(Part 2) Top products from r/blacksmithing

Looks like I don't know how to use reddit... so coment. first time poster here not english native...

Recently thanks to the show forged in fire i've decided to try and make a knife and wanted to share It.

It's not the most beautiful thing ever but looks like a knife and cuts so I'm happy, in fact I'm so happy and proud that I want to try to forge more things so, what do you recomend for starters? I whould love to make an axe but I dont know if its to difficult for a begginer specially considering that the only iron/steel I have easy acces to is rebar and i whould have to forge weld it into a more usable piece.

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Also the anvil I borrowed will be no more so I looked into a webpage that recomended this anvils wich are in my budget. you know if they are any good or a waste of money?

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https://www.amazon.es/ENERGYHit-1000-Yunque-profesional-Ancho/dp/B00LCQTYMQ?SubscriptionId=AKIAINNXJ6O5RJZV4YEQ&tag=compraryunque-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00LCQTYMQ&keywords=yunque%2010%20kg

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https://www.amazon.es/Mannesmann-M-710-10-Yunque-10/dp/B0002YYLD6?SubscriptionId=AKIAINNXJ6O5RJZV4YEQ&tag=compraryunque-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B0002YYLD6&keywords=yunque%2010%20kg

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https://www.amazon.es/Sealey-ANV11-yunque-11-kg/dp/B00S17WJZS?SubscriptionId=AKIAINNXJ6O5RJZV4YEQ&tag=compraryunque-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00S17WJZS&keywords=yunque

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Thanks

There is a local heritage museum near me that teaches blacksmithing to the community (I haven't started yet, but have a space reserved for March to get started). I never would have thought to look at a museum for something like this, so I thought it would be worth mentioning in the off chance you have something similar near by.

In preparation for the class I bought this book as it seems to be highly recommended by many people on the smithing forums I have looked at. It is full of lots of great information and I think has given be a decent idea of what I might be getting myself in to while also explaining the types of tools and terminology that'll be necessary to learning the trade/art.

Backyard Blacksmith like Raeladar recommended, by Lorelei Sims
http://www.amazon.com/The-Backyard-Blacksmith-Traditional-Techniques/dp/1592532519/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341272167&sr=8-1&keywords=backyard+blacksmith

The Complete Bladesmith by Jim Hrisoulas has a TON of detailed info like forgewelding (important throughout blacksmithing, not just bladesmithing)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Bladesmith-Forging-Perfection/dp/1581606338/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1341272167&sr=8-4&keywords=backyard+blacksmith


and The Complete Modern Blacksmith by Alexander Weygers has good info as well
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Modern-Blacksmith-Alexander-Weygers/dp/0898158966/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_c

my library is growing from these books as well as the forge I'm putting together.

you could always take a rotary tool, a pointed diamond bit, a ruler and a gold,silver or bronze sharpie (if your i beam is dark in color if its somewhat shiny you can just use a normal black sharpie) and make that drilled round hole into a square one.

for a horn a i just thought up a mod for a I-beam anvil. what you will need, get a good thick piece of round stock (a axle or thick spring from a car would work as its good high carbon steel), a blowtorch head, a small bottle of MAP gas, and if you do not have it a angle grinder with a proper abrasive disk for grinding and a cut off head.

First Grind the round stock into a proper tapered horn leaving a bit of a original materials size on the back end. Next switch to the cutting disk and cut off a appropriate amount of the middle section of the I beam off. Next using the Map gas get top of the beam to a nice orange color,(it will take some time) take your hammer and hammer it to a 90 dgree angle. let it cool fully. then drill a hole into it the size of the horn. now the extra material should stop it from falling out and also serves to hold it in place for the next step. Next reheat the section back to orange and hammer down on it to hot form the extended piece to the horn. you may need to do some hardening to and tempering at the end to make sure it will not brake under the strain of working it.


Keep in mind I have not tried this out as I came up with it as I was writing it. I just use a Vise anvil hybrid and use the face of the vice as a shaping horn. However i am a Hobby bladesmith not a blacksmith.

Or you could shell out 15.05 for this Or you could ju st buy this https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ES5T9C/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and mod the horn to your liking.
and just grind down the horn. i use this one, however i kinda need to buy new nuts and bolts for it as I lost 2 well moving it to install the vise anvil hybrid i am now using.

If it's hot enough to melt a little bit and your insulation is good enough, then you can melt a lot.

I was going to combine this with this for the bucket build, and have holes through the lid for these. Make a stopper for the sight hole and a lip on the lid to minimize oxygen introduction. Should work out pretty OK.

i did a quick google to see if leaf springs were ideal and they are so i put out feelers for some of those.

And also in the course of that found recommendation for the $50 knife shop book so I bought him that on amazon. link: https://www.amazon.com/Wayne-Goddards-Knife-Shop-Revised/dp/0896892956/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482254778&sr=8-1&keywords=50+knife+shop

Thanks folks You both got me exactly what I needed!

https://www.amazon.com/Palmgren-Belt-bench-finishing-machine/dp/B0006577HI/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?keywords=2x48+belt+sander&qid=1573486028&sprefix=2x48+&sr=8-4
This is one that I've bought for my knives. It's great plenty of belts for a 2x42 to choose from.

typical beginner projects that i've seen include tongs, bottle openers, round-square-round practice, nails, hammers.

depending on how deep into the art you want to get, if you want to mainly focus on knives, then i'd stick with them; start with basic utility blades, work your way up to fighting knives, and eventually kitchen knives. if you want to dive head first into the art as a whole, then work on decorative stuff; art pieces, s-hooks, wall-mount hangers, whatever. one of the best resources for beginning and experienced smiths alike is Plain and Ornamental Forging (https://www.amazon.com/Plain-Ornamental-Forging-Ernst-Schwarzkopf/dp/1879335956)

For $651 you can buy a brand new 77 lb Ridgid anvil. It's a little smaller, but still very serviceable. Plus it's a high quality steel anvil with no dings, dents, or unseen flaws.

https://www.amazon.com/Ridgid-69622-Model-4-Inch-Forged/dp/B0015BC3GC

For $690 you can get a new 100 lb Emerson anvil.

http://www.centaurforge.com/mobile/Emerson-100-lb-Traditional-Anvil-without-cams-Eligible-for-Free-Shipping-See-Terms-and-Conditions-for-full-details/productinfo/EMERSON100NC/

Both options have free shipping.

I got 2 of these from Amazon. They came shipped with heat treatment instructions right on the packaging and I'm using them for stock removal.

You might/should be able to find it at your local lowes or home depot. If not: https://www.amazon.com/Rust-Oleum-207008-Marine-Varnish-1-Quart/dp/B000C011CE

I think I found what I'm looking for. Just in case anyone else has the same question here is a link to what I found. https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Magic-8024-ThermoSteel-High-Temp/dp/B002UJ1EF4

Here is an option for around $60 I have been looking




Infrared Thermometer-HOLDPEAK HP-2732 Pyrometer Digital Dual Laser Thermometer 30:1 IR Temperature Gun Non-Contact Thermometer -58℉~2732℉(-50℃~1500℃),Backlit,Adjustable Emissivity for Forge Smelting https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PLHR7W1/

There's also a little "tee" connector that let's you attach 2 20# tanks at once, which helps with both the freezing and the stupid pressure device built into the tanks.
Said device.

I wouldn't use anything with aluminum in it in any quantity at forge temps, even if it's refractory lined. Best cast scenario, it leaks molten aluminum. I don't like that best case scenario so I certainly don't like the worst.

If you live somewhere cold enough to necessitate actual wood stoves, you might check a fireplace repair or supply company or the fireplace section of your hardware stores for a product called furnace cement; if you can't find it locally, hopefully you can order it online, word is that this "Chimney Sweep" type is the highest temperature rating but any of them should work fine, especially if you proceed to line it. 4 parts perlite to 1 part furnace cement, for a coffee can forge a 1/2 pint of furnace cement should be more than enough. The cement is sticky and hard to work, it's a lot easier if you mix it with 1/8 the volume of cement in water. Here's a workthrough for a crucible furnace partially made with the perlite/furnace cement refractory. If you can order online though, there's plenty of pure sodium silicate to be found. I hope some of this helps.

If you're dead set on sodium silicate, Rutland brand cement floor sealer is apparently 100% pure Na2SiO3, and hopefully you can find this locally. If absolute worst comes to worst, you can mix those little silica gel dessicant beads (or crush up some quartz crystals) and mix them with lye (sodium hydroxide drain cleaner). Good luck, let us know how it goes!

EDIT: after doing some reading I definitely wouldn't recommend going the sodium silicate route; with a melting temp of 1,200°F (the very low end of typical working temps for forges, steel would barely be at a dull red before your forge started to liquefy. I'd love to be proven wrong, though!) Worst case scenario now is just wasted money and knowledge gained.

Well I screwed up a bit on the refractory. It was dried out and not pliable enough so I added a little water. I also didn't let it cure enough so there was some water still in it when I fired up the first time and it bubbled up and flaked about a 1/8th inch off.

Here is what I ordered.


Refractory:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002OU2Y62/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Ceramic Fire blanket:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DE2FD26/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Fire bricks
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UEYZ4S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


0 to 30 PSI regulator
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VXEW4G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1