Alec.S

no, you close it hot with brians method. you do all of it in one heat if your quick enough, form the U and close. :)

Nicely put, ramsby!!!!!!!!! :)

sounds brilliant!! i remember seeing some of karen's pictures of they're stay with you now, come to think of it! you two made one SWEET four pound hammer! thats for sure! alec

I am meaning his choice of hammer/weights, the standing position, the throw, the grip etc . i do pretty much his way....but i do slight variations on how he hammers to suit me obviously, but they are only minute variations that seem to have benefitial effects ( obviously, otherwise i wouldnt do the variations ) . Ohh! right! i would remember you if i new you name i am sure! but born-too - late wasnt a name last time i checked ! ;) lol alec

I just wanted to note ... that one does not have to be big or strong to swing a heavy hammer..... It is all about the technique. Without proper technique, swinging a four (plus ) pound hammer CAN damage you, especially if you do not have the size/muscle to over compensate the strain being put on you! ....... Case in point about proper technique vs. hammer weight ability. I am 14 ( though only just ) years old, exactly 5 foot tall , i weigh 90 lbs and i am not overly strong. I can swing four or five pound hammers all day every day very efficiently, which proves that, doing it right lets anyone do it. Yes, it may sound pretentious of me to imply i am doing it the correct way... But surely i have not proven to you that it is possible i am considering the facts i have just told you. The way i have found to be most effective is Brian Brazeal's method. Which i employ and which helps me forge things extreemly efficiently. sorry about my teeny rant there just wanted to pitch in a little info on my thoughts about hammer stuff as a little addition to Jason's post alec

PERFECTLY SAID, JASON!

it sounds as if you had a brilliant time,jullien!!!!!!!!!!!!! alec

because it is ( usually) 5160 which has more carbon in it making it stronger ( though brittler) and so it will bend out of shpe less easily when using the tongs.....they also allow one to make very light tongs as strong as much heavier(bulkier) mild steel tongs... hope this was of use! alec

another beautiful set of pics,lyle!!!!! :)

:)

i will HAPPILY accept them,m8.... i'll even pay for shipping ;) jks... you can make a LOT of tools out of 4140... but... it IS an oil hardening steel..... its great for about 99% of the tools that Brian Brazeal makes and uses... ( though, the preference it 1045 ) alec

make her a ring

ahh... reminds me of good times :)

very nice, monty! keep practicing and you'll have it down in no time!

yeah, mate! i'd take a break and get some fresh air if that happened to me! ...

thanks, dodge! but that is my old shop! ... the wire brush on the grinder isnt all that bad really... i've jammed my hand into it running many times and it is not painfull...leather gloves in my opinion would be a very bad thing to wear while operating machines like that... because if it gets caught... you'll just get sucked in by the machine, lose all controll and then, it will hurt when you jamn up the machine...... also, this one is not as dangerous as other machined like this because it has such a weak motor... very easy to stop... :)

the post phil posted has some excelent infornmation, just to let you know

he knows about them steve...

yes, the boxes are used for people of somewhat less than normal height for a blacksmith! prime example : me!

That sounds brilliant, Chris!!!! Good luck for all the rest of the markets!!!!! thanks you!! alec

wasn't me.... that was a year ago!

Looks great!!!!

paper and kindling. simple as that. works every time if you do it right.

well... monty... it's technically 3 3/4 pounds... how ya been? alec

brian did have some flat bottomed ones, for thin material i believe...