tzonoqua

As what MOblacksmith has already said... Before you start hacking away with a grinder, think carefully about what will work for YOU! Just because something is prescribed doesn't mean it suits to all situations, and also might depend on what other tooling you have or intend to make. If you have been smithing for a while you would have a good idea about this, if not, you might want to use it for a while to see what configuration would be best suited to the work you do.

ohhhhh, tong envy!!!

Saturday depends on the weather as I have a weekly market stall, if it's raining then it's likely I'll turn up, but I'm afraid I can't be more definite than that, at the moment the forecast does not look good though! I am currently engaged in family 'negotiations' with regards to Sunday... could go either way at this point, and depends whether I make it on the Saturday. I am hoping I will be there for at least one day!!

That spider looks nasty!!!!! We get big fat hairy spiders here in England, absolutely harmless, but really evil looking if you are an arachnaphobe like me!! I have to shake out my welding jacket, apron and welding helmet when i first put them on, otherwise I just get freaked out if i find a spider crawling over me-- yes, I do the girly shreiking and dancing around bit!! At least here they are harmless!!! Wind, I don't know about american scorpions, but I do know about ones in southeast asia, and they can and do climb walls and even walk along the ceiling just like spiders. When I was there, I had the misconception that they couldn't do that and hung my bikini on a hook on the wall one day, got up on the morning and went to put in on and discovered a scorpion nestled happily in it's busom!!! It then got treated to a free ride back up to the ceiling and back as my reaction was to throw it back in the air, where it again landed on my hand!!! Luckily it didn't sting me, but I then learned to do the shake-and-look before putting anything on again!! Having said that I am a live and let live kinda person and don't actually go out of my way to kill the little critters.

Jerry, I know how it feels to not be able to forge or do anything, so frustrating, so I can empathize!! Hope the PT goes well!! Good luck, hope we see you on here again soon!

I've got loads of swages/tops and bottom/hardy tools like that, just too big for me to handle!! I have used a lot of the hardy tools though, just invented new uses for them. I got a load of stuff from a smith who was retiring and took the whole lot, so lots of tooling and gigantic tongs that are now mostly decoration on my walls, I just would never use them as they are too heavy and too big for me to handle and are meant for times when a smith and a striker would work together.. and I can't imagine when I would ever be constructing something so big (but you never know...) I have thought about selling them, but I suffer from that bug, the one that makes you hold onto tools..!

I've moved my workshop twice, once a short two hour journey, the next time 500+ miles from Scotland to the South of England. Number one, check that your vehicle can carry the laden weight, it adds up faster than you think it might, in the first move we bottomed out the suspension on a 4.5 ton van and I didn't even think there was that much stuff on there! Luckily there was no lasting damage to the suspension. If you have a fork lift truck, sounds like you are pretty lucky! After the first move I added casters to my tong racks and tooling racks, the kind with brakes on, then they could just be wheeled up onto the tail lift, onto the truck and then back out the other side. If you keep everything as organized as possible, and have it ready at the other end, as organized as possible then the smoother it will go, and I second what Knots says about having racking/hooks/shelves ready so things can go up and out of the way and not on the floor. And invite all your friends and neighbours to help!! and as suggested by Glen, reward with gifts- be it pizza and beer (in Scotland it was bottles of whisky!) and small tokens of metalwork are good too!! After the last move I felt I really never want to do that again, but I know I probably will!!!

Very nice work!!! Love the detail, you've done an awesome job!!!

ooooh, very nice!!! :)

You will find that the better you get at welding the less you will have to grind and finish! Anti spatter is great, I use it all the time, I try to avoid using a grinder if I can help it, using anti spatter and a chipping hammer (for arc welding- I keep it sharp to slice off the spatter) and files as first port of call, I know when I have to get the grinder out I am a bit of a perfectionist so can be there for some time! Having said that when I do get the grinders out I will first use a grinding disc, then finish with a 120 grit flap disc. Finishing is just as important as forging. A well forged piece of work can be let down by a poor finish.

It's beautiful!! The thing I would have done differently is used much heavier section for the grate, min 20mm, just to make it last longer. Looks great in situ!

oh my!!! those are the shoes I need!!! :)

Alan, I am very sorry to hear about this, a fire is about the best and worst thing to a blacksmith, we play with it everyday, and yet are at it's mercy. I hope things work out for you, I wish you all the goodwill from my heart. You will find a way through this. Colleen

well, I clocked up an unimpressive 21 hours!! Didn't help me that my daughter's birthday was in May, and I was also helping out at her school for 4 days out of the month. Time was spent mostly on a railing job, more fab than smithing, and the rest making som e small bits for my market stall. I was impressed however with the financial productivity, have to make the little time in the workshop count.

I was shortlisted for this last year, I didn't make the cut, but I was ok with that as it required total dedication which I couldn't give as I have a young child and wouldn't want to be away from home for weeks at a time. Was nice to be shortlisted anyway. I have to say the competition was very fierce, (but very friendly too!!) I think this is a great opportunity for someone who is already skilled and wants to take it further, and can dedicate themselves entirely to it. I think the block release course can be taken separately, if you pay, worth doing if you have the money to do it. r smith, I don't know for certain, as in I don't think you have to be British, ( I am not) but you would have to be resident with a valid work visa/leave to remain or an EEC Citizen.

Sorry John, I can't make it, it's my daughter's birthday party that day.

I've generally used sikaflex 291, but tbh, they all work well, they use the stuff to build boats -bonding different materials together, and seeing as you don't need it for structural bonding either any of them should do. My partner works in the marine industry and suggested it to me. The thing about sikaflex is that it doesn't go completely rigid, there is a little flex to it, as the name suggests, so I find it works really well because of that.

sikaflex is what I use.

Personally I don't feel that safety glasses are enough, I put my daughter (6) in a full face shield, and glasses. I would be wracked with guilt if she got hurt at the workshop!! In fact any child who visits my forge under the age of 12 gets a full face shield. She uses my ear defenders as the band is adjustable so will shorten to fit her head, or just ear plugs, but she doesn't tend to hang around and watch... she'll have a quick hammer then she'd rather be out in the field or up in the apple tree!

i've got a bolster plate (i think that is the right term) i've made for punching, but i just initially punch on the anvil, never really seen the need to have something in between as i never go completely through. I use the bolster plate to punch right though so that the holes are supported, the plate is a section of 12mm x 75 flat, about 20 cm long with different sized holes drilled into it, welded to a bit of square pipe that sits in the hardy hole. i can use it so that it lies along my anvil and i can use my hold down chain over it and the piece as well, quite handy.

So you are asking whether you should keep a complete anvil in good condition, or one that is broken, had repairs and has a dish and rounded edges? I would choose the one in better condition seeing as there's not much of a weight difference.

ok here goes!! my pokey corrugated shed... 'scuse the mess, I'm in the middle of a project it all gets a bit chaotic, my workbench is currently draped in a full scale drawing of a railing I'm currently work on. pics of my lovely big 4.5cwt anvil, no idea of maker, my other little anvil, with sharper edges! my rack of tools, my lovely scottish shipyard swage block, i love it, it is so useful, i have another swage block, the usual kind, but it hardly gets used. And lastly my friend and neighbour "spider". I have arachnaphobia but I don't mind this big hairy spider, he is a bit grumpy unless you have carrots!! I didn't have any carrots today so he couldn't be bothered to come to say hi!

chili, find a local steel stockist, you will definitely need to know where these are in future!! Or a local engineering firm, who in my experience are usually more than happy for you to take offcuts away as they just weigh them in.

Thanks Bryan and Robakyo, the smallest one is the most used - as it's the thinnest so cuts the best, tbh the biggest one doesn't get used so often, when it gets used it's more like a cleaver!! it's kind of a weird shape for a kitchen knife. And yes, galvanic corrosion I think it's called, but for something like this, I'm not too worried, if it starts to corrode I can always take the handles off and put something else on. Pretty easy to knock out the alu rivets.