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Good Morning Paul What material are you going to use for the Tongs? Neil

Good Morning Shain, Instead of making your round material square, so you can twist it, knock 2 flats where you want to twist it. Use your Handled Hot-Cutter to make a fairly deep line, the length of the Flats, on both sides. Now when you twist it, it will look like 2 pieces of round that were fire welded to the ends and then twisted. Very simple to do, VERY different and attractive effect. K.I.S.S. Neil

Good Morning, Oak Ask a contractor or a Concrete batch plant, How much does a yard of concrete weigh. Use Pi/R2 X height of barrel, to figure out the volume of the pail. If the pail is 1/4 of a yard, do the math. You will be within a few pounds of actual weight. Weigh the total weight and subtract the pail weight. If it matters that much. If the height of the Anvil is close for your height, leave it in the 'Crete'. The Anvil would probably enjoy a good massage with a prickly wheel on an angle grinder. Give it a name and christen it by using it/her/him. You could fasten a 'Cow Bell' under it's neck, to keep it talkin' to you. LOL Ting Ting Ting!! Neil

The magic of Mathmatics: Pi Ar Round!! Cake Ar Square!! Circumnavigate Circular Contraptions Neil

Good Morning, Heim Welcome to this world wynn. The important part is, you are starting!! The Anvil is way better than no Anvil, but it will get marked up quite easily. Maybe add some Silicone (bathtub sealer) to the underside, to stop it from bouncing around. The deck screws won't do an adequate job by themselves. I started out (60 years ago), playing in our furnace for the home, I didn't have a Forge either. You can make a wood fired Forge, too. I made one like the Whitlox, using an old BBQ stand, a piece of pipe, a hair dryer (using a rheostat) and some fire brick. It works very well. Some people say you can't use wood for fuel, but it works. A campfire works well, too, but you have to fan the flames. Look for a Blacksmith group in your area and join them. The best way to learn is from a Mentor. Greetings from the continent of Vancouver Island, Canada. The continent closest to the Date-Line. LOL Neil

Good Morning, I have 2 - 3/4" AMAL burners. They work very well, right out of the box. I haven't had to do any jet changes. I connected one burner to the generic Propane Forge in our Associations Blacksmith Shop (VIBA), I figured if it will survive the use there, it will be a keeper. It is still working, regardless what the minions do or how they adjust it!! Yes, I have many other burners and Forges. Simian, it sounds like you have too much gas pressure, adjust your regulator down. If you don't have a regulator, get one. Neil

Good Morning, Uri Hofi showed us that he used a Pipe Thread Machine, Die. You also could use a lower jaw from a Pipe Wrench. K.I.S.S. Neil

Good Morning Britt, Probably, if you take the cover off of the feed shaft, you will find a circular coil spring with one end broken off. Bend the end to fit the appropriate notch and give it a turn or two of pre-wind. Reassemble and get to making holes!! Neil

Good Morning Wildchild, If you live in Seattle, you live in the center of North West Blacksmith Association (NWBA). There are many members in your area. Check out www.blacksmith.org I also am a member, if you can't hook up, send me a PM and I can direct you. Welcome to this Forum, there is a HUGE Knowledge base!! Enjoy your Journey, Neil

Good Morning Meep, Kao Wool should be available at any Pottery Supplier. It is in North America. There are a few members here from the Netherlands. There must be a way to contact someone locally. Welcome from Canada Neil

Good Morning Alexander, It is the English language, it is another way to say 'And not one scroll was used, in your design'. It is not a rude statement or intended to criticize, just a statement of fact. Many people use too many scrolls to fill space. Very nice looking chairs!! Neil

Good Morning, Almost all Rail has the manufacturing date and weight in the side of the webbing. Rail comes in 10 Yard lengths (30 ft) and the weight is per Yard. Rail rated 90 lbs. is 90 lbs. per yard. Some Main Line and Crane Rail is over 140 lbs. per yard. Neil

Good Morning Joshua, Welcome from the Wet Coast, Vancouver Island. There is a reason we have big trees, they get watered almost daily. 'Borrow' some 'Play-Doh' from the kids or pay the unhealthy amount of about-a-buck from the Wally place. Steel works exactly like Play-Doh, except with steel, you need Tools to manipulate it. Let your fingers do the Learning!! Squeeze between your thumb and fore-finger is like striking Steel at the edge(corner radius) of the Anvil with a radius face Hammer. This is called 'Drawing it out', making it smaller and longer in one direction. Yes there a few good books to learn with, I use 'A Blacksmithing Primer' for my students. The journey starts with small steps, it has a beginning, but there is no end. It stops when you stop. There are almost no people with their nose in the air, it is refreshing. Enjoy the ride, Neil

Good Morning Greg, It's handy to make all your adjustments, holding the burner in a vice. Everything changes when you put the burner into your Forge. The internal back pressure of the inside of the Forge and the heat from the refractory when it comes up to temperature, will make you go back to square "1"!! Mike has offered you many suggestions, try them, one at a time. You will have to take a notebook and record which change, changed what. That will still all change as the Forge heats up. Then your Propane tank will start to freeze and it will change again. Neil

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Good Morning Philip, You can start at one end, when the end comes around, pull it slightly away from the machine. This will cause a corkscrew effect and you will only have a flat piece on each end of the 20 foot stick. Like the video above, you can form the end by hand or by making a rolling machine that will do what you wish. You could pre-form the ends with a Die that you can use in a Press. If you don't have a press, you should start making one. Neil

Good Morning, A Fact of Life. "Normal", is a setting on the Clothes Dryer. Nothing more!! Neil

Good Morning Matt, Welcome to our part of the great big world. There is no limitation on what you can and can't do. If you can think of it, you have to think "How am I going to get there and from here?" Then you have to dream up an answer, Take little steps!! There area a couple others from Wyoming, I hope you connect with them. Neil

Good Morning, 7898 There are distinct Rules for storing Firearms, different in a lot of Countries. Some countries have a penalty of death, for owning a center-fire Rifle. The safest way to store a firearm is out of eye-sight, preferably in a Lockable place. Some counties demand this be in a Vault as well as having a trigger lock. Neil

Good Morning Roy, Make a Mandrel out of a good material, larger stock. Make it so it fits in your Post Vice. Drill the depth (or more) of the length of rivet you want. Don't drill the size of your stock, drill a size or 2 larger. Drill a smaller hole just off-center from the bottom (for a punch to remove a stuck one when it cools). Don't heat the whole rivet blank, just the top. Drop your blank in the hole and set the head, in the first 2 or 3 blows, don't baby it. If you have a Monkey Tool be quick with it, not gentle. Put a slight chamfer in the top of the drilled hole, or a slight radius (don't let it cut the material). This would be good for a Fly Press or a Hydraulic Press (if it is quick enough). Neil

Good Morning, Looking at the picture of the Post Vice, I can see that the outer (shorter) leg is bent. This causes the Jaws to be not parallel (square). This is from either over tightening or from years of work. I disassemble the Vice and use a Hydraulic Press to straighten the leg. Then it is good for another 50 years. No, they are not hardened or Heat Treated. Neil

Good Morning Natkova, You have the right idea for a 'Hold Fast', but your material looks like it is too thick. It needs to have some spring in the top and it needs to contact the 2 opposite sides of the Hardy Hole, like John (JHCC) showed. We use an "L" shaped Wheel Wrench (from a car, used for changing wheels). In North America they were the Wheel Wrench that was supplied by the Auto Factory (up to about 1960). A front Sway Bar would also work (sometimes called an anti-sway bar. It is found in the Front Suspension, linked to both lower control arms). A Coil Spring would also work (It can't be too big, it 'HAS TO BE LOOSE' in the hardy Hole. Neil

Good Morning Matt, We put in 4 new Firepots, in Vancouver Island Blacksmith Shop, almost twenty years ago. We bought them from John in Hamilton Ontario. He makes them there, the firepots are about 1 1/4" thick. Yes, they are a little more expensive, but well worth every penny. I would recommend working with someone else's Coal Forge before making such a commitment. There are so many variables and configurations. When I put together our Portable Blacksmith Trailer "the Flyin' Forge", I took an idea from John Little in Nova Scotia. The burner is a piece of 3" black pipe, laying on it's side, with 5 pieces of - 3/4" black pipe, 3/4" tall, 3/4" between them, welded in a line. A threaded cap is on the outside end for clean out and the Hand Blower is connected with a piece of Dryer flex-pipe on the inside end. This is laying front to back in, like a wide V-shaped bottom (I made it from an old Oil Tank). Clinker, Ash and clay is laying around the outside of the pipe to make the center bed slightly lower just above the nipples. We use a large bolt(s) to restrict the air nipple(s) if you just want a short fire. The Clinker will build-up around the outside of the air nipples and will sometimes restrict your air flow, otherwise you pick the Clinker out at the end of the day. I made the collector of smoke, using the top of a large Hot water tank. Sometimes there is some side wind where we set up. We lay split bricks on their side edge to block the wind. It took a bit for our members to figure out how to use it. That was over twenty years ago, we still use them. Neil

Good Morning 58, I put that kind of Heater is our Shop a few years ago. The absolute BEST decision!! Enjoy the warmth, even if the shop door is open. Neil

Welcome to this world! Don't be in a hurry, trying to lift things, let Mother Nature take care of your mending process. Don't be in a hurry trying to get 'ALL THE TOOLS' you think you will need for Blacksmithing. You need a heat source (a camp fire?), something to hit on (a large Rock), something to hit with (a Claw Hammer or a smaller Rock on a stick), something to hold what you have heated (cheap Vice Grips). Most Important!!!!! Something to protect your Ears ans Eyes!!!!!!!! With these basic Tools, you can make all your other Tools. Patience, Patience, Use your Thinking Cap!!!!! Neil