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Good Morning Arkie, Put your Ash Bucket under the bottom, to make sure it will fit and work. Easier to find out now!! Neil

Good Morning Gandalf, Hot working Tools mean S-7 or H-13 material. They are for working Hot Material and not deform. Coil Spring will work for a little while, then deform. For Repousse' Tooling, I make them from Exhaust Valves. If the Valves don't deform in a running Engine, they won't deform using them to shape whatever. When I am rebuilding Engines, I throw the old Valves in a 5 gal bucket. Inventory for repousse' tools. Exhaust valves have to be stainless or stallite (non-magnetic), Intake valves are attracted to a magnet. Don't think about it too hard, K.I.S.S. Neil

Good Morning, I took an old Bar-B-Que, removed the Aluminum housing and made a V-shaped container that fastened to the Bar-B-Que frame with a 1 1/2" pipe laying at the bottom of the Vee. Use split bricks on the sides, add an old Hair-Dryer to the end of the pipe, drill some holes in the pipe. We used a reostat from the Hardware store to control fan speed, slowest worked best. PRESTO, a wood burning Forge!! It doesn't seem to matter whether you use hard or soft wood, we used scraps from around a table saw. We were Forging, 15 minutes after starting the first FIRE. This is making and burning Charcoal at the same time. No Secret!! Simply Mahvelous, Darrling!! Neil

Good Morning, Chrome Plating is Electro-Plating which will attach the hard chrome to the target, which generally is a form of steel/iron. Galvanising is a function of dipping the iron/steel target, into a heated vat of molten Zinc. Who would have thought that the Chemistry in High School, would be useful. Neil

Good Morning, Obviously you are in Canada, where are you making your shadow? If you add your general location to your Avatar we will know how to answer your question, Generally speaking a leaf spring is 5160. .60% carbon, a medium carbon. The time involved in making a Blade, is more costly than the material costs. Better and cheaper to purchase new material. There are an awful lot of trailers across Canada using P/A parts. A leaf spring should be a leaf spring. How you treat the spring will determine your outcome. Take a piece and try different heat treating, find out what works for you. Neil

Sprinkle water on your anvil, when Planishing. It helps remove the scale from your workpiece. Yes, sometimes you will hear a loud bang like a gunshot. Neil

If with this Blade, you should win, Forge it thick, Grind it thin. I heard this first, from Frank Turley. Neil

Good Morning Vini, Build up the sides with more weld. You can still replace the top with a piece of Gravel Truck Spring, some are 3/4". I have a fabricated 350 lbs Anvil, it beats the pants off some other Anvils. Don't be afraid to create, there is NO RULE BOOK, regardless what others may say. It is yours, keep being proud of your creations!! Neil

1/2" square will twist straight, COLD, inside a piece of 3/4 pipe. It is simply Ma-Gical!! Neil

And that is a problem???? It is called Inventory!!! You look around your 'Special Locations' and ideas create themselves. No Problem!!! Neil

Good Morning Newby, To anneal, you need something that will allow the heat to dissipate over a LONG TIME. A simple solution is to use Garden Lime (available at any Hardware store or Garden Center. Dump a bag in a container and put your piece to Anneal into the Garden Lime, take it out after about 12 hours and it will still be warm. K.I.S.S. Garden Lime also works as a welding flux and it won't hurt your Forge. Lime is a flux for making Steel!! Don't go for the difficult solutions. Keep It Simple Silly (or Silly Simple)LOL. Neil

Good Morning Paul, Greetings from western CANADA, the left coast. There are people here from all around the world. I know there are Blacksmith get togethers in Europe, find out where they get together and join in. It is easier to have someone show you how to do something. When you wish advice, the advice would be correct for the circumstance. There is not ONE WAY to do something, there are many ways and they are all correct. That is the part that will take a little while to figure out. Enjoy the Journey, there is no destination. Neil

Good Morning Al, It is an Anvil for shorter people, unless you fasten it to a tall stump. The original maker is irrelivant, it looks like it wants YOU to help it back to life. Treat it well and it will return the favour. Make a mounting base to match the break line, drill and tap the base to bolt it to your new base. Figure out it's name that YOU will call it and enjoy the Journey. Neil

How does one Candy Bar, taste any different to another Candy Bar. If you don't try it, you will never appreciate the 'Fine' differences. A Forge is a Forge, except the Forge that you built, that is the best one. I can prove it too!! Too many people have a thought/wish "Does it get to Welding Heat?", which means to me "Can it be turned down, so I can get some Forging done?". What colour is the best choice when you are painting your Anvil? Does it NEED to have Flames on it's side? There will be Flames on it's top, why not the sides too? So many questions, so little time for answers. but, Is your way always the Best Way? or sometimes "Can I Have it MY WAY?? Neil

Good Morning, Close it up as tight as you can. If it is still burning too hot, help it cool down with a little water. Let is sit afterwards to dry out naturally. In our copy of a Whitlox Forge, we add pieces of wood as we are forging. It is charcoaling in place, we get lots of heat with the wood and charcoal. Neil

Turn your drawings upside down and put some triangles in them. Steel doesn't come lightly, Neil

Good Morning, Bud The Anvil you have, is better than the one that lives down the street. It is price-less!! Neil

Good Morning Willow, No problem using 1/2" or 5/8" square for Tongs, I just upset the area for the hinge/pivot and if necessary the Jaw. It is a lot less work drawing out the reins. Neil

Good Morning, It looks like the ends of a strap that would have gone around a large container or Barrel. Enjoy the Journey!! Neil

Good Morning, Weld the cracks with Oxy/Acetylene Torch. By the time you are finished, you won't hardly see the weld. Enjoy the Journey. Neil

Good Morning, Keep your eyes open, you will sometimes walk on or walk by some fine specimens. It will take great effort to stop you while on your mission, bend over and rescue it. Neil

OEUXW = Price Neil

Good Morning, Plenty Good. That stand will hold up a Kenworth. Cap the bottom of the legs and mostly fill with sand, it takes away the hollow ring. Who cares what colour you paint it and how you do the Flames, make it YOURS. Enjoy the journey, there is no destination but the Seenery is stunning. There is no Test!! The Blacksmith Police are Hammered!! Neil

Good Morning, You need to measure the distance between the start of one tooth to the start of the next tooth, this is called the 'Tooth Pitch'. Tooth Belts are available from your local industrial supplier. They NEED, Pitch (ie 1/4", 3/8", 1/2" etc) and the length of the belt (circumference). I used this method to use a toothed belt to drive our 'Jardine' Hammer. K.I.S.S. Keep It Simply Simple!! Neil