Glenn

Buddy is in the hospital in Covington Louisiana. His leg has no circulation below the knee. They are going to do a procedure tomorrow and see if they can correct it. If not he may have to have it amputated. Prayers are appreciated. Garey Ford.

The fire rake will serve you well. Great project and a very useful tool.

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2011 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0334 Adjustable Anvil Stand by Glenn Conner For those that are using Rail Road track for anvils, just get a 20 foot section of track and bury it 17 feet +/- into the ground, leaving the proper amount sticking out of the ground for use as an anvil. This puts all the mass of the track directly under the work. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2011 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0343 45 Degree Pein Hammer by B. Norris Here is a picture of a 45 Degree Pein Hammer made by reforging the ball end of a 32 ounce Ball Pein Hammer. Prior to being reforged it looked just like the one it is resting on. I bought the heads for $1.00 each at an antique shop. I bought every single one they could find! I am right handed by the way, might help figuring out which way to twist the pein, or it might just serve to confuse. You can reforge one of these Ball Pein Hammers into just about any kind of pein that you want: straight, cross, 45 degree, or anything in between. I LOVE my 45 Degree Pein Hammer for drawing out. No more standing at the anvil with the ends of the tongs and hammer right next to the family jewels! Seriously, they are much more ergonomic to work with. I like it so much that I have bought one of the "double-faced sledges" to grind 45 Degree Peins on both ends with differing radiuses, looking for a larger radius than I got from the Ball Pein Hammer, and a bit more weight. I might be able to get to grinding it tomorrow and put up some before and after pictures. The Picard brand hammers are imported from France. I used one at a blacksmithing class once and liked it a lot (the smith who loaned it to me had dressed the face perfectly!) MOB handles are a bit "beefier" and are less of an oval shape, more like a rectangle with the edges rounded over. The same kind of shape to the eye that Tom Clark uses on his hammers. Easy to see the difference, but hard to explain! Here's the before picture. This cost me $5 and some change at the local Menard's. Here's the plan. The hammer is marked "3" on the head, for 3 lbs., and weighs 3 lbs., 6 ozs. with the handle. After the angle grinders attack the poor hammer began experiencing confusion as to its identity! "Am I a sledge or a pein?" The hammer thought to itself. "And, if I am a pein, am I right, or left?" I apologize for the cheesy dialog, but it is a Quarter Pein hammer intended for use by a right-handed individual. Hot off the grinder. I used a fresh 24 grit belt, still took awhile. Here it is at 120 grit. The hammer now weighs 3 lbs., 1.6 ozs.. From here on out it is hand sanding, all the way down to 600 grit. First though I'll go get some metal hot, hit it, and take pictures of the impressions. The notch in the edge of the spring is made by the pein end. The dent on the flat of the spring, it is about the size of a quarter, was made by the other end of the hammer. Here it is sanded down to 600 grit. I like to sand my hammers down by hand. The belt grinder leaves the faces that need to be round, and smooth, looking like they are faceted. Sanding by hand smooths it all out and gets it to how it needs to be. Have any flea markets in your area? If so, find the guys that sell the cheap tools, and tell them what you are looking for. The more you buy, the more likely they are to work with you. Lots of things to be done with ball pein hammers: spike tomahawks, specialty forging hammers, handled punches, woodworking adzes, hot cuts, etc. I could think of more, that was just off the top of my head! I would prefer to reforge this one to make the pein, but doing so would burn up the handle, adding an additional $6 to $8 for a new handle, and putting the total cost up around $12 to $14. I probably have less time into regrinding this one than I would if I reforged it, put a new handle on, and then ground and sanded it. I just don't seem to notice the passage of time when I'm working at the anvil though! Here is another way to use these cheap hammers. I had to pay someone who had the equipment and expertise to work with tool steel (I used stock from a leaf spring.) I had the hot cut welded at the same time and the whole job cost me $25. Still, it was cheaper than if I had bought a flatter off the internet, never mind the hot cut hardy. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2011 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0342 Handles by Jerry Carroll I started with a thoroughly dry hickory sapling 4" in diameter at the biggest end. I cut off the 14" I needed for the handle. I split the 14" piece in half and squared it up on the table saw. I centered and marked the size needed to fit the eye of the tool the handle will be used on. Raising the radial arm saw blade I took off wood down to the line marked and back the length needed to go thru the tool eye. I used a draw knife--rasp and heavy cut file to shape the handle to fit the cutting tool on the right. Here's the finished handle in the tool--sanded, linseed oiled and flamed with a propane torch then steel wooled smooth. Here's another look at the finished tool with the tools used to do the handle. I took my time (I'm retired you know) and finished in little more than an hour. I didn't have any store bought handles that even come close to fitting. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2011 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0336 Adjustable Anvil Stand by Glenn Conner Measure the diagonal of the bottom of the anvil and find a drum with a diameter that is a bit larger. This was a standard grease drum, about 30 gallons or some 120 liters. Fill the drum with sand. This one took 4 each 5 gallon buckets of sand. As I did not want the anvil to "sink" with use, I put a water meter cover (from the junk yard) on top of the sand. It will take a lot to drive that down into the sand. I then added a bit of wood to insulate the anvil from the water cover. Add one anvil and measure distance of the face of the anvil from the floor. Add or subtract sand to reach the desired height. For me this was 32" from the floor to the face fo the anvil, knuckle high plus 1-1/2 to 2 inches. This stand is inexpensive, quick to build, and has a good bit of mass directly under the anvil. It is difficult to tip over and infinately adjustable with the anvil face from 29 inches to 36 inches for a range of 7 inches. The one design element I like is the factory rolled edge on the top of the drum. As the top of the drum is above the bottom of the anvil, be careful as this could be a pinch point, or you could hit your hand on the rim. If you want to lower the anvil even more, the top can be cut to the desired height. If this is done, the sharp edge must be rolled or protected in some manner so no one gets injured. except for about an inch at the top will make the anvil more stable (resist turning), deaden the anvil and leave an inch high edge around the anvil to keep tools from falling off and some tools, hardies, center punch etc can be stuck into the sand for easy access. A short pipe of the right size embeded in the sand would work as a holder also. When you get the working height the way you want it, filling the container the rest of the way with sand View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2011 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0335 Adjustable Anvil Stand by Glenn Conner Find a tree and bury it into the ground. Leave the proper amount of the log above the surface so that when you put the anvil on the stump the anvil face is at the proper height for your comfort. Adjustments can be made. Lowering the stump is just a matter of triming the height a bit. Raising the stump . . . . . well that takes a bit longer, and filling in the hole. This is actually what a lot of the old smiths did, the one in my uncles old shop was cut off 6 foot down as they got tired of digging to remove it. Jr Strasil View full article

The video section of the IForgeIron Gallery has been operational for a long while. Some of the videos sent to the gallery were 10 to 12 megs and larger and unable to be viewed by anything other than a high speed connection. We are working to get it tweeked properly so even these can be available to everyone. If you combine a photo and text Blueprint with a video you have the very best of both learning tools.

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2011 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0333 55 Forge© with a Supercharger The name "55 Forge" is copyrighted, Glenn Conner 2004 by Glenn Conner But, it is quick to built, works well, and is cheap to produce. This is NOT a heavy duty forge. It is NOT expected to last a lifetime. There is a very real danger of explosion at this point.. If you picked up a drum that was reused and filled with a highly vilatile substance, you will not hear the BOOM. Even an original drum only containing only oil can be dangerous. If you have any concerns, or have never cut into a closed container before, pay to have these cuts made by someone else. Read and understand the disclaimer at the bottom of the page before you go any further. Start with a 55 gallon drum (or a 205 liter and adjust dimensions). Remove the "bottom" (the end without the bung holes) from the drum. The bung holes can later be used for drainage. The cut metal has razor sharp edges, so be very careful. The hole is marked at 2" above the bottom and 1" below the curve of the 2nd ring. This worked out to be 18" in height. There is nothing special about these dimensions. They were chosen because that height does not obstruct my view to the back of the drum when it is used as a forge. The width of the hole is 22". There is nothing special about these dimensions. They were chosen because this seemed to be a good size width with which to work. I did put the big bung hole at the center of the opening. I do not like square corners on the openings, so the radius for the bottom corners was drawn with the dog's stainless feeding bowl. I wanted the top a little more rounded so the radius for the top corners was drawn with a brake drum from a Chevy truck. They were used only because they were within arms reach. The cut metal is very sharp. I suggest that you fold about a 1/4" of the metal back on itself (toward the inside of the drum) to form a "soft" edge or in someway protect yourself from the sharp metal edge. The rotor was chosen for the fire pot as I plan on running the forge hot and hard. This rotor has the right size opening to fit the exhaust pipe that I was using for the tuyere. The rotor is not needed, as the exhaust pipe can be made to stick up an inch or two and the ash will insulate the bottom of the drum from the heat. Check the Blueprint BP0133 the 55 Forge for construction details for the grate and exhaust pipe assembly. The end of the exhaust pipe is faired and 2 pieces of 1/4" round bar are used to form a grate. The exhaust pipe is welded to form a "T" to create an ash and clinker reservoir and an air inlet. The finished forge with the brake drum fire pot, and tuyere. A second 55 gallon drum with both heads removed was then placed on top of the 55 Forge and tack welded into place. The supercharger!! The two support drums are only for the photo, as the forge will be used on a stand I will construct later. The first fire in the new forge. Construction time about 2 hours. Assembly materials were two 55 gallon drums, a brake rotor, two short sections of auto exhaust pipe and two jig saw blades, ( I broke one by getting it in a twist). The tack weld can be replaced by 3 or more sections of flat bar bolted to both drums. Total cost was $3 in jig saw blades as the rest was scrounged materials obtained free for the asking. Save the drum heads and the metal cut to form the forge opening. It can be used in future projects. The fire creates a draft up the 6 feet of 24" diameter chimney and in doing so sucks in air through the opening. This fresh air then mixes with the smoke from the fire, (I have noticed the little tornados of air and smoke being mixed at both sides of the opening), the fire burns the smoke, which creates more draft from the heat, which pulls in more air. The end result is smoke being burned, and what is not burned is diluted with fresh air. The forge was designed for outside use so the 24" diameter chimney is not a problem. Using the same coal, same blower, same fire pot, and the same tuyere as the original 55 Forge, the 55 Forge with the Supercharger (the 55 gallon drum on top) produces much less smoke. You may wish to cut a 2" hole in the back of the forge so you can pass stock through the fire and out the hole in the back. This will allow you to heat the center section of a piece of stock. Notice the "cone" in the center of the photograph. This is the natural shape of the fire in this forge. You can use fire brick and clay to form whatever shape or depth fire you want. The grate is simple, two pieces of 1/4" round bar. We put the 2" bung hole at the front of the forge so cleaning out the fire is easy, just rake everything over to the hole so it drops into a waste container. The 55 Forge is a neat forge, but when you add the Supercharger - WOW! Update on the Supercharged 55 Forge ©: The cut edges of the drum are extremely sharp and MUST be protected in some manner. Either slit a piece of light wall tubing, cover the exposed edge, and lash it in place with wire, fold the metal over upon itself, or bolt or weld on a piece of flat bar to cover the exposed metal edge. The auto exhaust pipe used to get air to the forge finally gave out after several years of service, and being at welding heat for many hours. You could have easily make a clean cut on the end of the pipe and drilled a couple of 1/4" holes for the grate and been back in business within half an hour. Instead, we welded a piece of 2" heavy wall pipe to the rotor in place of the exhaust pipe. A 3/8" bolt was welded across the pipe for a grate, and works very well. Currently we are using clay to shape the inside of the rotor for a little more efficient fire. It is not needed, but is a part of fine tuning the forge to work best for the operator. The front opening is sufficiently large for most work If you want to work the middle of stock for bends, or twists, a hole needs to be cut in the back wall of the forge. You will need a 3rd hand to support long stock in the fire. The 2" bung hole at the front is a wonderful way to easily clean out the forge before the next fire. Just remove the bung, place a bucket under the hole and scrape all the ash toward the hole. You do need to cover the Supercharger at night as it seems to attract water any time it rains. The 2 drums high are reasonably stable but still a bit top heavy, so precautions should be taken to secure them in some fashion. During start-up you should poke a hole in the coal to let the smoke burn, and with good fire maintenance, the Supercharged 55 Forge © smokes less than any forge I have used. We have tested the Supercharged 55 Forge © and find the opening to be about the right size. It gives ample room to work and a good view of your work and the fire. This is not a heavy duty forge. It is a way to get started in blacksmithing with very little cost, using only a jig saw and drill to build a forge, and a forge hood to remove the smoke from your work area. The reduction of smoke from the coal fire to a more acceptable level is an added bonus. View full article

Sam, how are you going to address the accumulation of ash? This is not the double disc, but a single disc rotor used as a fire pot. BP0333 Supercharged 55 Forge ©

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2011 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0340 Better Hammers - Cheap by Jerry Sauve Being a mechanic I always have several beat to death ball pein hammers in my tool box. The problem with a ball pein is that when you hammer with it the balance is never just right. The hammer side weighs more than the pein side. This is how I went about correcting it. The whole problem with blacksmithing is you don’t have deep enough pockets to buy the tools you want and as a weekend warrior don’t have time enough to make what you want for tools. It is to this end I came up with a relatively cheap solution to that Holy of Holies a hammer that feels good in your hand and helps you do good work. With a little practice I might even be able to forge lightning bolts with it. Find the center line of the hammer Find the balance point of the hammer Measure the distance between the two points. Cut off a little bit less than the measured distance off the striking face of the hammer. Take a grinder and bevel the striking face of the hammer. If you have been fairly careful in your work the balance point and the centerline should be very close to one and another. This will give you a hammer that is a joy to work with while blacksmithing. Notes I started with a 32 ounce hammer and end up with something less than that. How much to cut off depends on how much bevel you are going to put on more bevel=less steel cut off. How much bevel to put on the hammer I will leave up to you but I was fairly aggressive with the bevel and started just about in the center of the striking face grinding and worked my way out. I am waiting until I break the hammer handle before I retemper the face. For now it seems to be holding up OK so long as I don’t hit cold steel with it. You don’t need to get a laser measuring tool to do this I did it all on a piece of 1/8 flat iron for a balance point and a sharp pencil for a measuring tool. Cut the face as parallel as possible to the existing face it means less grinding later. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2011 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0341 Hammer Adz by Bill Epps Start with a cheap H/F claw hammer. Drive the handle out of the head. Cut the claws off with a chop saw. Head with claws cut off. Take a good heat and start flatting and drawing the hammer face. The hammer face drawn out and cleaned up with a grinder. Form the shape of the blade. Shape the radias of the blade. You want it to make a cup shape cut in the wood. Harding the cutting edge Testing the hardness with a file and using the carryover heat to draw the cutting edge. After sharping, the handle is put back in the head of the adz. The adz is ready for use. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2011 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0339 Bandanna /Neckerchief Slide by Jim Carothers Bandannas are cool. They look good with the smith’s or cowboy’s outfit and they really do help to keep you cool as well. I usually try to set my demo forge up so that the wind is on my back – keeps the smoke and some of the heat out of my face. On a hot Oklahoma day, that damp bandanna around one’s neck and a breeze on the back are right refreshing. The bandanna also helps to keep the cinders and stray fire from going down the back of your shirt. So as not to have to struggle with tying a knot in the bandanna to keep it in place, I make a simple slide out of a large horseshoe nail. A nice bandanna with a hand forged slide is a pretty good item to sell at demonstrations. I got a nice assortment of bandannas from the local Hobby Lobby store. You can steel letter stamp the customer’s initials on the head of the nail (slide) for a personal touch. Start with a large horseshoe nail. These are about 3-1/4” long. If you are going to steel letter stamp something on the slide; it’s best to do it with the horseshoe nail still flat. The “hold down” was made from an old automotive lug wrench. Begin the bending of the slide by working on the tip of the nail. The tip can be rolled cold or hot. Put a little curl in the end to cover the sharp end. Take a good orange heat; cool the tip of the nail. For a simple mandrel, I used a piece of ½” round bar with a scrap of flat strap welded to the side. A quick slotting of the side strap with a hacksaw provides the hook to hold the tip and start the bend. Bend the rest of the nail around the mandrel. I used tongs and smooth jaw pliers to do this bending. Reheat the now formed slide, wire bush, and hot wax or oil to help prevent rusting. Brushing with a brass brush is also a nice touch. Jim C. President (2006) Saltfork Craftsmen ABA View full article

Keykeeper said this followed him home. Now he wants to know what the thing is and how it works. Any ideas ?

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2011 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0337 Ash Dump by Glenn Conner Sometimes the tuyeres fill up with ash and the forge blower can no longer push enough air to the forge through all the clinker and ash. I dumped the ash, cleaned the fire, and the forge still won't work right. The problem is something getting hung in the pipe and the pipe filling up with ash. I solved the problem by cutting the flapper off the bottom of the pipe, and running the pipe into a bucket of water. Ash now falls to the bottom of the pipe, into the water, and the hot coals are extinguished. The pipe only needs covered with just enough water that it does not bubble. Check on the bucket from time to time as it fills with ash and needs emptied. View full article

I offer the following entry BP0336 Adjustable Anvil Stand

I offer the following entry BP0335 Adjustable Anvil Stand

I offer the following entry BP0334 Adjustable Anvil Stand

What is a good working height for a swage stand? Let's measure this in relation to the knuckles when standing, so we can account for the individual blacksmith's stature.

What is the height of your anvil as compaired to your knuckles when standing beside the anvil? This may not be a standard unit of measure but it would certainly be a place to start for the newbie. My anvil height is half way between the knuckles and the break of the wrist.

Progress report: Tried the trap with peanut butter. One less mouse to worry about now. Thanks for the ideas.

Just finished my design of the adjustable anvil stand. 7" of infinate adjustment. Current limits of the anvil face is from 29" to 36" in height. You will have to join us Tuesday for the Blueprints to see the design. It will post here later for entry in the contest. What a reason to join in the Blueprent presentation on Tuesday October 31. Doors open at 8 pm eastern time USA and the show starts at 10pm eastern time. Click here to go to the Blueprints

Richard What is the adjustment range of your anvil stand? yesteryearforge Not sure, let me think about it.

Give us more information, What are you going to use to anchor the base? How are you going attach it to the 6x6? What is the span of the "I" beam? What is the amount of weight you PLAN to lift? What is the maximum weight you WILL lift?

The heat content of anthracite coal consumed in the United States averages 25 million Btu/ton (29 MJ/kg) (12,5000 BTU/lb), on the as-received basis (i.e., containing both inherent moisture and mineral matter). Reference.com That would mean that 15,000 BTU/lb divided by 12,500 BTU/lb means you have 1.2 pounds of anthracite to a pound of high BTU bituminous coal. Or you would need 2400 pounds of anthracite to 2000 pounds of bituminous coal to get the same heat. With the 100 pounds bags selling for the same price, you have to buy 24 bags of 12,500 BTU anthracite coal or 20 bags of 15,000 BTU coal to get the same amount of heat. Other terms having the same meaning are blue coal, hard coal, stone coal (not to be confused with the German Steinkohle), blind coal (in Scotland), Kilkenny coal (in Ireland), and black diamond. The imperfect anthracite of north Devon and north Cornwall (around Bude), which however is only used as a pigment, is known as culm, the same term being used in geological classification to distinguish the strata in which it is found, and similar strata in the Rhenish hill countries which are known as the Culm Measures.