Frosty

Explaining a rudimentary pun to us Arkie? I think you as a Cranky Old Guy are a bit under the weather. Perhaps you should Try Vets for a mood enhancing . . . biscuit. At least see how they treat you. Frosty The Lucky.

Dressing is a final finishing of the face and pein to clean tool marks, round corners maybe crown the face. Dressing can make for fewer hammer marks, more efficient forging, etc. Some hammers may need serous grinding to suit a particular need I have a shallow 8lb. straight pein I made from a double jack sledge head, modifying our tools to suit is something we do. Frosty The Lucky.

Oooh this is really getting good now, I love a good discussion. I wouldn't go quite so far as to say there are NO wrong methods of joinery but won't go into examples. I'd have to experiment and determine what joins fit which theme I like being able to give potential customers choices and you never know when one might want something that gives us a priceless idea. Frosty The Lucky.

Good solution! Good on ya. Frosty The Lucky.

You can buy Aloe gel as sunburn lotion that's much handier, portable and . . . well just handy. I couldn't keep an aloe plant in my shop in the summer and the one in the kitchen window is the kitchen plant. It's only good for 1st. and low 2nd.degree burns as 1st. aid. worse and you need serious 1st. aid and maybe an emergency room. If you can get it Silvadine is THE hands down best 1st. ointment for burns. Learn the proper procedures! Frosty The Lucky.

Check out the heavy equipment repair shops or companies running road graders. The drive chain in the walking beams that connect the rear wheels is impressive stuff. Think yard art size, maybe a Viole. Don't forget dozer link belt for BIG. Frosty The Lucky.

Especially if you combine the two eh? How do you like them, roasted, broiled, baked, stewed, ? Frosty The Lucky.

Unless you're the buyer of course. Seriously, it's better to overcharge than undercharge. I won't go into the value of "bragging rights" part but if folk don't tell you it's too expensive now and then you're not charging enough. Folk who win every bid never stay in business very long, then again neither do folk who never win a bid. Frosty The Lucky.

Nice spread of projects. Thanks for the look. Frosty The Lucky.

You'll get the most even heat by placing sq. corner down. This makes the heat flow evenly on two sides AND prevents the blade from laying flat on the surface being heated. Still, round is better but use what you have. I'd make a couple test coupons before putting hours of hard work (your blade) in it. That's just me though, I'm kind of lazy. Frosty The Lucky.

Nothing wrong with doing it just because it's there. Well so long as we're not talking punching people in the nose. Knowledge is good, often negative knowledge is more valuable than the other. I'm always on the lookout for "don't do THATs!" Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Genck, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. Do a web search for "Mokume Gane" adding James Binnion should hit on his website. Including copper in a billet is old school, most metals can be it just isn't really a blacksmithing technique. http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/130-mokume-gane/ However a similar technique is one type of joinery, a hard solder using copper is pretty straight forward blacksmithing joinery. Clean the faces to be joined, shinier the better. run a little sand paper over a piece of copper wire to clean it up. a DUSTING of flux, plain borax is fine and wire it together tightly. Put it in the forge till you see the join shift a bit, quickly pull it align it and let it cool. Presto sticko it's hard soldered or (brazed). You can do the same with brass, bronze, silver or a combination of them. It makes for flashy joints if you expose it. Frosty The Lucky.

Yeah, the format is still wonky. I tried attaching the above Heinlein quote several times and was denied as even "plain text" contained "formatting." I finally gave up, deleted it and wrote good search terms. I submitted it and after seeing your post Thomas there mine was, WITH the quote it refused to accept! Happily the "edit" function seems to work. It's deep dark weirdness alright. I wonder how many pieces of silver IPS wants to make it right? PLEASE don't merge this with my last post. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard new guy, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. ONE day working with an experienced smith is worth maybe weeks or even months figuring it out yourself. My recommendation is to learn the blacksmith's craft to the point of proficiency before you delve into the specialization of bladesmithing. Trying to learn both at the same time is compounding the effort and maximizing the probability of failure. Set yourself up for success, it'll get you farther faster. Frosty The Lucky.

Wow, that's a pretty depressing point of view Arceye Blue. It's certainly accurate as far as it goes many trades are done for as industrial standards, Blacksmithing in point. Regardless it's human nature to want an identifier to stand out as an individual and this is a need mass production can't fulfill. Well, not intentionally, consider mis-struck coins IIRC there was a penny(?) that the obverse was struck upside down and it sold for tens of thousands last time it went to auction. Humans want to be identified as individuals, tatoos and piercings have become a popular method though how individual are you if you're following a trend? Anyway, hand crafts won't die. Who calls the 3D printer or robot that makes plumbing to come fix a leak? Patch a hole in the roof, sweep a chimney, etc.? They call a skilled human being and pay dearly for the skill. It reminds me of an old story. There was this old Railroad shop foreman who drew top wages but did almost nothing at work but drink coffee, read the paper or occasionally walk around the shop and criticize. Mmanagement determined there was no good reason to keep him on, the shop was fully staffed with skilled and well trained young men who were stronger, more vigorous and knew their business but most importantly drew much lower wages. So they presented the old fellow with his retirement, pension and sent him off with a party. Things went well in the shop for quite a while and the old foreman enjoyed swapping stories at the pub, fishing and just sitting in the sun wittling (or whatever). Then one day some 7-8 months after he was retired the new shop foreman looks him up and asks him for help with an engine they can't get to work properly. He shrugs and tells the young man, a friend as well, that he's retired and doesn't work for the RR anymore. Have you read the manual? The new foreman leaves to get back to trouble shooting the engine. A week later one of the head office management mooks (Mook is my addition ) The "boss" asks for the old fellow's help. The old fellow quotes his fee as a consultant, the manager blanches and tells him it's completely out of the question and leaves. A couple weeks later the engine is still blocking a line in the shop, isn't pulling loads and is costing money, LOTS of money. Management sends another representative from a higher rung with a counter offer. The old fellow snorts and submits his fee. The Manager only pales a bit and says, "This is more than we would've paid you if you were still working AND we're paying your pension now," be reasonable! The old fellow says, "I'm happy here I'm not negotiating. Want 997 working?" With that Management admits it must pay the piper and signs the work order. The old fellow comes in, says high to the guys and listens to the engine go through it's paces. He takes a pair of wrenches out of his pocket, loosens a lock nut and turns a bolt slowly till he's happy with the sound and the engine works perfectly as it pulls out of the shop. The old man walks up to the office, looks at the clock, revises the charge and accepts the check. The CEO is standing there fuming, "You charged more than 7 months wages to turn ONE screw!" "Nope," the old fellow says, "I charged you 7 months with a raise for knowing WHICH screw to turn." With that he leaves for the bank and pub. No matter how advanced technology gets nothing, NOTHING beats a skilled human for making things work. Heck, we clever monkeys with the thumbs INVENTED the technology and make it work. Without a human's direction technology is nothing but refined dirt. "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, con a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -Robert A. Heinlein Yeah, I'm a Heinlein fan, he inspired me to learn to read and I'll never forget. Frosty The Lucky. Specialization is for insects..txt

You can even hold a top tool with tongs though a set handle is the better option. What did you get for bottom tools? These specialty dies come in two types, "Top" which are set on Top of the work and struck, also known as "Struck" tools and probably more. More people will know what you're talking about if you call them Top or Struck tools though. The other type is "Bottom" tools far too often called "Hardy" tools. There is only one "Hardy" and it's a hot or cold chisel on a shank that that fits the hardy hole. Yeah, that's a bit semantic anal I know but they are the only tool properly called "Hardy." There are a number of hardies but they're all Bottom chisels. Sorry guys I must be in a more than usual talky mood this morning. I just answered a simple question with a couple page reply. I'll try to shut the teacher in my off now. We LOVE pics, show us pics of your haul! Thank you for your patience. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Peter, glad to have you. Take care of your wrists, you only got those two. Sounds like a winning deal you have there, you get an expert intro to the craft and your he gets his shop cleaned. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Mary, glad to have you. You might want to ask this in the Tailgating section too. I'm sure someone will send you a Personal Message, (PM) shortly. This isn't really a sale oriented site but we're a friendly bunch and someone can always be induced to sell a thing or two. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard, DB glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header we'll stop bugging you about where you are. A lot of things depend on region to a degree especially visitors. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. We love pics so next time it's cool enough to venture out how about some pics of your shop, equipment, tools, projects, etc.? Frosty The Lucky.

That's one fine piece of work Das it came out beautifully. I don't know what I'd do about getting the colors to show better I'd have to experiment with filters and color fills but that aspect wasn't something I did much. About the only tip I THINK would bring the piece out more is a fill light on the background to mute the shadow. A low angle from the right. On the other hand the shadows could make for a dramatic effect it'd make for some interesting experimenting probably worth a good grade in a photography class. Frosty The Lucky.

You can get recycled rubber live stock buckets and feed dishes. Freezing and some contact with hot steel doesn't hurt them at all. I only keep a quench bucket around to keep the holding end cool or prevent tongs from getting too hot. OR have a place to dunk a burned body part. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the Iforge gang live within visiting distance. There are subsections here on Iforge about rr spike projects that are jam packed with good ideas for you. I agree on the blade projects though, find steel with enough carbon to harden or blades won't hold an edge. Coil spring is easier than leaf spring to forge blades from in spite of the shape difference. Frosty The Lucky.

Good grief Nate take a HACK SAW! Axles aren't HARD, they're tough and springy, I've cut a 1.5" truck axle with a hack saw in under 10 mins. and that was in the field I only had a pipe wrench to use as a vise to hold it. Next time take the whole axle home. Once you get it cut to length make hammers, hardies, etc. from the rest. Frosty The Lucky.

I'm pretty sure that was a typo and he meant BSB & PS. Band Saw Blade and Pallet Strap. Shamus: If you have your heart on using stock that heavy then you should consider cutting into smaller pieces. There are a couple ways to calculate how far stock will draw out to. A 4" long piece of the stock you have drawn down to 1/4"x3" would be about 10.666" long not accounting for loss to scale. Unfortunately working that size stock down that far will result in a LOT of scale loss. You can make a spring fuller and use a sledge hammer, that's pretty easy and straight forward especially if you have a welder. 1" dia is maybe max but don't go smaller than 1/2" dia. Cut a blank say 7-8" long for a large knife, you can always trim the excess and there will be scale loss and weld a steel bar to it for a handle. Isolate the section for the tang on the close radiused edge of your anvil and draw it down on the spring swage. Start at the end and work your way back on each pass. If you have a reasonable radius on your fuller you can space the divots so you can drive them down with the fuller too and spend much less time on the face. Heck, even as minimized as lateral bulge will be using a fuller you can draw it down with the same fuller. Every blow on the fuller is worth several on the face. Get the tang drawn down to close to finished and begin working the blade. If you cut a little too much for the tang you might be able to cut the welded handle off and use the tang or just weld the handle to the tang. Work in the mid yellow and stop when it cools to high orange and give it a quick swipe or two with the wire brush when it comes out of the fire so you don't drive scale into the billet. However you do this it's a LOT of work using stock that size aiming for finish that small. I'd hunt up a coil spring coiled from about 1" stock and use it. It'll curve, pull and warp a whole lot less getting it profiled than will leaf spring. Better still it's a whole LOT less work, it's already pretty close to what you're looking for. Frosty The Lucky. Frosty The Lucky.