jayco

I have one of those old 20 inch grinding wheels with the crank handle.Sharpening an axe, hoe,etc, is painfully slow with it. I am glad we have power tools in this modern age as well, Frosty! I just usually have a piece of stone around the shop somewhere. If I want to take a grinding burr off a punch or chisel, I'll rub the edge of the tool on the stone to make things smooth. Of course sandpaper will do the same thing........the funny thing is; I usually have to hunt for the sandpaper, and the stone is always where I can find it.......(my son borrows the sandpaper) James

Carburator cleaner and brake cleaner also work..........Just spray it on 'em..........and no, I don't light it. A few years back we had yellow jackets in a knot hole in a wooden barn post. I used a squirt can to put a little gasoline in the hole. The guy working with me wanted to light it. I told him it was a bad idea and finally convinced him that we could have burned the barn down doing that.

Does anyone else ever use a piece of sandstone or field stone to shine or smooth something in the shop? Kind of like a cross between a whet stone and sandpaper. Handy when you want to shine a tool to 'run the colors' I've used 'found' stones to smooth the edges of fullers and chisels for years........I hadn't heard anyone else mention it. I find them in the little creek behind the shop.........and they're free!

It might just be me, or my computer, but I couldn't get your slideshow to work........nice looking anvil though.

It was 60 degrees fareinhiedt this evening;a perfect time to catch up on some small forge work.........that is, until I heard the buzzing. Turns out the bees are in a crack in the large stump right that holds my post vise.........right next to the forge! Since the weather was cool, and they were flying slow, I managed to knock down 5 with my cap. I won this skirmish, but the war is not over yet........ This may be a long summer.........and a long thread! James

I've always been a pennypincher anyway, but lately I've been turning off lights and air compressors,etc, when not in use..........electricity costs money too. Forging as close to shape as possible to avoid unnecessary grinding. ( That's how the old smiths did things before the days of modern,powered grinding tools.) In a lot of ways, this strange new economy we're experiencing merely reinforces the "do-it-yourself........"use what you have" way of doing things. This kinda reminds me of the stories I've heard about the 'old days' around here........100 years ago.......... Old timers told me that the steel was of questionable quality,expensive, and hard to get shipped by rail and freight wagon. They told that it might take weeks or months to get a shipment of stock. Kinda sounds like today, doesn't it? A few years ago I saw a long brace on an old horse drawn hay rake.The original brace had somehow been broken. Some long forgotten smith had made a new one from three pieces of iron........A piece of round........a piece of square stock,....and a short bit of flat...........all the pieces forge welded. I noticed because it 'looked funny'..........I wondered why the repair was made that way.........when it would have been much easier to use one piece of stock. Then it occurred to me..........he used what he had!

A neighbor was cleaning out the barn, and these odds and ends followed me home. Frosty,.........it appears we are both driving the same truck. I put a dent in the tailgate........sorry!:)

My forge shop is 8ft.x16ft. Half of it is filled with 'stock'. I have the materials on site to build a 12 ft.x 20 ft. shop. I will leave the stock in the old shop. No, the new shop will not be large enough.

I don't have any really close neighbors, so that's not a problem for me. But, I don't like a lot of thick smoke in my own face when I'm pulling a lot of green coal up and onto the fire. Whin it looks like it's going to be a really smoky situation, I simply toss 2 or 3 balled up sheets of newspaper or a handful of dry sticks from the 'kindling bucket' on top of the fire. The flame will get rid of a lot of the smoke.

I was just curious since most anvils break across the pritchel hole or hardy hole. I wouldn't worry about it........there are lots of ways around problems. We just had a BP presented last week on how to make an easy 'hold down' tool........that fits in the hardy hole!

Nice flatter........ Did that anvil once have a pritchel hole?

coke........

My mom used to have old carbon steel butcher's knives that she used. They would rust pretty readily in humid weather. They were quite often used to cut up salted meats..........which made the rusting even worse. Her solution was to rub a thin layer of lard(pig fat) on the blade........worked pretty well.

Mende, you did a good job on your keyring, and I like that you found a different way of doing the 'ring' part of it. That's one of the most fascinating things about blacksmithing to me........each smith finds his own way of forging a piece..........Cool!

Thanks for sharing the video, Jerry! You had me wondering just what you were forging.......and why pieces were coming off....... I watched the video before reading the thread:)

Jerry, that hawk looks 'keen as a briar'(as in sharp!) Mighty nice lookin' rifle too..... Is the stump in the pic as large as it looks to be?!?

Arftist, I wonder........are there any 'full body' shields that would allow someone with a pacemaker to still use an arc welder? I think I can say from my own experience that health problems can sure interfere with getting work done. I've had open heart surgery . I also have a troublesome back. (I say troublesome because I can still work........and there are lots of others who have it far worse than I do. There are other members with really bad backs, breathing problems,etc. I think each of us tries to work around problems as best we can. You could specialize in forge welding, ox/ac welding, or get a buddy( arc welder) to do some fabricating from time to time. I'll bet a lot of other members have ideas along this line.......... James Flannery

Welcome to Iforgeiron, Arftist! Sounds like you have some experience with metalworking in general. Great! Your expertise will be appreciated. Feel welcome to 'jump in'. And yeah........WE LIKE PICTURES!

Pault 17,using the bag as a 'feeding appliance' was the dog's idea. The very first time I brought one of those generic brown bags home and opened it up, the dog took one look at the bag and put his head right inside. (It's clearly marked 'dog food'.............. Apparently, he can read.........:)

Dave, I got to thinking about what you asked;.....Could you use a tiller blade as a hardy. Well, I can't see why not. It might be difficult to forge one for the hardy hole from a tiller blade, but you could just nail it to a stump. (I keep extra stumps around my shop because they're OH SO HANDY!) Anyway, I've got a bunch of tiller blades off an old 5 hp roto-tiller. I hope it's the same kind of blade youre talking about. I grabbed a hammer and some 16 d. nails, stood the blade on edge,(allowing the curved part hang off the stump. I heated a piece of 1/2 in. round mild steel to high yellow heat. It cooled a little before I got done since I was also fiddling with the camera. But for an improvised hardy , it worked rather well. Thanks for giving me the idea! Here are some pics....... James

Have you ever tried to feed your 'farm' dogs and cats, in the backyard.........at the same time? You know what happens,.....the dogs attempt to monopolize all the food. Here's a way around the problem. Put the cat food on a perch of some sort that the cats can gain access to .........and the dogs can't. This is based on an age-old fact; dogs can't climb! (At least, not as well as cats). The red building in the pics is an old smokehouse turned into a utility shed. There was a live tree growing on the right side of the door. It has since died, but still serves as the cat's climbing post.........that's why I haven't removed it. Anyway, it works like this; at feeding time, the cats run up the tree,across the horizontal 2x4, onto a plywood platform, where the food is served. The dogs have their own food,........directly underneath the cat's feeding station. The dogs do notice an occasional bit of cat food falling from the sky and sometimes seem puzzled by it, but they actually pay little attention to the going's on just over their heads. I've even come up with a slogan; "Cats love it---------and dogs......can't do nothing about it" I've been enjoying this peculiar situation for a number of years now; Just thought I'd share............. James Flannery

Dave, first of all,.......Welcome to Iforge iron! I've been following your thread, and I just happened to remember something I've used a time or two for an improvised hardy tool and holding system. I once used an iron 'splitting wedge' as a cutoff hardy. I just sharpened it a little and stood it upright as the pictures indicate. I nailed some 2x4 pieces around the wedge as shown to secure it. It's important to do a good job of nailing, and to nail each layer of blocks seperately.Drive the wooden blocks tight around the wedge and it won't go anywhere. This method is not as good as a real cutoff hardy made to fit in your anvil, but it will work. An old wood splitting maul(with or without handle),a froe(without handle), an old horse plow 'cutterstalk',........even an old cross pein hammer( with pein sharpened) will work. Just 'box them in' till they can't move. But,.......don't use an axe!........Axes are too big,too sharp,too brittle(shrapnel),........just too dangerous.

I guess the term 'nail digger' is a local slang term for this tool. All the carpenters here use them.......especially in rough framing of houses, etc. They come in really handy if you happen to get a stud or rafter in the wrong place and it must be moved. This tool is generally used in conjunction with a claw hammer........stiking on the backside of the digger claws to drive them under the nail head,.....then striking backward on the end of the handle a few times to dislodge nails. The advantage to this tool , is that it is small enough to carry in a tool belt. I had kept one back that I made from a RR spike, but I can't find it.........perhaps my son-in-law,(full time carpenter) had it in his tool belt!:)

Nett,........nail digger/cat's paw........might be the same thing.......I don't know. The 'nail diggers' I'm familiar with are available from hardware stores. They're usually made from3/4 in. octagon or round stock. Maybe 10 inches long. With a 90 degree bend on one end........near two sharp forks........(think sharp wrecking/crowbar. The idea is, you start the forks under the head of a stubborn nail, and strike the backside of the digger forks with a claw hammer. I realize all my explanation isn't too clear.........I'll try to post a pic when I can.

RR spikes make great hooks for chains. You can split the head of an RR spike(think crowbar) and make a carpenter's 'nail digger'.