doc

What is a "MARK" hammer and where can I find info about them?

WOW Macbruce I really wanted a set of those plans, but if there going to be that blurry I"ll have to give it a second thought. :D

As far as welding goes I'd go for the dc and consider ac a bonus. If your looking for backup for your home then ac or ac/dc as many of the older dc units auxiliary power is only dc and will only allow you to run brush type motors. Not very useful for modern home appliances etc.

The Blacksmiths: 1904 | Shorpy Historical Photo Archive

Click on full size to view this best. Check out the like new bulldozer.

Any of you guy's starting out by forging on the horn first???

As we've already heard in previous posts above, even with safety glasses on it's you'r still liable to get something in you'r eye. I've always worn them since I have virtually no site in one eye to begin with so protection is something I take VERY seriously. BUT glasses, face shields and all don't stop the particals caught in you'r eyebrows hat or other clothing from dropping in either as you remove you'r safety gear or at a later time when you least expect it.

I make it a habit to wipe my face down with a clean kerchief and then dust of with a light blast from the compressor BEFORE I remove my safety glasses.

my 2 cents

Mod note: 'blowing off' with the air tool is dangerous as you can force tiny particles into your skin and eyes. we all use to do it, but lately found its not good to do, but that same research gave us the air injection system for medications.

hi Sam,
Great tutorial! Sam remember the side set I gave you, you may remember my showing you the double one made like a spring tool? If you take the time to make one of these up and use it to do your initial necking at the base of your lollipop it will help eliminate some of the burring and folding that occurs when you go to do your upset.

Great job, wonderful presentation speak to you soon.

Doc

Clinton

You should probably think about putting felt in the oil well openings once your done. Keeps the dirt out and once saturated helps to feed slow so oil dosen't just run thru the bearing.

.
Hi Randy You could try looking for old circular saw blades. Many of the better quality ones are made from L6 which has a lot of nickel in it! Doc

("back in the day") Just when do you mean back in the day 1920 or 1970 LG was in business for quite along while !

Her is a link to the (hand) process meaning not the automated process.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WWpBK4BVso

Fe-Wood

Go here and you can rent for reasonable price videos of how to spin metal http://smartflix.com/

Try this. Being a Vermonter this is all I've ever used for most any medical condition that didn't require invasive surgery
http://www.bagbalm.com/

Basher,
You should really be running a bigger motor unless your need for a full 3000 psi is very intermittent. Since your working out all this hydraulic stuff late;y here's a link that may be of help http://www.surpluscenter.com/Hydraulic.htm

Dave,

Nice forge work although I agree with everyone else that the proportions are wrong on the rush light. The circular bases were usually about 4 1/2 inches in diameter and the tongs shafts or reins were somewhere between 5/16 and 3/8 square. Stability is gained by not having the candle holder extend beyond the diameter of the circular foot.

Hope this helps,

Doc

So what is the tong-like fixture on the lamp for?

Mailmaker the tong like fixture was to hold a rush that had been soaked in fat or oil. The pith of the cattail type stock was soaked in fact clamped in the tongs the candle acting as a counterweight to hold the tongs closed. These are early English colonial lights which went out of favor because the pith of the North American cattail was of a different structure and didn't work as well as the European-style.

Matt
I don't know what type of ore you have, but if it is local to you and it is like the ore we get down in Lexington,Va.then there should be no problem crushing it.The ore we get there is a red stone ore that we simply roast by heating in a wood fire.We then separate it into a bucket and crush it with a sledge hammer used like a tamper.In this way you get various sized pieces which works a little better and you work it until the largest pieces are no bigger than a quarter. Takes a couple guys about two hours of time to crush 80lbs. of ore.

try using a door knob in a drill press.

Grant,
Are you sure? I know for a fact you can't forge yellow brass hot, worked alot of it years ago in Rhode Island when I was working for the restoration. Also just googled forgable navel brass alloys and all the alloys that came up were bronzes.
Not trying to be a pain but just wondering where the differences in brasses and bronzes are.

Doc

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. It cannot be worked hot. If it is it cracks and brakes into granular pieces. There are today many alloys that resemble brass in color and are in appropriately called brasses but are not. A common example would be the bronze cap railing that many of us use which is often called brass after it is installed.
As far as quenching is concerned I believe, but I'm not sure that the faster the brass or copper is cooled the more assured you are of reaching it's complete softness.I can only say that this is only anecdotal from my experience and may not be true at all. Needless to say when working, it's quicker to quench that to wait for it to cool.

You should have annealed the brass rivet before riveting. Heat to a red color and quench in water to anneal.

Doc

I think you may have more to worry about than CO2 ! As if that isn't enough..... That bucket looks to be galvanized..? and your liner on top looks to be aluminum?.
If my guesses are correct. You should be just as concerned about ZINC fumes and the aluminum melting all over when you reach true forging temps as you are about asphyxiation.

I think this vise might have been made for some form of sheet metal work, more like as a small bending break for repetitive work. The jaws are just too light for forge work.

Doc

1) Name Dick Sargent

2) Location: North East NJ

3) What type blacksmithing do you do, what do you make: General Blacksmithing. I've made almost everything from traditional hardware, sculpture, tools, estate gates and railings to antique auto parts and most of whats in between.

4) How and when did you get started in blacksmithing: I started in 1971 with my first full time position at Old Sturbridge Village Ma.

5) What object or thing did you use as your first anvil: My first anvil was an old unnamed english pattern with half the steel face missing.

6) Tell us about your first forge, hole in the ground, camp fire, brake drum, stacked bricks: My first forge was a Champion 400 rectangular sheet iron forge with blower. I bought it for $150. and as I removed it form the dilapidated smithy it was in the building collapsed as the structure was being held up by this small forge

7) Who assisted you or encouraged you in the craft: I worked on my days off from the museum with Frank Grapes a 93 yr. old blacksmith who was the youngest of eight older brothers who had all been blacksmiths.

8) What event changed your attitude about blacksmithing: I had an interest in smithing for as long as I can remember. So after training as an aircraft mechanic and being not able to find a job due to a slump in the airline industry, I thought I'd try smithing as a " Lark ", the infection started and I've never looked back.

9) What tool has changed or made your life easier in the shop: My first power hammer. It increased my productivity immeasurably

10) What advice would you give those starting out in blacksmithing: Strive to due the highest quality of work you can, the fact that an item is handmade won't be the sole reason someone will want to purchase it. Don't be frustrated when something your forging isn't coming out the way you'd like. Question yourself and analyze the process you are using, try again with a new or different approach. This is how knowledge is gained and it is what experience is made from. In the field of smithing all the natural ability in the world can't beat the determined student in getting ahead in the long run.

. 11) What advice would you give those already involved in blacksmithing: Keep pounding away! It's a constant school of hard knocks and that's one of the things that makes it so enjoyable.

12) What are some of the interesting things that have happened to you in your life as a blacksmith: I have met and worked for people that in any other field other than maybe a news reporter I never would have met, let alone get to know them and make friends with some of them. Blacksmithing has given me challenges technically, physically,and emotionally. I'd have to say that smithing has taught me as much about myself as I've learned about smithing. And the learning never stops!!!! I love the trade I've chosen. :)

Here is a link with plans and explanation. http://www.twinoaksforge.com/BLADSMITHING/BOX%20BELLOWS.HTM

Doc