How Many Smiths Have we got on This site????

[Roy]

I don't consider myself a blacksmith.. I just beat the tar out of stuff till it turns out the way I want..

http://www.roystroh.com/dg2.JPG

I will have the finished pics of it up sometime soon.. 

[Roy]

yep thats a hinged toe plate.. A friend of mine David  and I have been working on a gun together thats just a taste.

[Ranger]

Very cool Roy! I would like to see more. Have you done a photot step by step thing for making gun parts?

[Roy]

Nope just progress pics.  A friend of mine comes here a few days a month and we work on his gun. He's been almost been working on it for a year now..  We beat out a dandy triggergaurd, but it ended up being a bit too petite for his rifle.. will work great on a .40 I have planned though    Most likely the gun will not be finished untill Fall or maybe later, but it'll be cool.

[Ranger]

I for one would love to see the progress pics. Maybe you could put together on another topic. That would be real cool. I have your buddy beat. I have been working on a gun for SEVEN years now. Ok, not really working on it as much as staring intently at it! 

[R Jones]

Well, Yall' can add one more to the mix. Been hammerin' iron for a long time. Just got my 15 year old grandson into it a few years back. Mostly sell our wares locally, but have been known to build a knife on commission. :)

[Roy]

Well  lets see some pics 

[voyageur1688]

  Thumper,
How about using cutting edge from asnow plow or from some excavating equipment for it. Its hard yet is able to take a beating without too much damage.
  I do a bit of smithing and have mainly done strikers, knives and hawks. Gonna be making some hawks and a calumet or 2 when I get the forge fired up.
Still gettin tools gathered up for my smithing but have enough on hand to do the items listed above. Also have done damascas for knives and hawks, but they are time consuming and are not affordable for most in my area to buy, so most of mine are not damascas. I like to have the handles forged out rather than going with scales on my knives. I like to go with a twisted flat rat tail handle that curves back toward the blade with a hook on them to take a pot off the fire with.  The pommel end has a loop I can get a finger or hook into for lifting,The looped foreward part loos back to the hilt area from the bottom and when it gets to the hilt area, it curls down and hooks back forming the "pot hook". The blade works as a lock to keep the pot from tipping so it keeps you from spilling your vittles on the ground or on yourself. The hoop is on the opposite side as the blade end so it works as a lever to keep the pot level. I have tis on the 3 knives I have for myself, and the mid-sized knife has a slight curve to the left (I'm right handed)for skinning deer. The curve follows right around the deer and seems to speed up the skinning proccess for me while being slight enough to still be able to be used as a regular knife.
Voy

[Red Badger]

OK, I'll bite... Harry (Old Salt) showed me his forge and let me turn the handle on the blower system a while back and it must be somthin' in those fumes, cause I'm in the process of getting my first forge together...  HMMMM black powder fumes & forge fumes could it be something in the air?

[voyageur1688]

Yup,
Its something in the air and it is--- ADDICTION!!!!
Once ya start doin things the old ways, there aint no turnin back.
Ever notice when ya get done with a vous, that nobody wants to tear down and go home? They'd all rather just stay there.
Voy

[Thumper]

Voyager, I think I missed the original question. Sounds like you're asking about a homemade anvil. You could use the end of a rr rail (good way to learn hammer control), or a tine from a fork lift. If you're talking about blades, what you mentioned would work well, anything with a higher carbon content than mild steel is useable.

[voyageur1688]

  Thumper,
That was a question for you in response to Frank G's question.  He was aking about using a harder steel for the die on this unit as the others do wear out and I was asking you if the cutting edges from a plow blade from asnow plow, bulldozer etc. would work. They are hard yet they wear forever while taking major abuse. These things hit ricks etc and just keep going for alot more use. Do you think it may work?
Voy

[Thumper]

Voyager, OK, I'm with you now. Sure, those metals would work fine. I wouldn't worry about having to temper them after cutting & welding, but I'd definitely anneal them before wompin' on em' so's you don't get any chips or stress fractures.

[Hammer]

Im not really a blacksmith..i have been a farrier for more than 25 years...I been making shoes with my forge...But I have found myself tryin to smith a few things...I am tryin to get better at smithing...Glad this section is here...I'm getting good ideas

[voyageur1688]

  Go with it. Look at things from here and other places and see if you can copy them with some changes if you want and that will help you to get a feel for the forging and then from there you can work on the tempering of the metal.
Voy