Sam Salvati Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 It's funny though, it was all those sword fantasies that I read growing up that kept a long held spark of interest in blacksmithing that got me to take that first course a few years ago. Now I find I'm not so interested in making swords. I've made one short sword out of mild steel but don't really have the interest in making any now. I'm more interested in practical items. Making tools, household items............. Feels good to get to the point where you are just starting to make the acceptable stuff, and the whole world of swords opens up to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 Putting in a fuller on a sword blade---lots of ways to do it: 1 forge it in using top and bottom fullers, 2: grind it in---I have a belt grinder that will take a 1/2" contact wheel. Mill it in, and scrap it in with a sen---japanese drawknife for metal. Or some combination of the above. Remember in blacksmithing there is only *ONE* way to do something---and that's Any Way That WORKS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valentin Posted January 28, 2008 Author Share Posted January 28, 2008 Thanks guys i apreciate your help ...It helps me quide in the dark. I have to show you where i am right? well today i started finally ... i am always runing late:) i started with a square bar about 35x35 mm i made some twists and i made a point to the bar ...You can watch the video here Forging a sword | Fier Forjat Timisoara. Probably tomorow i'll start forming it's final shape i ran out of time today I'll keep u posted. Hope it will look fine in the end Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valentin Posted January 29, 2008 Author Share Posted January 29, 2008 Ok ! new pictures and a new sesion of punding still far away from the finish product but here it's what i've done today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete46 Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Sarbu ;your Kung Fu Is Strong At The Anvil! May The Fire B With U !!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Patrick Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 HOLY SMOKES!! Valentin,, what on Earth do you plan on attacking with that thing?! An elephant? Neat design, I love how the twist flows into the blade section,, keep up with the pictures,, I want to see how this turns out. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valentin Posted February 1, 2008 Author Share Posted February 1, 2008 Ok new pictures about the sword in progress and a movie but this will take a litle time to upload i will get back about this to you ...i 'll let the pictures do the speaking still far away from over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Patrick Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Very cool,,, the worlds biggest salami slicer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valentin Posted February 1, 2008 Author Share Posted February 1, 2008 OK u can watch the video of a texuring over here Forging a sword | Fier Forjat Timisoara just scroll down until u reach The progres of today -=Today 01.02.2008=- Hope that u enjoy it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valentin Posted February 2, 2008 Author Share Posted February 2, 2008 I started grinding and i am here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrynjr Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 A very fine looking blade, Great work Valentin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Covington Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 Nice work Travis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valentin Posted February 3, 2008 Author Share Posted February 3, 2008 Well... I whoud have 2 questions 1.How to give it an atique look 2.How mutch shoud i charge for it ? beeing my 1st blade (the gas for the forge was 60USD, materials 20 ) and the work ...around 25 hours- lot of thie spent heating it up.Shoud i give it for free to the guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrynjr Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 I'm not sure on how to give it an antique finish, acid bath / vinegar maybe? As for charging, I would certainly charge something, cost of materials plus a reasonable hourly rate. If there are other items you normally make that would be of an equivelent size / shape and you have a "normal" or know how long it takes to make that item I'd charge the shop rate for that. When I worked computer / network support for other businesses and took longer to fix something then I thought it should take, I'd charge the number of hours it should have taken. Or if I had to do research to fix it and it was a general software issue (could or might happen at any type of business, not particular to theirs or their specialty software) I would charge a fair rate. If you plan to never make another sword you might charge more for specialty work but if you think you'll do more swords in the future. Charge a reasonable amount that covers costs and normal forging time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbiesmith Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 Woo hoo. Good to see another IT guy that's smithing. Thanks Larry, you made my day. Just spent 12 hrs troubleshooting a Groupwise SMTP forwarding issue only to find out that it is an issue with our ISP. I want to go beat on some metal. I'm just too tired ;-(. -Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrynjr Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 Well... I whoud have 2 questions 1.How to give it an atique look 2.How mutch shoud i charge for it ? Valentin, have you found a way to give it an antique look and decided if or what you are going to charge for it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valentin Posted February 11, 2008 Author Share Posted February 11, 2008 well ..i'll let it be as it is i think the sword will lose it's character if i'll rust it to mutch and about the price i think i'll ask 100USD for it that will cover the GAS,IRONm and a beer Probably does not even worth that mutch but i need to get the money for the gas:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 Despite the fact that this is a 'wall hanger' I strongly advise that you charge for the piece according to the work you've put into it mate, even if its for a friend. I made an item of personal proctection for a very close friend of mine and didn't charge at all. Several of her colleagues have seen the piece and want one themselves but are offering far less than a fair rate to me to make them because she told them I gave it to her for nothing. End result is I'm not making them and they think I'm too pricey all because I didn't charge my friend what the piece was actually worth in my time. Bear in mind also that every job you do for less than it should be makes it harder for you to charge what its really worth in the long run. A lot of guys and girls struggle to do this full time because other Smiths (usually it has to be said, hobbyists) aren't charging a real world rate for their work. I fully understand that they don't need or want to because it's not their full time job but they should remember for some it is. If everyone charged properly then more of us could do this and actually eat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Dwyer Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 That monster was quite an under taking. I understood you were making it for an important customer. Only you know your relationship (business and personal) to your customer, thus you're really the only one who can price your work. I do know if you're regularly in the business of giving away 25 hours of shop and labor time you are either billing a great deal else where to make up for it or are going to end up going broke...or have independent means to subsidize your blacksmithing activities. Regarding giving customers or friends a price break, there's one rule I made for myself many years ago. I let them know the full price and told them I was making a special customer discount (call it whatever) for them. Even if a gift for family or friend, I invoiced it at the full amount and did a discount line item (even if it was for the whole amount) and showed the balance due (hundred bucks or zero, whatever). This way everyone could know the full value of the item and everyone could know the extent of the discount or gift. I found this important for clarity across the board: mine, recipient's and lookers on (whether associates of the recipient's or of mine.) Sometimes my associates were coworkers. It was especially important to be clear for them. If we all gave the shop away we'd go broke for sure. It also helped me to be able to look back over a period of time and show right on the books what was produced, its cost of production and corresponding revenue stream. When it came time to reduce expenses and/or increase income knowing stuff like how much shop-time, etc, was given away was important. Correspondingly, knowing what our charitable contributions to the larger community (often to schools and the like) were helped instill another kind of pride or work ethic for us too. Anyway, there's a few more thoughts on the matter. That behemoth of a sword was quite an achievement. I especially like how you handled the guard. Thanks for sharing all this with us. I can't believe I'm corresponding with you in Romania. What little bit I know of your country, it's a very very little bit, I have admired. How special to be sharing across the miles. THANKS! --Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valentin Posted March 2, 2008 Author Share Posted March 2, 2008 Thanks for your advice guys i really appreciate it. I made up my mind the price will be covering the gas/coal and iron.No profit in it Just because the guy ordered like ...7 gates before this and he is worth a small discount. Farmer Phil:I can't believe I'm corresponding with you in Romania. What little bit I know of your country, it's a very very little bit, I have admired. How special to be sharing across the miles. Well we all have to say thanks to Glenn caz this is only possible due to his struggle and hard work. Imagine that in my city is no real blacksmith shop and i have nowhere to learn this from but now...thanks to IFI and you guys i do ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Dwyer Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Well we all have to say thanks to Glenn caz this is only possible due to his struggle and hard work. Imagine that in my city is no real blacksmith shop and i have nowhere to learn this from but now...thanks to IFI and you guys i do ! You got that right brother! Honolulu doesn't have blacksmiths either. I'm just a beginner myself. IFI is the next best thing to being in all these great guys' shops! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wulfgar Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 iF I GOT IT WRITE the sword will sit outside ... in the weather and i don't want it to rust .Is it a good idea to sprai paint it with ..how is it caled the paint that you aply on the car after it has been bainted to make it shine i believe your thinking of a clear coat. from my knowledge a clear coat will not stick to polished surface. the same goes for paint. that is why they are all layered. from the bare metal you need a primer to stick to it, the paint sticks to the primer and the clear coat sticks to the paint. id think that if you did a rough grind the clear coat will have something to hold on to. if the blade is not going to be handed then it is worth a try on clear coating it but what i would first do is polish a test piece and apply about 4-5 thin layers of clear. let each dry to atleast a tacky state before applying the next coat. my guess though is that the clear coat will pool up on polished metal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 In the past I have clear coated polished metal and it has worked for me. How I did it would not in theory seem to work, however as i know no better this is what I did. The polished metal was heated to be warm enough to just touch briefly, and then beeswax/turpentine (furniture polish) or a spray of WD40 applied and the surplus wiped off and then buffed up by hand with paper tissues, and then a coat/coats of clear lacquer (the kind used to seal metallic paint finishes on vehicles) applied by aerosol and allowed to dry. I did not have any problems with the lacquer pooling, in fact it was a good smooth finish, and you can get a semi matt finish to it. The only problem that I encountered was a darkening appearance of the finished metal. I usually use this finish on domestic internal pieces and tell clients to keep an eye on its condition and treat it like good quality furniture. Never had any returns yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pault17 Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Valentin, truly amazing. you should show that to all the "wannabee blacksmiths that wanna make a sword!!" just to show them what can be done. don't know if that's a good idea or not though.. John B, thanks for the information. I did similar with the exception of just using a can of minwax spray-on laquer, semi gloss, for a couple of rr spike door knockers. haven't heard any bad news from either recipient. yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.