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Good Morning, Three Blind Mice????? :) :) Neil

Good Morning, Welcome to our world. Say Hello to Adrian and Henry for me and from Vancouver Island Blacksmith Association. We are just around the corner and down the block. :) :) :) They call Victoria "A Wee Bit of Old England". Let me know if you are ever in our area, I'm sure there is a place to hang your hat for a bit. Neil Gustafson

Good Morning, Welcome to this Planet, can you imagine how boring life would be it we all thought the same or did something the same. Maybe that is why we now have robots :) :) :) One mans junk is the gold-mine. I love making honey out of Dog droppings!! Neil

Good Morning, And if you really had to, you could shoot the anvil!!! :) :) With the gun, you can't make an anvil, with the anvil you can make a gun. How about finishing loading your page and listing where you camp on this rock. I'm sure there is somebody near where you call home that you can learn from. The knowledge that is available in the Blacksmith world is astounding, Don't be afraid to ask. Neil

Good Morning, Next time, leave a little more material where the reins join the hinge area, on your tongs. The law of the lever means that you are holding the tongs near the end of the reins, but the effort is focused to the weakest area which is next to the hinge area. The same applies to the start of the jaw formation, leave some more material so they are like an I-Beam (taller not wider). I'm not trying to be rude, just a place to suggest improvements for your next time. You will learn the subltle areas of good tongs, after you have made a bunch. :) :) The Hot-Cut looks good. It is patience to forge out an axle by hand. Neil

Good Morning, Heavy knocking sounds are not repaired with ONLY a gasket set. Typically the connecting rod is splash lubricated, either it got low on oil or it decided that it needs some attention instead of just sitting in the corner. Don't be afraid to take it apart, it is just like an lawnmower engine except with reed valves. Neil

Good Morning, I have been using a Log-Splitter for forging for over 10 years. The quiet Power-Hammer. I made a Log-Slitter with a VW air-cooled 40hp engine hooked up to a Barnes Hi-Low pump. High Volume-Low Pressure, Low Volume-High Pressure. High Volume to move the ram quickly to your work piece, Low volume-High pressure to do the work. I made the I-Beam pivot, so the work table is at 26" high and verticle, It works while sitting down and not straining your back. K.I.C.S. Keep-It-Comfortable-Stupid. When the pressure comes up, everything starts creaking and groaning, It takes a while to get used to the noises. NEVER TAKE HYDRAULIC PRESSURE FOR GRANTED, IT IS A LOADED GUN!!!!! You can make another cylinder/ram working from the same engine and pump set-up, just put a two-way selector valve in the out-put line. You can have a log-splitter OR a forging press. The same engine and pump. Enjoy the thought, Be cautious. Hydraulic's is mathmatics. If you have 25 Ton, that equals 50,000 Pounds Per Square Inch. If you are pressing a knife edge, the surface of the knife edge is about 1/10 of an inch. The working load at the knife edge is 250 TON. BE CAREFUL!! If your tooling is not exactly verticle to the push, it will spit it out at the speed of a bullet, in an unknown direction!! Neil

Good Morning, Fill out the rest of your information. Where do you live, third rock from the sun?? For what you are talking about, it doesn't have to be fire clay. Clay from the ground or river bank works good. I use ash or clinker with no problem, it is just a filler, it doesn't do anything else. Neil

Good Morning and welcome to this world. The best advice I can give is, Don't be in a Hurry. Start with little things to learn how steel moves (the first thing I give my students is a container of Play-Dough or Plasticene, it works exactly like steel but you can manipulate it in your hands), don't be afraid of making mistakes. ABSOLUTE MUST; PROTECT YOU!! Wear safety glasses and hearing protection, Gloves are optional (you can control the hammer with better feeling, without gloves). Don't work in a poor ventilation area (Propane needs Oxygen too, it's byproduct makes you sleepy). There are a few good books that you can learn a lot from, the Blacksmithing Primer is one. It is written in understandable language so it is easy to follow. Rome wasn't built in a day. I wouldn't recommend starting by wanting to make a sword (unless you wish to never finish your first project). First; learn to move material, make lots of hooks. Not all the same design, learn what you will like and dislike. Make Honey out of Dog P--p. You will learn to pick up scrap metal instead of walking by it. Second; Start making your tools; punches, drifts, chisels, etc. Third; Learn how to make Tongs; Start with easy tongs, then make nice tongs. be proud of your work (make something that you will be proud of using). Making the tongs, you will learn to punch the rivet hole with your own punch. Don't be afraid of finding someone in your area to help you or ask questions of. The Internet is one thing, a hands on mentor is better. Fourth: If you think you have enough tools, you don't. You will be forever creating something to make a job easier. There is no END. There is no time when you will have learned enough. Every day you will learn, you will learn another way of making something or decorating something, there is no wrong way of doing something other than not starting. Yeah, I'll shut up now. Enjoy the Journey!! :) :) Neil

Good Morning, Hammer Handles start out as Pallets, in my part of the world. The material used in making pallets is always different, around here we get lots of pallets that are made from Western Maple. It works wonderful for making any size or length of handle that you wish. Same as Mr. Hofi does in his video. Neil

Good Morning, I can see how that might be used to form the leading edge of the plow, similar like a tooth of an excavator or back-hoe bucket. Enjoy life's journey, someone put a lot of thought into what shape the block had to be, to make his job easier. Neil

Good Morning, Lots of North West Blacksmith Association members (NWBA) http://blacksmith.org/ Check out the web-site, they have monthly get togethers in Longview Wash. a couple hours south of Seattle. I think that the Spring Conference will be at Longview. Seattle is 2 hours south of Vancouver B.C. Canada. Some call it the Pacific NorthWest (if you are in the U.S.). I live in Victoria, B.C. approx 100 miles as the crow flies from Seattle. Some people call it the Wet Coast, only for a few months though. Not much snow, maybe 1 week a year. Dew from the afternoon/evening on a cold day makes black-Ice. Not a good drink :> Some people complain of the "Damp Cold", cold is not below 0 degrees fahrenheit. I shouldn't be telling you all the good things, more people will come!! Neil

I could be wrong, BUT, Maybe it's not a guy thing. :) :) Neil

Good Morning, Use whatever you have, as long as it isn't galvanized or cad (cadmium) plated. If it is black, then it's beautiful. Don't worry about cast iron versus steel, generally cast iron handles heat better, but for what you are doing, just get it done. Brake drums normally are mostly cast iron. Cast Iron doesn't warp like steel does with heat. You NEED!! Something to heat, something to heat it with, something to hang onto it with, something to hit with and something to hit it on. VERY SIMPLE!! NO RULES OR EXCEPTIONS. Enjoy the journey, don't build yourself too many walls. :) :) Neil

Kind of looks like a Studebaker :) :) Whatever, it is a keeper!! So is Mr. Common Sense. Enjoy both rides!! Neil

Tis the season for slugs, sticky gooey Black & green slugs :) :)

Good Morning, It is difficult to see where and when there is a problem with your Tong Construction technique. One way; Start on the near side of the anvil, forge the initial jaw shape. Turn 1/4 turn left, hold the jaw at about a 30-45 degree angle, on the far side of the anvil. This starts the hinge area and leaves an angle where the two pieces will come together at the base of the jaw. Turn 1/4 turn left. On the far side of the anvil, 90 degrees to the edge of the anvil, hold the material with the length of the hinge boss beyond and at the edge of the anvil, half faced blows to complete the hinge area formation length. This means make all your turns between sequences ALL LEFT or ALL RIGHT. Normally if you are right handed, turn left and if you are left handed, turn right. Swing your pardner, doe-si-doe, all the men left, etc................ Relax. Don't make it a chore to make tongs. Some tongs are like snap ring pliers, the jaws expand. The skool of hard knocks have a certain memory value. There is more than one way to skin a .......... :) :) :) Neil

Good Morning, Sodium is only used in SOME exhaust valves. Exhaust valves are all non-magnetic heads, some a magnet will stick to part of the valve stem but not the head. Intake valves will be attracted with a magnet. Normally on the european engines that have sodium in them, there is a little dimple in the center of the head, almost looks like a counter bore. Valves make excellent repoussse' tooling. Neil

Good Morning, Nothing better than learning by doing. The piece you bent over and then it disappeared, was burnt off. Yes you can burn steel (and rebar). If you were watching you had it too close to the "Hot Spot" and didn't move it around to get an even heat. By leaving it at the "Hot Spot", you probably saw little tiny sparks, coming up and out of the fire. That is the steel burning. Better to learn with junk steel than "Paid for" steel. Don't be afraid of making a mistake, it is one way of learning. Enjoy the ride, go gentle with the blow. :) :) Neil

What are you asking? a question or a statement?

Good Morning, I assume that there is a slip belt for the drive, or a hydraulic motor? A brake on the main flywheel makes for a lot better control (I made ours with a leather belt and a spring, unloads when the pedal is depressed). Factory built hammers had a counterweight on the opposite side of the working flywheel from the pin. Is the pin location adjustable? Maybe the link to the pin is adjustable? Wrap the spring with old firehose or something similar to provide protection for your face and digets (I've heard it is difficult to pick your nose without fingers) :) :) It is difficult to make old technology with new technology. LOL :) Neil

Good Morning, Looks good. If there were numbers on the base, it could also be a sun dial :) :) Neil

Good Morning, I have 2 "Mighty-Mite" Propane forges, made by Lorne Bakker in Duncan, B.C. Canada. I bought my first one about 15 years ago. When Kwantlen College built their new Trades School in Cloverdale, Lorne built the forges for the Farrier Program. as "Hank McEwan" explained it, "Those are some Forges". We used Lorne's Forges whe we hosted CanIRON VI, near Victoria in 2007. They are not just a Farrier Forge, when I am teaching Hammer making, the single burner will hold 4 - 2" square hammer heads at the same time. It is a workout to stay ahead of the heat when punching the handle holes. One time I left a hammer head in a little long, I had to turn the propane down to cool it off, THE TONGS WENT INTO THE STEEL, IT WAS JELLY. Neil

Good Morning, Nah, there is Canadian, Australian, South African, some even from the Island called UK....... :) :) :) :) Neil

Nothing against building your own sawmill, many have done it (been there done that). It sometimes is cheaper to purchase a saw that someone already has figured out, than rebuild the mistakes or updates a bunch of times. Around here there are a few portable mills, save up your logs, call in the mill. One day, job done, finished, no maintenance or storage problems. Mobile Dimension Sawmills run a 40" main blade, with one or two edger blades. Curf of the blade is more than a Bandsaw Mill, but it is more robust. Neil