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Its time to replace the old lining in my forge. There are no places close to get kaowool or some of the other more well known insulators. I was scrounging around at Lowes and found "Oldcastle Concrete Fire Brick" for $2.88 each. That's a pretty good price and the specifications say...

I have been given about 10' of saw mill band saw blade. About 8" wide and 14-12 gauge thick. It isn't old blade but newer and had carbide teeth. I'm wondering if the steel is as good as the older stuff or might it be something not as good since the teeth are carbide and not the same as the...

I took the pieces of Burl that was in my Christmas package from JDoyle and 'built' a handle. They were not big enough for a whole handle but together with a left over piece curly maple gun stock project I just made one. A few more coats of oil and some steel wool are left. I also started the...

Has anyone used Tru-Oil on a sheath? If so either before or after stain, how does it look, work and hold up? Thanks

....it make when heat treating at a higher or lower temperature? The 'charts' give temperature ranges, what is the difference in the high and low range?

I have delusions of slowing down my Grizzly (grinder). I've been reading about mounting a sheave on the motor shaft and running that to a separate motor. That sounds reasonable has anyone done something like this? I need a 1" ID for the existing motor shaft but what OD? I don't want it to go...

I'm out in the shop gluing up a stacked leather handle. I was using the cooling water in a bucket under the grinder to wet the leather so the Gorilla Glue would absorb. As I was dipping some leather in the water my hand bumped something. I checked it out thinking I dropped in a brush or...

I'm slow but eventually finish a project. Forged from an old Ford spring for a friend.

What are some of the preferred adhesives to hold together a stacked leather handle?

Don't stick your thumb into a 40 grit Blaze going full speed.

Even though I've been a member of this forum for a couple of years I still consider myself new. Between long work hours and a short illness I don't get near as much time to engage in my hobby as I would like. So, if my work shows a lack of skill it's really a lack of being able to practice as...

I did a noob boo-boo and wonder if there is any way to reverse the consequences… I cut a piece of Elk antler to make a hidden tang handle from and was marking a centerline for drilling and used a ‘Sharpie’ permanent marker. Antler is porous (duh) and now I’m stuck with a black line down the...

Here's a few of the things I've done to the shop and a few of the blades I'm working on. I wanted to post a picture so Randy wouldn't think I was going to destroy his hard work. First one top blade started life as a truck coil spring, notice the BJ use? The bottom one in the first picture...

What is the 'best',here's that word again..... What are some various way's to attach a butt cap on a hidden tang when the tang does not protrude through the rear of the handle? Will epoxy hold it well enough or is there some other secret old maker trick?

I'm making some knives for friends that enjoy old Ford trucks like I do. I would like to make them from early 60's Ford pick-up front coils. Anyone know what kind of steel they might be? I'd like to 'assume' they would be 5160 unless someone has a better idea. Thanks.

Been lurkin' n learnin' but I have more questions than answers. Can anyone help with the following: What is and why is a slack belt used? What are the various grinds and what are they used for? If you seal a blade in SS foil do you quench it in the foil or remove the foil, thus cooling the...

I stumbled on this during a search for steel, seems cheap enough but is it? http://www.benzspring.com/garage/round/

How good a steel is it? I started making knives because my favorite 'Shrade' and almost all the others are now stainless and made somewhere other than 'here' to me they don't hold a good edge anymore. I like carbon steel but I also very much like Damascus for it's looks. Carbon steels are...

I'm building my own oven, did it before as a 110V unit and it worked ok. But I would like a quicker heat-up time and putting the oven itself together is not too difficult. Same with cutting the channels for the coils and the physical part of wiring the PID, SSR plug and a fuse. But to make...

If blades were one sided I'd have it made, but, I also need to grind the 'other' side to match. Being right handed pulling the blade across a belt seems natural and not that difficult. The problem comes in when I start with the 'other' side of the blade and pull with my left hand. Practice...