guarnera

Are low temp salts a fast enough quench to give a hamon on 10XX steel ????

Most Kind Sir, Using 1/4"x1 1/4" , What was the approx. length you started with? Thank you. Tony G

I took 2 weeks off for Christmass. Was going to get some forge time in, but instead I decided to work on some other stuff. About a year ago I bought a 3 axis DRO for my mill/drill machine. So I decided to finally put it on. What a pain, but I did it, finally. And I also took my press frame to the welders and got that welded together. I also did some house chores and a bit of laying around. All in all, a very nice vacation. Have a few more small parts to get for the press, but it shouldn't be long now. Hope you all had a very pleasant holiday. Tony vG.

Add some good sticks of pepperoni and some real Italian bread and it would take no time at all to eat that thing. God that looks good. One thing I don't like about S.Cal. is that there are not many Italian Deli's out here, and nothing around where I live. I can get pretty good Italian bread but for imported provalone and good peperoni I have to drive an hour or more. But its worth it. Thats the only thing I liked about N.Y. was there was no shortage of italian deli's. Well Jim, you enjoy that cheese. I'll be dreaming about provalone tonight. Tony Guarnera

Wow, What exciting news for us californians, To have Don joining us. And good news for me. The wife talked me out of going to the sword class this month.She used that old female trick called reasoning. She told me about all the bills we need to pay. She said she wouldn't tell me I couldn't go, and she wouldn't get mad, but it wouldn't be the smartest thing I've done in a while. I hate when they do that. Anyway, I'm glad to hear that they will be more sword class's. Congrats on the move, and welcome to California. Tony

Daniel, Thanks for the info. I have heard from one or two others that they thought it was an OK machine for the money. I just might have to give it a try. Thanks again. Tony

I have read that this surface grinder is imported and then painted differant for differant retailers, distributed, and then sold for any where from H.F.'s low price on up to around $2500. So unless you go to the more exspensive name brands you basically get the same machine. Also I have bought one peice of machinery from grizzly and was disapointed. But I would still take a look at what they have. Thank you very much. Tony

Does anybody here own a Harbor Frieght Surface Grinder, and how do you like it? I'm thinking of buying a surface grinder, and have a few thoughts I'd like to run by the people here. First of all, the H.F. surface grinder is on sale for $899.00 and $200.00 for the stand. Second it wieghs 820# which I could probable get moved around the shop and on the stand by myself. Third its new. My other option is to buy used. For around the same price or a little more I might be able to get one with hydralic feeds, if I buy used. Here's the problems with that. First, I don't know anything about Surface grinders, so I won't know if its all working. Guess I could ask for a demo. Second, The wieght of the better machines that I've seen are between 1500# and 2500#. To much for me to move by myself. So although I like the idea of a better used machine with hydralic table feeds I'm leaning toward the H.F. machine since its new and would be delivered to my door. Any opinion's??? Tony

Winter is the time when you CAN get out and forge!

Not to get personal, But what do you use to clean your stones? Also what type of stones do you use, and what type of lubricant do you use? I have some falcon silcon carbid stones, and I just got some Falcon Ruby stones. Falcon is the brand. I'm not sure which one I like better yet, they both perform pretty close to each other. I got Falcons lubricant. Its said it was developed to thin their diamond compound and to use with their polishing stones. It is water thin, and soakes right into the stones, their by needing a lot to keep everything nice and wet. It does cut well when all is wet. So what do you use for a lub? Also, how do you clean your stones? I read that warm water and dish soap works well. I have some red EDM stone on the way, so I will give those a try also. I am just now trying stones for polishing. Thanks for any help. Tony G

Mark, What size billet will the ANYANG 33 work? I've seen one of these and it looks like the size I can fit into my shop, But I wonder if a 33# hammer will move enough metal to make me happy. I know a 25# Little giant would, so a 33# should also. Thanks. Tony G

Don, Have you used any of this 1084 yet? I would like to know how it behave with a hamon? The Mg seems a bit high at .90 . If it makes a nice hamon I think I will get a couple hundre pounds of it if the shipping dosen't kill me. Where is it coming from? Thanks. Tony G

Can we see a picture of the Drawing and beveling dies?

My Motherinlaw gave me a kitchen knife to rehandle. Its an inexspensive S.S. knife that the handle broke off because the tang was onle about 2" long, and thats on a chefs knife. They have had it a long time and she said she really liked it and could I fix it. Well I extended the tang and made A really nice solid handle out of black linen micarta. I know they will throw it into the dish washer. Will it hold up? Thanks for any info.

Austin, There are a couple of video's out that cover the how to's. The wire used is actually silver ribbon not wire. About .013" thick and about 1/8" wide. I went in with some others a while back and had some drawn out, but you can use silver bezel wire from ReoGrande jewelry supply in a pinch. You need to make a small chisel, not very wide and the thickness of your wire. Then you chisel a grove into the wood, and then after lightly hammering one edge of the wire to give it a thinner edge you tap the wire into the grove. The reason it is usually done on maple or walnut is because these woods swell when wet. Which is your next step. Wet the wood, which raises the grain and also swells the wood closed around the wire, then sand it smooth, repeat a couple of times This is the simple explaination. I've seen it done with other woods but that sometimes takes a little crazy glue to hold the wire in. Where do you live? If you anywhere near S.Cal. I could show you how its done. Its not that hard, but there is a little more to it then I explained, but thats the basics. Tony G

John, Its been a long time since I watched them. I haven't yet done any Japanese stuff, but if I remember right I'd rate them very high on the 1-10 scale. They were very informative and very well made. Dan, please give us your opinion. I've been wanting to convert mine over to DVD for a while now. Bought a DVD recorder last Christmass for myself, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I have his Video's. Bought them a long time ago. Had no trouble getting them. They are very nicely done, and very good. I think you will get this straightened out. He is legit as far as I know. When I bought mine I ordered the whole set at once, so I sent him a lot of cash and I had no problem. Probably a postal screw up.

Thats usually the way it turns out. I've lost things a few times, and after trying to think who could of taken it, it turns up on its own, and I feel really bad for even thinking that someone would have taken it. One time a friend of mine had something of value, and he stashed it in a safe place, and then couldn't find it for the life of him. He started thinking someone had stolen it and was really in a panic. Well it turned up the next month when his wife found it. He had hidden it in her box of tampons. Just goes to show you, if you hide it to good, even you won't be able to find it. Really glad it turned up, Harley.

Now thats a camp knife! Great job. really nice.

Great looking knife. Very nice damascus and I just love Ironwood. But what constitutes a camp knife? When I took the ABS forging class, it was the only one that Hanford Miller taught. He was a nieghbor of Bill Moran and learned knife making from him. As a matter of fact I think you would have a hard time telling thier knives apart. Well to get to the point, he told us that a camp knife is used for everything aroung the camp including chopping wood and should have a blade of at least 10". So what does everyone here consider a camp knife? I'm in no way putting down your work. I think this knife is really pretty and great workmanship. Its just I would have called it a utility knife or a hunter.

I've had a coote for a long time and have been very happy with it. I first had a 3/4 hp variable speed motor and it wasn't enough hp for me. I like to flat grind. Now I have a 1 1/2 hp and I'm happy. I think its 1750 RPM with a 1 to 1 pulley set up, but I'm going to change that to slow it down a bit. I'm finding that I have better control if its moving slower. It takes a little longer to grind but I don't mess up as much. Start off slow and then you can change the pulleys if you want to go faster. But its a great grinder for the money.

AWH! Go play with the big kitty. They are just looking for some loving. Poor misunderstood Kitty cat.

Glad your getting back to work. Take it slow, and you will be back full throttle before you know it. Here's to hoping your viral count stays at zero. That is the true test with Hep C. Good luck, and may the bladesmithing gods watch over you.

I notice in the pictures Jens posted that they seem to use the sen at an angle to the work, and not 90 degrees or straight. I mean they seem to be pulling the sen straight along the work, but the sen is cocked at an angle. I would have used it straight if I had not seen these pictures. Thanks Jens.