DickyPitts

I second what Frosty said about over thinking the charcoal forge. I also agree with wanting two set ups. I have tweaking to do on my gasser to get it up to welding temp (actually temp isn't the problem, It's plenty hot enough, but it makes scale in the fire and my most effective attempt at choking the burners consisted of a strip of duct tape partially obscuring the intake venturi's, anyway more work necessary and I haven't had time) I can make a forge weld work with a fire on the ground and a hair dryer, but no matter what flux I use, I can't weld in an oxidizing fire. grrr. I Love Charcoal!, in part because it's easy to localize your heat and in part because it's so "traditional". I once made a working "field expedient" forge in mexico with a pile of rock, some dirt mixed with ash and water to make it harden, a rusty pipe, some sheet tin for a wind catcher and a fan made of downed palm fronds. It didn't get to welding heat, but that's because I didn't have a proper bellows, blower or electricity to run a blow dryer. I also didn't have the patience to use the natural bellows contained in my rib cage...besides it makes you lightheaded. The charcoal was just laying around and I wanted to do a little forging. The anvil was a rock... I made several hooks, a poker, and a rake for the fire, and over all, just had a good time making such a primitive set up work. It's easy to get caught up in having the best tools for the job, but the truth is, that almost anything will work, otherwise our ancestors would never have gotten beyond flint shards and twisted bark. Good luck and happy forging.

MacBruce, How's life in Johnstown? Are you a member of Rocky Mountian Smiths?

some idea of size might help. It looks like a truck topper clamp, but isn't deep enough to go around modern bed rails. Maybe a glue clamp from a wood shop?

Hey frosty, sent you a PM

Dum Vivimus Vivamus Jerry. Doing much forging lately? I'm planning to bring the wife up to AK as soon as the budget allows.

I forged the sissy bar and fender supports for my motorcycle, the fun part is that i did it in the school parking lot because I did not have anyplace to set up at the time. My initial attempt a few years ago was to cold form the half inch round stock bar...meaning that I bent it around a tree and beat it into shape against a curb. The problem was that there wasn't enough "meat" around the hole I had to drill for mounting. I flattened the ends of my supports and re drilled them after metal fatigue took it's natural course. Most of the custom pieces on my bike have been smitted into shape. I am so glad to have a decent tool kit now. Dick Pitts

Frosty, tell deb I agree with you completely...Dick

I don't know whether to think that I'm lucky or blessed. I met a man in North Carolina who was looking to pass on his whole setup to someone interested in continuing to use it. I'm in the military and haven't been able to forge much since I left Alaska, but I've got almost the perfect setup for my circumstances now. I picked up a hay budden anvil, somewhere between 200 and 300#, a post vice, a tin smith's horn (don't really know what i'm going to use that for yet) a couple of boxes full of tongs, and a sweet gas forge that after a little tuning, reaches welding heat in moments, and several hammers, flatters, hot cutters, and fullers, all for a ridiculously low price (600$), because i wanted to use it rather than part it out for antiques or set it in my yard as a planter. I'm thrilled, and excited beyond reason. I've got a shop now. I spent some time straightening scrolls for the steel in them and forging anvil spikes to keep the thing from bouncing. Other than working of Frosty's anvils back in Alaska, the only thing i've had to work on thus far was a 125# mallable cast iron anvil and a brake drum forge that was blown with a blow dryer. It was sufficient to straighten out a coil spring and make a decent sword blank, as well as to make countless nails and spikes for the random log construction I was doing up there, but the set up I've got now is so much nicer it's like night and day. Now i've got to remind myself how to forge, Those skills dissapear after a few years of being out of the loop. Anyway. Frosty asked that I post pic's so here they are:

very cool! The rounding hammer reminds me of one i made from a commercial 3# single jack sledge...except that one started to mushroom, as i ground past the hardened face. Seems, due to litigation issues, they can only make commercial products to a relatively low hardness, flying chips and such... There's something really cool about pounding steel with a hammer you made yourself. on a side note, do you know of any power plants near anchorage? With my background, I'm a shoe in for a job at a power generation facility, and my social views and mentality just don't fit in on the east coast, so I want to get back to Alaska. I get out in 24 months, and a job close to UAA, where I could finish my engineering degree would be amazing. It's just an idea. I haven't done any looking into it yet as it's still a little ways out.

my mistake, i was thinking of: "If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man." -- Mark Twain and Groucho does appear to be the originator of that quote...oops, I've read the same books too many times. Thanks for the advice. Hey, pounding on iron definitely beats pounding on my boss... well, the consequences do anyway. As far as tools go, do you still have that rounding hammer and the cheese fuller I used the most while I was working with you? If you remember them let me know what they were exactly, weights and such, so that I can go about finding myself a pair please. I don't exactly have the time to start up again. But, I finally have a location, and i'm not willing to let it go to waste. I'll miss all the sleep I've got to in order to get back into smithing. It's a much more effective stress relief than brawling, wenching and drinking.

A few years back i was working the yard at a concrete plant in alaska. The state did some railroad maintenance and left a whole stick of rail (approx 180# a yard, but my memory is fuzzy) on the side of the yard. It sat there for about three months, then my boss told me to push it off the work yard, so i did. The next day, i got ahold of Frosty and we took his beat up old truck and a propane fired cutting torch and dragged that rail home... I sort of wonder what happened to it.

Hello. My name is Richard, I've been an off and on blacksmith for about eight years now. I started working off lessons with Frosty, who i met in Alaska. I'm now in the navy, working as a nuclear machinist mate. Which has a lot to do with nuclear, and nothing to do with being a machinist (oops). I operate the support machinery and main engines aboard USS Enterprise. This does not leave me much time for forge work. I'm attempting to rectify the situation by building a smithy in my garage that will be as easy to start up, as turn on gas, light fire, heat metal... but it's taking time. so greetings... Frosty, that quote at the end of your posts...i thought it was from hienlien quoting mark twain in "to sail beyond the sunset", rather than groucho marx