backyardsmith

i have some crusher bar from a sample crusher from a coal mine and i was told by the guy who gave me them said he was told they was Vascowear and if they are they make a good blade but there a bear to forge anything below a orange heat and it wont move

heres my first intger dagger made from 1/2in round stock
handle is walnut


there fun to make but a pain to get every thing lined up

i use to just walk the track and i could find at least 5 every 10 foot but awhile back the tracks was replaced and now all of the stuff they replaced is in one big pile rusting and i dont think there gonna move it any time soon so i stop by there and get a couple spikes and clips every now and again(cant just let all of that steel rust)

thanks for the comments i like playing with spikes and their easy to get around here

heres one of mine

the blade is a rail road spike and the handle is sugar maple

i saw them nice videos............. did you notice how thick that file was

they did a revist to that myth they did take it to a black smith he heated them up to non mag and SUPER QUENCHED them but he also hardend the neck of that hammer so when they used there rig the thinner part of the hammer neck broke

i too watched that too insted of going tru all of that id just take the torch to the head and qunched it in water(that is if i didnt have my forge going)....but i think the myth of a hammer shattering is from someone getting a cheapo cast iron hammer and hitting something tougher then the hammer and it breaks

the Anthracite i use isnt the best around here but it will put out the heat and when it cokes up its really clean buring ...and ive alway been told that the reason bitomus coal was used by smiths because it coked up a little faster

i use anthracite and never have had a problem with it not even with it going out

sorry about the time ive took to reply but i know my handle skills need work and yes i pein them and i dont epoxy( just dont)

thanks for the comment

heres a few blades ive made in the past weeks

first up is a rail road spike knife handle is walnut

second is fishclip handle is walnut too

3rd heres one of it that i blackend the blade

and last is made form railroad clip handle is oak

wow i forgot about this post but i already bought the 1x42 grinder and i use it alot

ap a roof bolt is used to reinforce the roof in coal mines and are about 5 foot long and where i live in coal county there eazy to find

i just take and hammer them in

heres two more that i made top one is 5160 with oak and the bottem one is roof bolt with oak

i use coal in my forge and all is left is ash and clinkers ( they look nothing like coal) im thinking its your air sorce because like in the above posts the lively style forge isnt ment for coal so it might help if you change it to a bottem blast or side blast and is your coal hard and shiney when you brake it (anthracite)? or soft and black( bittomous) cant spell


and i dont get why people say anthracite is hard to keep lit becasue i use it and

ive turned the blower off and it stayed red for at least 20 mins before i turned the blower on

i figured that its about time i posted some of my work bare with me its my first time posting pics on a fourm like this

first one is band saw blade and fence post it was my first billet that held togather

the second one is made of bed rail and mild not much pattren in it tho

ow when i read this post i thought the some one grabed a hot brand...... i think id rather pick up a hot brand then get kicked by a horse :(

dosent 4140 make good hammers? and i dont think chrome is a heath danger (not sure ) because its only a very thin layer of chromium but then i dont know :confused:

Mike

they said no then asked me what a tanto was and ive read about smiths in to old days pulling teeth for people i just hope that he wasnt holding a hot piace of iron with the tongs befor oulling the tooth :rolleyes:

backyardsmith,
if that was a rhetorical question, i apologize in advance for answering it (sarcasm is harder to detect without the accompanying facial expressions ) but as close as i can narrow it down it boils down to two things

1). From the founding of America up until the early 20th century almost all small towns and villages had a blacksmith. The blacksmith was responsible for farrier duties (sometimes even being a horse doctor), making all needed household and farm items, and even sometimes basic carpentry skills (repairing wagons, etc.)
This image of the blacksmith as a "jack of all trades" carries over, even though there are now dedicated farriers who do not go near ornamental metal work (even though I consider that horseshoe above to be quite the work of art) and blacksmiths that wouldn't touch a horse with a ten foot pole (me).

and

2). think about every movie that you have ever seen with a blacksmith in it. What is that blacksmith doing? He is either making horseshoes, shoeing horses, or making a sword/armor. Hence the idea that all blacksmiths are farriers and bladesmiths/armorers. Thank you Hollywood.

Just my take on the matter,
-Aaron @ the SCF
Merry Christmas and a happy and safe (even if it is crazy) New Year to all

I wouldn't say they were as good, they were just different than the other not-as-fantastical ones.

Yeah I saw all of his movies except the Cat Returns and one or two others when TCM did the marathon. It was awesome.