Glenn

"Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see".  Richie B's math teacher

Goods:  Figure out what you need and make it.  Then it becomes second nature to just make things and you wonder why everyone else has to delay their project until they can get to town and purchase an overpriced tool.

You know you are hooked when the neighbor asks why your project has square washers.  You reply because I ran out of the round ones.

Now to make the dogs, hold downs, and clamps.

Do not forget a HEAVY base to hold that thing.

Condolences to his family and friends.

Not my version of CAD, but I do like the way he thinks. Credit goes to the member called Machine Shop.

 I have used cad (cardboard aided design) to lay out the project.  Machine Shop

And spark test not only each car part but each car part from each make and year model.

We owned one car that had some car parts from one model year and some car parts from another model year on the same vehicle.  Came from the dealer that way.  Made getting replacement parts a real challenge.

2 hours ago, Will Brouwers said:

My dream would be to get the $400 Milwaukee deep cut battery powered version

Are you willing to put $1 into a kitty for each cut you make now, using other methods, and watch the saw fund grow?

If you buy it now, and are willing to pay just $1.00 per cut? Anything over 400 cuts and the saw is paid for and making profit. 

So you have to ask yourself, is making that cut in metal worth $1 to you ?

No matter which time period you choose, or which tools you choose to work with, ALWAYS wear Personal Protection Equipment.  They only had two eyes from the beginning of time up until todays time.  Ten fingers come in handy too.

I have never heard anyone say did you use any electric to make that item, or did you use a (insert anvil brand name here), then I will pay you extra.

Looks good JHCC.  I like the color match with the rooster and business sign.

Contact the forge manufacturer and ask WHY to never block the opening.  They will know the reason as it is their forge and their design.

My comments are for general knowledge.  Always interested n learning from others and what works for them.  

When making multiple items:

They aren't perfect, they have personality. Daswulf

12 hours ago, SHC said:

the smallest of those oak trees is about three feet diameter at the base

My comments are directed toward my experience with trees (hardwoods) with a DBH (diameter breast high) of 30 inches or less, usually below 24 inches DBH.  Once on the ground, start at the limbs first, as the size, weight, and leverage of the ends of the limbs is much less.  The truck length cut limbs (8-10 foot sections) are able to be carried by one person.  As you move to larger diameters, a 4 foot length (3 each 16 inch lengths of firewood) can be carried by one person, or a 32 inch length (2 each 16 inch lengths of firewood) can be carried by one person.  The weight is about 100 pounds, or less, and carried by one person is the limiting factor. 

As the larger rounds get cut, it is weight, not leverage, that is a limiting factor, and helps with safety.  Dropping a hundred pounds, or more, of wood in a single round (16 inches long) is gravity based with little or no leverage involved.  

I have specifically addressed ON THE GROUND cutting, as sections of wood under tension or compression are extremely dangerous.  I have avoided discussing the felling the original tree, as that is a whole different set of skills that involve hundreds of pounds or tons of weight AND leverage.  Felling trees is very unforgiving. You do not have any idea of the condition of interior of the wood in a tree. It can be twisted, hollow, insect infested, dead, rotted, lightening strike, wind shook, etc.  Felling trees where anything that can be damaged by a falling tree, will be damaged by a falling tree.  Move on to other opportunities that are much safer.  

I have not discussed actually splitting the wood.  The wood type is classified from easy to split, to will not split.  Cut any forks or less than easy to split sections out and pile them off to the side.  They are difficult to split and you can deal with them later. 

Splitting wood by sledge and wedge, mauls, hydraulic splitters, wood processors, etc each has its own safety concerns. 

4 hours ago, SHC said:

With one of my friends having about a dozen giant oak trees knocked over at his house by storms the past few years, I had my propane fire place converted to wood burning just yesterday.

Start at the limbs first.  This is for safety.

Load your truck with the limbs (3 fingers wide and above) pushed to the front of the truck bed and cut 2 feet beyond the tailgate, or about 10 feet long.  Trip over to your place, dump the limbs, and return for more.  This cleans up your work area at the tree and gets you firewood on the ground at your place that you can then cut and stack later. When the limbs get too large for the truck, buck the rounds up into firewood length, trip out and stack the rounds at his place and at yours.

When it comes to the main tree trunk, throw some wood under the trunk to keep it off the ground and to keep your chain saw out of the dirt.  Cut the rounds into what ever length is good for the fireplace. Split the rounds into 1/4s or whatever can be easily loaded on the truck.  Trip to where the wood is to be stored, dump the 1/4s and return for more.  They can be split and stacked later at a leisure time. 

You can move a LOT of wood real fast this way. This keeps the work area at the tree clean and relatively uncluttered. It puts wood at the place to be split and stacked when it turns cold, or rain, or snow.   

As Big Gun Dr said, get a piece of scrap steel and get started.  Reading about the improvised anvils in the anvil section of the site will give you many ideas.  The more you read the more your skills will improve and the less expensive things become as you know what to look for and an idea of the cost of the tools. 

3rd world blacksmiths make their living on improvised anvils, such as a piece of steel, a sledge hammer head, etc. and a hole in the ground for a forge.

Ventilation and NOT producing CO or other exhaust gasses must be considered as it could enter the space of the neighbor and cause them health problems.

Everyone is trying to cut costs.

The warehouse ships to the store 2 times per day. The store sales counter says yes we can have that first thing it in the morning from our warehouse. If the local warehouse is out of stock, they call and get the item from the regional warehouse.  

They used to call this living hand to mouth, but today it is the "just in time" norm.  The customer is left with no other option. 

Das, this would be a good application for old welding rods, and scrolling tongs or pliers.  

In the video you are only using the wrist for hammer strokes, and just playing with the metal.

Set the hammer on the face of the anvil. Take a half a step, or a full step, to the side and walk up to the hammer handle so that it slides comfortably into your hand, which is at your side. This puts the hammer, wrist, arm, and shoulder all in the same plain during the swing.

When you swing the hammer for a power stroke, try raising the hammer head to shoulder height, or above, then start the powered down swing.  Move your body to the side so the hammer hits the metal over the sweet spot of the anvil.  Do not aim the hammer to stop at the metal, but aim the hammer 1 to 2 inches BELOW the face of the anvil. You will need a little practice, but you can get a LOT of impact when the hammer hits the hot metal. 

You will find that you can now aim the hammer to the point of impact, and you physically move the hot metal to position it under the point of impact of the hammer. The hammer is always hitting the same point on the anvil.  This way each hammer blow is controlled, deliberate, and intended to move metal in a specific direction.   

Put a piece of wood on the anvil and hit it 3 times so you can look at the imprints of the hammer.  Crescents mean the anvil is too high or too low, circles mean the anvil is at the right height.

Easy fix is to stand on a platform to check how the correct anvil height feels before you adjust the anvil stand.

The 6011 welding rod seems to be the equivalent of duct tape.  D Harris

What tools or tooling do you use the most in your shop, other than the forge, anvil, and hammer?

This way we can start looking for useful tools and tooling rather than just buying anything with the words blacksmith attached.

For me it is most likely pencil, paper, and modeling clay.  If I can solve the problem with pencil and paper, all is well.  If not out comes the modeling clay so I can see what things look like and actually feel the project.  By the time it gets to the forge, most of the problems are solved.

After you get the mushrooming under control, it is easy to touch any new growth on the grinder to bring it back into shape.  While you are at it, take a look at other struck tools like steel wedges, etc. and dress them up.