WillG74

Wow! What a nice piece. Your work never ceases to amaze me. Thank you for posting. It has inspired me to go back to a previous design of mine and work on it. I love the theme.

Wow! Thank you so much for taking the time to make that video. It would be awesome for more to take the time to share like that.

Uhm, Wow!!! Those blades are awesome!! I can't wait to see them finished. I love your ideas and your work. I am gonna have to show this to my wife she will love it.

Wow, I had thought I managed to get the last one. Someone better jump on this quick. These are wonderful anvils with an impressive rebound. You wont regret getting it. Also I consider it really cheap compared to whats out there. If your interest is bladesmithing you can't go wrong here. Oh, and Chuck and is great guy and very knowledgable.

Very nice. i like it.

That looks great Stephan!! I like the design also.

Thanks toxonix. Due to the fact that I have never built a forge before. Could you tell me what to wore it in place with. I have seen a forge that the guy wired the Kaowool in. He had used stainless steel wire and tack welded it into place I think. Anyway, I would appreciate any advice on this. Is there a rigidizer for it or something? I dont mind doing the work, I would just like to know what to do with what. Thanks. Will

I second the ChileForge. I have one also. It is great!!

Thanks for the heads up. If I ever get around to it I will remember to do that. I just have them now cause they were free. I went ahead and put holes in them and I got rid of all of them but 6. So I now have 6 of them put back in case anyone around here wants to build there own forge.

Thanks for the advice Bryan. I do have an auto darkening helmet already though. I will look into the Marinetex.

Yay for you Sam. Don't you just love finding useful objects?

Have you tried this product personally? I will get some if it is good. Thank you for listing it. I was worried about the health hazards of the Kaowool and Inswool stuff. I need it for lining my Heat Treating Drum forge so I am unsure if it is suited for that or not.

Kerry - I will only be Heat Treating one blade at a time myself. But it is good to know that I do have the tank if I need to do more. I wish you much success and I will almost certainly be at next years Fire and Brimstone hammer in.

911. I laughed so hard at that. Well, I found a suitable piece of 6" square tube. It is about 1/4" thick all around so it is sturdy. It is about 42" long so It can handle sword blades. Now I just need to practice my stick welding and get a bottom ( found a perfect square piece) welded on for it and I will be good to go until I discover something else that I think I need.

Wow!! That is one awesome knife filled with awesomely awesomeness!!! Great job!!

Thanks for all the great replies and ideas guys. Steve, I was getting input from people on what they thought about the idea and my main concern was if there was a negative to a larger quench tank in general. I am not crazy enough or rich enough to actually use a 55 gallon tank for a quench tank. I can see where you would be confused of my queries. I did state "In Theory" in an earlier post. I will be going back to the scrapyard today and will keep an eye out for some pipe to use for a quench tank. Thanks again for all the cool ideas guys.

I just managed to score about thirty or so empty freon tanks. I have noticed that Don managed to make a forge out of one. I have many and anyone that is close to my area that wants one just send me a PM. I will be happy to share. I am going to dump about half of them at a scrap yard tomorrow, but I will still have plenty left. Just let me know.

Well, I have been interested in swords since I was a kid. When I was a teenager we ( my friends and I) would make wooden swords and beat the hell out of each other with them. I would spend hours and hours shaping a piece of wood and wood burning designs into it only to have it break on me a few days later, but I loved it. I was so interested in making swords that I wrote Phil Hartsfield a letter asking him to apprentice me. He wrote me a nice letter declining and wished me luck. Well this was before the age of information and I wasn't bright enough to think about looking at a library for info so I gave up before I got started. I was a plumber/heat and air tech for 11 years, I gamed for most of the last 20 years of my life, I worked at GNC for three months got promoted to Manager worked another 9 months and quit to move away for 2 weeks (don't ask), I went to Full Sail for Game Design and Programming, realized I should have taken computer animation, dropped out of college, became a personal trainer for a short time, didn't understand why my body composition wasn't changing when I was eating right and exercising 6 days a week ( found out later that I have had low testosterone most of my life). I built duct work for a heat and air company for a while, worked in a beverage factory for a while, did some roofing, did some carpentry, joined the military got injured ( non- combat, during training ). I am currently disabled a stay at home dad/ aspiring swordsmith. I look back and think... If only I would have put half of the money and energy into learning bladesmithing I could be making great things by now. But I am very happily married to a woman who puts up with me and supports this crazy hobby/ life's passion that I have. I just found a great new scrapyard to play in and I have a stick welder that I need to figure out how to use and practice with ( Let the fun begin). I am still setting up my shop and building/ buying stuff that I need for it. Uhm besides that I aspire to create works of beauty and art that are usable tools as well. I look forward to this very long journey and look forward to sharing may creations with you other cool peoples. I can't count how many times I thanked the gods for this Website. Thank you Mr. Fogg.

Update: Ok I found a couple old propane tanks at the scrap yard. they are a bit taller than the 55 gallon drums and only about half as wide. I am planning on buying a turkey fryer for the smaller knives that I need to make for practice. That way I can heat it up to the temp that I need and it is big enough for large knives. I am just trying to prepare for the sword length blades. The propane tanks have two holes in the side near the bottom of the tank. I figure I can just plug these holes and when I need to empty the quench I can unplug one of the holes. I just have to cut off the top after I fill it with water for safety, and make a lid for it and I am done. I am also gonna build a heat treating drum forge. Does anyone know where I can find 1" Kaowool at for a cheap price? Ellis wants $130 a roll Plus shipping and Ebay has some for around $117 for the Kaowool and shipping. If there is a cheaper place please let me know. I would appreciate it. I have to finish setting up my Chile forge and I'll be ready to at least start hitting some hot metal. Maybe tomorrow. I think I a going to get addicted the that scrap yard. I look at things there and think about what I can make out if them. LOL Now I just need to learn how to use my Stick welder and I will be set.

First off thanks for the replies. The water heater element is a good idea. I was just curious if other than the cost if there was a down side to using a 55 drum for quenching. I actually found a scrap yard around here. A new one opened up here just recently. I have been on the lookout for a 6" pipe I would rather have a little extra room in my quench. I will look for one today. Any ideas on how to find a 4" stainless steel pipe? Oh, I had another Idea also. Could I, in theory, build a quench tank out of wood and line it with sheet metal and cut a hole in the corner for a plug to drain it, place a thick piece of steel at the bottom that covers the bottom minus the corner that the plug is in, and seal it with bathroom caulk? Just an idea. I personally prefer the 6" pipe, but I will work with what I can find.

Uhm, Not sure. Any suggestions? There is a drum heater product that would work fine if I had $1500 to throw at it. LOL

Hey I have a 55 gallon drum that I could use as a vertical quench tank. Now I know this probably overkill, but I figured that just maybe the money I spend filling the thing up will last. Maybe I wont have to change it out as often due to the large size. But would it be OK as a quench tank if I am willing to spend the money for that much quenchant? I haven't read anywhere that says the quench tank must be so big or small. Sorry for the noob question but I am one when it comes to stuff like this. I am having a hard time finding a long enough quench tank or long steel pipe around here for a quench tank and I can get these 55 gallon drums for $10 a drum. Thanks for any info I can get.

I get back from Batson's and this what I see. My brain can't take much more. I need 3 days of R&R just to assimilate all this. That is one sweet piece of work. Your work never ceases to amaze. Great Job!!!

Thanks for posting the pics Stephan. My wife had the camera so I didn't get to take any myself. I did hear when they shot the anvil. I was walking back for lunch when I heard it. I will post some pics when I resize them later.

Very nice! I am fan of longer blades and this one rocks.