If you want to forge your own tools, I highly recommend Mark Aspery's first book, the skills of the blacksmith.

A lot of tools today are case-hardened mild steel. What's a spark test say about the rest of the head?

Speaking for myself, to enable myself to work without pain and injury is the primary reason I do resistance training. I'm careful in the gym to avoid ...

Full time blacksmith (no power hammer) and also life long lifter, the last 12 years following the Starting Strength method. Taking a stab based on wha...

I used to be a bee keeper, but lost the hives 🙁 Then made the mistake of storing the hives in my storeroom, and found out just how quickly Wax Moths...

I stand corrected: bee's wax, paraffin, AND Carnauba wax. I had forgotten about Carnauba wax being used in food, such as M&M's

Or a drying oil, such as linseed/flax seed or walnut oil

Quick update: Since the Axe Wax site states the wax drys, then instead of mineral oil, they're probably using a thinner that evaporates, leaving behin...

I had never heard of “Axe Wax”, so I did a quick search. There appears to be no MSDS available, which might be a violation of the law, but not sure on...

If it was my uncle, I'd go back and talk with him a bit more as to what he wanted. The word "Skinner" covers a wide range of shapes.

You might check at an office supply store, they have a variety of legal paperwork. That said, years ago, when I was opening a martial arts school, I ...

To join, you just show up, there's no fee for joining, one pays for each event one attends, as it pays the demonstrator. As for "couldn't offer much...

Do you belong to any of the local blacksmith groups?

You just described a box knife. No, I'm not being my usual smart ass, a while ago, I decided to forge a blade for use around the shop. After I got do...

How does the ancient Nordic blade construction compare to ancient Japanese blade construction? I'm more interested in knifes rather then swords.