ironstein

Thanks Ted. When I get set up you must stop by and see the shop!
Brian

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Thanks Randy.

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Thanks postleg.

I have recently moved to Utah. I love it here. I have found cheap (large) shop space. I am getting ready to purchase an Anyang 88. I already have a bit of work lined up. I had a customer interested in having 400 feet of one inch square bar hammer textured. Does anyone supply hammer textured bar commercially? I am trying to figure out a general price difference between one inch hot rolled square, and hammer textured one inch square. Trying to put my new hammer to work as soon as possible, but I have a feeling some of the fabricators may require similar services so I want to price it right the first time.
I realize that the only real way to put a price on it is to do the job and figure my time and material per foot. Just wanted to get some experienced opinions on the matter.
Thanks
Brian

WOW, what a great opportunity for an aspiring blacksmith.

Great work! As always i love the way Brian's tools are changing ever so delicately. Every time i see a new post from you there is a tool that seems to have been tweaked for efficiency. Looks like Steven has been working in a coal mine!
I haven't been on here in a while, been getting ready to move to Utah! Hope you and Brian Can come visit some day and see Shane Carter.

Great work! Those are some beautiful tools. Looking forward to the work in progress tutorial.

nice looking hammer

Very nice work, I'll bet it was interesting to forge with Brent. I have heard he is a heck of a nice guy. He makes some beautiful tools.

When i built my grinder i found the vfd's too expensive. Instead i bought a dc motor which was a bit cheaper than an ac motor, and a dc motor controller which was ALOT cheaper than a vfd. Works great.

Nice swage block Mark.

Must be nice to be able to forge with your son! Who cares what you make, you get to spend quality time with him. Its a great by product that you two make nice tools.

The showpiece for everyones work is spectacular in and of itself. A rocket shaped yett? Must have been quite an accomplishment to make. Great work by all, thanks Myloh67 and Ironclad for showing this to all of us. Very inspiring. I was avoiding the shop this weekend since it is 100+ outside, but i think i can avoid it no longer!

Go for it Danger, i'm sure you will have the most interesting sequence! Heck i'd be interested in a documentary with you and your art for sure.

He re-named it a "press"! So apparently after being embarrassed and telling Larry not to talk to him, he went ahead and changed the name!

That made me think about all the soul searching I have been doing, wanting to have my own business in some type
Of blacksmithing or bladesmithing. Then it occurred to me that I made almost 90 grand as a union rodbuster. I would have to be a pretty amazing blacksmith to bring in that kind of dough in this economy!

So does that mean 15n20 Damascus shouldn't be used? I maybe I shouldn't be selling these? It's not like I am making much money if any. I have so much time, and material invested in them. It wouldn't break my heart to not sell these bracelets anymore. Or are you guys referring to the higher nickel content Damascus?

Nice looking tools!

So after an email from the very nice customer who purchased the bracelets, i decided to make another one at little to no cost. Heres why: she wrote me with a positive yet informative attitude, and wasn't making accusations. She stated that she couldn't share the care info with the her father in time because it was a gift and she wasn't on the phone when he opened it. I suppose i should have included a care sheet with each bracelet so someone doesn't try a stunt like putting the bracelet in a vise. Again, none of this is my fault, i just figure that i am doing this as a hobby right now, i enjoy making damascus, and it will be good karma to replace the bracelet. Who knows it may help future business when i decide to do this full time. I did tell the customer to return the pieces of broken bracelet so i can make sure they aren't scamming me for another one for free.

The alloys used were 1080 and 15n20 (high nickel). I did tell the guy that I could stack the two pieces and forge weld and draw out and create a new bracelet. The cost would be the same as if I was making a new one. I was just disgusted with the attitude after the guy broke it. He was complaining that I emailed his daughter about the broken bracelet. I only did that because I was worried about one of the other recipients trying the same method of sizing. Didn't want one of the others to break theirs.

Update! I just received a call from one of the recipients of one of the damascus bracelets. Apparently he decided he wanted to size it, after not being able to bend it by hand, he put it in a vice and snapped it in two! Really? You receive a bracelet as a gift and you put it in a vice and crank down on it and snap it? I was kind of upset when i found this out, especially after explicitly explaining to the purchaser that sizing needed to be done by me or a competent smith. I explained that these cannot be bent without heating to at least a dull red.
The man called me asking what i can do for him. I told him i would make him a new one for $150. He seemed to balk at what i told him, saying he needed to check his bank account. The only reason i air this is due to my frustration. I do this as a hobby, am not a professional by any means, but i spent a lot of time polishing and tweaking these items to make my customer happy and am somehow left with a guilty feeling after finding out someone placed the item i made in a vice. The conversation made me feel as if he was expecting me to replace it for free. Maybe i am just being sensitive since i spent so much time and energy to create a nice product. Rant over.

Yeah John, i have been looking into stainless damascus. Do you use stainless steel foil bags, or do you just make a container and weld it shut? One more question, after the initial weld, how well does stainless damascus forge, not being in a container? Does it tend to delaminate?

Good info Steve, thanks for that!

Thanks for all the kind words. Frosty, those are some great ideas. I'm afraid i will need to hone my skills a bit to get into gold diffusion welding!

Yeah Thomas, i need to experiment with that, and i would like to try some blueing salts. Maybe blue them then polish till the silver comes through. Thanks to everyone for the nice comments, i know damascus bracelets aren't very original, i just like to post a few things once in a while to let all the nice folks on IFI know i am still making stuff!
Oh and Danger, which one are you referring to? The one with the bold thick pattern?