Glenn

There are times you heat and beat metal. Then there are those ideas that pop up and you feel the need to go from concept to production. This VW has two engines making the car a hybrid? New VW hybrid - click here.

Let's not get into a glass being half full or half empty. Just top off the glass (or mug) and enjoy the yarn.

I would normally read this 5.9m or 6 meters minus one decimeter, or 5 meters and 9 decimeters. 5.91 would then be 5 meters, 9 decimeters, and 1 centimeter. Therefore 5.9123 would be 5 meters, 9 decimeters, 1 centimeter, 2.3 millimeters (getting just a little bit closer to 6 meters). Am I missing something in the translation?

I use architectural scales in 3", 1-1/2", 1", 3/4", 1/2", 3/8", 1/4", 3/16", 1/8", 3/32" of an inch, imperical rulers in 1/16", 1/32" and 1/64", a yard stick, engineering scales in 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 divisions to the inch, a 30.5 centimeter ruler, and a meter stick. Then there are grids papers in 1", 1/2", 1/4", 1/5", 1/8" and 1/10", as well as common logarithm (base 10), the natural logarithm (base e), and the binary logarithm (base 2) grids, and metric grids. I also have some 12-15 other rulers in measurements that are not so common, and a couple of speciality rulers that are "no to scale" to fit drawings that were "not to scale" either. This does not address the travlers, calipers, micrometers, hammer, tongs, anvil, and etc. that a blacksmith uses for measuring. IForgeIron > tricks > measuring has several ways to measure things. It is worth looking at if you have not read the material recently. Working with a specific measurement is not a problem, but please, do not mix two or more units of measure on the same plan sheet or drawing.

Do you want to divide fractions, or decimals base 10? Imperical or metric both work, only one is easier. Just be sure to note on those shop drawings which is which, as decimal fractions and decimal metric look the same.

Do a search on IForgeIron for "fume fever" to get started. Then Google "metal fume fever" and "heavy metal poisioning". Grinding on galvanized material also puts zinc particles into the air as dust. Getting different materials containing zinc hot can release zinc fumes, brazing for instance. Zinc is not the only heavy metal that causes concern. Welders have problems from inhalation of the welding smoke and the materials (heavy metals and otherwise) that the smoke contains. When you get your research complete, please present it as a Blueprint as a reference for others.

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved. BP0244 Junk Yard Visit by Glenn Conner A fellow who was new to blacksmithing that was having trouble finding tools and materials with which to work, was getting frustrated trying to find a "real" anvil. Several folks were trying to help in his quest and suggested that until he found an anvil, anything with a mass of about 100 pounds would work, but he could not picture it in his mind. This is normal till someone SHOWS you what they mean. All our lives, we have been taught to look at things. As a blacksmith you need to LOOK at an object not for what it was made to be, but rather to SEE it for what it can become or how it can be used. I spent only a couple of hours in the first junk yard I found, (NOT the one I frequent), to try and locate anything that could be used by a new blacksmith, and specifically trying to locate something that could be used as an anvil. That truck bed in the middle of the heap would make a great small shop floor. Getting it home may be a bit of a problem, but that is not the point. IF you could get it home, it could be used as a 8x12 foot shop floor. The break drum is much too large for a forge, but the rectangular tubing is great for stock and it is easily hauled in a pick up truck. The break drum would, however, make a good solid base for a vise or portable workbench. In the center of the photo are 2 mostly full 50-pound boxes of 7018 welding rod - junk for sure as they have drawn dampness. Lower right are two gas cylinders. The folks will cut the end off the cylinder for you. Those ends are used by armorers as a anvil. These are cylinder bottoms that have been used for making armour and candle cups. There is a white car rim, 4 of which were used in an earlier blueprint. This type rim can be used as a drum forge. But it is the floor jack in the center of the photo that caught my attention. The floor jack wheels and casters are heavy duty and are of use to a blacksmith. Yes it is belly up, but I did not expect a neon sign with an arrow pointing to it either. That big thing in the lower center of the photo is a drill bit that weighs about 100 or so pounds and screws into a 4" pipe. This is the right weight but wrong shape for an anvil. First good hit on something we can use - tongs. Ok, the 3 foot handles and the jaws need a little work to be usable to a beginning smith, but it is a good trade item. Those I beams certainly hold promise in construction or cribbing. Almost anvil material. They were chopping up Rail Road track into 4 foot lengths. This was light weight track, but if it were heavier, it could be used as an anvil by burying it end first into the ground. What really caught my eye was the swage block in the lower center of the photograph. Turns out it was NOT a swage block but a rubber bumper from something. RATS ! Now the piece of grating in the upper right hand corner of the picture, laid over a barrel cut off one ring high with water in it, it makes a good thing on which to use a plasma cutter. The water does a pretty good job of absorbing the fumes and vaporized metal from the plasma. Next I found some hydraulic cylinders 5 feet long with a 2" piston in a 4" tube. Great item but the length is a bit long. Ok we found our anvil! Under the chain link is a counter weight from a Michigan crane that was cut up. The thing is a foot thick and 5-6 feet long weighing several hundred pounds. The flat surface on top (as in the photo) and a slight curved surface on the facing edge would work well for shaping and it also has a flat end if you bury it in the ground. Its made of cast iron but will work in a pinch. But what about the truck rim with tire still on it. It makes a good vise base and is more stable with the tire on it and less noisy to use. Now the old fork truck caught my eye. Fork trucks have forks, and sure enough, there they are to the right. The mast from the old fork truck could be modified for use on the 3 point hitch of a farm tractor. In that pile are 25-30 forks maybe 1-1/2" think and 5 inches wide. Forklift forks are very good tough steel, and forks bring a premium from the farmers because they are hard to obtain, so they would be good for resale. Forks are close to 5 feet long on one side and 2 feet on the other. Let's see, they already have a cutting torch in use, why not ask to have a foot cut off the 2 foot side and then bury the 5 foot side a couple of feet into the ground or in concrete. Anvil of maybe 100 pounds, with a stand, and a 5x12" working surface with a nice radius on the bend edge. This is another candidate for an anvil. Solid material that has a lot of weight and several shapes, both inside and outside curves, that can be used. This is several hundred pounds of steel so you would need to use caution in moving it as large amounts of weight are unforgiving, and want to flop over. If you’re in the way - you can get hurt. That is a 3 inch wire rope or cable in the photograph. With all the talk about making cable knives, I had visions of needing a power hammer to convince this it wanted to be a sword. All that changed when I started looking behind the cable and found (L-2-R top row) a Rigid pipe vise for up to 4" pipe, a coal mine digging bit, a 12 ton bottle jack, a hammer-pick combination, (L-2-R bottom row) an axe head, hammer head, jaw for a pipe wrench, and a second axe head. The roller bearings caught my eye here. No idea what they can by used for but hard as can be. Maybe a hammer head if I get time. The 55 gallon drum can be used as a forge - see the blueprint called "55 Forge". But the thing at the base of the 55 gallon drum was more interesting. This is the digger on a coal mining machine. They cut off part of the auger and bit from the much larger part. That is about 75 pounds or more of solid metal with a 4x6 flat surface on the top. The mine bit is not in the preferred angle for a horn but very serviceable. I think we got an anvil !! As I tucked the prize under my arm with the intention of offering it to a newbie that wanted to get started in blacksmithing, I happened by chance to see a square block of steel with a flat surface behind the barrel Once I had enough junk moved to dig it out .. .. .. I not only found an anvil but the anvil had a vise attached !! This is one of those cute do-all machines sold to Happy Homeowner. For blacksmithing it is useful only as a conversation piece, maybe light work at best. But it is a good trade item for bigger and better things. To the right collector - if you could find him - it would make his dream come true. Don't get me wrong, it can be a useful item, but it is NOT an anvil, or vise, that can be hammered on. Just a mountain of junk. Not much to offer. WARNING: Heavy blacksmith content to follow. Those with weak hearts are ask to proceed with caution. But, wait, what is that green thing at the end of the arrow ? Looks like a motor. It is a bit of a hike around that mountain of junk but turn the corner, crawl over some things and walk around others and .. .. and .. .. Nothing but an old lathe. Now who would throw away and old lathe ? The motor on the lathe was not nearly high enough to be the motor I saw, but wait - what are those handles (see arrows) attached to ?? Oh, that, nothing but an old radial arm drill press. Not much use to a blacksmith. So, back to the lathe. The cuttings are still on the ways. This was must have been pulled out of service and taken straight to the junk yard. Now if only they had a old Hay-Budden, Peter Wright, or Peddinghaus anvil, still attached to a stump, like I was looking for when I started this blueprint, I could get excited. As it is, I will have to continue to search for an anvil. The lathe, there will always be a lathe available when I need it, and as for that piece of junk (well it was in the junk yard) drill press, those are a dime a dozen. A COLLECTIVE GASP goes up from blacksmiths everywhere!! You have just stumbled onto the two pieces of wonderful equipment that most blacksmiths search for YEARS and do not find. Yes they are big and heavy. But those tools have generated millions of dollars of profit in their lifetime, are still in great shape (taken out of service while in use) and can generate many more dollars if you just learn to use them. You can most likely trade either the lathe or the drill press for the anvil. Blacksmiths will gladly help find you the anvil, but they will buy you an anvil to trade for what you are about to walk away from, and let be cut up as scrap. Look for what you want, but do not overlook other opportunities on the way. Take time and smell the roses. It may be disguised as a big green motor that is higher than normal on the junk pile. The photos for this blueprint were taken Thursday and when I returned Monday morning everything except the truck bed and counter weight had been cut up for scrap and was GONE ! A fitting end would be the statement, "One man's junk is another man's treasure." View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved. BP0243 The basic rules of finding and trading. Check those dumpsters/trash piles might just have something good this time Take never expect something to be there when you come back (basic tools & gloves & a tarp for dirty stuff in the vehicle at all times) Explore rivers in old industrial parts of town can be a steel mine...be safe though! Ask if you are nice you can often get stuff with no hassles Think what businesses might have good stuff or come across good stuff---that knife made from a RR spike might be paid for in anvils when you make it for a scrap/junk dealer Neatness Counts Leave the area nicer than when you arrive encourages businesses to call you to haul off good stuff to "neaten up" Safety Always Gloves, boots even a hard hat comes in handy to let the owners not worry about you hurting yourself and suing them. Watch out for cars when you stop alongside the road for road kill iron. Constant Vigilance I once ended up getting a 125# Peter Wright anvil and a 6" post vise cause I noticed the vise leaning against a barn while doing a test drive on a car we were buying... I always ask folks with "barn junk" at the flea market about the heavy stuff they didn't bring. I spotted a keg down in the ditch near a RR crossing on the way to a smithing meeting---2/3 full of new HC spikes they were not willing to haul it back up the hill when they cleaned up after redoing the crossing---we were. Coming back from a Dr's visit the summer I had pneumonia I got my wife to stop the car and let me pick up the sledgehammer alongside the road---took me 1/2 and hour to catch my breath. Thomas Talk to that old geezer who wants to talk your ear off---well it turns out he worked for an anvil manufacturer and tells of there being a row of anvils alongside the river bank when they closed the plant down (true tale!). A fellow selling oily car parts howdy'd me at a flea market. I didn't need car parts but it turns out his uncle wanted to sell an anvil---515# Fisher in mint condition for $350. Chuck Be nice You forgot about taking doughnuts to the scrap yards .BOG. I'll also tell about one that got away. I went to a junkyard one day and found the largest Edwards shear I have ever seen - probably would have sheared 1x8 flat and had a 1" punch setup. The ONLY problem was a set of broken blades. Instead of going to the front desk and putting my name on it, I went home and thought about where to put it, how to haul it, etc. This was Saturday morning so I figured Monday was safe but the yard already had it on a truck to the local mini-mill so it was really gone - melted down! HWooldridge That is one of the best list of rules I have ever seen - it should be preserved for posterity in a blueprint or something similar. I would also add "TRADE" because you can often score something really fine for something you didn't need. I once traded a plain .22 S&W pistol for a 250# Fisher and a 180# Mouse hole in great shape - we were both happy. Now to apply those rules Well as to following home, I went to a yard and saw a big fly press on its side with weeds growing through it. So I got out my rule and gave it once over. There was no one around, so I found a bar and stood the fly press up. I had a horse to shoe so I went to shoe the horse thinking to grab it later. Got the shoes on the nag, went back and the press had gone. Well nothing for it but go home, all the time wishing I hadn't stood it up for the world to see. Back at the smithy stood in front of the door, the fly press. I had to move it to get in. A day or so later a man that worked at the yard told me the boss saw me and told them to take it my budding smithy to stop me from pinching it, and if I had he wouldn't let me in the yard again. He never charged me for it and never spoke about it, until I mentioned it. He told me he thought I was going to take it the way I was looking around, and he didn't want me to get into any bad habits. bruce wilcock Hmm... I don't have pictures, but a floor washer chassis followed me home recently, with motors and miscellany still attached... heavy sucker, too. Let's see... axle, shocks, rims, and disc weights from the local Goodyear's dumpster. Loads of stuff from UH including scrap steel, kiln shelving, Duraboard, and other goodies. One time 13 computers followed me home from school. That was fun. (No, I didn't steal them... they were being thrown away) Hmm. A lot of other stuff, for sure -- mostly from dumpsters, but other places too. T-Gold A fair amount of things seem to find their way into my pickup bed when I am driving around. It seems that a Sunday afternoon and early evening ride around the neighborhood is always a good time for doing some reclamation. Lets see, iron bed frames are always volunteering to become light weight angle iron for stands and brackets. And then those empty metal buckets from the dumpster at work become coal shuttles and small quench tanks at demos. Then there was the new style disk brake drum which transformed itself after I found it next to a trash can into the forge pot for my coal forge. A home weightlifting gym provided square tubing for my anvil stand. And a few blowers from evaporator coils on home air conditioners provide circulating air in the shop in last summer, though only the smaller ones are 120 volts. The Other Dave from Louisiana I have been fortunate enough to have been given several items over the years - sometimes because it was just 'right place and right time' and sometimes in exchange for work instead of cash. Several years ago, I got a 500 gal propane tank when the company I worked for switched to electric forklifts, then they gave me a 3 ton gantry crane with hoist because it was too tall for one of the areas in the plant. Later, they gave away a couple of MIG's and a bunch of pipe fittings. Another company I worked for sold me two Bridgeport mills for $300 because they were extras and in the way. I sold one for $600 and kept the other. Although it has no digital readouts, it's in almost new condition despite being made in the '60's. On another occasion, I helped a fellow do some work on a large power hammer and he gave me some sheet metal working tools (a Beverly shear and a Niagara slip roll). Another fellow sold me a MIG with a bad contact for $100 - I replaced the contact for $40 and still have the welder. I haven't always done this well but it usually works out to a favorable conclusion... HWooldridge Went to the junk yard today to finally get rid of some small drops and short pieces of little use. Fellow pulled up beside me in a pickup with the rims almost touching the ground. He had cleaned out a garage and everything in the truck was rust perforated or rust. Nothing worth even a second look. At the bottom of his load he put a couple of pick axe heads and a maddock head off to the side and saved them for himself. But he threw a pry bar into the junk pile. It was one of the straight ones, with the bottom 1/3 square, the center third hex, and the top third round. The working end had a single bevel. I said he may want to keep that bar. He said no one uses them any more, you can't sell them, it's junk. Usually these are about 1" square stock and about 4-5 feet long. But this thing was 2 inches by 2 inches square, a full 6 feet long, and weighed most of 50 pounds. I ask the weigh master what he wanted for the bar, and he said to put it on my truck before I weighed out. I owe the weigh master a favor now, got the bar in exchange for small unusable pits of stock - weight for weight. Glenn Five feet of 12inch chimney flue. JimG Just a few weeks ago this one followed me home, the junk man said "the boss is not here, Throw them in your truck an git" The tank is about 40" long and 16" diameter. I've started making the forge out of this, I'm gonna cut maybe 18" off and seal up an end and make the other the door. Bwilloughby What was in the tank? Have you cut into it yet? I am not trying to mind your business, but please be SURE you know what was in the tank before you start to cut into it. You sound like a neat person and I would hate for you to go boom Leah A local guy was trying to rid his barn of some clutter. And I heard exactly what he thought was "clutter": A 3ft. section of rail road track with a horn on on one end, and a crude pritchel hole on the other, 6 pairs of old loose rusted tongs, and a 1.27lb straight pein hammer head. And a bowie knife he started and never finished.... primtechsmith This is what I had followed me home this week. I had this given to me by a buddy's son. My buddy passed away about a year and a half ago. This guy was a handy man deluxe! If you went to the lumber yard and they didn't have a fitting you needed right now, they'd send you to this guy, more than likely he'd have it. He could fix anything and had a fantastic collection of parts and such from his days of installing and uninstalled big power plant engines. He has a whole shop full of stuff that he'd gathered up over the years. A 36" or 48" foot shear, a 12' brake, and about 5 or 6 of these beaders. Most are Pexto but this one is different from the rest. I asked the son about one of them and he said if you want it, "we can just throw it on your truck right now, I'm tired of tripping over it"! Somehow it'd got tossed outside into the middle of a "path" and the son isn't much into keeping things picked up. It's stuck and I'll have to take it apart and go though it, but for free, hey, you can't beat it. Plus I like working on this kind of stuff. Also it was from one of my best friends, so that adds a lot to it! The only dies are the ones that are on it right now. It is a Niagra. meco3hp They must grow some big oaks in Ky. This "Acorn" Platen was just laying there on the side of the road. The fellow said he would like it to find a "good home" where it could be used. He even loaded it onto the truck !! The truck's 350 v-8 had no problem pulling, but the trucks brakes were lacking in performance. I will try to get it measured and weighed tomorrow, and then formulate some idea of how to unload it - safely. In case you noticed, that IS a full size pallet under the thing. Glenn What an AWESOME score. An excellent addition to the shop! Ed Thomas I'm green with "acorn envy"...bet it weighs close to 1000 lbs. Good find! HWooldridge That Acorn Platen weighed in at 2100 pounds. Now to find Whitesmith so he can lift his side, scoot it off the truck, and we can carry it to where it wants to live. Glenn Glenn, You're gonna love that table! I rigged two chains through the holes and had a tractor set it onto the base i made, at the doorway of the shop. Then I borrowed a pallet jack from a friends store, did some constructive pallet jack expanding with 6x6 timbers, and rolled it right into place.. does it have 1-1/2 inch holes? If the holes are rough cast with dingleberries, I can show you a nifty broach i made to clean them to size... Mike-hr Those holes measure 1-13/16" so I need either at that size, or a loose 1-3/4". Either way, none of my hardie tools are anywhere close to fitting. There will be some custom tooling made, that is for sure. Glenn Sounds like an adaptor or two would help---spray paint them different colours so you know which one is for the 1" shanks, the 1.5" shanks, etc. Thomas Powers A machinists friend of mine dropped by my work this afternoon with a 5 gallon bucket of large used allen wrenches, said they were throwing them away at work. Anyone know what kind of steel these are ? Everything from 5/16 up to 3/4" was in there. Now to find a use for them. Oakwoodforge This is NOT where it ends. Go to www.iforgeiron.com > Blacksmithing > Blacksmithing General Discussion > It followed me home and see the rest of the story. Currently there are over 2900 posts to this thread. Other reference materials BP0244 Junk Yard Visit View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0253 Coat Hooks by Duck Evening all, my names Duck so save your fowl comments till the end. Tonight we will be making my version of COAT HOOKS. I start with 8” ” sq. stock and cut it down the middle for 3 & ¾ “. Next we will be splitting this cut on the hot cut hardy, and then take it to horn to split them out wide. After that use a small radius punch at the centre of the split to stop splitting further and to make a place for the button. Ouch! A button is just my way of making the split look better. Cut 1/4” round stock just a little longer than the ½” sq. stock and round both ends. Finish flattening out the two arms to a T shape. Square up one arm and draw to a flat point. Round the end of this arm up about half way back, and square up the rest of the arm if it needs it. The other arm is next, leave e square on the end as wide as your stock and draw down behind it. The edge of my anvil is not suitable for this so I use a square stake in the hardy hole. This is the start of my halfpenny snub-end scroll. At this point you should have forged an offset neck. So far the snub-end is still in the same plane as the arm, or the sides are all the same thickness. The finished scroll will be at 90 degrees to this. The button will be a quarter twist from the arm. Round the offset neck just behind the button or square on the end. With the hot button in the vise give it a quarter twist. This is the before and after Now square up the offset neck back to square, and all the evidence of the twist disappears. Rounding the button is next. On the flat edge of the stake or anvil set the inside point and hit the outside point of the square on the end of the arm. If they are difficult to line up bend the button over a little. To get the last point, flip the piece on its back on the anvil and tap the last point in. Dress up the shape if it needs it till its round. To get rid of the radius between the neck and the button use a curved hardy punch. Set the button on the sharp edge of the punch and give it a sharpe rap. Flip it on its back again and roll it up just a little. On the end of the other arm forge it to a circle but don’ t close it completely. This will allow you to slide handles onto the circle. Take the 1/4 inch round stock button you made and place it in the middle of the hot split and with a blunt punch hammer it into the centre of the split. While its still hot go to the anvil and close up the split. Now it should look something like this. To finish up heat the centre and bend the main body 90 degrees so the halfpenny snub-end scroll is the top of the coat hook. Next take the rat tail and carefully bending it 180 degrees using a half inch mandrill, drawing it past the main body so it can be used as a secondary hook. The last part to make I call the mounting plate. With a piece of 1/4 inch plate 2” square drill a 7/16 inch hole in the centre. Square up the hole with a square punch. Drill all four corners for 1/4 inch screws with counter sinks File the four sides of the coat hook base so you have a shoulder to fit into the centre of the mounting plate. Peen over the end of coat hook on the mounting plate Mount the hook on a board and hang up your coat. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0252 Spoon Gouge by Jens Butler aka Oakwood It all started this Saturday… I decided I needed a new dishing stump, I had decided to make some more copper candleholder cups and the old dishing block was split. So I selected a good seasoned Pin Oak stump , sat down with my best German made 1" straight gouge and on the second cut broke out a good sized half moon chip. Cursing and cussing myself for not having the right tool to do the job I set out to make one. This picture is of the broken store bought gouge and the one I made. I will be using a US made 3/8 Allen wrench, worn out of course, I like recycling old tools into new ones. Now to start a fire, I am using a wad of paper and a stick of fatwood, throw on a scoop of charcoal, start the blower on low … and light. Two minuets later… Taking a good orange heat ( It’s best to stay away from yellow heat on high carbon steels. A good rule of thumb is: Big flakes of scale - your burning carbon out of the steel, Small flakes of scale - you are safe ) I first straighten out the “ L “ over the horn first and then true it up on the face, sight down it and turn, you want it nice and straight. Keep in mind that this is high carbon steel and by the time I have taken most of these pictures the steel is too cold to hit. Now I will be forming the tang , using the front “ sharp “ edge of my anvil and a 1000g cross-pein, form a distinct shoulder. Don’t worry over it too much as we will be filing it square later, just keep it sort of even and in the center. Then taper the tang gently. I took 6 or 8 Heats to do this, as the ”window” were you can hit this stuff is pretty small. Here is how the shoulder will look after we file it down. Now its time to start on the “fun“ end. Take a good orange heat and begin flattening out into a fishtail shape. Take another good orange heat Widen the fishtail with the cross pein It should look something like this Now using the step of the anvil (because I don't own a swage block), begin to make it concave. Just roll and tap, keep it good and hot, too cold and you will crack it. Use the horn to even it out if you get it lopsided, once again don’t worry too much because we will be doing a fair amount of stock removal before it’s all over . At this point it should look something like this. For a straight gouge stop forging here. For a spoon bent gouge hold the “ blade “ off the back side of the anvil, give it one good tap. The top view. Now Place a small ball-pein hammer in the vise ( facing ball side up ) take one more heat and just even out the cup of the gouge. Sometimes I like to put a little twist in my wood working tools, if you want to now is the time. Now set it off to one side and let it cool slowly, (DON’T QUENCH !!! ) this is a good time for a lunch break or move on to you next forging project, I did 2 gouges, a skew chisel and a RR spike knife in the in-between times. When it is cool enough to handle file the shoulder nice and square. It should look something like this: Now on to the blade, As I don’t currently have a working belt grinder, I am doing this the old fashioned way … Files and sandpaper. Smooth out the bottom and the inside of the spoon, for the inside I used sandpaper, just wrap it around a dowel or stick. I then started a 30 Deg bevel, leaving about a 1/16th of an inch un-sharpened. Too thin and it will burn up in the heat treat. This is what it should look like If you let the fire die down, re-start it, add a large amount of charcoal, while you are waiting on the fire, cut 2 rings off a piece of ¾” gas pipe Using ring tongs and the horn of the anvil to size the ring to fit your chosen handle material, red oak is traditional, I however am breaking from tradition and using seasoned birch with the bark still on it. Now that I have a good deep pile of burning charcoal I am ready to start heat treating, I usually do several at once. My oil tank is a large stainless steel stock pot with a lid, one of those cheap-o ones from Wally world. Here are the four items I will be heat treating. I usually hold at a good cherry ( non magnetic) red for at least 30-60 seconds on something this small, To quench , plunge down into oil, moving up and sown , don't swirl. If it catches fire drop the lid on , it will go right out. To temper something like this I usually heat the "shank" keeping the blade away from the fire, for wood working tools the shank will be blue and the faintest hint of straw bleeding into the edge. when this happens quench again in oil. This is a pic of the skew chisel not the gouge but you get the idea. Now for some work on the handle, while the blade is in the solvent tank degreasing (spaying with brake cleaner and wiping with a rag works too). Take the chosen handle material and taper the ends slightly so the hoops will just start to go on. You want them to fit really tight, drive them on with a hammer, on the " striking end" you want the wood to stick up above the hoop 1/8th inch to protect your chisel hammer or mallet from striking the hoop. If the tang of the gouge is 1/4 " square drill a pilot hole 3/16" for oak or 1/8th" for softer woods, make sure the pilot hole is the length of the tang. Wire brush the blade heavily to remove any scale from the heat treat To assemble, simply drive the the tang into the handle, if you hooped the handle right and drilled the pilot hole big enough it wont split. I finished with sandpaper up to 320 grit and sharpened on my gouge designated water stones (they have a grove worn in them) I like water stones personally, they seem to give me a better edge especially on harder tool steels. Be sure to soak the water stones for a few hours before you need them, my finish stone is a 2000 grit, no real need to go much further than that on just a wood gouge. Now to try it out! Using a spoon bent gouge is different than other gouges, rather than pushing or hammering you just kind-of pry out the shavings, working from the center out. really works great on tough end grain, just what I needed to carve my dishing stump. A view of the gouge in use. A close up view of the gouge in action. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0251 Making a Smithing Hammer by Bill Epps I started with 3 in of 2 in round 4140. It was squared up, and I roughed out the pein in the power hammer (#50 LG). The mark on the hammer head is for the slitting punch that I use to start the hole for the handle. This is the slitting punch I will use. I use green coal in the slit to keep the punch from sticking and letting the punch get to hot you have to keep the punch cool and hot let it get to hot. After taking a good heat, start the slitting punch --you have to get the piece good and hot. Drive the slitting punch about 3/4 of the way through the block from one side, then finish from the other side. I use green coal dust in the hole as a lubricant to make the punch release, remember not to let the punch get to hot or it will deform. After driving the slitting punch all of the way through the block, then I am ready to use a drift to size and shape the hole so it will fit the handle. I use standard store bought hammer handles. I made this drift from one inch round bar. I left it long enough to be used for a handle under the power hammer and use anti seize compound as a lubricant. After driving the drift through the slitted hole (driving it from both sides, top and bottom) so the hole is bell mouthed on both sides, I went to the power hammer. With the thickest side of the eye up, I square up the sides, keeping the thickest side up will bring the hole back to the center. After the hole is to size and shape, I went to the vice and flattened the face and let the face flair a little. Now I harden the face and pein of the hammer head, (just the face and pein need to be hardened) the center part including the eye is left SOFT. After hardening the face and pein and doing some cleanup grinding, I install the handle, tune the hammer handle, and the hammer face, and here is Leah's new hammer. The finished 2 lb. 5 0z. hammer. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved. BP0242 55 Storage Solutions by Glenn Conner There are times we just need a place to store things. And there is never enough room for all the stuff we need to store. I have heard the collective sigh from blacksmiths everywhere and offer the following solution. First you need a couple of 55 gallon steel drums. 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 volatile 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. First you need a couple of 55 gallon steel drums and remove the heads from the end that DOES NOT have the bung holes. Now hammer flat the cut edge. This is best done by using a hammer to hit the cut edge while backing up the opposite surface with another hammer. Then remove the 3/4 inch or small bung plug.The open bung should go at the bottom on the back. This will let any water that gets into the drum to drain out. You are looking for storage and not planning to build a mosquito farm. OK, you need a couple of more drums, as you found you had more stuff. These are full size drums with only the non-bung head removed. Like I said, you may need a few more drums as blacksmiths can find a lot of stuff that needs stored. I counted the drums in between the near post and the second post and arrived at 23 each 55 gallon drums. Think of it as recycling the drums, at least that is what you can tell the wife. Besides, now you can find most of your stuff, if you can just remember which drum you put it in. You may considering a golf cart to ret rive the stuff from the far end as the walking back and forth is starting to add up in miles. This is the way the drums were supported. Just a few scrap 2x4s and your in business. But, then you found more stuff, and had to put two rows of storage back-to-back. Oh well, at least it is organized now. View full article

A knife Garey Ford just finished.

One more anvil added to the group.

Leah, your father left you with both memories and a craft. Our condolenses to you and your family. Your on the list.

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0293 Shop Math Made Easy Finding the Center of a Circle or Arch by Rick of Ricksironworks Don't understand algebra" Geometry not in your vocabulary? Running out of soapstone on figuring? No problem. Here is a simple method to find the center of a circle or arch, which makes it easy for anyone. Start with a circle or arch (part of a circle). Make marks on the circle or arch in 3 different places, no need to measure. In fact, there is no measuring involved. We set a compass to some undetermined amount. Put the point of the compass on each of the marks and draw a circle. Draw a line connecting the intersections of the red - green circles, and another line connecting the intersections of the green - blue lines. Where the two lines cross is the center of the circle. View full article

BP0167 by Paw Paw and Jim Carothers

Your link does not work. May I suggest you "attach" the image to the post by using the manage attachments file and then either browse your hard drive or use the direct url to the image. The image may NOT be behind a password protected folder or site.

Just a couple of loose wraps of light chain will reduce the ring of the anvil. Bolting the chain to the stump keeps the anvil from walking.

Ok it is a little old, tired and was found in a junk yard. Would you bring it home? Rest of the story? French anvil dated 1723. A French rohset on the side, an "MN" Monarchy Napoleon on the other side. Found in a junk yard in the old town of Jaffa.

Most folks have an anvil of sorts. Show me what you use and how it is set up. That way we can er-borrow ideas to use.

Ok, it is a post vise without the post, or a leg vise without the leg. Any suggestions on what it really is and why it has no leg? And if it has no post, how can it be a post vise?

No, sadly it did not follow me home, but I did find a nest of anvils. The one bottom front is 372 pounds. Ahhhh, to choose just one and offer it a new home. Decisions, Decisions.

Show me your vise and how it is set up.

Leaping Lizzards !! Do an internet search on that critter and find out more about him. Do a web search on herpetology, Reptile, Amphibian, Lizards, or Identification. Chances are you may want to reconsider and keep them around. If nothing else, capture one and take it to the county extension agent for identification. Those folks can most likely identify it, and provide a wealth of information on the subject. Be thankful they are not little baby skunks :)