Bret

They all look great. Love the pine cone

Wow man that is exceptional. I really like the way you brought this all together

Hey guys, About a year, and a half ago I posted a WIP on how to make a tongue drum from a propane tank http://www.bladesmithsforum.com/index.php?showtopic=26042&hl=%2Btank+%2Bdrum. Shortly after making that post my wife talked me into refining the drums a bit more, and offering them for sale. Well I have seen my forge only in passing since . The good news is I love making these, and I am rather proud of where I am at with them. I make a far better drum than I ever did a knife. I have had requests from half a dozen forum members for the templates I used for the propane tanks over the last month, so I figured I would make them available here again. I can't seem to get this thing to post a picture, so if you are interested in my progress on this check out my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Tonguetieddrums Thanks for looking https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4kqxTUFzHvATWI5cHNSRVY4aTg/edit?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4kqxTUFzHvAUUtXVUlYdXU2Rzg/edit?usp=sharing

exquisite as always

Jerrod is pretty much spot on. I've made probably 20 tongue drums outta these. Pull the valve first thing. Fill with dishsoapy bleachy water and let it sit over night. Propane accumulates in an oily mess, and permeates the metal, the older the tank the worse the mess. The soap and bleach help break it down. Empty it and let it air for a day or 2. (it will smell like @#$%). Then you should be good to cut it anyway you chose I always pass a torch over the bung hole just to be sure but never had a flash. I usually use a sawzall, but have cut them dry in this condition with a torch or plasma cutter several times, no issues. All that being said a new unfilled tank is $30, and between the hassle, and the smell that is the route I would go.

Very nice man.... I really like your mark too

Lucky friend. Good job man

Ummm I clicked on the first image. Got a picture of the knife, and a new tab with a porn site. Wife not happy. Just saying

Yes L6 is bright similar to 15n20

Man that is awesome. I love it

Might just be getting the metal way to hot in the first place. Burnt steel is brittle no matter what you do to it. I made this mistake a few times while learning.

I seem to remember you building a second shop in Florida a couple years back...

George, are those skateboard wheels on your grinder??

What your looking at is basically 4130. Probably be great as the spine in a san mai tough stuff but doesnt get too hard about 50 rc with minimal tempering. From a billet composition stand point if you get it welded up it will be bright, and not contrast well with the 15n20. A standard 10XX would work better as it would be dark and contrast better. Never forgewelded with this but have with 4140 which is basically the same thing with slightly more carbon. Works well in a can, or flux the hell out of it. You have to keep the oxygen away from it or it will never stick. If you keep it clean and away from the atmoshere (flux early) 4140 actually forge welds nice to itself. good luck

It's all been said. All I can do is add my sincere "WOW". The first thing that popped into my head was, "Jesus. . . errrrr. . Jesus"

Congratulations on "The Beard" Scott. I couldn't agree more with Alan, damn fine work. I've been lurking around here for years and your is one of the names I am always excited to see in the show and tell section. This post is no exception. Fantastic work man your gonna wow em at the show.

Stainless (good stainless) requires very precise heat treating. Both 5160 and W2 make fine blades. I'm fond of W2. You can make a knife that will stay sharp and can be used as a crowbar out of either. I guess it would come down to finish with me. If he wants a bright finish they both polish well but W2 is more prone to corrosion and unless taken very good care of will grow rust sitting in his locker. Would use 5160 for a bright blade the chromium will be just a little better at fighting off corrosion. If your going for a blackout blade (nonreflective) then W2 would be my choice. Heat treat it, bead blast it, and cold blue it and you've got a black blade that is protected from further corrosion by the oxide layer made by the blueing.

If it were me I would go ahead and snap one that is already cracked and take a look at the grain size. O1 does have a few issues with getting too hot. It seems to be very prone to carbon loss at high temps and I have gotten grain the size of beach sand if I didn't normalize before ht. Also you will want to temper immediately. Good luck

958 and I'll get my family on it to lol

Too cool man I need to make one for camping... Well done

Really nice man I too have never seen a split tang. Well done all around. I find myself inspired.

If you are getting power to your coils as soon as you power up then you've got a bad SSR. Probably number 1. Your SSR's are pretty much a change at PM part and they fail on. I run into this problem every now and then on the environmental test chambers I work with. Even changing them once a year as part of our PM.

Just awesome man

What no Adamantite? sheesh. Drizzt would be disappointed. Sorry had to. Looks good man cant wait to see it finished. I'm with John on this though with the darker hilt. Finger guard but very little if anything on the spine side. Thats a very sleek blade and you don't want to interrupt those lines too much.

Your going to ice a single tank on 2 burners. I run a manifold to use 2 tanks and even then if I run too hard for too long I'll ice up the 5 gallons, but not my 7s.