gmerrell

thanks as always greg

I found someone on Craig's list that has a bunch of 3/4" O6. Has anyone tried using it for forging and making damascus? It's all ruff stuff not the drill rod most in 30 foot sections that he's selling for $2 ft. Thanks for the advise Greg

you might reach out to Karl Anderson he makes some wonderful 416 and 1095 knives. http://andersenforge.com/

I can not thank all of you enought, I've got what I need and then some. The help and support I've gotten from the good people on this site is unreal. I"ll be posting pic and extra thank yous as I get to hammering. Thanks again Greg

I've been trying to make a couple tomahawks for my son and I and I'm having marginal success. I tried making a drift out of a 10" long by 1 1/8" diam bar and it's just too short and the angle is too steep, the top to flairing out. I was wondering if anyone out there has a mandrel/drift that they never use that they would be willing to sell at an incredible deal, I can only work a couple hours a day before the pain gets to me so I really cannot justify $35 + shipping to buy a new one. Also I’ve making them with the wrap around the mandrel method and would like to try making a hawk from a sold bar but don’t have any high carbon steel large enough if anyone has a 1” to say 1 ½” diam bar big enough to pound out a hawk, let me know. I'm not looking for charity but if someone has the drift that’s just sitting I’ll put it to use, Thanks for any help Greg

Here is a pic, I do have a small squirrel cage but haven't tried it yet that, thank so much for your help.

all I'm have a problem maintaining my forge temp while also keeping a reducing atmosphere. Fist I'm in Colorado at about 9500 feet so the O2 is thin. I'm also using an old Kerby vacuum as my blower with a dimmer switch to control the speed (I know red neck city) I also have a dust collector blast gate on the output to restrict the air flow going to the burner. The air that doesn't go to the burner goes through a Y to a pipe at the front of the forge to push the flame up away from the opening. My forge has about 4" of kwool on all sides, and once I get up to 2200-2300°F I can't keep the temp down and keep a reducing atmosphere in the forge. If I turn the air flow way down and still keep an orange flam coming out the forge the temp creeps up >2400. If I turn the air up so the temp goes down then I lose the orange. I usually end up with the propane pressure around 0.5psi and the air barely on. Then turn the needle valve for the propane to get the reducing atmosphere then turn the gas off when I pull the billet out of the forge so it cools down. Any help? I tried turning the gas pressure up to 7psi with the needle valve almost closed and the air way down and that kinda helps?

sorry I really need the $ or I wouldn't be selling it. g-

The hole is 5/8" and it isn't keywayed Greg

I've got a used 12" burr king contact wheel for sale, it has one small chunk about 1/4" X 1/2" out of one side but other than that excellent shape. asking $250 for it and I'll split the shipping with you, can include pic if needed but not much to see but a contact wheel. Greg

To do it right you need to spend some time learning and practicing. If you are only going to do a couple you might talk to a local gunsmith and see what he would charge you to do it. He might even let you sit in and see how he does it. g-

Can you tell me a little about the two part polyurethane resin you used and how hard was it when cured? thanks Greg

Can you take a couple pics of how the sliding are is attached to the square tube? I'm trying to put together one myself. thanks g

How much are you looking for? I was up in Alaska last summer and bought a matched set. I still have most of it left I can make you a deal if you don't want too much. Greg

All, Just wanted to let everyone know that Glen from GS blacksmith tongs http://www.gstongs.com/ is back at it. I have no stake in this, he was in Taiwan for a long time and was out of the hammering job. He sent me a note letting me know he set up shop in Taiwan so I'm just passing it along. Greg

looks good, hey do you sell just the contact wheels? I'd love to have one (8-10", and a 3"), but the cost have been out of reach.

Thanks all and thanks to deker tiring to get started in bladesmithing on a disabled war vet income is very challenging and thanks to people like deker I'm able to really get started. g-

do you charge more to remove the scale? Can't wait

Great ideas thanks guys at least I have a place to start looking. Greg

I found an old post vise in the local scrap yard and excitedly brought it home. one problem the female threads are completely worn away. The threads on the shaft are worn but still usable. Does anyone have the ability to cut threads this large? I haven't measured them yet but the shaft is close to 1" diam. Thanks for any suggestions. Greg

Just got the marking system up and running and was wondering what is the best way to clean the black buildup on the stencils? thanks

I'm at 8500" and I can forge without a blower but not weld. If I added another burner maybe but my burner I'm using is one of those weed burners from harbor freight with a 2 foot section of exhaust pipe stuck on (very red neck). Of course I'm using a old electric leaf blower as a dust collector hooked up to a mickey mouse cyclone dust collector with a port to hook up my shop vac for extra suck power. So you you built a good burner you might be able to weld at 7000. g-

I'm just getting started in damascu steel and had a ? about what color you get after etching from the different steels due just to carbon? I know you get light and darker but don't know which is which. I'm assuming that you can expect darker to lighter (or lighter to darker) say going from 1018 to 1050 to 1065 to 1080 to 1095, but which is the light end and which is the dark? Thanks Greg

I'd be interested as well

For a burl just about any cut is good, first try using either a power washer (easy way) or screwdriver to peal the bark off the burl. If you find spikes under the bark then you can get 2 different grains. If you what more eyes in the grain cut across the eyes, if you want more lines (kinda like fiddle back) then cut parallel to the spikes. For the crotch I would cut down so I cut through both of the branches of the "Y" Does that make sense??? in other words if the crotch is like this "Y" you want to cut down from the top so the chain saw goes through both of the top arm and down through the middle. Home this helps G-