skunkriv

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I have had one of Roger's pots for 15 yrs or so and a swage block even longer. Can't beat em.

Well it is definitely him and he is another good friend gone. Thanks to TenHammers for calling me. Mike was a good friend and a true scholar. Anything he made was true to the period and any research was as solid as can be. His compassion was contagious and he always had the neatest things, books, tools to show and share. He also made great cookies which he usually (always it seems) brought to the get-togethers where I saw him. Another good friend in this life's journey...

Schluter-Balik Funeral Home : Decorah, Iowa (IA)

Looking at my hands and arms I would say about 52,000 times.

Of course it is necessary to sacrifice a piece to the fire gods once in awhile but here is what I do with small pieces, rivets etc. I take my poker and really beat up the whole fire breaking it into small pieces. Then I take the back of my poker (1/2" rod) and use it to pack the fire tightly. This makes a bed of tightly packed coke that small pieces can't fall through. You can rake a few larger pieces of coke in next to and over your piece to get your heat. Turn off the blower a little early, your piece will still be getting a little hotter as you are getting the tongs on it. Push back the few bigger pieces of coke to expose your piece on the "bed" and it's an easy grab.

I point the business end and then wrap around a piece of pipe. I would guess 3" would work well for 1/2" rod. Wrap it so each turn is touching the last (picture a tension spring at rest). Remove from mandrel. Then take an even heat on the whole thing and gently pull from each end to stretch. Then with a local heat bend the top end 90 like Hollis said above to be in line with the screw.

The last one of these I made was for a giant foam lemon whose original hanger had pulled out. It was for display at a food stand for friends at the state fair.

I helped a friend make a couple large anchors of this type for a wooden jib crane in his yard. Instead of wrapping hot around a mandrel we did the coils cold on the hossfeld and then heated to stretch. They turned out great. He is left handed, I am left handed, and so were the anchors! :D

Sure would like to be there Dale! Can only about afford to drive to work these days

However, if there is a T-Shirt I WANT ONE!!! 3xl

Another tool easily converted to a straight pein hammer is a handled cold cut. Cut the very end off of the chisel end in the chop saw and grind to finish (or just grind all the way). You have to harden both ends because the struck end of the hot cut was not originally hardened at all. Makes a nice medium weight hammer.

20 Ton Air-over Hydraulic Press

Here is a page on a press utilizing an air over hydraulic pump. I have an old newsletter somewhere (I have hundreds, I used to be a newsletter editor) that has a good article on press forging. Will try and look for it soon. Keep your tools (punches, ball tools, etc) short so they are less apt to kick out.

Trough goes to your right. On the one I use at the fair I drilled a 3/8" hole in it for a drain. I whittled a wood plug for it. Since I only use it eleven days a year it's nice to be able to drain it easily before I leave.

BTW, nice forge! I am sure you will be happy with it.

It is a water trough but that is not the front. Blower to the left, water trough to the right. Have one very similar that I use (and store) at the Iowa State Fair.

This is the latest plate by my wife Denise. We both learned these copper techniques in a class with Don Neuenschwander held at the shop of Roger Lorance in Illinois (but she seems to get a lot more of it done than I do )

I'm thinking it is a bit more than 80#. I come up with 320# from the dimensions you give.

Turn it up on edge as you say and start using it. If you come across a piece of 3.5 or 4 inch 5160 (cat leaf spring ) that is 5/8-3/4" thick weld that on and you will be that much better off.

Neat project! Thanks for the pics.

Iron Trail to the Arctic: Iron Trail to the Arctic

This is a 12" plate my wife Denise made for a friend's birthday. In the center is a depiction of an old mill called "Tunnel Mill" that belongs to the friend and his wife. I made the plate hanger.

I already posted pics of this anvil but here it is "fully dressed". Made this one year to poke fun at a friend who was coming to my shop for a hammer-in. He came to blacksmithing after starting out doing cold armor work. Told him he needed two responsible parties present to unlock the shield before he could work. Didn't want him beating up the anvil on COLD iron There were a bunch of people here and we really had a good time with it.

Strangely enough if i buy a new anvil... I'm going to talk with Jymm Hoffman and try to get one of his colonial hornless pattern anvils.

If you are seeking to set up a shop of a certain period or a specific region you will need to restrict yourself to the "proper" anvil. Jymm's anvils look great.

Don't leave home without - change (maybe), wallet, Old Timer 340T, watch, chapstick, several short pieces of soapstone, 10' pocket tape (the last one cost me more than a 25' regular tape), preconditioned (dirty) earplugs, ink pen, checkbook and for most of the year, a bandana/sweatrag.

I have been smithing since '85. All of my anvils are single horn. If you are buying new, DO NOT BUY a single horn anvil. I have had the opportunity to work on several double enders and I go to the skinny end when needed just like I had always owned one. Many operations that must be done across the corner of a single horn anvil or over special hardy tools are easily done somewhere on the skinny, flat end of the doubles.

I have worked on Hofi anvils, Peddinghaus, Refflinghaus, Ozark, Old World, and Kohlswa double enders. All good as I am sure are the others. Pick one and enjoy. Wish I had one!

Followed me home from our monthly hammer-in today --- 250+ soft firebrick, very clean, some lightly mortared on one side, FREE A guy brought a whole truckload, I took what was left after the first 2 guys had what they wanted.

I used to have two of these. Picked them up for free. Gave one to a friend. The other floated around the shop for years and I rarely used it. I finally sold it way too cheap and now I really need it and I wish I had it BACK! :D

Frosty's last line sums it up very well.

I have used them some, including quite a bit of time in a class at Bob Bergman's shop where they are made (we were using large air hammers most of the time.) I have a friend who has made over 700 hammers on his, may be 800 by now. He swears by his. Another friend has had his maybe 12-15 yrs...no problems.

I wouldn't trade any of my power hammers for one but if I did have a KA it would get used, a lot!

"Ill get up in the morning, make a clean fire and try again."

Words to live by...

I helped make a skillet with a torch(es) as you describe for a demo. It now lives in my kitchen and cost me a pretty penny

I get skillets from my friend Bob at Upper Mississippi Valley Mercantile CO.

He only shows completed skillets on the website. He also sells them without the handle so you can make your own. 9"X2" and you can get them with two holes, three holes, or no holes. Reasonable (to me) price and he gives you a break on ten (IIRC) or more.

Tell him I said howdy and that you heard it here on IFI.

Nice setup Sabre but the location of your chair is ALL WRONG!!! You should pull it around to where you were standing to take picture #1 so you can easily admire your smithy.

I agree with the above: 1- a shop vac is noisy but a good blower with enough pressure (that most small squirrel cages lack) to power a very good forge; 2- I would lose the chimney and give yourself room to work, maybe just a couple bricks to the side of the pot and set wider than shown and; 3- that first million is hard to come by

Nice setup

"Collection only" is what we would call "pickup" or "for local pickup only" in an ad here.

Neat anvil. Would be useful in any shop.