Matt Walker

Twisting machine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVvFLsFNwu4

Look for nickel wire. We have a local industry that makes music wire. Alan may know more about them. Looks like they are still in business https://www.mapesstrings.com . Way back when things were different I was able to get a small roll of fine nickel wire from them. We used it in damascus but I can't remember exactly how. I kinda remember the nickel was used to wrap the actual strings, like the big string on a guitar maybe. 30 years ago it was easier to just walk in a place and ask for something than it is now.

In that shop you could probably build a improved Kinyon based air hammer and a McDonald rolling mill and have money left over from the price of a Blu!

Is it 12 degrees or 12 to 1 ratio?

Ok, heard back from my guy at Modern Forge. He says the piece is consistent with what he sees there and they use a lot of FX steel. That all seems to fit with the info Alan found so fast earlier. That block would have made for a heavy lunch box on the way home!

Thanks Alan, I have no idea how you come up with stuff like that. This block had some writing on the top but it has been outside and the letters were weathered away and covered with surface rust to the point of being worthless. I sent a photo to a guy I know whom works at MF. He says it looks something that could have come from there. He will ask today what material they use most for that size die blocks. A word about Modern Forge for the rest of this forum: Alan please add or correct as you remember. Sometime maybe 15+ years back our local blacksmith guild was offered

Yeah, a 1" ball bounces nicely, not as good as my Trentons. Perfect guess Alex! Yeah Alan, since I bought it in Elizabethton I figured it most likely came from MF. But I remember the die on their big hammer being about 3 times that big. Remember it had 5 stations and seemed about the square feet of a coffee table? But that has been a long time. I wish I had a photo of us looking at that beast running. I bet we looked as if we were watching the Swedish Bikini Team! I don't guess you remember Harley mentioning what steel they use for die blocks

Any guesses what it was or what steel would likely have been used for a piece like this. If it's a power hammer die I would like to spend some time with that hammer! That is a dovetail on one side.

Listen to Alan and Jerrod. No better advise available! Look at my website, every piece there was literally dripping with borax when it was welded. Look for non-ferrous contamination. You might find a helpful tip in the " Notes on Pattern Welded Steel" page.

And I thought I was the only one in the region. They make a handy rubber hammer. You can machine them on your lathe by mounting a die grinder (carbide tool) on the tool holder.

Great, Best I remember a golf ball gives a decent tone in that size bottle. I have some hockey pucks if you want to experiment. That's a rare item in East TN.

As always, Impressive work Alan! Link sent to current owner of the bottle inventory. Maybe he will be inspired. They are nasty to clean up aren't they. If you burn them a little in the forge it makes the powder coating softer and a little easier to remove. All the ones I had were in fact air bottles, from a local fire dept. Scraped when they went to all composite bottles several years back.

A good place to start looking https://abana.org/affiliates/affiliate-map-list/#!directory/map If the nearest group is too long a drive, think about starting a local group.

One of our local guild members has just started a new website. Please check out this impressive young man when you have a few minutes to spare. https://www.harvestgapforge.com/about His parents drove him (around an hour each way) to our monthly meetings for several years before he was old enough to drive! IMHO, he shows the value of starting young and being dedicated to the craft as well as having people around who support.

Hood ornament?