Alec.S

Looks great, guys!!
That will be one heck of a good class i am sure!
i can vouch for what brian said, i would never had even thought of cutting two 2 inch billets hot if it wasn't for his hot cut hardy. A shame my anvil was vibrating a fair bit though....So we lost lots of energy.

alec

Look through Lyle Wynn's pics. There are most things you might want to know in these pics, inc. hammers, top tools , bottom tools etc...
https://picasaweb.google.com/106506050631612810521
also look at Brian's other pics
https://picasaweb.google.com/brianbrazealblacksmith

lots to learn in all of these photos

hope that halped

alec

And if you were ( which i doubt you are as it is a British thing ) using a side blast water cooled tue iron, you could use the method of pumping cool water through it so it doesn't all evaporate out of the tank ( once it has passed through it will be hot ) at the rear and once the water has passed through, you could have that as the hot water under ground.
just expanding on glenn's thoughts

that is a very very good idea!!

Thank you very very much, Bill!

Beautiful, guys!!!

in my previous comment... i was just throwing in my thoughts on the subject. As i thought was the purpose of this thread, so that people would get different opinions on the subject. though potential quite controversial, it was just my opinion.
Just had to write that to clear the air. Though, in type print , it may as felt as if i was SHOUTING my thoughts due to the exessive capital letters, i was just making sure that part was read because it added a bit more depth to my " story "

sorry for any confusion, alec

I do, and personally, though my anvil is a beautiful 230 pound peter wright, as with all my tools , i will USE it as a tool. I use it. If that tool breaks, then hey. i can either put it to other use. If the heel breaks off, well hey , i have no heel... the only absolute need for a heel is space underneath, for clearance. Other wise it is actually a hindrance to a smith. Because it does not have backing, one looses a lot of energy due to that... Energy that is NOT going into the metal itself. If i had a choice, i would have the hardie hole as close to the central mass as possible.
Yes, loosing hardness is an issue... you can worry about it or not.... your choice, not mine... but personally... again, i use my tools. So i dont care about loosing hardness too too much. But, in one uppsetting of a bottom tool we had the WHOLE ( 230 pound ) anvil steaming ( feet included ) and the hardie hole area was at LEAST a blue temper, it might have gone all the way grey.

I say, use a tool, dont abuse it by not using it.... they have feelings you know

But, all people have different opinions on the matter. I am just stating mine!

alec

P.S thanks for checking out my you tube vids, JNEWMAN!

P.S.S sorry if any of what i wrote didnt sound like english...

haha thanks guys! if you are interested about my utube vids : http://www.youtube.com/user/alectheblacksmith

thanks dennis!

thanks don!

Hi all, after having been inspired by Dave Custer's blog, i decided to make a blog for myself.... I plan to be updating it regularly!

http://alectheblacksmith.blogspot.com/

alec

Lookin' good green beast! she will love it!

Thank you very very much, Beth!

Thank you all for your wonderfully kind comments! So so greatly appreciated!
Thanks Lyle!
BGD i will make some hat/hair pins tomorrow ( i have a commission for a few ) of varying designs and i will snap some pics.
Have fun Greenbeast!
Yes, John.... There will!

Hi all,
Sorry for not replying earlier...
My Great Grand-mother passed away last night at the magnificent age of 94. She had a great life, and led it 100% happy. So I have been a bit preoccupied as you can imagine. As my family are still coming to terms with it. She passed very peacefully.

The snails are of my design ( as far as I know ) you can make them out of what ever really... For the small ones I use a foot and a bit of half ( or 5/8 I can't remember ) by eighth of an inch flat .... But really, you can make them out of any thing. When they fit those proportions though, they are better looking IMO. You can use what ever length also, you just adjust the size of shell.
Thank you all for your very kind words about my craft fair! Greatly appreciated!
I have already had 5 or six commissions for various items!

alec

Hahaha!!!!!! Beth thank you so much for your AWSOMELY kind words!!!!!!! That gave me a great smile!!!! and a good giggle !

alec

some more pics

steve is in georgia USA

Thank you all for the wonderful comments, guys!!
And, i did have business cards and the price labels all had my business card stuck to the back! And because of giving out a business card to someone who wanted a few dozen napkin rings, she is coming over to talk more in detail about what she is looking for. And someone else also wanted some hair pins to give out as Christmas presents!
Apart from spending an amazing 12 days with Brian Brazeal in Mississippi i am mostly self taught, Dave ... I make it all on my own in my wonderful shop! I tried to make it as unintimitating as possible by giving massive " welcome " smiles to every one that walked by.... Boy, was that tiring !
I had time to sit down only for the first picture of the day... After, I was on my feet, trying to lure punters!
Thanks, GB ... they are of my own design! yes, i sold all the ones that were on sale, including one GIANT snail!!!
Thanks spears
Thanks Thomas
Thank you very much John also!!! this is why i was missing your event this year!!

i just got back in from the shop after having forged three pairs of tongs... fun fUN FUN!!!

thanks guys, again

alec

Well, I had my first Craft fair on Saturday.... and i can safely say that it went very very well! i sold over half my stock.
I learnt a few things in the process.... what sells well, what doesnt.... what needs to be where to grab the potential buyer's attention etc..
Hearts are probably what made me the most money, i sold about 20 of them ( even better when they are pendants ) Hooks are great too, heavy duty hooks, Toasting forks were a hit, i wish i had made more of them as were pokers... Bottle openers were good, sold a half dozen of them, And also Hair/Hat pins!! they were a REAL hit...i definitely wish i had made more of them....
So things to regret but on the whole, i am very very pleased with what came out of 7 hours of tiring smiling, answering silly questions, saying " Yes, I made all of this " 150 times, then having to repeat it because they didn't believe me.
If you are about to do your own first craft fair, do NOT underestimate how tiring it is. A day's hard forging is child's play compared to a day at a craft fair.
sorry, these aren't great pics, just what i had o the computer right now... i will upload more detailed ones later

alec

Steve, look around you for craft fairs... age has nothing to do with selling so long as you are selling good products that dont look like a child made it and i am sure you WILL be making good products! I am 13 and i made 1000 $ worth on saturday at a craft fair....And i got various commissions !
either i got lucky this time or all craft fairs are worth it....

alec

brian is getting more than acceptable service from his left as forged tools . His punches for example, ( maybe not for him but for me ) can get red when they are punching and get stuck, so then you have to wait untill there is no visible colour then cool it off in oil, but when you are deep down in 2 inch yellow hot steel, even with the time for one hit, yes, it gets as hot as a grey temper. The trick is to hit once, take it out, hit once take it out etc. and after every 5 or six blows, cool it off in oil.
Brian, please correct me if i am wrong in any of this.

looking good, wesley!

thanks, brian!!!

yes, it is true how much more effecient your hot cut is, brian! but i cant wait to get my anvil " immovable " we could have gone through that two inch so much quicker if the anvil didnt move at all

super steels are for women and children....
sorry, couldnt resist!