Wolf's Den Armoury

So when I'm making my tongs, should I quench during making them? or let them air cool, say for example on the anvil or on the stump perhaps? David

I have a tongs construction question.... Something just really doesn't make any sense at all to me. A couple of the blueprints here, as well as videos and other online tutorials show the smith making their tongs from flat stock, then as soon as the main portion of the tongs is finished, they cut off the jaws a couple of inches behind the rivet hole and draw it out to (insert dimension here) in order to prepare it for welding to (insert dimension here) Round stock. Why would you not start with round stock to begin with? It just plain doesn't make any sense....:confused::confused::confused:

Hi all. As the topic says, I'm a beginner (only been smithing about a month or so) I have very little in the way of tools right now. Also, my anvil has no hardie hole (did i spell that right?), so not having any hardie *tools* didn't really matter much. My question is, In lieu of a hardie hot cutter, I've been using an old steel hatchet. Nice handle on it, about 10" long, so getting burned isn't really an issue. While this is acceptable for the time being, I *would really like to make some proper tools (within the next two weeks we'll probably have snow, so that's when smithing will stop until Spring. So I guess my question to you much more knowledgeable and experienced smiths is... What tools should be the first on my list to make? I should mention that I have very little in the way of power tools, no welder (arc or gas ), no drill press (although i've been on my wife for about a year for getting *that*. lol). I *do* have an 18V DeWalt cordless drill and a goodly number of hammers (as a by-product of making armour) Thanks for the help! David

come back sometime late Spring next year... Three straight days of "just enough rain" to make my forge starter wood wet. No propane bottles to use the torch to start the wood...no money to get any til next week.... soooo....no lighting of the forge. Apparently I seem to be addicted to the smell of coal smoke or hot steel or something..... This really sucks. Can't wait til I get my smithy all enclosed and roofed...then won't have to worry about weather as much. David

I smoked a pipe about 20 or so years ago, then switched to cigarettes for some ungodly reason. Switched back to a pipes about three years ago because of the price of cigarettes in Vermont (Marlboros are up to $6.53 per pack!!!). I smoke my pipe several times a day, mostly Middleton's Cherry or Apple cavandish or Vintage Black&Tan. What's a "Colonial Pipe Lighter", TMIB? Can't recall hearing of/seeing one. Got a pic so I can steal....er...borrow the design? David

wow, man....looks pretty sharp! ok...that was an unintended pun... dang, I wish my anvil had a hardy hole.... David

I've just started blacksmithing. Using an old coal forge. But a thought occurred to me yesterday.... Up here in Vermont, you see a lot of people with wood stoves or wood pellet stoves for heating their homes. My question is: Can wood pellets be used as forge fuel? I know they burn well, and from what I understand, they burn quite a while, at least in a home heater situation. But do would the burn long enough and hot enough to forge with?:confused::confused: Strange question, I know, but just trying to think outside the box I guess. David

There are several trees around the workspace, the closest being about 15' away (box alder. drops leaves all over the place. ugh) What I plan on doing is putting up a piece of 6' tall x 5' wide stockade fence on the right end (in the pic) of the area, to match to existing fence on the back and left side, where the fencing forms an open triangle at the roofline, I might put in some metal window screen fabric just to keep debris as close to a minimum as I can. The remaining 3' of stockade will be cut into two 18" sections and put at the front corners, mostly for asthetics. For the postvice, I found a good tutorial on how to build one at the abana website. Uses mostly 2" square tubular steel, which a buddy has quite a bit in surplus, so he's going to give me a hand throwing one together (yes, I'll post progress pics As far as it being quite brisk during Vermont Winters, my wife informs me today that I am but a three season smith. Only a couple of weeks left before snow flies, so any *major* work to the "smithy" will probably have to wait until Spring. At the same time.....that give me all winter to get everything I want/need gathered up. David

Hi all. Still working on getting or making the right tools for the job.... Tried my hand at a RR Spike tomahawk, then realized I don't have anything to make the hole for the handle to go in... So I used another RR Spike. Went through the hot spike pretty well, but it made me wonder.... 1) would this be a drift or a punch? 2) is a HC RR Spike considered Tool Steel? If not, what would it be? So many smiths use RR Spikes for stock, just wondering if it's the quality of steel, or the ready availabilty? David

You put a CAR in there???? Hell, if I had a garage, I would consider that to be instant workshop! LOL David

Well, I just got back from a local appliance store. I asked to speak to the service manager and while chatting with him I said the magic word...."Blacksmith". I asked him if he had any dead dryers in the graveyard that I might be able to get a blower and motor out of. He told me that there *might* be one. While there, I asked him what would need to be done to convert it from 220V to 110V so I could run it off of straight household current.... Good news!!! The heating element in dryers is what runs on 220V...the motor is 110V! Makes it easier on them when they convert from an electric dryer to gas. Sooo....got myself a new blower! Now I just need to grab a grounded extention cord and wire it up.... Any thoughts how best to do that? [grin] If it matters, the motor itself is a Maytag Model 558nxeet-2895 David

Thanks for the welcome guys! The tongs I've been using for RR Spikes are a pair I got with the rest of my stuff. Simple circle ends with a "V" notch cut into each side of the tongs. kinda < > They seem to work ok, but a little loose. Although I don't know if that's because it's the wrong tool for the job or my grip, which I'm still getting the hang of. I'm quite a bit more used to working cold, which is a bit more forgiving. Not every little slip of the pliers shows up as readily as every mis-strike with the hammer.... :-D David

Hi all. My name is David, and I'm brand new to blacksmithing. I'm a maillesmith by trade and received my blacksmithing equipment in payment for a couple of historical reenactment pieces. I've played around with it a few times (made a fire poker for my wife and attempted a couple of RR Spike knives... My anvil is nothing special....just a section of I-Beam with what passes as a horn welded to one end. I got an electric squirrel cage blower in the trade as well, but it unfortunately shorted out the first time I plugged it in. :-( So, for now I'm just using an older hair dryer. Works ok, but working on getting a proper blower. Also got a variety of tongs and a bunch of flat and round bar stock for me to practice with for the time being. The last few days, my wife has kind of taken a shying to helping me make a proper (if quite small) smithy. I only have a 10' wide x 5' deep space to work with. This pic shows the approximate placement of what I currently have in this space. I have a tidy little space for everything that I *currently* have. The plans are to put up a section of 6' tall x 5' wide piece of stockade fence at the far end (right end of the pic). This will match the currently existing fence along the back and left side of the area that you can see in the first pic giving me a three-sided structure. We also plan on adding 2 10' 4x4s sunk 2' deep (holes filled with Quik-Crete) giving me 8' 4x4s to the front corners. Also will be adding an angled metal roof (2' rise over 5') angled front to back. Any ideas for placement or things I might need in the near future to make this a more efficient workspace? Thanks! David

I'm in Northern Vermont (Franklin Couty), about the same distance from the Canadian border as you are. I buy *my* coal at Aubuchon Hardware. They have Anthracite and Bituminous coal for about $8.00/ 40# bag Hope this helps, David

Or you could be historically correct, and rivet the rings closed. starting on my riveted maille tongs at some point next week.

I have a question related to this. I'm currently using a pot forge with an old hair dryer as my blower. The hair dryer just plain isn't moving enough air, and read on here (and Anvilfire) that the fan unit out of an old dryer will work quite well. My question is: obviously an old clothes dryer will have a motor to run the fan, but typically these motors are 220V motors. I only have 110V available to me as an outside outlet on my house (my silly wife won't let me run the forge in the basement where our 220V line is). what do I need to do (that won't cost me anything) to run a 220V motor on a 110V line? David ====== David Stous Chief Maille Smith Wolf's Den Armoury Wolf's Den Armoury -- Fine chainmaille since 1995

Do I have some setting incorrect? I think in this entire thread I was able to see maybe 5 thumbnails... :-( David ========= David Stous Chief Maille Smith Wolf's Den Armoury

Hi all. I'm a professional maille smith and have been for going on 15 years now. I fully agree with what Chad just said. go to M.A.I.L. - Maille Artisans International League - Home and The Ring Lord's Chainmail Forum - Powered by vBulletin Both are excellent resourses for anything and everything dealing with the subject of maille whether it be butted, riveted or welded, even going into the metalurgy of the various materials used in the manufacturing. Glad to be here. Kind of difficult learning how to blacksmith on your own. I hope this will reduce my learning curve somewhat. [grin] David