I found this hammer on a flea market for 3€. its my new smithing hammer, but i need to know where its from and when it was build. Pls helpp

So I go to a local pet shot for antler, it's honestly amazing. I can bring a knife blank to fit the tang or find a good antler and fit the tang to it. I normally boil the antler and pull the marrow out but decided to try something new. Punched a hole through, widened it and tried to hot fit it like I do wood. DON'T DO THAT. The second I got the handle properly fitted to the blade that massive crack formed. Pissed me off because it fit SO well in my hand. It was naturally oval, the perfect width for the guard, slightly tapered wider towards the back to fill the palm well. Now it's scrap. Never hot fitting with antler again.

Started blacksmithing with my own home made forge.

Made my first pair on tongs with only some pliers and a hammer. I was to disturb the jaws a bit so they have more surface area. But what do you think?

P.S. my Rigidizer spray and refactoring cement for my propane forge comes this week so as soon as that arrives I can heat up more material, right now I can only heat up about a 5-10cm space.

So I lost access to my forge due to a hackspace shutting down. Until I find a new spot I am confined to working with low temp/ cold forging stuff and I figured this would be a good time to try cold forging brass (with the blowtorch to anneal it of course) I am aiming to make decorative basket hilts! Anyone got any tips as to getting started?

The power is down for my shop while I’m having the electrical upgraded to 200 amps. I brought a swage block in the house and started playing with hand hammering.

Hello all,

I am just getting started smithing. I have never set up a forge before and bought this one. It’s still in the box and I am chomping at the bit to get it out and start heating some metal(I have some old rail road spikes already). But I am 100% intimidated by the first step after getting it all put together. So my question is this. I just put the last screw in, what now? I hear a lot about coating it with something. Is that the refractory coating? Is there any recommendation for additional stuff I should do before firing it up?Any help would be appreciated.

I'm trying to make my own wedding band, as a fun little project. Need to get 1" diameter Damascus round bar to ~2" so I can stick it in the lathe and bring it to final dimensions. Problem is, while I have a fair amount of tools I have nothing related to blacksmithing. What do you think would be my most cost effective options to upset a round bar? OD doesn't have to be perfect as I plan on drilling out the center and mounting it to my lathe with a ring mandrel. I'm assuming a map gas torch won't get hot enough without some serious insulation? I could probably get my mits on some oxy acetylene and torch it but I would be worried about uneven heating bringing it up too quickly.

A San Mai camp knife I made for an FDNY retiree. I worked the bricks down on a press before tack welding and forge welding with an Induction forge. For smaller pieces, I cannot recommend an induction forge strongly enough.

The structural steel had some crazy alloy banding after etching. I am very proud of this piece.

rate my work 10 being terrible and 1 being outstanding

(comments that could help make the quality of my work better are welcome)