Glenn

Thomas, your time frame reminder is well placed. I need to withdraw my comment about making things attractive as they do not fit the original request. Thanks for keeping things on track and specific to answering his question.

Thomas, you are right. A working blacksmith of that period spent the time producing orders not making things pretty. If the public were to see both form and function, it could be a sales tool. Strine (from Oz) made the tongs in the photo. A blacksmith easily make tools that are fun as well as useful. As you say, they may not fit that period of time.

Mac, you may want to add that things were fixed with a couple of emails. As soon as I found out (and figured out) what was going on, it was fixed. Welcome to the forum and site.

Rick, she is on the list.

Like any fuel, it smokes on start up, but then catches fire and burns producing much less smoke. Photos by Irnsrgn

When you know what they are, they seem to be everywhere.

Don't forget IForgeIron IForgeIron has over 300 Blueprints showing you step-by-step how to make tools, jigs, and projects. The IFI forum is a wonderful resource for asking questions, getting answers from folks who are willing to help you improve your skills, and KNOW which end of the steel is hot. The Problem Solving section of the IForgeiron forum is just the place to ask those questions.

You may want to contact Mike-hr (Or) or Coalforge (Wa) to see where they get their coal.

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0289 Fan Puller by Jim Carothers I wanted to remove this fan from an electric blower. At first, my small gear puller looked like it would work fine. The problem is that the cast iron fan hub was quite a bit smaller in OD than the base of the fan. Without some sort of adapter, the arms of the puller would hook over the edged of the fan itself, and the pulling force would be against the fan sheet metal. A small pulling adapter was fabricated from a piece of 1/4" thick shop scrap and a thick lock washer. The thick washer keeps the 1/4" plate from hitting on the backside of the fan sheet metal – the adapter / washer bears directly on the cast fan hub. The shaft in question is 1/2" diameter; the scrap was drilled 9/16” and then a hacksaw used to cut the slot. The lock washer was annealed, flattened, and tacked welded in place. The first slot was used as a guide to cut the slot in the washer. This is a close up of the adapter against the fan. The puller arms will catch on the 1/4" plate and not damage the fan sheet metal. With a little of Bayou Joe's favorite penetrating / lubricating oil (Howe's “since 1927” brand name), the fan came right off with use of only the 6” adjustable wrench on the gear puller. The home built adapter is now in the box with the rest of the gear puller stuff. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0284 Calling a Striker From the IForgeIron Blacksmith Forum by Daryl of Sasktachewan, Irnsrgn Daryl of Sasktachewan: Here's how it works: No talking while striking - it's as useless as teaching a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig. .....Smith requires a striker; Striker: 1 tap lightly on the heel of the anvil. .....Striker is ready and waiting for signals Smith: Strike and 1 tap on the anvil .....Signal for striker to commence striking where the smith is hitting Smith: Strike and 2 taps on the anvil .....Striker can take the next strike as normal, though his 2nd strike is an empty one (light) either on the heel or the horn while the smith repositions the iron (this is such that the rhythm may be kept) Smith: 1 tap afterwards on anvil .....Striker to only hit in the center of the anvil, as the smith will now move the iron to where the strikes are required Smith: 2 taps and drags the hammer .....Striker has one last strike and then is finished for this heat Smith: 5 taps on the anvil This is how I was taught (European). At first, I thought "well, I'll just humour him, he's probably the only one who does that", then one day, we had a few visitors in the shop, one fellow I had never met before. As I was lead striker and the other fellows who worked there were familiar with the signals, I tapped five times looking for a striker. This new guy walked up with the sledge and replied.... after completing the third heat, I introduced myself and asked him how he knew the signals. He replied that all who had taken the smithing trade in Germany were familiar with them. It appears that only around here does no one know much about signals. An anvil choir is where there are at least two anvils and at least one smith and striker at each. Lead anvil has the master - he leads the whole shot; second anvil-smith listens to and follows the lead of the master; each striker follows the smith of his particular anvil. If you get a master with good musical sense (definitely not me), it sounds wonderful. Most smiths in the US are not used to working with a striker, and I have not been exposed to European smiths working with strikers so I had no idea there were Universal signals. I have a couple of young smiths I work with occasionally and we use the signals taught to me by my father. When I was young I more or less grew up in the blacksmith shop and I was the striker most of the time when one was needed. The Signals I was taught; Smith 3 taps on horn when the piece in the forge is almost ready means a Striker is needed, come to the anvil. After striker shows up, there are 3 different sized sledges for the striker, 1 tap for 6 lb , 2 taps for 8 lb., 3 taps for 12 lb. After lead smith starts working on the piece. 1 tap for Start striking, after striker starts striking, 1 tap for softer blow, 2 taps for heavier blow, Lead smiths hammer laid on its side on anvil, Stop striking. Irnsrgn of Nebraska: I also use 2 small platforms for the striker to stand on so that they can stand at the right height to deliver a fair and square blow with their sledge, from experience I have found out its easier to deliver a better blow and a lot easier on the strikers shoulders if they are at the right height for striking, especially when striking a top tool. And the sledge handles are cut off to about 24 inches so they don't have to fight the sledge handle to the side when striking. I guess I am what would be called an Old School Smith. With a striker I am not familiar with, I just use words or set out the sledge I want used, and use words like softer, harder, stop. Irnsrgn Sometimes there are pieces of information that you don't want to let get lost. This article on talking to a striker has been placed in a Blueprint for reference, so we can find it easily. IForgeIron View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0283 Portable Drill Press by J.W.Bennett (JWBIRONWORKS) This is a variation of the portable drill press by Jr Strasil in BP055. I have used one just like the one we are about to make for over 20 years . I needed to drill 34 3/4 inch holes in the triple frame rails of a tri axle dump truck and was having quite a time. A mentor and friend of mine showed me how to make this. Although he has passed on now, I still Thank him every time I use it. It starts with a 6 foot piece of 1-1/4 inch sch 40 pipe. Weld a 6 foot length of light chain (I use 1/4 inch) on to one end of the pipe. Add a hook to the other end of the chain. I forged this one but used store bought hooks for years. Make a saddle to hold the drill out of plate or angle. I use plate bent in a U shape to fit the spade handle on my drill. Weld it on to the pipe 18 inches down from the end you welded the chain on. Since I use a spade drill I place the drill handle in the saddle and Drill a hole in both sides of the saddle and make a pin to fit in to the holes to hold the drill in place. I attach the pin to the saddle with a short piece of chain to keep it from getting lost. If you are not using a spade drill you might not be able to pin it. Take a short piece of 5/16 rod and bend a hook like in the next picture. Now weld it right behind the Chain you welded on the end of the pipe in the first step. As you will see later on this will make adjusting the chain length much easier. To use the jig you wrap the chain around the Piece you need to drill (I Beam, Channel, Pipe etc...)And hook it to itself. Once you have your drill in place then you can adjust the chain using the 5/16 hook you welded on earlier. You can get a lot of leverage with this rig and if the drill tries to catch it does not wrap you around the work piece or break your wrist. The handle is long enough You can stand back and eyeball if your level and square. I have made several L brackets out of scrap iron with 5/16 hooks welded on the top. I tack weld these to larger work(like Plate, Bin walls, tanks etc) that you can not get a chain around. Just tack weld the front bottom edge of the angle to the work. Or drill a couple of holes in the bracket to bolt it down if there are any holes in the work piece. Then attach the drill rig chain to the hook on the bracket. To remove the bracket when your done... If you tack welded it on you bend the bracket back and forth or smack it with a hammer to break it loose. Grind the tack off of both pieces and your done. If you bolted it on simply unbolt it. There are probably several refinements that could be made to the drill rig. however I have used mine for many years just the way it is. If you have several holes or large holes to drill this tool will save time and effort. View full article

Safery = Safety Thanks for reminding me I should spell check things. Fixed the problem :)

Go back to the opening page of IForgeIron.com and catch up on the new material posted. There were over 50 blueprints presented or posted during the month of July 2006. Tuesday night Live Blueprints present at least 2 new Blueprints each week. Doors open at 8 pm eastern time and the show starts 10:00 eastern time for only one hour. Everyone is welcome, just point your browser. Welcome to the site.

Try these: Farrier Supplies, 26729 Highway 99 West, Monroe, Oregon 97456. TEL: (541) 847-5854. Valley Farrier Supply, 21383 S. Yeoman Road, Beaver Creek, OR 97004. TEL: (503) 632-4366. Central Fuel, 1945 S. Market Blvd., Chehalis, WA 98532. TEL: (360) 748-8808. Bring your own containers. Morris Coal Sales, 26458 Black Diamond Road SE, Maple Valley, WA 98953. TEL: (206) 432-3330. Harry’s Leather Shop, 2712 Hewitt Avenue, Everett, WA 98201 TEL: (425) 252-5262 Tell them you found them through IForgeIron.com

Most folks only use the top of the face and horn on the anvil. Paint the rest. As to the shelves, your a blacksmith !! Make some "ladders" to hold the boards, lots of scrolls etc. Keep the span short to eliminate the wood sagging. As to the curtain, a pipe for a curtain rod and hand forged rings, or rings with hooks for holding the fabric will work. Your a blacksmith, forge the hangers attaching the pipe to a room beam. This is where your blacksmithing skills can be displayed so give it some thought and time. All of this should be designed to be easily moved and reassembled at the new location - nothing is permant, so plan for the move. The anvil stump can be raised with bricks. Make it comfortable for YOU to use. Better yet, there are stump designs that are adjustable. Make a wooden frame from heavy rough cut timbers with a open box on the top. Fill (or empty) the box with sand to adjust the anvil height. It will sure help deaden the ring. You already have an audiance so you do not need to draw them in. A bright ring to an anvil in a closed space with hard walls will damage your hearing. Please post photos so we can see the finished product.

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0279 New Handle in a Sledge by Stephan Fowler A Salvaged 8lb sledge head from my local junk yard All the pieces ready to begin We need to start by removing the old handle. Start by sawing off any remaining protrusions of wood. Once the outside wood is removed we remove the wood from the inside. I used a 1/2 in drill bit to drill 2 holes in the eye, one on either side of the locking wedge (metal wedge cross grain to the shim). It is possible to drive the old wood out with out drilling holes, but can sometimes be stubborn. Use a piece of scrap or a drift if you have one large enough to drive the wood out of the eye. Here we see the head cleaned and ready to install, check the inside of the eye for rust or protrusions and remove as necessary (this helps to get a good fit around the entire circumference of the eye). Also, this is probably a good time to grind out any major flaws in the face, or (depending on your needs) reforging the hammer to "customize". For a large hammer like this, I set the head on the ground and tap the handle into it (*NOTE* the handle should NEED to be driven through the eye, it should be tight), make sure not to mushroom the bottom of the handle by hitting to hard, or use a block of scrap wood as a sacrificial beater. Then flip the hammer over so that the handle is on the ground and tap the head down onto the handle until it bottoms out. Now you will probably need to take a flathead screwdriver or a chisel and gently open the shim slot to allow installation of the WOOD shim (don't drive very deep, 1/4 inch is probably enough) Looks like this (*NOTE* you really should throw away the soft shim that came with the kit and cut your own out of a well seasoned piece of hardwood) Drive the WOOD shim into the slot, make sure you hit square, and keep driving until its all the way in. You should have some excess material sticking out the top of the eye at this point. It's not necessary to trim this, and some would argue that leaving the wood makes a longer lasting fit, however, I think it looks much more neat and tidy if you trim flush with the top of the eye. Now install the locking METAL shim. DO NOT make a groove for this shim using a chisel like we did for the wood shim, you want a super tight fit. Drive the shim ALL the way in, 45deg angle to the wood shim. Voila, a rehafted hammer. Soon I will show how to make your own handle. I find that the wood used in store bought handles is marginal at best. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0274 Lead Hammers by Richard B. Jensen Tonight's Blueprint is "Pouring Hammers". We'll look at pouring a lead hammer First we need to talk safety. Lead is a very dangerous and toxic substance to the human body. First is as a heavy metal. It can be ingested as dust, or inhaled as a vapor when it's heated up. It has long term affects that can't be cured, once you get it, your stuck with it. The other way lead can be dangerous is in a molten form. The melting point of lead is 621 degrees. That's not hot enough to start a piece of wood on fire but it would severely burn the human body. When lead is at a molten state, it is just as fluid as water, but it has all of the weight of solid lead. Remember if you have a small piece of lead that you want to add to the melt you need to be very careful. One, if you just toss it in it will splatter. Even a small piece has a lot of kinetic energy in it, a lot more than something else of the same size. The other danger with tossing a chunk of lead in the melt, is its moisture content. If it has a high moisture content you could have a "steam explosion". Water and molten metals act kind of strange until you understand what's going on. The explosive content of a drop of water (or sweat) is amazing. One drop of water will expand 1500 times its original size almost instantly, read that as a explosion of a mist of molten metal going everywhere in the immediate area. That means the plastic fuel can in the corner,,,,,boom! You need to be aware of your surroundings and the potential dangers. You should work with lead in a well-ventilated, dry area, preferably outside. No rain! I'd recommend a respirator, full-face shield, welding jacket or cape with sleeves, boots, good jeans and gloves. The same for anybody helping you. Remember anytime you touch lead with your bare hands your coming into contact with a toxic substance. WASH YOUR HANDS! Now that I've put the fear of God into you, lets get to work! Now we need to look at the common parts of the hammer mold. Not all molds are the same but they should be fairly close. a. ladle bowl b. sprue c. gate d. mold vent e. parting line f. mold clamp g. thumb screw h. upper mold half i. lower mold half You can melt lead on the forge in a ladle just fine. When I make a lead hammer I like to melt the lead in a separate ladle rather than the ladle on my hammer mold. The reason why is the ladle bowl on my molds are just barely large enough to fill the mold. You also want to use a ladle that is at least 1 to 1 1/2 lbs larger than the hammer your pouring. The reason why will be apparent later. The first thing you need to do is get a handle made for you hammer. I'll use an 11” piece of 3/8” black pipe. I'll heat the end up and use my 3/8” spring fuller to swage the end of it down, about 3/8” from the end. Fuller it down to where the end is closed. This locks the handle into the head. The first thing you need to do with the mold is make sure no dirt or foreign objects are in the mold cavity, vent hole, or gate. Then open the mold, place the handle with the swaged end into it. Make sure you have the handle in so the lead will fill the swaged area, but also allowing the end of the handle to be completely enclosed inside the lead. Close the mold and lock the clamp with the thumbscrew, being careful not to move the handle. Make sure the mold closes all the way along the parting line. Now get your ladles lined out on your forge. I like to pour over an extra ladle so no lead gets into the coal in the forge. If some does, let it cool and set it aside, to be melted down later into an ingot of excess lead. I like to scrunch my melting ladle down into the fire so it won't tip. You might have to use some thing to block the handle up. Do the same with the extra ladle also. Don't worry if some coal gets into the lead as you melt, it'll float and can be disposed of later. If all of the previous steps are done go ahead and place some lead into the ladle. Try to get all you can into the ladle. This is where nice clean lead is nice. I cut my big ingots in half, which gives me about 2lb chunks. To melt the lead I'd just give the forge small amounts of air. We're not forge welding, and with the ladle scrunched down into the fire we have plenty of surface area getting hot. Now as the lead is approaching readiness, get your hammer mold and set it over your extra ladle like so. You may want to slightly pre-heat the hammer mold, but not too much. Look at the lead and use a warm steel rod to stir it. It should be a very liquid state all over the ladle. Now what I do is as I pour the lead into the mold ladle, I get it about half full of lead and then tilt the mold handle down, to start the lead pouring into the mold. I continue pouring lead from the melting ladle into the mold as I go. If your lead isn't hot enough or the mold is cool, this is what will happen. This is called a “freeze”. I did this on purpose to show the results. At this time you need to start over. But first you need to clear the freeze like so. After you get the gate cleared you may have a partial hammer molded. You'll need to open the mold and remove the handle and any lead inside. Since it's hot just stick that end back into the ladle with the melted lead and it'll melt off shortly. Redo all of the pervious steps and try again. I've also found if you have a freeze like that. You can take the extra lead you have in your melting ladle and go ahead and pour it right into the location of the gate, while you have the mold over the extra ladle you can actually melt the freeze and continue to pour a hammer, although you run the possibility of a cold shunt or weak point in the hammer head. I've got a hammer I keep on my truck and I did this and ended up with a creased looking affair in it, but decided to try it and see how it worked. I've not had any problems with it, and I've used it severely and not had any problems. It's your decision if you want to do this or not. After you pour a hammer you need to wait a little while before you attempt to remove it. You can wait until it's completely cool or if your pouring more than one, you can wait about 5 to 10 minutes before you remove it. I open up the clamp and the lower mold half should open easily. Then I place the mold with the ladle bowl down and use a rod, placed right on the hinge to hold the mold down as I pull up on the handle of the hammer. Remember the vent and the gate are being pulled through their respective openings so it can be hard. Lay the hammer aside gently to cool, if it is still hot. This is what you should have. Next we'll clean the lead sprue and vent teat. If you have excessive lead sticking out from the gate opening and vent, you can use a hacksaw to trim it close. Or you can use a pair of side cutters to trim them close. Next I use a lead file to smooth any roughness off from the gate and vent area. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0273 Mini-Forge by Steven Walker Supplies needed to build: 10" long piece of pipe (I used 6" ID 1/4" thick) 2" long piece of 3/4" ID pipe steel plate Ka-wool (1" thick) thin firebrick MAPP gas torch with hose I had the need for a small portable forge that could be easily transported and built for very little money. I have a camp on the Pearl River in Mississippi and wanted to be able to hammer some iron while there but didn't want to go to the expense or trouble of building a second full-blown forge. I already have a gas forge built from a Freon tank but it is permanently secured to a rolling cart in my shop and would not be easy to transport. And I wanted to be able to quickly pick a forge up, throw it in the back of the truck and go so I needed a forge that was very small, lightweight, easy to build and cost very little. I looked at several designs and including the bean-o-matic but it seemed just too small. I needed something a little larger. Please note that I got the idea for this forge from Larry Zoeller's web site so I want to give due credit to him for this design. First thing you need to do is weld the plate on one end of the pipe. I used an 8"x8" 1/8" thick plate because I had it laying around the shop. I decided not to cut it down smaller because the excess on the bottom would be used as a foot for the back of the forge. I place a brick under the front to support the front. You could fabricate legs, but the brick works good for me. Next you need to drill a 3/4" hole in the big pipe halfway from front to back. I oriented this to be about 22 degrees from top. Then weld the 3/4" pipe over the hole you just drilled in the big pipe. Next drill and tap the 3/4" pipe for the thumbscrew so that you can secure the MAPP torch head when in use. Now that the mini forge is mocked up, measure the circumference of the inside of the pipe and cut the Ka-wool to match to line the inside of the pipe. The easiest way to get the Ka-wool into place in the pipe is to roll it tight, insert it into the pipe and and then relax the roll. Then measure and cut another small, round piece to line the plate on the back, inside of the forge. Next measure the width and length of the floor of the forge. Cut the firebrick the width and length necessary and place inside forge to be used as the hearth. I used a tile saw that I had on hand to cut the firebrick but you could use a circular saw, miter saw grinder with proper blade. As an option you could coat Ka-wool with ITC-100 to help hold the heat, but I haven't seen the need in the little forge. I had everything on had for this project in my scrap pile except for the MAPP gas torch. I purchased a Bernz O Matic model # JTH7 MAPP gas torch at my local Ace Hardware store for about $30. This kit comes with the MAPP gas cylinder torch head and hose. Having the hose let me hang the bottle nearby and only mount the head in the forge. Also see Pic1. Without the hose, I would have had to fabricate some way to hold the bottle on the side of the forge when inserting the head in the 3/4" pipe. For this reason, I opted for the torch head with hose. These can also be found at Lowe's, Home Depot and some Wal-Marts. As you can see, the little forge get pretty hot. I was able to heat and bend a railroad spike fairly easy. To help hold the heat, I placed a couple of firebricks at the front to open and close the forge opening as needed. The spike twisted. One more thing you could do that I haven't done yet is to cut a hole in the plate in the back of the forge so that you could push longer stock through the forge to heat farther down a piece of stock. The spike knife a little farther along. This forge serves me well for the purpose intended. When not being used, I can remove the torch head from the forge body and and it stores easy. It is light and can be moved to other locations really easily. To set up, all you have to do is insert the torch head in the side of the forge body, tighten the thumbscrew and light the torch. After a couple of minutes, you are up to forging heat. View full article

The link is to an OSHA report on the subject of the dangers of 55 gallon drums. Thanks JimC for the email. NIOSH Safety and Health Topic: Traumatic Occupational Injuries Construction Fatality Investigation Reports 98IA045 IA Arc Welder Dies in Explosion While Using an Old Barrel as a Worktable

Why are we considering polution of the air, coating the forge, forge hood, and chimney with material you don't want to breathe for 8 feet of scrap steel? Next fire you will get that residual powder coat hot again only this time not even thinking about breathing the left overs. There are too many springs in the world that are not powder coated to try to clean up the one that is powder coated. Just find another spring. If the powder coating were zinc we would bring up the name Jim "Paw Paw" Wilson and his death and try to guide folks away from using the stuff in a fire. Why not do the same for powder coating?

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0270 Chimney Sweep by Jens Butler aka Oakwood My father has a little problem with birds nesting in his chimney, the first time he went to light a fire this fall, he got smoked out. So here is my solution to remove the nests. Most Chimneysweeps should have at least one tool like this; it screws on to the end of their brush extensions. This guys brush extensions happen to have 3/8 inch pipe thread on them. . . These are made by pointing a piece of 5/16 inch rod and coiling it around the horn of the anvil, simply weld to a 3/8 inch black-iron pipe coupler. Works real slick for removing tightly packed bird nests from stove pipes or chimneys. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0269 Hardie Hole Spacer by Bob Elliot and Glenn Conner If you are working on two anvils with two different size hardie holes, many times the quick way to make things work is to make a spacer - not a new anvil tool. Take a piece of angle iron that will fit into the large hardie hole. Cut it 1 inch to 1-1/2 inches deep at the fold. Put it in the vise and bend both sides of the cut away from the inside of the angle. Now all you have to do is to slip it into the hardie hole. And your anvil tool with the smaller hardie post will work on the big anvil with the big hardie hole. Another way to do the same thing is by using a piece of tubing and flaring the top edge a bit so it does not go into the hardie hole. And yes, the photo is a bit strange as that is a 3/4 inch hardie hole on the anvil and a 1 inch piece of tubing. But is was taken this way to show the difference in sizes. View full article

The stuff is a pain to remove no matter what the method. Local powder coater sand blasts to clean the metal before powder coating and says it is the only way to removed the powder coating if needed. Having an industrail sand blaster available may have something to do with that decision. Easy answer, look for another spring to use.

I have had several pieces powder coated. The finish is prone to chipping. Once the finish is compromised, water gets in and rust starts. The rust will run under the finish poping it off. Repair is to remove the powder coat from the entire piece (sandblasting) and refinish. Look at the ironwork that has lasted 50 years, 100 years, or more. It was maintained on a regular basis. And not with a $2 can of spray paint.

At some point your business will change hands. Chris Pook Blacksmith (or Blacksmithing) is good for your ego but very poor for the new owners ego, unless his name is Pook. The name should be short and memorable, and give the viewer some idea of what is being done. If you select the business name as a marketable commodity it will add value to the business at the time of sale. Most like the new owner will not have to change stationary, advertising campaigns, or phone numbers, which is a plus, and more money at the time of the sale.