White Fox Forge

I just finished up a pipe tomahawk today. I forged it out of a peice of 1inch Dom pipe with ¼inch walls, slit it down the middle and forge welded a 1080 bit. The handle is charred hickory with a damascus smoke plug. I put a sliver of leather between the bowl and the handle to create a better seal.

I worked on a pipe tomahawk. I forged it out, welded it, and drew it out on Sunday. Yesterday i cleaned it up and heat treated it. Tempered it today. How much more cleaning up should i do? I'm thinking of leaving a forged finish instead of polished. Im akso thinking of doingvsome engraving but i have zero practice lol

Thank you! That's a nice pair of tongs, especially for your first. Joinery looks good too

I just finished up a chasing/engraving hammer. I made the head a couple months ago. I drilled and filed the eye instead of punching it. I found that out the hard way( 4 previous tries). I forged it to shape and then cleaned it up with files and a grinder. The handle is Goncalo Alves that I shaped and filed to shape. I actually used my lathe to mill the filework around the neck of the handle. Took a little bit of patience and clean uo but I got 'er done. I might use it to decorate my next project which is a pipe tomahawk. I'm very glad to have completed this. This has been a project I have had in mind for the last two years. I am thinking of making more and selling them at demos but I have a bit much on my plate lol. WFF

The wedge is pinned. The mobile die is that big to make sure the dies don't heat up too much. However itll suck the heat out of the steel too. I dont think the weight should affect the hydraulics. The real reason is I don't have any smaller steel lol. It's the same width as the splitting wedge so It fits. I have a few dozen pieces of the cylinders so I'm just happy to be able to use one. I'll look for old firehose. Thanks.

Yeah hydraulics scare me. I'm debating making covers out of sheet metal for the hoses so that scale and hot steel can't damage them. My idea for the ram/upper die is to cut the cutting edge of the wedge off and weld an 8 inch steel cylinder onto it. The cylinder has a 3 inch hole in the center that tapers to 1×3 inch. Weighs a good 65 lbs. Then I'm going to weld a thick plate over it to back the dieplate. Angle iron will hold the die plate against the ram head. I'll make a retaining pin of some sort. It'll have to be super heavy duty because I've heard that they bend really easy. Thoughts on the design? Also I found some pictures of splitter presses that people made. Can I share the screenshots of them? Idk if its copyright or not lol I did get access to an industrial welder (I think it's SMAW ) from a friend's shop.

Alright. I am not planning on it. That seems a little too delicate for me. Thanks, Frosty

Yeah. I tried it our and it worked decently. I should have let the steel heat up more. One guy i saw disassembled the lever action and took out one of the spring. It is always returning. You have a stop block that once it reaches a certain point pushes the lever to neutral. It's kind of hard to explain. Not sure if I'm gonna go with that design or not but it is stil cool.

That is a good design. I like that a lot. The cycle time is 14 seconds

Ok. Thanks for the link! I took a look at the thread and it explained a bit however it didn't provide exactly what I needed. I did buy a 35 ton log splitter that is basically brand new. I am wondering how I should make the top die plate and holder. I have an idea for the bottom. Basically an inch thick plate with angle iron to hold the plate on. Do I replace the splitting wedge with a flat plate? Do I make a strel mold to go around the wedge? I'm not gonna be using it for anything besides a forge press. I've done a lot of research but I haven't been able to find a design for the ram plate that I really liked. Also will welding with a Lincoln 110v .035 flux core on 15 amp service be suffice for welding?

Alright. Thanks. I didn't get more pics. The owners are going to get back to me on it. I appreciate all the help

Ok. I only got to take a brief look at it. I should be back up on Saturday to take annothe look.

Lol. I don't think I would get much metal mushing done with that one.

You are probably right. I didn't see a name on it but I dint look on the other side. I just looked up pictures of power hammers and found one that matched. Will a power hammer run on 110v 20 amp? I may have to upgrade the wiring in my shop.

Alright. I will take a look on Saturday. I'm just trying to find a good metal musher for my shop. So far I'm stuck with a hand hammer. A big drill press wouldn't hurt either.

I have an opportunity to purchase a large possibly Peter Wright anvil however the owner said make an offer. I don't think he knows anything about anvils. I don't want to short him or lowball him. He inherited it from his late father. He doesn't do any blacksmithing and, from what i can tell, just wants it gone. What should I offer him. It is several states away so I don't want to spend a fortune on gas and a anvil. It looks to be in ok condition and weighs a lot. Does anyone have the weight on this anvil? Thanks! Also any thoughts on the cone mandrel? Is it worth me putting in an offer? Price? WFF

Sorry. I forgot to upload pictures. Lol.

Hey, I have an opportunity to purchase what seems to be a star power hammer. It is in extreme disrepair. It has a broken pulley and God knows what else is wrong with it. There is a chance I could buy a new cam (I think Is what its called) and pulley from the guy but it think it is a little giant. Is this worth it for me to buy? It costs me over 40 bucks to drive out there alone. I was thinking of asking scrap price for it so if i can't fix it I can scrap it and get my money out of it. I have all of the tools to restore it like a surface grinder, lathe belt grinder and stuff like that (no milling machine). Im not afraid of a lot of work but i dont want to pour money into it either. What is a good price, if I should get it at all? Also any advice for restoring a machine like that? Ps. Is the drill press behind any good? Thanks! WFF

Hi, I am interested in purchasing a log splitter to convert to a press. What are some things i should look for. From what I have heard I need at least a 20 ton splitter that can flip vertically. What stroke speed do I need? Are they better for Damascus and drawing out than a power hammer? How about a pedal? Possible convertibility to electric? I don't have a power hammer but I have used a 25 and 50 lb little giant before. Not the biggest fan to be truthful. I find them unwieldy and extremely violent. I believe this is because of my lack of skill and knowledge. I am NOT knocking power hammers by any means, I am just explaining my reasoning for wanting a press. Are presses more dangerous? What needs to be modified on them? I appreciate all the help I can get. Thanks! WFF

That looks really nice!

No, this will not be my last hammer. I am going to try it out soon. And thank you for your concern. It is much appreciated. Emery

Thank you. I started with a chunk of steel that was 2lb 8oz and ended up with a hammer head that weighs 1lb 10oz. I have wanted to use it but haven't done much forging since and i am torn because i wanna keep it nice but also use it. I'll probably use it when I go visit a friend in two weeks. Basically in order to be able to burn into the wood you soak the handle in water and baking soda for 5 minutes before you burn. It is the most important step.

About a month ago I forged a hammer for myself. It is made of 1045 steel. The handle is a plain hickory handle with fractal burning done on it. I did a ton of research before attempting this. I did use the lichtenburg method because It is the easiest for me. After that I wire brushed it and poured 2 part epoxy with blue food coloring to fill in the fissures. Sanding and a coat of beeswax and linseed oil provides a nice finish. I am making another currently for a friend. It is a hickory octagonal handle. A little more tricky to do because of the angles. I have epoxies most of it but am going back over it to fix what I missed. Emery