Alex

Thanks guys, I value the input (and yes, sorry, this is more suited perhaps for the business forum). It sounds like a tough go, which isn't the answer I wanted to hear, but it was the one I was expecting. However, I'm surprised at the large emphasis on business skills and marketing which makes a lot of sense now that I think about it. I'm 24, have a BSc. in Psychology, and am at the point where I've got my basic degree and am deciding "Where do I go from here?". Oddly enough, I've been considering doing a master's degree or maybe college diploma in business or marketing to combine with my psych degree (but hey, maybe it's good for smithing too!). I guess my main concern is spending a lot of money and time in school, and then not really gaining much, which is why I'm considering my options at this point before I jump into something. As it stands, I'm an excellent salesman and very good with people. And I would love to run my own business (headaches and all). What I lack are any serious smithing skills, but I'm ready, willing and eager to learn/develop. I find that the hard part, it's not like you can just up and be a blacksmith. As for the whole "ruining" the hobby by turning it into work, I'm going to have to go with HWHII, on the contrary I think it's the dream to do what you love for work. Thanks again, Alex

I've been smithing for several years now, but never taking it seriously until the last year to 6 months. I'm really getting into it, and I'm wondering if I'd like to continue it as a hobby, or maybe make a career move towards it, and this gets me thinking, how many of you out there do this as your full time job? I'd like to get some first hand perspectives here, after all, I'm sure most people don't just up and go "I want to be a blacksmith". In truth, I'm not even sure where I'd begin. Did many of you apprentice in any way? Is it common to get paid during an apprenticeship? Or did you just hobby-up until you had the skills to start on your own? I'm in Ontario (and I'll be joining the OABA soon to ask them all these sorts of questions) and there's a college here that offers an Artist Blacksmith program. Anybody go to blacksmith school for lack of a better term? I think it's a great hobby, but I'm just curious when it comes to a full time profession. If anyone cares to share and spill the beans that'd be great. Thanks, Alex

Hey Thomas, Thanks for the offer, but for right now I'm just going to try soaking them and scrubbing them clean as described. If I decide to trade any 1.5" ones you'll be the first to know (though I'm in Canada so I feel like shipping would be an arm and a leg). Thanks again guys. Alex

Thanks for all the info so far guys. Here's some pictures as requested. As you can see some of them are pretty bad. I definitely don't want to ruin any, but I'm not talking about taking something nice and new and converting it, but rather something in rough shape. In any case, maybe a trade is a decent idea. I'll be singing up with a local association soon, so maybe I'll make some contacts. Thanks again, Alex

This might be suited for the tools section, but it's about heat treating tools. Anyway, I just came into possession of a whole whack of hardies (42 in one big bundle for cheap cheap cheap). The only problem is that some of them are in really rough shape (big gouges, rust, pitting etc.). Also, out of all of these, I have not one cutting chisel. So, I have two ideas: 1. Smooth out any ugly bits to make the hardies more usable. 2. Reshape a hardy into a cutting chisel. I have a few bottom blocks like shown here that I was thinking of drawing out into an edge. My questions are: 1. If I do these things, will I have to harden and temper the hardies to make them usable? It seems like I should. 2. Seeing as I have no idea what kind of metal they're made out of, any suggestions for their quench/hardening medium? Any suggestions or info welcome. Thanks, Alex

Thanks a lot guys. I didn't think the opening had to be as big, but I guess sometimes the simple stuff works best.

So I scrounged up a brake drum and built a forge with it, but had a few questions/concerns about the grate. It obviously needs to be small enough such that bits of coal/charcoal don't fall into my pipes, but I also want to ensure that I get proper airflow. It's the second of these that concern me the most. I felt like I was really burning through fuel fast with my current setup, and though my fire was hot enough to forge with, it seemed like for the amount of fuel that was being consumed that it should have been much hotter. I constructed a temporary grate from a sink plug (the metal kind). Does anybody have any suggestions when it comes to the grate? I found this picture: http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cianperez.com/Photo/Exposed/album_PatrickRock/images/Blacksmith_Forge/309980440_52593e068e.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cianperez.com/Wood/WoodDocs/Wood_How_To/INDEX_How_To_pages/PatrickRock_BuildingBlacksmithForge.htm&usg=__061fpcRxLMjnhkzD9lbS5hEqprg=&h=375&w=500&sz=128&hl=en&start=16&zoom=1&tbnid=A6Xxg5oIf8oW5M:&tbnh=145&tbnw=238&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbrake%2Bdrum%2B%2522forge%2522%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D615%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C465&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=366&vpy=320&dur=199&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=192&ty=216&ei=xgXaTOy9KYa_nAee1q3lCQ&oei=YgXaTL6cKou8sAPexdCxBw&esq=24&page=2&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:16&biw=1280&bih=615 Most videos/how-to's are vague, just kind of "get some steel and drill holes in it". Any recommended spacings, pattern, or shapes? Pictures would be great too if you've got them. And in general, would you recommend a greater volume of air, or greater air pressure to achieve high heat? Thanks, Alex

Thanks Charles. After a quick search I did find a load of examples of people using cast iron sink forges, including the double sink design. Here's an old school one in case anyone is interested: http://www.vintageprojects.com/metal-welding/shop-forge.pdf

I came across a rather heavy duty cast iron sink at work today in the garbage area and was wondering if it would make a decent improv firepot. It seems fairly thick, perhaps 1/4". I also say cast "iron", but is there any way that I can be sure it's not a monkey-metal zinc alloy or something? I was also wondering if a large, thick, cast iron skillet would work. I've read/seen that a lot of people use brake drum forges, but these are readily available and I'm just panning out my options. I would be forging mostly with charcoal, but possibly coal as well. Does one have to worry about cast iron forges cracking due to heat/stress? Any thoughts or info would be appreciated. Thanks, Alex

Thanks a lot guys, I appreciate it. I'm sure you'll hear back from me if it doesn't work! Alex

I've been hobby forging for a while with a very rudimentary set up. Recently I've started to take heat treating seriously and am having problems. I made two knives both out of pry bar steel. I wanted to put them through their paces, test them out to make sure they were good, and of course, they both broke. The first was quenched in warm brine, the second in motor oil. They were both tempered in an oven and then differentially tempered by heating the spine and tang with a torch while dipping the edge in water. When the first blade broke I assumed it was just a poor tempering job, so when I tempered the 2nd blade I baked it at 350 for 2 hours. After seeing no colour change I raised the temperature about 25-50 degrees every hour or so until I was maxing out at 475 something like 6 or 7 hours later. At that point the blade was a healthy yellow brown. Heating with the torch left the spine and tang anywhere from a pale to dark blue. I've attached 3 pics so you can see. In the cross section pic you can see the core of the blade. Does tempering only do surface colour change? I'm wondering if maybe for whatever reason my temper isn't going deep enough. Besides using a commercially produced steel (and not an unknown pry bar steel) is there anything that you can recommend? I don't want to keep making pieces that are prone to breakage, if anything I want them overly tough. Thanks, Alex

Thanks for the info, shows how little I really know about it. I just remembered doing some if it a while back in chemistry class. The difference was I suppose that we electroplated copper with more copper, and as you suggest it's a lot more difficult with steel because you have to electroplate in those various layers (not to mention the inherent dangers). Well, I suppose I'll just work with stainless or take really good care of my blades for now, perhaps as a project in the future. Thanks. Alex

Anybody here ever do any electroplating for their blades (electronically bond a metal to the outside - aka galvinization). None of the metal I work with is stainless, and though I generally oil it frequently and take good care of it, it'd be nice to coat it in something less corrisive like silver. Has anyone ever done this? Does the metal rub off easily? Anyone know where to get some Silver Nitrate? Thanks, Alex

Well it's good to know they're somewhere in the high carbon steel range suitable for blades/choppers. That axe looks great and gives me some ideas. Did you have to do any welding to make it, or did you just punch a hole in the crowbar (for where the handle fits through)? Thanks, Alex

Yeah, it would've been much easier with proper facilities, but I slowly acquire more here and there. Well, in terms of actual grit on the sand paper it started somewhere around 80 and moved all the way up to 320 I think. I polished it every now and then with an electric sander but most of it was done by hand working in broad strokes along the length of the blade (careful not to stab your hands near the tip... ouch). It takes a long, long time. I've found since then though that it really helps to do a lot of work with a file first to get the surface nice and flat otherwise it'll get nice and shiney, but still have that bumpy look. Glad to hear you guys like it, I was a little intimidated by some of the stuff I've seen on here. Alex

I used water as my quench for heat treating instead of oil and I guess it was either just to harsh or not warm enough or something because the blade came out with all kinds of cracks. Also, uneven heating (I assume) caused a major warp in the blade and upon trying to straighten it the blade snapped with the slightest amount of pressure. I'm salvaging what I can, turning one broken piece into a tanto and the other into some kind of all purpose hacking tool (hopefully I'll get those up here when I'm done them). For the polishing I first went to the grinder (wheel and not belt which I think would've made things a lot smoother), then the file, and lastly sand paper. The handle was made from one solid piece that got cut into two. The two halves were then hollowed out as tight fitting as possible, then glued back together (the wood was glued, not the tang. The blade can still be removed for cleaning). The blade fits in the handle snugly, but if swung would probably fly out without the pins. Thanks for the feedback guys, it's appreciated. Alex

Here's a sword I made (unfinished in the pictures) though it's broken now seeing as I butchered the heat treating. This is (was) one of my first "real" pieces so please be kind. My anvil was a slab of railroad track and my forge was an oven built out of logs using hardwood embers so it was a pretty crude set up to say the least. The steel was from an 18" wrecking bar (crowbar) and I'm not entirely sure what steel it is, maybe 1040? No folds or welding, just drawn out and shaped. I also don't have a lot of the proper tools so the polishing job and shaping aren't quite perfect. Handle is double pegged and made of maple. No hibakki or saya were ever constructed. Anyway, just looking for constructive criticism, and comments or advice would be great. ps. sorry about the poor image quality Thanks, Alex

I'm a smithing enthusiast with the most basic set up in my backyard. I know a bit about this and that when it comes to smithing so it's great to have a place like this where I can ask questions. Due to this poor info of mine, my main source of steel for forging lately has been crowbars or flat bars (aka pry bar) which I draw out to the proper dimensions. I figure it's a high carbon steel (maybe 1040?), but I'm wondering if anybody out there could give me more accurate info or even just confirm this. Oh, and if it helps, I use it for blades, small and large. Any info appreciated. Thanks, Alex