Michael Stuart

That is really nice!

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions. I've found a file with a very narrow/flat diamond cross section that I think will do the trick if I angle it in alternating directions. I'm going to give it a try tomorrow, and will try to post some pictures if it works.

So my mom just gave me the bread knife that we used all the years I was growing up, and I think it may have belonged to her grandmother originally. But it's got tiny rectangular teeth that are maybe 1/32 or a bit less wide and about twice as deep as they are wide. The issue is, most of the teeth in the middle (most used) part of the blade are now worn completely away from so many decades of cutting homemade bread! So my question is, is there such a thing as a commercially available file this small, ideally with 2 safe sides/edges, or is there some other tool I could buy or modify to cut in new teeth to restore this knife to working condition? The grooves between teeth are a lot narrower than the cutting disc on my angle grinder, maybe closer to dremel cutoff wheel thickness, not that I'd necessarily trust myself to do this with a power tool.

I think I've read that the rail track is a high manganese version of a 10xx steel.

Vertical burners will work, but can become extremely hot after the forge is turned off, when they act like a chimney. Avoid having any rubber gas hoses etc. up top!

Very nicely done. We all should be so fortunate as to have relationships of such value, in both directions!

If you line it with brewer's pitch, that will fill small cracks while also being food safe, though it's no good for hot drinks. I've made my own, but it's also available from places like Townsend's.

I second the suggestion of grain growth; you could cut one bar into identical pieces, then do different temperature/time treatments and normalizing/annealing routines to learn what happens. You'd probably need a microscope though, and it's not as visually interesting as the damascus/play doh idea would be, but I think it gives a few more things to measure, and that's usually what they are looking for if it's a science fair. But if it's a demonstration they want rather than an experiment, then the damascus would be a better choice.

Check the gardening section, it's an ingredient for some potting soil mixes. I've also seen it used in the outer part of the double box used when shipping hazardous liquids like bottles of acid. It absorbs liquid in both uses and is fairly inert too.

Ha, I also remember you (and Alan too of course) from Keenjunk! I only posted occasionally, as mstu, but I read it almost every day. I've enjoyed watching your style develop. I hope to make it to more shows and with any luck one day I'll manage to see you and your work in person.

The face, and the tasty bits!

Nice work! Those look like they would be great for shaping bow staves.

Interesting, I was able to read a copy by ILL a few years ago. Not sure what library it came from though.

Nice to see what one of these looks like complete. I have the dogbone-shaped anvil base from one that eventually I'll get around to making the rest of the hammer for.

Nice!