Glenn

How do you store your working stock? 20 foot sections, 10 foot sections and how do you stack it so it is out of the way but still available when needed?

Get the metal hot enough to melt the brass from the brass brush, and then coat and seal with beeswax. Why go back to the fire and smoke ?

What is the advantage of a hand cranked drill over an electric powered drill?

CC Find a blacksmith and spend a day in his shop. Or build your own forge and get some metal hot and beat on it. This will get you more experience than reading a whole book on the same subject.

No one can "tell" you about the heat of the fire, the heat of the metal, the feeling of the sweat when it runs down your face and into your eyes, or the dark gray shampoo when you take a bath of an evening. Oh yes, be sure to wash your hands before you eat.

How many hours do you spend blacksmithing in the winter months?

The 88 entries were as follows.

0 to 5 hours per week 34 or 38.6%
5 to 10 hours per week 15 or 17%
10 to 20 hours per week 15 or 17%

20 to 30 hours per week 9 or 10.2%
30 to 40 hours per week 7 or 8%
40 to 60 hours per week 4 or 4.5%

60 + per week 4 or 4.5%

Look at BP0075 for one method.

John,

Zinc Melting Point: 419.58

Can any of the EMT's or medical professionals give us advice on how to best get from the injury to the hospital without causing more damage?

Covering the eye keeps you from rubbing the eye and causing further damage. I have heard that with an eye injury, it is best to cover both eyes so the injured eye does not "track" with the good eye. With both eyes covered there would seem to be less eye movement and less additional injury.

Again, this is only something I have heard and it seems to make sense. Are there any medical professionals out there that address the subject of what to do to keep the injury to a minimum till we can get to the hospital?

Hammer head with 2 holes:
Looks a lot like a modern day lineman hammer where the "extra" hole is used to gain leverage and screw foot-pegs (or other things) into a utility pole.

April 21-22, 2007

DREAMCATCHER Forge annual Hammerin Northeast of Filley,Ne

Project will be making Sundials, Harlan plans to have materials available for purchase. Bring you forge and tools and have a good time learning about Sundials and how they are constructed.

Harlan Kreuger Host, 15365 E. Hackberry Rd. Filley, Ne. 68357
Call (402) 662 3082 for Info

What is your primary fuel used for forging?
The 172 votes are as follows:


Coal 83 votes or 48.3%

Gas 58 votes or 33.7%

Coke 17 votes or 9.9%

Charcoal 10 votes or 5.8%

Other fuels 3 votes 1.7%

Wood 1 vote or 0.6%

Induction heater 0 or 0%

The local welding shops will not refill Oxygen or Acetylene or Ar/Co2 without proof of rental on those tanks, usually through their store. Then there is the structural tank testing that has to be current for them to refill the tanks.

You can purchase your own tanks, which are about half size to the common "industrial" size tanks. Cost of refilling the tanks is based on the volume of gas put into the tank.

Contact you local dealer and make friends. We were low on gas with a upcoming long holiday weekend. He loaned me a 2nd set of full tanks to use. Sure enough we ran out of gas and switched the tanks. First thing Tuesday morning we returned the empty tanks, a full box of donuts, and paid for the new gas.

From Lincoln Electric




AC-225
AC Stick Welder
List Price:396.00 (USD)
K1170 AC-225 230/1/60


The AC-225 compact stick welder has a broad welding amperage range of 40-225 amps. It produces an extremely smooth AC arc for welding a wide variety of materials including carbon, low alloy, and stainless steels as well as cast iron. Metals 16 gauge and heavier can be easily arc welded with the AC-225.

If buying a new unit:
Lincoln has a "3 year warranty on parts and labor" warranty listed on their web site. Sears warranty and the "Craftsman" warranty may or may not apply to this product if purchased through Sears.

Look at the other big box stores as they may have sales, or additional items packaged with the welders.

Victor Journeyman set
• Cuts up to 3/4”/19mm (8”/200mm with optional tips)
• Welds up to 1/2”/12mm (3”/75mm with optional nozzles)
Victor welding lists the cutting capacity of their torches at 1/8"/3.25mm to 6"/152mm. With a #8 tip you can cut up to 12" thick material.
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Esab cutting torches can cut up to 12 in. steel with acetylene, 16 in. with any other fuel gases.

Esba Acetylene Welding/Heating Heads (Single Flame) Steel Thickness 1/32-1 in. With a different head you can achieve an Average Heat Output of 500,000 - 1.2m Btu/hr.
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Harris lists an Acetylene #136 Hand Cutting Torch that Cuts to 36"

Harris Welding Tip - Acetylene for plate up to 1" thickness
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Linde Gas representative says gas can cut up to about 12" and weld up to 1 to 1-1/2".
----------------

Final gas welding results:
Equipment is available for gas cutting up to 12", and gas welding up to 1" thickness plate. A Harris torch can cut up to 36" thickness.


You should look into the BEST type of equipment for the job at hand. Gas is more versatile for cutting than an arc welder using carbon rods to cut metal. The arc welder is a better choice for welding thicker materials. There are other choices such as plasma, water jet, laser, etc for cutting.

Burce Wilcock cuts metal (1-1/2" maybe) using forge heat and a chisel. He produces anchors and anvils by forge welding. So thick and heavy can be done in the forge.

Roger, do you have any photos of the finish?

Rocky Mountain Smiths
May 18-20, 2007

Tom Stengel will be hosting in his shop in Moab, Utah. Details to be announced.

119 mi (about 1 hour 53 mins) from Larry.

This is a very workable design. Easy to adjust and portable. Most likely this will be duplicated, or modified, and used in many ways.



Thibeau was thinking outside the box (referring to the box that is used to contain an anvil - and pun intended) with his design. It is adjustable, mobile within the shop, and breaks with the traditional thinking of what an anvil stand looks like. His use of unusual materials is refreshing.

The time for the contest has expired, I will declare these two designs the winners with the nod going to Thibeau for originality. The Thibeau design will be presented as a blueprint so you can look over the details of the design.

One type or size anvil stand will not fit everyone. This is a good subject for discussion. I would like to see it continue with additional postings, ideas, and designs.

A good idea, but there may be some problems here with the bolts becoming loose and wallowing out the holes, making the adjustment difficult over time.


The sand in a barrel is a traditional method, easy to assemble, mobile and works well.

The entries below are workable but appear to be unlike those in the next post.



Burying a stump (or log) has been used for years as mention in the posts.



Burying a Rail Road track rather than using it in a horizontal position is much more effective as all the mass is directly under the impact point of the hammer. A second piece of horizontal section nearby would be nice when a larger face was needed.



Buckets as stilts are interesting, but I can see a problem with uneven ground, tools junk etc on the floor, and falling off the buckets.

A ton of coal is about 4'x4'x4' in size, or very roughly 400 pounds to a 55 gallon drum (this area and this coal) and weighs either 2000 or 2200 pounds depending on which ton you purchase.

As to loading, Tennessee Ernie FORD can load 16 tons a day, but you better check your owners manual or the dealer to see what your Dodge can handle. You may even want to consider a trailer to haul the coal.

Just remember that making two trips for coal is still cheaper than an overloaded truck in need or repairs on the side of the road.

It is tough to loose a member of the family and tougher if it is YOUR dog. My condolences to you and your family.

That is why we list the results of the poll. Sometimes the correct answers just don't fit in the little boxes provided.

What supports your anvil ?

120 replies

53 or 44.2% Wooden stump (log)
30 or 25% Wooden construction (boards)
25 or 20.8% Steel construction (angle iron etc)
4 or 3.3% Factory stand (cast iron etc)
4 or 3.3% Barrel of sand (or other filler material)
2 or 1.7% Concrete formed base
2 or 1.7% Other

Blueprint BP0322 shows how to make a nail header. See attached photo for the details of the taper mammooth spoke about.
Blueprint BP1016 shows a tool that could be used to make rivet headers.
Blueprint BP1004 shows how to rivet a pair of tongs.

Anyone want to submit a blueprint specifically addressing now to form a rivet?

Use it daily, no rust. If you put a light coating of ATF (Automatic Transmission Fluid) on the face of the anvil it keeps the rust down. ATF does not get on the hot steel the next time you use the anvil like some other things that have been recommended.