VaughnT

Great photos, JHCC. Those boots look like you definitely don't want to get kicked by the guy wearing them!!

Gorgeous work, Aus. You're getting close to the end of the hooks, so I better prep another box! I'm gonna have to step up my game! As for fasteners, I've stopped offering them with the hooks. Folks always seem to have the wrong kind of wall for the hook I supply, so I found it was better to just let them source what works for them.

No idea what kind of nails they're making, but those sure are some masterful fellows! I really need to practice making nails more often......

They're mainly used to building docks, landscaping walls and log cabins. Anywhere you need to tie together thick timbers. I can't believe you don't have the equivalent down under. You've got to have a need for such things, I'd think. Hard to believe they're purely American, though we are a pretty awesome country and tend to do things big. How do Australians hold together big timbers? I wonder how much it would cost to ship a 50-pound tub of iron goodness down under!?!? http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=30652636

Beautiful work, Aus! You really did those nails justice!!

I keep saying I'm going to pick up one of his hammers. I use a 3# cross peen as my general go-to hammer and would love to see how Habermann's design compares. Dare I hope that a little of his skill and enthusiasm is cast into each one?

A short vid on building a treadle hammer with a sledge. I see a lot of problems with the design, but it was still a fun build to watch and there are things to learn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJbzjQ75FWc

That's a very nice build! Fun video, too. As for the horn, I'd prefer a concentric cone just so you could more easily use it for truing up rings and such. But, like you noted, a bit of hard face rod to round it out again sure wouldn't hurt. Fisher anvils have a hard steel top plate on their horns and I've always found them a pleasure to work on. Just out of curiosity, what kind of value would you put on a fabricated anvil like that? There's a ton of machining and welding time there, so I expect it would be pretty pricey if a hobbyist wanted to have their local machine shop do a similar build for them. But, would it be cheaper than buying a new anvil of similar weight?

Some very nice jigs in this short advertisement. I can see a lot of ways to adapt their design for what I do.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrFmXEVWvS0

Whoever did that was definitely good with a welder! No telling what they needed it for, or why they didn't want the repaired heel level with the rest of the anvil. All kinds of crazy things go on in big factories!

Hard to say. All that rust could be covering the weld seam where they added a block of steel to an anvil that had the heel already broken off. Still, plenty of workable surface there and you could conceivably drill out the heel to add a pritchel and hardy hole.

Always a pleasure to see your work.

Very nice idea. I just happen to have an old cast iron blower stand that needs something done with it since the blower was rusted solid and had to be trashed. I wonder how many concentric rings I could make to maximize the capacity before it got too big???

Yep, that's getting stolen! I built an adjustable guillotine some time back and it didn't survive long. It wasn't very easily adjusted, either. Your design seems to fix all the problems I had and you can be sure its going to get borrowed. I have a few big 1" bolts, but don't know if I have a nut to fit. I'll have to do some searching.....

I'll be absolutely honest here: Get a kettle bell. Blacksmithing isn't some oddball thing. It's not an isolated movement. Your whole body is involved in the operation. Kettle bells are awesome because they, first and foremost, build up your grip strength. Holding onto the kettle bell while you're swinging it around is no different than holding onto a hammer or set of tongs. I'm as far out of shape as you can get, but I'm working my way back to fighting form slowly and surely. Do a search for kettle bell exercises and you'll see a slew of simple movements that incorporate the entire body. It's quick and simple stuff, and you don't need to be a physician to understand how it's helping. All of the big box stores seem to carry the things in their exercise department because they're trendy. I like them because they're simple. There's something very Neanderthal about them. It's a lump of iron with a big ol' handle just begging to be grabbed up and thrown around. One of the biggest problems people face when exercising is not getting enough micro-nutrients and protein in their diets. Muscles are made from protein. When you exercise those muscles, you damage them and they need to be repaired. That requires more protein in your diet than usual. Protein is also a fuel for your body in other regards, so it's good to make sure you have plenty of the stuff coming in. I'm a huge proponent of GNC's Ultra Mega Gold for Men multi-vitamin and EAS-brand ready-to-drink protein shakes. The shakes are delicious and are manufactured properly so you are getting quality protein and nutrients that your body can actually break down and use. You should be getting at least 100 grams of protein in your daily diet. But, sadly, if you look at the ingredients on what you normally eat, you get hardly any protein at all. That's why the protein shakes are so important. All the exercise in the world doesn't help if you're not eating right. It's not rocket science. Give your body the building blocks it needs to repair the damage caused by exercise, and you won't be nearly as sore the next day. You can't beat the kettle bell for simplicity and fun. For the price, you can keep one in the shop and one in the house. Whenever you walk by it, pick it up and do something with it. With a month to go, you can make great strides and show all those young whippersnappers just how tough an ol' timer can be!

Forging the anchor for the Titanic! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIHyaSV22Bs

Throw a lark's head knot around the fold and hang it upright. As long as the piece is relatively balanced, the lark's head knot should keep it vertical and not interfere with the resonance.

For me, the V-bit bolt tong has proven to be the most useful when you only have a small collection of tongs and need to get the most bang for the buck. I prefer to have a box jaw tong for every size needed, but the V-bit does a good job of capturing flat stock as well as round and square.

Very nice design. I could see me swinging a hammer like that!

I'm the only person in the world that has a SPoA right now. If folks are interested in one, my dad's more than happy to make them.... for the right price! Lots of people use the bottom of an old fire extinguisher, O2 tank, scuba tank or the like because it's pretty heavy-walled and the depression works much like the SPoA. It's not as good as the SPoA because they're not as stout, in my opinion, but they certainly work. A wood stump will also work and they've been used for ages. I don't much care for them because of the smoke and how they always seem to crack right where I don't want a crack, but they certainly do work. 98% of the dishing I do is done cold, even on 1/8" stock. The hard steel would quickly eat away at a wood stump. One of the nice things about something like the SPoa is that it's really durable. Wood rots, cracks and burns up.... but it does have the benefit of not marring the metal's surface so you can work non-ferrous metals just as easily as ferrous. The dish for the candle holder was forged freehand on the anvil because there's only the very slightest dishing to it. What you see in the picture is just a little bit more than the natural dishing effect that comes from peening the steel. Start in the center and circle your way out, and you'll see the metal start cupping up right way. Thanks. Couldn't have done it without you, truly! That dish has been sitting on my bench for a year, at least, and it chafed me every time I saw it. Your idea saved the day! Forging hot gets the job done. Doing it cold gives you better control, but it's also a wee bit more difficult because the metal doesn't move as fast. I prefer to work cold simply for the control - understanding that it limits me to what I can do. Either way, though, turns out some really good product if you put your mind to it!

Very nice work, Gergely. I like how you left the edges intact to create something of a frame for the peened area. I might have to give that go on my next dish!

The horn on Fisher anvils has it's own tool steel top plate, so be careful with grinding on it. As others have said, a picture is worth a thousand words. Post some photos and we'll see what the best option is. Welding to cast iron.... I wouldn't do it, but maybe you're better at welding. It wouldn't take much to be better at welding than me, so....

Thanks for thinking outside the box, Tony! I took your idea of drawing out the "dog ears" and was able to salvage a couple of pieces that have been sitting on my bench for ages! The dish part is just a 3"x3" square with the corners drawn out super thin (too thin, actually). The edges were a wee bit sharp, so I curled them down to create a more organic flow and, hopefully, prevent any cuts when folks are handling the thing. The middle is just a 1" mild steel ball that I squished flat and drilled through. I was planning on just riveting the dish to the base, but it didn't look very good, so I had to make the stand-off.

Very nice work! I like the organic shaping, and drawing out the corners was a really brilliant idea. I actually have a blank that I drew the corners out on but didn't like how it turned out. That blasted thing has been sitting on my bench for as long as I can remember - just laughing at me. Now I have an idea on how to reform it into something respectable!

My center punch. Aside from my anvil and hammer, this is the single-most used tool I have. It's marked for thousands of holes and also gets used when I need to add a bit of decoration to a piece. Forged from a car coil spring, she's had to be dressed to remove the mushrooming quite a few times, already.