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Tim, In the Commercial Construction market the "in" is one of two ways. The first is to get in front of Architects and Interior Designers. These folks are very influential on the process. It's not uncommon for them to mandate a particular firm be used for some detail/ feature. Another way is to participate in hard bids. This will mostly be things like bike racks, railings, enclosure gates, etc. The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) created specification numbers Metals are "5000". Architectural metals are 5500. In order to get that ball rolling you may need to contact General Contractors in your area. Asking to be put on their bid list will lead to them sending you invitations to bid. These are typically done via e-mail and direct you to websites / FTP servers where you can download drawings and specifications. Be advised that they don't typically "spoon feed" when it comes to showing you what they need. It differs from one GC to the next but generally you'll have about a week to get a number put together. Be selective since structural steel companies (division 5120) often include things like this in their bids as well. Most GC's want the work "Turnkey". They don't want to hire an installer - they want one contract to just complete everything about it. I don't know if this is your billy-wick but if you make home and garden type things, I see iron work of varying quality at the better nurseries. People spend serious amounts of money on gardening.

I'm a professional estimator and there are several points I see that haven't been made so far. #1 the "going rate" is very regional. Material costs may not change much, but there are lots of factors that influence why something's more costly here than there. Not the least of which are things like urban centers, industrial districts and the like. For a long term enterprise located in a well-known trade district, the clientele are well aware of the shop and it's capacity. For a shed in the country, there's not much to go on. Prices and delivery times will reflect these circumstances. Being forced to compete tends to stabilize the going rate in a given market. If you can't compete, consider what the competition is doing- it's time to learn how to make a profit at the going rate. I have found many folks overestimate the planning and underestimate the performing. It's often worth keeping notes of how long each phase took. For folks that don't compete, it's well advised to work on your sales technique. Be quick to reply with more cost effective options if the price is protested. Remember that "helping" someone with no money and high expectations will hurt you in the end. For the savy estimator, you'd be well served to have a design rate, a tooling rate, a production rate, and an install rate. When you're designing, the shop's not moving, neither are the supply trucks but your overhead costs keep coming. When you're tooling up, you're stuck purchasing or fabricating what you'll need to do the job. Your shop's equipment and overhead are going towards making something that has little to no value to anything else. You're investing in the job. Do it well and you're investing in your shop as well. Production is your bare blow and go wage expectations with overhead. This is where you'll need to be HUGELY efficient if you're going to make any gains at all. Install is a wild card. Don't forget to include lifts, cranes, jacks, rigging, protection for finished surfaces, etc. All the tools are at the shop, now they've got to be toted out to the site. Install is slow, meticulous, and risky. If you damage your finish, the finish on adjacent surfaces, etc, you've got to fix it. If you break out your pricing, you may find your customer will opt to contract the install themselves as a way to work with you. Be aware that anything you write down can and will be used against you. Unit pricing leads to haggling, which consumes time which equals money. The key is to provide broad strokes to show where the money's going, not a menu for a la carte purchasing. Offer design services at an hourly rate - you put in the time to know the answers, they can pay the rate to learn them from you. Walk away from endless consultation without contract. I know of at least one contractor who spent so many man hours solving their customers problems for free that they can't break even on the job. Apply your overhead against how it factors to your shops workload. If your shop will be 100% dedicated to the job for it's duration, the bid needs to reflect that. If it can be done alongside other jobs, figure accordingly. Overhead should be a fixed rate over time. I strongly advise against using percentages on top of total for overhead. Overhead costs accrue over TIME. Say you're making two identical things out of two different metals. There will be a cost difference between the metals. There's no more (or less) overhead involved just because you're using a more expensive metal. This is how to win. Conversely, a relatively cheap material doesn't compensate for a lot of work. I've tracked it myself and I know that the dollar amount of overhead driven by percentage is not accurate enough. For those who think I'm quibbling, consider that when you make a gate, it's a professional who's got an accurate fit. The company that can win the bid, make a profit, and never take a shortcut is the professional operation. Also be aware of opportunity cost. The time spent doing this job is time you can't be spending on other work. If you turn a steady profit making S hooks, the time and energy to score a railing job may result in less net income. Getting the job done efficiently is not a pleasantry, it's a dire necessity. Long lead (wait) times are the #2 concern (after price) for construction projects. If buying a tool doubles your production but doesn't complete the work any faster, you're not investing- you're collecting. Every investment in tooling and staff should have verifiable yield, sometimes that yield is opportunity in a new market. Finally, what I consider to be the hardest thing to get into an entrepreneurs head. It's not the job you lose that puts you out of business, it's the job you win. Getting in over your head with one job, or taking on one (or twenty) jobs too many, is how deadlines start slipping, and money starts going out the window. Consider the total bid amount to be a check YOU wrote to the customer. That is your risk of not completing the job. Total all the outstanding jobs in your shop and that's your running risk. I have seen many occasions where one "cherry" job turned a shop into a non-profit for everything else they were doing.

Kurgan, I can commiserate. The knowledge of how to proceed through the project is as much of a barrier as developing the skill to execute it. I don't know where you're at in the scheme of things but I've found a couple of things quite helpful. One is the Anvilfire tutorials. Even if you don't want to make the project it is very instructive to see how the work progresses. The closest analogy I have is snooker, you must move with the next play in mind. A great example is knife forging where a pre-form precedes the bevel forging. When a bevel is forged on one side of a flat bar, the edge is lengthened bringing the tip up. The thickness of the metal, the length of the bar, and the degree of taper will all coincide to bring the tip upwards to varying degrees. If for example the intention is to end with a flat spine from tip to haft, the pre-form would be made like an upside down blade. As the bevel is forged, it will straighten out. Watching an experienced smith demonstrate can be very helpful.

Well semantics tend to get in the way of understanding that whatever we do can be art, science, industry, creation, destruction, or just change. I've seen a guy making pancakes that was an artist and I've seen "tradesmen" who were thieves. I'd say it's just one part of our tendency to change things around us - in this case it's with metals. More or less seems to assume specifics that one word won't convey.

Vaughn, beat me to it- that's a cool apron! I too would like to see this guy working something more substantial. I suspect the work would progress very smoothly.

I typically get my forge lit with a bucket and half of coal. I leave a second bucket next to the forge to add as I work. By the time I've emptied the bucket, my working day is done. If they mined their own coal, they'd have consistent burn times as well.

Tom, It looks like your hammer is very different from a typical cross pein. Maybe it's the angle of the camera but it looks like the pein is almost double the distance from the handle as the hammer's face. I can't think of another one I've seen like it.

I'm not too experienced myself but I would like to add that the snake's head is almost like repousee which still counts as blacksmithing! Also I was shown how to forge weld at a hammer in this summer. One very experienced farrier spoke up and said that he quit trying to distinguish which particular shade of yellow or white welding temperature is because working outdoors in different locations he had different lighting every time. Instead he advocated watching the metal to see when it was the same color as the coal. He said make sure to stop blowing for a second to see if there's a dark spot indicating that the core of the metal isn't up to temp. I asked him about sparks warning that you're burning. He replied that sparks can lead to rushing. If you're bringing the heat up slowly it's not burning even if there are a few sparks. I was still skeptical so I asked him about carbon content differences like when you're welding HC steel in an axe bit. He very patiently explained that welding temperature is the same color for all metals regardless of the ACTUAL temperature. So HC may well not be as hot as Mild steel but they're both the same shade when they're at their respective welding temperatures! He also pointed out that it's very, very difficult to weld thin stock as a beginner. I told him I'd been trying to make chain with 1/8" round stock, he kindly told me he'd never had any success making chain with stock that small. I must confess that I think he was being charitable as other smiths at the hammer in were lauding his incredible skill. I am very grateful to him for sharing his knowledge especially in such a kind manner.

rthibeau, It's probably wedged from the top since the unfinished handle picture shows how the wood flares just outside of the eye.

Perrin, I suspect a RR spike would work fine since the cast ones aren't likely H.C.

Moblacksmith: Radio Shack sells such a switch. You'd need to mount it in an enclosure and potentially solder the connections but they're pretty common. http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2049717&znt_campaign=Category_CMS&znt_source=CAT&znt_medium=RSCOM&znt_content=CT2032230 http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12708877&znt_campaign=Category_CMS&znt_source=CAT&znt_medium=RSCOM&znt_content=CT2032230 If you go with the more expensive one, it'll likely last longer. Bear in mind that none of these are particularly heavy duty or dust proof. Mounting it hip height may work better so you can bump it on and off without it laying in the walk way.

I would imagine the pre-form of the steel blank would be somewhat similar to a drop point knife shape. When you forge in the bevels it would cause the tip to sweep upwards.

Very cool forge.

I started off thinking that all tomahawks should have teardrop shaped eyes but it occurred to me that teardrop shape is a natural outcome of wrap & weld "trade" style hawks. I noticed that lots of full sized axes have an oval shape that's more pointed on the bit side. There's a book I own showing how a full sized ax can be made with a flat bar. The eye area is fullered down before the strap is folded around and welded to make the body of the ax. I very much suspect that when axes are made in this fashion, the bit side of the eye get's pulled/pinched when the blade is drawn out forming the pointed oval shape. I'm not skilled enough but I truly suspect a skilled blacksmith could make a wrapped eye tomahawk without a drift. Either way I've come to the conclusion that punching a handle hole is much easier to do symmetrically when the punch and drift are mostly rectangular. Try as I might, the teardrop shape has proven to be much harder to align with the bit. Plus when I'm making my own handle, it's much easier to use stock that can be sawn to a rectangular profile before fine fitting. I suspect there's much variance to what folks consider traditional.

Perrin it's a shame to see this pattern forming. Repeating your actions expecting a different outcome is a recipe for disaster. The really unfortunate thing here is that you may not realize how you're coming across. In the context of this thread I've seen parallels to the parable of the scorpion and the frog. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scorpion_and_the_Frog I don't know if you've read that parable before or not. I've met enough "scorpions" in my time, it seemed worth sharing with you in the hopes you'll get past this. I've found that the greatest obstacles to overcome are more within than without.

Check your local zoning codes. In my town a shed is a permanent structure requiring property setbacks, inspections, etc. Since setbacks are 5' from property lines and back yards are only about 20' wide tt's a bear to have a shed that isn't in the way all the time. While you're at it you may want to consider how you may run power out to the shed. Things like a drill or a grinder sure are handy when you can plug them in.

Thanks Oakwood, maybe I'll fab up a sheet metal guard on the back half of the grinder.

Is the chain on the sculpture wood as well?

Daniel, nice work. David, does the steeper angle serve to increase leverage?

My anvil horn points right (I'm right handed) mostly because my hardie hole is in the horn. I suspect having the hardie on the strong arm side is what determines orientation for lots of people. This reminds me of my electrical apprenticeship. Some journeymen believe that tools in a pouch need to be in a certain order. Some have protocol for stripping all conductors before putting the strippers away. It really seemed to me that everyone thought themselves an efficiency expert. I watched and did as I was told. In the end I mostly emulate the old fat guys. They got as much (or more) done as the young guy's but the did it without breaking a sweat. Taking their lead, I believe made me a more effective worker. Most interestingly, they wasted less material. I think in many cases it was equal parts thrift, and a desire to avoid walking to get more stock.

Personally I love Santoku patterns since they get the knuckles off the cutting board. The traditional French Chef knife is popular with many schools. I use asian style cleavers because I like using them to transfer food from the board. Plus a large flat area works awesomely for crushing things like garlic or ginger. Don't forget that handle's can change the feel immensely. I don't know of any professional chefs that hold a kitchen knife like a saber grip. Most choke up on the blade. A well shaped handle can reduce strain.

Perrin, Lot's of knife folk get excited about flat grinding like the Scandinavian Pukko knives. Forging flat bevels isn't too hard. Following up with flat filing and draw filing isn't equipment extensive. The advantage I've heard of flat ground is to simplify sharpening in the field. If a user doesn't have the skill to hold a bevel angle for the secondary edge, the flat grind gives them a wide contact area to press against the stone. I would also add that I don't much care for serrated. However it's entirely likley that Spyderco exists because the majority disagree with me on that point!

Spark, I'm not sure if I understand correctly, are you trying to forge bevels that mimic hollow grinding? It seems like that'd be a harder way to go than flat forging bevels then hollow grinding them.

I always thought the problem in NY and NJ was too many coke dealers... Sorry, cheap shot! I agree that it's great using coke instead of coal however I'd add two caveats. #1 Coke will go out faster than a coal and coke fire. #2 coke runs considerably hotter and a thin firepot may not last long as a result. I've taken to cutting it about 50/50, although I enjoy the lack of smoke, stink, and clinker using straight coke.

Kurgan, If you're keeping your coal in a beer keg, I suspect it not only spits, - it slurs! :D