I used a blow torch to flatten it out. Then I used a bench grinder to clean it up and sharpen it

After I had it somewhat sharp, I case hardened it by getting it really hot, then pressing it into leather. Once case hardened i touched the edge up a little

It worked really well for the few holes I had to drill in some wood. It even drills most soft metals well too

Made the left one on my second week forging. Made the right one today on week 4. I'm happy with the difference but always up for feedback. Made the new one with a thinned edge to catch the cap instead of a stick out section as I still suck at doing that lol. Tested and worked, coated with beeswax to finish it

This has been a wonderfully painful and enriching process, I can say that I look forward to a life long career of making reliable and cool means of self defense for people who need it most. I hope you all have a great day!

Workshop: Noblie Custom Knives

Im trying to find some high carbon round stock and cant find any for good price anny recommendations?

A few railroad spike tent stakes for camping this summer.

This was an odd find from my late grandfather's things. Thought it might be lead or something, but I'm not familiar with this kind of stuff. It's dull gray on top and if I scratch it as can be seen in the first photo it's shiny underneath. And it's bottom is mostly shiny as can be seen in the second photo. Just curious what it might have been used for. Thanks of you can help.

"Got a new forge "

Question, I would like to get into blacksmithing as a hobby, but I live in a city. My closest neighbor is 100-120 ft away, is it realistic to smith in this environment or do you think neighbors are too close for the noise? I know the smart thing is to just talk to them and respect their requests but speaking purely distance I'm curious.

For those of you buying steel and other materials online, what is your best/favorite source?

This is a Sandia Labs forge. I've built a few of these over the years. This one I made a little taller than the plans to get weird shapes in. The video is the forge running off 14 psi of propane after about 10 minutes.

A finished project from some time ago for a client. Casing from the 1st round he shot. Made the tip from 1060.

Howdy all!

Has anyone else gotten so tired of not finding your punches/chisels/drifts/etc that you make like a dozen of each? So that you can find them purely by saturation? Believe me, I completely understand that it would be much better to just have a nice and neatly organized shop. I get it, but after 9 years of having my own shop, it's become blatently apparent to me that that isn't in the cards for me. Despite my best efforts. So I've just started making so many of my hot working tools, that no matter how lost they are, there is at least one that I can quickly find. I'm just curious if I'm alone in this?

Spent my first day at my mini forge and anvil making this little hook. I still want to grind and sand it to fix the fact that a accidentally burned it, but this how it is so far! I'd be grateful for any feedback or wisdom anyone has to share so far!

"Making damascus"

So I found an anvil shaped object (big ol hammer head in a big ol rectangle of wood stuck in the dirt and packed in, about waist height kinda taller) but now what do I make? I mean of course it would be cool to make swords and stuff like that but stuff to get introduced into it you know? Any ideas? 😎👍

New to blacksmithing. What are the advantages to a post vise? Why would I want one? Should obtaining one be a goal for the future in my shop?

Thank you

I bought an anvil from Lowe's to get me started. I was looking at tools for use in the hardie hole, and I see the shanks come in different sizes. I measured the anvils hardie hole and it measures at 15/16".

Do the 1" shanks or 3/4" shanks tools work? Are the tools supposed to be really tight fitting, or be loose? I know I don't want to get a tool stuck.

But are the 1" shanks tools a true 1", or am I okay with them?

Where can I get a block of steel to use as an anvil? Anvils I've found are expensive as heck and I've seen people online use sledge hammer heads or steel blocks as anvils so where can I find them, I live in Florida so I have like no idea 💀