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I Forge Iron

pre6422hornet

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Valparaiso Indiana
  • Interests
    Hunting/Fishing/teaching my daughters everything/novice knifemaker

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  1. Here are few bottle openers I made a couple weeks ago. I purchased my first new hammer ( rounding) and was trying it out for the first time. First one on the left, last one on the right. Definitely had a learning curve with the hammer. Man does it move metal. Here they are. If you ever need to open a cold one, then break a window, hammer in a nail, etc.. this may work HAHA.
  2. Okay guys so last night I took a break and decided to make a little rectangle tube to insert into the forge to help with heating up knives and such a little more evenly. I have never been technically trained in welding, but it has always fascinated me. I have a stick welder and have been playing with it practicing with settings, rods, etc.. trying to get better. While not perfect by any means I was pretty happy to be able to take the four pieces of steel I had and was able to weld them together in short order and the welds were the best I have ever done. Please be kind...... I am a big boy so if you see something blatantly wrong by the pic please don't hesitate. Always looking to learn.
  3. yeah those wire wheels can do a great job but I am always spooked when using them. A few weeks ago while removing the rust from my new to me post vice I didn't notice our 8 year old daughter had walked outside ( I went out to the driveway to keep the rust cloud out of the shop) and was standing at my 4 o' clock. I quick discussion on PPE and letting her feel the sharpness of the wheel with her fingers was enough to get the point across. So she then proceeded to ride her skateboard down the driveway and faceplant in the street.... thank goodness for helmets..
  4. No they didn't. It was a " this was my grandads and it was in his basement". I did walk away with an old wood pulley on a chain that used to " hang in grandads barn" as well. I plan on hanging it in our house eventually. To cool to throw away.
  5. Frosty your story regarding mail hits home. So right after Thanksgiving my wife shipped out an order of clothes from our boutique to a customer who asked for shipping even though she lived 1.5 miles away ( we offer free shipping). Took 9 days to go 1.5 miles. Actually it went 1/3 mile to the post office, then back past the shop and 1.5 miles to the customer.... Hey TP they are both in pretty good condition. The screw has very sharp edged threads and it holds nicely.
  6. I have been searching for leg vice for quite some time now and missed out on quite a few, but this one came up a few weeks ago about 5 miles from my house. The person just wanted to get rid of it and the price was right so me and the girls ( 4 daughters) went over to check it out. It looks to me to be a Peter Wright but I am not an expert. It has no stampings that I can find even after wire wheeling her other than a very faint "50" stamped on to the front. It does have the two lines cast into the screw housing similiar to a PW I believe. Anyway I took it completely apart, wire wheeled it all, greased the screw a bit, re positioned the spring so it actually worked and opened the jaws, and mounted it on a crude shelf. I am not at the point of pounding anything on it yet, only twisting railroad spikes and holding scales for hand sanding before glue up. I will mount it up properly in the future. Will also straighten the leg at a later date as well.
  7. Yeah Frosty it is the craze it seems. It gives the blade finish that worn look, especially after etching. I use a rotary tumbler and some river rock from the.... river Haha. Really simple. Let the knife tumble for 4 or 5 minutes, rinse it off and it is done. Almost all my knife orders are for a stonewashed finished. I tend to prefer to let a knife gather its own battle scars, but as we all know there are people out their who would prefer to have that done when they purchase so they can look the part.
  8. I use 80/20 of ferric chloride and white vinegar to achieve the grey etch below. I primarily use 1084 and 8670 steel. j sand to 800/clean with acetone/clean with water and Dawn dishwashing soap/rinse/dry 4 min in the etching tank/take out and neutralize with windex, scrub blade with 0000 steel wool/dip in water and rinse/ dry off and repeat entire process. then I stonewash. these two are 8670 These are 1084
  9. This thread has made me laugh a few times thinking about my paternal grandpa. He was a machinist for 50 years and took his machinist thinking into his woodwork for sure. We used to kid gramps that he coined the phrase " measure twice cut once", but we always added " measure twice, cut once 1/32 too long then spend two hours hand sanding to make it fit perfect"... I remember in 2000 I purchased my first house. I put a small 10x12 deck on the back of the house. Gramps helped me grid out the post holes perfectly, he made sure all the holes were EXACTLY the measurement needed to pass inspection etc... A few days later I had the floor framed up and stringers installed. Gramps came over and measured and determined it was off square by 1/4 inch or so. He then proceeded to pull the entire thing apart, find where I messed up, and then reset everything back so it was perfect. I just shook my head and kept saying " Gramps the decking will hide it". His response " But I will know it is off". Miss him dearly. He passed 8 years ago and not a week goes by that I wish I could call him on the phone and just talk. Three weeks ago I went and picked up his 1952 Craftsman table saw that he bought brand new and used to cut every board of the house he lived in his entire life. Used it this week to square up some knife handle blocks before cutting them into scales. I am sure gramps was smiling.
  10. Thanks TP! And that is awesome regarding the hammers. It makes me slow down and take it all in as well. I still have my first hammer my grandpa ever gave me. Its a little small ball pein that weighs maybe 1/4 of a pound and he machined it at work on his breaks in the weeks after I was born. He stamped my birthday and name into the handle. I still use it today 47 years later when I need to ever so slightly persuade something to move.
  11. Spent the weekend working on some stock removal knives that should be heading out to their new owners this week, and spent an AMAZING couple hours in the shop with our 11 year daughter. She is very much a crafter, sews by hand better than a machine darn near, and loves to get her hands dirty. She asked me if she could help me the next time I was going to use my "tinker" ( what she calls my anvil). She watched as I drew out a railroad spike into a steak turner, and in-between heats she used one of my smaller hammers to heat up and hammer out this heart for my wife from 3/8" big box store welding steel. She did all the hammering while I worked the steel across the face. It was like having my own little power hammer! Haha! We even used a hardy tool to crease the point of the heart before bending. Well after we sent a picture to the grandmas we were asked to make a few more! Now our 13 year daughter wants in on the fun too. I really do enjoy teaching them how to use tools.
  12. Hidden tang... now I got it. Always learning. Makes complete sense.
  13. Sorry TP I meant integral tang. Up until this everything has been full tang.
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