Glenn

Ed does have a point, a cute name may not be taken as seriously as a more generic or "business" name. Plan on creating a business so it can be sold easily at a later date. Would you buy an established blacksmith shop named "Ed Thomas's Blacksmith, Wheelwright, and Old Time Repair Shop" ? Can you imagine writing a check and having to enter the full name of the shop "Ed Thomas's Blacksmith, Wheelwright, and Old Time Repair Shop" on the pay to line ? If you own the business and your name is not Ed Thomas, can you imagine the questions "Who is Ed Thomas ?" Now can you imagine writing a check to the "Ten Hammers Blacksmith Shop" ? If your name is Ed Thomas, you could own the "Ten Hammers Blacksmith Shop" and no one would ask questions. And thank you both, Ed Thomas and Ten Hammers for the use of your names. I doubt that either shop is for sale, but you may want to contact them directly just to be sure. :D

Blackstone Forge was chosen because I use black stones as fuel for the forge. ( black stones = coal ).

Rantalin, you may want to check on the now famous 55 Forge Blueprint. It is not a permant forge but will get the job done.

I have started a new topic Cost of Doing Business. It parallels this thread but offers a challenge to anyone wanting to figure it out cost and profits on one project. The best way to discuss this is with numbers from your shop. No matter where the steel comes from, you have to pay $$ to get it, or walk away. Don't let this take away from Ten Hammers topic. After we find out how much money we are making, we will turn back to this thread to find out how to market the products better and make more money. :D

Cash flow goes in two directions. We should try to keep it flowing in the positive direction if at all possible. One of the things I have not seen is now do you arrive at the cost of your product ? Fuel cost for the forge, Utilities cost, Equipment cost, Labor cost and Stock cost ("FUELS") all must be paid before there is any profit. All "FUEL" must be in place before any stock can be cut or bent, and it is paid for up front by you. Also notice that all "FUELS" are labeled "cost" as in no profit. The equation is now FUELS You also have to add Transportation costs (T) to the mix. You go to meet with the customer to work out the details, and then deliver the finished product to his door. Your also running your truck to the steel yard for stock, so you have costs of the truck, insurance, gasoline, oil, tires, etc. You giving all that away ? Oh yes, Insurance. Who pays when you get hurt? Or someone else gets hurt and wants you to pay? And you want some profit in there somewhere. The equation is now FUELS + TIP ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I would like to see how you folks go about the business of business. UP FRONT Give us your next project and your selling price up front. THEN Keep complete and acurate logs. Show us all related costs on that project. All - every little bit of the Fuel, Utilities, Equiptment, Labor in hours, Stock cost, and Transporation in miles. We can estimate insurance. Oh yes the labor in keeping track also. All this is COST - NO PROFIT. This is your "CODB" Cost Of Doing Business. We can then subtract your CODB from your selling price and the difference is profit. Now there is a challenge - any takers ?? It is only for one project. Should be real quick and easy. But be fair and count every bean - no freebes.

Ratanlin Join us Tuesday at the Tuesday Night Live Blueprints May 3. I went to a junk yard yesterday just to look around to see if there was anything that would substitute for an anvil. I will not say whether it was a success or not, cause you have to wait till the Blueprint comes out Tuesday. I can say it was interesting, and I have the photos. It has been said before and diserves repeating. Look everywhere and ask everyone to aid in your search for an anvil. No NOT expect it to be given to you for free, you will have to pay for it in some way. If money is in short supply, provide them with work that you have created on the anvil instead. Whitesmith did just that when he started. He ask and finally was offered an anvil for sale. He worked for it and bought it with his own money made from blacksmithing. He still uses the anvil today and it will serve him well for his lifetime. They are out there. Learn to use Yesteryearforge's offering and the experience will be of great value when you find an anvil. You will already have hammer time and practice. Yesteryearforge - my hat is off to you sir.

Any time you put tension on a long hitch like that, it is always a good idea to a towel, blanket, etc over the chain/cable. If anything were to break, it acts as a parachute and slows things down. When using a vehicle to pull, it you can see the cloth leave the ground, just before things get tight. It is always nice to put a couple of pinel size rings into their own footer before the concrete floor is poured. Use them to hook on to and pull things into the shop. The ones I saw were recessed in the floor with a 1/4" piece of plate steel as a cover when not in use. There was enough room in the recess for a screw-pin clevis to attach things to.

T-Gold works glass and if I recall correctly, he suggested that using a coal forge and blowing glass did not work well together. Something about the dirt and uneven heat. We need to get his input into the forum on that one.

Ed, in reference to your choice of hats for a mid-1800's - right amount of stripes but I would want to count and compare the number of stars for mid-1800's :wink:

Sure Weld from Mustad - Where do you obtain that?

Here is a tanto I finished today. 120 layers of 0-1 and 15n20. Overall length is 9 3/4 inches, blade is 4 1/2 inches long. Hardware is antiqued steel with a wood handle wrapped in leather and sealed. AlanB

. If anyone has any idea what this tool is, or what it is used for, please let me know. Possum

Powdered Steel Damascus Blade This is a powdered steel Damascus blade I made for John Salyers for his birthday. Woody

Hollis, this was originally posted on the IForgeIron stories page S019 Cutting Trees. Most are taken from actual events and actual trees being cut. This should have been pointed out at the beginning of the article. In no case were there injuries or damage to property.

If a neighbor asks you to cut a tree, no matter how easy it looks, say no. No matter how smart your dog is, do not let him go with you to cut down a tree. When you calculate the length of the tree and where it is going to fall, always add 1/3 more length to the measurement. Always top off the chain saw gas tank before starting to cut the tree. Find the path to run away from the falling tree BEFORE you start to cut. Make sure the path you select does not have small roller bearing limbs in the path, or high hurtle obsticals across the path. Once the tree starts to snap and pop, the tree IS falling. You can run faster without the chain saw in your hand. A dog will stand 1000 yards off to the side of a tree being cut. But they will insist on final inspection of the direction of fall by standing on the fall line and sizing up the situation. Once the snapping and popping starts and the tree actually STARTS to fall, only then will the dog will run - not to the side - but the length of the tree along the fall line with enough speed to overtake and pass a cheeta. Always block any road with an object that can NOT be moved. Orange cones won't work. Don't assume that because you told the neighbors wife not to use the road, she told her husband the same thing. It is not proper to test the brakes on the neighbors car, that drove around the orange cones, by having a dog dash across the road in front of his car doing very close to warp 9, immediately followed by a cheeta, and then a tree dropping in front of his hood orniment. Ear plugs make visual signals seem much more humorous than they were intended to be. Do not think of these visual signals as if they are a silent movie. Just because you have "good" neighbors since the first day you moved in, don't assume the relationship must or will continue for any longer than - - say yesterday. It is better to cut a hole in the tree the size for a car to pass then to cut up the entire tree. A simple thing like a loaf of bread and a 6 pack from the grocery is very important to some people, and can constitute an emergency in order to have the road cleared. When under duress to use a chain saw in an "emergency situation," 10 minutes can seem like 10 days before there are any tangable results. Do not use the truck to drag limbs down the road to another location. Cut a hole in the middle of the tree, the size a car can easily pass through. When the neighbor returns, from filing the IRS tax return at the post office, do not remind him that today is April 15, the post office does NOT close at 5:00 pm sharp, but stays open to midnight or after for those running late and still trying to get the tax return in before the deadline. Do not ask how large a tax refund he is getting this year. Try to remember it is not your fault that with his new job title and the overtime, it put him two tax brackets higher, and he now owes the IRS most of his overtime pay. Do not ask if that was the same overtime pay he used to purchase his new bass boat. Do not mention the "case" of beer under his arm looks "really good" or now thirsty you are now that you finished cutting the tree, and stacking all the wood. Do not let the neighbor see you insert your ear plugs as he gives you visual signals that are much more humorous than they were intended to be. Remember: Chain saws are for "personal use only" and are NOT to be used to help neighbors. Well maybe if the neighbor agrees to be a flagman on the road crew.

I drag the coals out onto the forge table and then use a shovel to move them to the bucket of water, mentioned above. The clinker, goo, etc goes to the bucket. Next day, it doesn't take long to sort out the clinker, and occational shale. Let the coke (now washed) dry a day ot two and it's ready to start a fire. During the summer, I save the coke back and use it for demos, real coal but no smoke. I do not use water to sprinkle a fire, or put water into the fire pot. Just what I am used to doing here.

Ed, When we build our home it was designed to be able to be heated on just wood should the electric or gas systems fail. During cold weather, the wood stove runs constantly, 24 hours a day. The batteries in the smoke detector are changed at the start of cold weather and tested on a monthly basis. We burn between 15 and 20 cords of wood a season. The hot ashes are removed and taken outside in a 5 gallon metal bucket and placed in the snow with a 1/4" plate steel cover on the top of the bucket. It many times takes 3 days for the ashes to get cold to the touch, even in below freezing weather. A change of wood from say oak to popular (logs in the woodstack) will greatly affect the way the fire burns and how hot the fire gets. We try to keep the wood from one log together when split and stacked. This is one reason we have two sides to the wood stack, one for daily use and one for night time use. All this is in a closed, airtight container, with someone being in the house most of the time. To leave a fire open and smoldering in a garage, smithy, or even outside, to save 15 minutes of my time or 7 minutes of your time is not something "I" would want to do. Your mileage may vary. Let's hear from a firefighter on this one.

Leaving a fire unattended is NOT a good idea. Ask any fireman. There are too many things that can go very wrong. A storm with wind could restart the fire, an animal could knock it over, or knock something onto the fire. IF there is a leak in an acetylene bottle, or propane tank, a spark is all that is needed to create one heck of a boom followed by fire - and a whole lot of fire - everywhere. The loss of everything you own, all your neighbors posessions, and maybe a whole city block of houses or businesses is not something I would want to explain to the fire dept, the authorities, and the neighbors. We will not mention the wife. Cleaning the fire out of the forge is the first thing I do as I shut down. I rake the fire out of the forge and put it (the fire) into a 5 gallon metal bucket of water. When the rest of the tools are put away, the forge usually has cooled enough to put my hand into the forge. If it is not cool enough to touch, I find something to do for a while. I sleep well at night knowing that the fire now out, and has 3 inches of water on top if it. To build a fire, two or three sheets of newspaper are set on fire and coke from the previous fire, or new coal is put on the paper. Add a little air and you have the fire started. If for some reason it is being stuborn, set fire to a couple sheets of paper and add sticks from the yard, pine cones, wood shavings, or whatever. When this catches, add coal. This second method also smokes much less as the fire consumes the coal smoke. The 15 minutes it takes to put a fire out, and the 15 minutes to build a fire the next time is just part of the blacksmithing process. Use the time to plan what you are going to do, and how your going to do it.

The foot is coming back very slowly. I can finally walk on it a bit better today. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. Ed.

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 perferated 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, but threw a pry bar into the junk pile. It was one of the straight ones, with the bottom 1/3 square, the center thrid 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 weighmaster what he wanted for the bar, and he said to put it on my truck before I weighed out. I owe the weighmaster a favor now, got the bar in exchange for small unusuable pits of stock - weight for weight.

If you put your chewing gum on the bedpost to save it overnight. (And remember is it lost it's flavor or not) If you remember the first time you opened a flip-top can and realized your "church key" was obsolete. If you remember Black Jack chewing gum, Nehi orange, or Burma Shave signs. If you remember which one was the Champaign of bottled beer.

If you ever used a goosewing broad axe for its intended purpose. Fionn If you ever used a froe for its intended purpose. T-Gold Ok the answer to that burning question: Set up the block and tackle. At the middle, count all the ropes and minus one. 5 ropes minus 1 is 4x advantage or a 25# pull will lift a 100# weight (less friction). Easy to figure and get close to the working load.

Letter opener Tongs Tongs with an attitude. No one said your tools could not have character. Strine form Oz

You may no longer be a youngster if: * if you know the difference between a single tree and double tree. * if you know how to thread a block-and-tackle and then use it. Extra points is you know the mechanical advantage and how to calculate the ratio. * if you ever used a chain hoist with the continious chain. The one that you just pulled and pulled and pulled. * if you know what a post-hole-digger is and have used the ones without a motor. * if you ever used an adz for it's intended purpose. * if you ever started a motor with a loose pull rope. The one that had to be wound on the pully. * if you ever worked a team of animals to pull something. *if you ever worked on a straight 8 motor. (Changing oil qualifies) Did I miss any?

They had to do surgery on on my right foot today. It was infected had to drain and clean the wound. He is back home tonight, and would appreciate your prayers.