good idea, drops are only $1.10 or so a lb there and they have w2 drops.

Mainly want to make fighting knives, so closer to Japanese than Camp knife

I asked cause Alro is the only supplier locally for metals, and they don't carry anything I commonly see mentioned around here for knives. Otherwise I'll have to start looking for scrap springs or order online...

Heat treating shouldn't be a problem, once I learn more about it. I plan on doing it all by heat and hammer so to speak.

looks like a Kilij

I don't think our yards (except for obviously the pick and pull autopart yards) sell to the public. Luckily our ex neighbor was a scrapper, and is by everyday almost to visit with my dad, just don't know how to describe for him what i need or what to ask for....

I need help choosing what steel to use from my local suppliers catalogue. I understand the basics of choosing the right steel, but none of the commonly discussed steels are offered by them.

Alro Metals Guide

What size pipe should I use?

The forge is a side blast, but not gonna do a water cooled tuyver on this forge till i build a more permanent forge, so It'll be consumed I know, but anyway.

Going to use a hairdryer for air supply

pretty, i want to do something similiar when I get to sword making

A Good swordsman...

Eh?

I'm looking at maybe a 6inx12inx18in or so piece it's like a 1.15/lb or so

I'm still contemplating making my own anvil.

Would A2 be an acceptable steel for an anvil?

should post a picture of what you used to form the bowl :p

When in doubt, Everything can be used as a hammer.

I think most people think that you gotta look like a blacksmith to be one. Which means you have to run a shop that is super old world, no power, dusty, sootie, all the traditional look, have a giant handle bar mustache or beard. lol
.

labor+materials+overhead+profit=price

I follow this formula mostly for my chainmaille work, Figure it'll apply the same:

How to Price your Chainmail Masterpieces

Just adjust the numbers to apply.

Last night, lacking fireworks of my own to light off, I decided to spend the evening making charcoal. Used a steel 5g bucket as a retort, and loaded it with scrap wood from around the yard.

Went well, besides being a little nervous when the retort began sounding like a jet dragster staging.

Today went out and opened the kiln and broke up all the charcoal, then looked into the fire pit and scooped out all the coals out of that.

Question is, which method actually is more effective in making charcoal?

If you are having problems finding suitable steel, or have to pay 50 cents plus per pound for recycled, you might be suprised that buying new steel isn't all that "out of range". Call steel suppliers and ask about 20' lengths of the stock you want to play with. You will probably have to pay a "cut" charge so you can haul it home. A 20' piece of 3/8 round, or 1/2" square may not be as expensive as you think. Some of the recycling places I frequent charge me as much as 75% of the cost of new from a new steel supplier. You need to find the businesses that sell to builders and/or large fabricators though (just call around and price compare).

So, went to the metal supply shop we have here, prices are alright, problem i found is they didn't have anything above 1060, nor any L6 drops...

What steel would be good for an anvil?

Went to the metal supply store yesterday, and their tool steels were priced 1.25-1.75/# and they had some pretty hefty peices ( like 8inx8inx6in and up)

chunk of 4x4 and a bucket?

Things like this make me happy to always have my goggles with me. I've gotten used to wearing my ESS Land Ops for 8hrs on end, plus they're more comfortable than normal shop safety glasses/goggles

dark blue when looking at it. I don't have my camera at the moment so can't take a picture, will as soon as I can.

Erm, well they are safety glasses, and the blue lens flips up.