Problem Solving

I am always poking around second hand stores antique shops junkyards etc. And have been doing it for years. I have NEVER seen a swage block sale. A mate of mine gave me some smaller spanners Half inch and such. I was going to turn them into some mini garden tools for the herb garden he has on his patio at his high rise apartment. I was thinking of using the hardie hole to gently bowl out the shovel. I have used a leather sand bag to bowl Brass and copper ( that was a long time ago) Any body got any suggestions? Because it is a small job I was gunna carve a bowl out of wood lock in my vice and use that instead. as I said it is a one off. Carl

I'm new to blacksmithing and need help with fire. i may have bad coal. What i thought was coal turning to coke wont burn right. No heat,I thought it may be what is called clinker but i'm not sure. It looks like lava rock.

Does anybody have any experience of making brackets for punchbags? I have to make 5. The room has a low concrete ceiling so I could hang the bigger ones from there and possibly make wall brackets for the small lighter ones. Any advice would be welcomed. BTW we had a big aftershock this evening just before 6pm. I don't know if any damage was done but there could wellbe problems.

Hey guys, I won't be a regular here I just came to ask a few questions, if that's rude I apologize. I just thought I would find a forum of experts and ask away. I'm a carpenter by trade and woodworker by choice, and worked in a manufacturing field for many years before that. My questions are regarding using old files to make wood chisels, I have a decent set of chisels now but am frustrated by how quickly they dull when used in very hard and dense wood. I can scratch the chisel metal with the file so I now that the file metal is harder. And I know that if I heat the file thourghly and the cool the metal very slowly I can take the temper out of it and shape it as …

looking for a suppler for small amounts of h-13 in small size below 1/2 in like 3/8 and 5/16 speedy metals only list 1/2 as there smallest try to keep from forging it down

:mad: I've been forging every staurday since spring and i can't seem to finish a pair of tongs without burning the the steel. I was making a pair of bolt tongs this morning for 1" bar stock that id like to make into candle sticks. I had the reins formed and even pulled off making balls at the ends that looked as good a my store bought pair. I made the twist on the jaw and put back in the fire to take some tool marks out of the boss area and the whole mess went up in a shower of sparks and i ended up with an molten blob of crud on the end of the reins where the twist in jaw was supposed to be. several hours of what I thought was good work down the drain, and I'd be …

I'm still reading around on how to build a forge. I see that some are using refractory cement instead of Kaowool. What is your opinion on this. I am planing on using a steel pipe that is 3/16wall with a 11.25 ID. I have not determined what length Im going to use yet. Also with the kaowool, I've seen it being sold in 1" thick sheets. Is this enough or should i plan on doubling it. BTW, I plan to run this on propane. I'm not sure what I'm going to be forging yet. I just think trying to build my own forge would be fun and challenging. I'm a pretty good self taught mig welder and fabricator. Thanks again for the help ray

ok my current problem is because of UPS being slow 2day air mail takes 4 days so i finaly have the parts today ordered them last friday so the twere works fine and the plywood blower works but i need a way to mount the blower to the bottom of the rachet forge in-line with the flywheel sturdly and so it dose not get above 200F to keep the epoxy holding i will post pics soon

Hello there, I've recently decided that I'm going to join the blacksmithing community so I've decided to set up my own wee workspace and that is where the problem is. I currently live close to the centre of Edinburgh and the only reason I have a garden is because the railway line has to be a certain distance away from the apartments so this isn't really an potion as I would have to make sure forging would be ok with 48 separate apartments. Instead I've decided to build a portable forge, use my jewlers anvil and mount the lot on a trailer adjusted to go on a bicylce as I can't drive so that whenever I plan to forge I go for about a 40 minute cycle to the edge o…

I have finished grinding the bevel and I am now ready to heat treat. This blade is made from a castoff hoof rasp. Dose anyone have any idea if they are air, water, or oil cooled. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you Best, Archiphile

I'm having some pain after hammering and wondering if anyone has had similar issues and can give some suggestions on ways to reduce he discomfort. After hammering for some time my hand on the palm side just below the middle finger and ring finger (mostly below the middle) will tend to feel almost bruised. It is also not uncommon for those two fingers and occasionally the index finger as well to feel stiff after hammering or a few other activities. Since I am still working myself back from being away for 2 years following a motorcycle wreck and dealing with hand and other issues, I have thought maybe I am simply holding the hammer to tight? I've tried to loosen my grip…

In the process of coming back to smithing after a motorcycle wreck a couple years ago the idea of form and ergonomics (two things I did not even think about before the wreck) have been heavy on my mind. As I was reading another thread it dawned on me that although I may think I'm in good form, standing close to the anvil, upright and using good technique as I hammer... the reality may be very different... When I first started shooting archery it was suggested to video tape myself shooting so I could see my form and the reaction the bow made depending on how I was standing or how I drew the string etc... What I seen in that video experiment improved my marksmanship li…

Anyone ever galvanized a piece for use outside? I have a client who is asking what can be done to minimize rust on some gates and windows. I talked them out of stainless simply because I don't think the cost is warranted in our relatively dry weather so they countered with powder coat on mild steel. I don't think powder coat is much better than regular paint since it can chip and (I assume) is hard to repair so we started discussing hot dip galvanized. I know it is more common on the coast to protect against sea spray but our relative humidity averages less than 50 percent and we have over 300 days of sunshine per year. The bottom line is that they do not want any ru…

I want to install a post vice what height do you use for the vice straight out from your arms need advice only want dig hole once.

I just bought a Diamondback 2 burner Knifemaker forge off eBay. This was not purchased from the manufacturer, but rather an individual was selling it "as new". The forge had never been used or even put together and was still in its original packaging. Everything was included as from the factory. It went together real easy and looks like it is built pretty well. The manual is a bit sketchy though. About the only thing it covers about the burners is how to light them and not a whole lot more. I haven't ever used an atmospheric forge before, so not sure how to tell when I get the flame right with the right gas flow and pressure. Following the lighting instructions (5 to…

Hi have a champion 400 blower that turns well enough but I would like to take the top off to clean up the inside and there are 2 srew I took out do i need to something diff any ideas thanks joe

I recently purchased a 1450 degree Tempilstik marker for use in indicating critical temperature for some 1095 steel I have been using to make fire steels. Finally had a chance to use it yesterday and was rather dissapointed. First, it really didn't make much of mark on the steel (nothing like regular chalk or soapstone) and second, in my gas forge it was very difficult to observe it changing to indicate that its temperature had been attained. I went back to the old way and used a magnet. Any suggestions on how to use this better? I am doing something wrong? Thanks.

looking to set up a coal forge.. and i don't want to go back to using the small 6 inch stove pipe.. too smokey for me.. are there any cheap sources for pipe.. say 10 inch or do you just combine two 6 inch stove pipes..? Greg

Can you use galvy chimney pipe for a forge side draft hood? Thats all homedepot has and its even in 12 inch

A guy I work with tinkers with a store bought gas forge and it peaked my interest. I have seen the gas 10" pipe blue prints on here and deceided I would try to make one and get into the hobby. I have looked around for the kaowool to line the pipe, but I'm only finding 1/2" thick matierial. Any suggestions on where to shop? Also, would I be able to use a larger diameter pipe? 10" seams small once you get your insulation in. Any additional advice is more than welcome Thanks!

I am in the process of wiring up my KMG with a 2hp/3phase Baldor motor. I was able to pick up a Baldor VFD over the past weekend and am unsure how to wire it. I have read the booklet that comes with it and have wired it up initially. The power cord will be 10/2 with ground romex wire. I have the blank wire in the ground slot and the white in one side and black in the other. In the second side of the VFD, I have a neutral/ground slot on the left and three slots on the right of it. I am running 10/3 wire to those and from there to the motor. From looking at the picture of the motor, that is only loose wires hanging out. One is green and the rest are white. I be…

If a person will be making knives by stock removal, is it possible to do all of the heating, hardening, tempering first. If this is true where can I purchase metal already treated. Thanks TC

Once again my blower is acting up! I did manage to find out that the gear box/fan doesn't go with the fan housing. The housing has four screw holes and a shaft hole! There is another hole that looks as if it was cut with a torch to allow the gear box to fit. The gear box only has 3 screw holes! I managed to get the blower running again, because the only thing wrong was the gears were colliding, grinding against each other. So, now it runs, but it runs real stiff. I can't figure out how to remove the shafts for the fan/gears, so I simply greased everything up good. However that didn't help make it run smooth! If y'all have any idea what would make it run more smoothly pl…

I'm new to this, has anyone had any luck with using a shop vac as a blower?

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