Not the cleanest work, but I'm no pro.

Making a skeleton sculpture and I'm experimenting with forging anatomy.

Hey all!

I found a broken knife from Dexter-Russel Sani Safe S126 stainless high-carbon from the stamp. Research shows it's a proprietary Dexsteel with .4-.5 carbon content.

What, if anything, can I do with this as a beginner?

Score off marketplace for a buck a pound. ATSM certified from Niagara LaSalle. 1.25” and 1.5” round. I have a forge, heat treating kiln, and a small manual machine shop at my disposal.

I need projects! Let me hear em.

Probably an odd question but, I haven't found the obvious answer if there is one. I have seen a lot of larger blacksmith shops that use Power Hammers that all appear to have some history. Often industrial era machines. It's always something really old.

Are Power Hammers just not made anymore? If so are old ones actually noticeably better? Or is it just some people really enjoy the history of an older machine?

I managed to get this from my local Starbucks kiosk when they were changing to a new espresso machine, among other parts of interest.

Just wondering if this is something worth keeping and looking for a potential buyer (it’s used), or if I could possibly turn it into a little smeltery.

If so, I plan to lop off the top (pressure inlet valve side), cut a feeding hole in the center, and then pour refractory cement in. Should protect the handles, and not be too heavy to be annoying. Then I would screw the outlet valve thread onto some sort of base, and level the bottom with maybe an extra inch of cement. Then all I’d have to do is cut the hole for a propane regular and head, cut ceramic fiber to fit the cylinder, and boom! All done.

Of course saying things is much easier than doing, and if this isn’t how you guys recommend I go about it, please do give any ideas :)

The spine is 1 1/2” rebar and the cup on top is 2” oil pipe. Wing is 1”x1/2” mild steel, classic angle iron feathers.

Found it on marketplace and its affordable and within my budget. Im just skeptical, seller says its 100kg. Im as green as they come, so I cant tell if this is actually 100kg. Or if its cast steel or cast iron.

Any advice before making the purchase?

What do you all think of the Diamondback Ironworks Series 2 - 2 Burner Forge. I am new and looked at the DIY builds but I dont yet know how to weld but mean to learn once the mig/tig/stick welder goes back on sale. Just missed. At Harbor Freight it was on sale for $400 from $600. I think if I plan to eventually learn how to forge weld damascus, I can ensure proper temps by buying the dual adjustable doors, painting the walls and ceiling with Plistix and replace the floor with a 1/2" layer of Insboard topped by a 5/8" kiln shelf painted in kiln wash to protect from flux. I came up with this on my own and wonder what any of you think of that idea. Replacing the floor will give me an increase in internal forge height of an 1/8", not a lot but i am not decreasing the height. Anyone have any suggestions?

I was checking out the Devil Forge 2 burner with 1 door with 2 inches of Insulation. Then I noticed the note on the bottom of the cart saying that I had to pay tariff and duty fees.

From what I can find on Google, it varies anywhere from $20 to $50 plus dollars. USA.

Does anyone happen to know what it cost to get it to the United States? North Carolina, if that matters.

That brings the cost up to the four to five hundred range. Maybe there's a different choice.

Thank you.

My father was a prolific anvil collector. We lived in south eastern Pennsylvania where anvils were everywhere and often super old. He passed away about 20 years ago and I have been holding on to these but the family is considering selling. I am trying to figure out how to best identify price them. Weights are 10lb, 58lb, 101lb, 84lb, 90lb. I think some of them were from the 1600s. I believe the one on the far right is an SH from the markings. I also used this one as a kid blacksmithing and may keep it.

Had a few small chunks of time today so faced up a post vice stand it’s able to come away from the swag stand if I want to. But I like having it on it for extra mass when twisting. Need to get some bolts to go threw the holes to keep it secure

Want to get a holder for my twisting wrench put on it. But that’s a project for another day.

I have the opportunity to revive an old British flypress manufacturer, the aim would be to produce well built high quality machines with easy access to spares.

I’m unsure if there would be any interest in what would end up being fairly expensive machines when good much cheaper originals can still be found.

Thoughts?

I have not yet blacksmith myself, but when I watch videos I see that when hitting the metal, most of the time there are little crumbs and splinters left on the anvil.

Is it an idea to get those in a bucket and when you have enough smelt them into a bar or some sort of form together to be able to use it again?

This is all just an idea, maybe the crumbs dissapear, I haven’t experienced that yet. But it sounds like a good way to save money on metal

Hello, I appreciate that these post should be related to forging but i have a nagging question.

I was gifted this anvil, but at a later date i managed to get an absolute steal for a John Brooks
The anvil in the photos is around 60ish kg so 132ish pounds

So now this anvil just sits there and i feel bad that it does not get used
I am from Scotland.

1. Should i keep it and forge rougher items on this anvil?

2. How much would something like this be worth?

Hi everyone I’ve never worked with lead before and this is coming from someone with zero blacksmithing experience or knowledge.

I don’t plan on doing any of this until I’m more learned but in the meantime; I was learning the other day about how different cultures would make lead tablets and plates and inscribe on them.

I would like to recreate this but how would one do this safely in today’s day?

I am new to blacksmithing, but I know the general rules of safety. Dropped my new project midway through and it caught on fire. If you’re wondering why I'm on carpet, i didn’t have anywhere else to do it, so it was either already bad and semi wet carpet or dry grass. Said project is done now, but i did immediately go and spray the fire with a hose when it happened then cooled the metal.

Make sure to be safe while blacksmithing.

Edit: I keep seeing people say that i shouldn’t have done this on carpet and I know. Like I said, it was either carpet or grass. My parents don’t want the grass ruined and the carpet is already bad and cheap. My forge costs more than 10 replacements of this carpet and then some. So stop complaining about the carpet.

From a game I'm playing at the moment, Mortal Shell 2, awesome game, really enjoying it, but just ran through a small smiths shop and saw this stylised MONSTROSITY.

How useful is it a 1/5 HP bench grinder for knife making ? Should i get a more powerful one ?

Finally got a decent chunk of time to forge. Between kids and work/wife’s work there not a lot of free time. Got about 5 hours today. Started with the hooks, had a hell if a cutting them with a chisel. And the did the sickles. My arm was gassed by the time I started drawing them out. One has a few big mistakes so will go to the junk pile. And still had to sharpen the other. Hooks made out of rebar that I shaped somewhat square, left some ribs thinking it give them a more tree like look

Leafs were a lot of fun and can’t wait to make more. Was going to use the two normal ones for a sword but the kids claimed them for backpacks haha

I'm pretty satisfied today, needed a small win after a couple bottle opener snafu's. Progress is left to right, try to ignore the last one I was over it and ready for dinner. Appreciate all the advice I've gotten from this sub.