VaughnT

Right now, I'm trying a regimen of basic stretching and exercising the abdominals. The last therapist I saw said that it's probably a question of being out of balance due to how I work, walk, etc. I can see some validity to that since I always carried the coin on my left shoulder to leave my gun hand free. With the abs tight and sore from two or three sit-ups, the lower back feels a lot better. I'm guessing that it has to do with the whole core taking on a share of supporting the torso. Regardless, I was able to get in a solid hour or so of forging before my back decided I a break was mandatory. It hurt like the dickens to walk back to the house, but I felt great about actually getting some forge work done! Tomorrow, I'll do the same thing and see if the pattern repeats. It'll be a long slow road to getting any semblance of function back in my life, but I'm hoping that it will pan out. If not, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Cut off disks for the side grinder would be my way of doing it. You might need a lot of them, but it'll get the job done eventually. If you have something like a Portaband saw, that might work, too. I'm just not sure about the blades on the things. As far as anvils go, though, you'd be hard pressed to find one better. If the height is good, just dress one end and stand her up. Love to have something like that just to tinker on. I've got big anvils, but there's something about a post anvil that's always caught my eye.

Very nice work. I'm looking forward to seeing it finished!

I definitely recommend Zirconia or ceramics over AO. While the AO works, it also dulls and wears fast -- doesn't matter if it's on a belt grinder or sanding disk. Finding them, though, can be a bit problematic. For high wear items like cut-off disks, I will generally go with whatever's available at the store I'm at. If I'm running down to Tractor Supply for something, I'll pick up some cutting disks simply because they're there and I'll need them sooner or later. Also, for sandpaper disks, the angle the paper is applied to the disk makes a difference. The steeper the angle, the more surface you can use before you hit the arbor or guard, which means longer life.

Neat. You can buy leather handle washers through a few of the knife-maker supply places on line. I've used them in the past and they sure make things go quick!

If it's as old as you say, the chances are good that it's wrought iron and might have a pretty decent resale value. However, how much work it takes to get out of the woods will seriously impact the profit margin.

You're gonna have a lot of fun with that thing! Looks like a solid build. Next, you need to make a DaVinci centrifugal lathe.....

Have at it, friend. Just be sure to post some photos of your pieces so we can all admire. Thank you. I'm always trying to come up with new projects that kids can do, but which doesn't include making yet another blessed hook! For those fobs, I used did everything cold until I heated the metal to give them a nice waxing. I did use a dremel with a little burr bit for the texture on the one, but other than that it was just a drill press and some chisels. Be sure to post some photos of what your folks bring back to the next meeting!

Playing around with a new concept. I wanted something that was relatively easy to produce, but didn't have a lot of sharp edges that might tear up the pocket lining. Work great for key chains, necklaces, zipper pulls, etc. Because they're not overly large, you can do a lot with a little.

It's that twisting that gets me, too. When it does ease up a bit, I walk around in absolute dread of doing something that will aggravate it again! Some folks have told me to see a chiropractor, but I have issues with people touching me and don't know if I could stand some guy getting that close and personal. It's a messed up life I lead! The worst part is that I have orders piling up.

It's been a rough couple of weeks. Years and years ago, I did something to my back while toting a sack of coin and currency into a customer. The same thing I'd done a thousand times before, but something was a little different and my back went out. The doc said it's just a pinched muscle, but I think it's got to be some kind of spine cancer or the like because it just won't go away. All the stretching and exercising in the world doesn't help fix it. At best, it's a temporary solution and I'm always afraid of moving wrong and waking that sleeping dragon again. Today, I tried to get into the shop and fill some orders. I managed to get one small order filled, but my back has been hating me for it. Not like I did something crazy or anything. Sometimes the spasms just spasm because I stand up or walk to the kitchen. As the old saying goes, the spirit is willing but the body is weak. Getting old ain't for sissies!

Beautiful work. I would never have thought to use a needle scaler to work the hot steel, but now you've got me thinking! How are you going to fasten the mirror to the metal so they're joined firmly? I still haven't come up with a way that I like.

Very nice work. There's something really satisfying about making chain.

No harm will come from storing the stuff with your folks, so store it. As mentioned above, take some photos and prepare to sell the stuff if it ever comes up. But.... plan on keeping it until you can return. If you prepare the stuff, you can always sell it sometime down the road when your circumstance changes. Until then, give it a nice coat of oil and put it away while you're off on your adventure.

I love working alone. I don't make anything close to a decent living as a smith, but I find the lack of people to be very refreshing. In my other life, I always had to deal with a ton of drama generated by others. Lies, gossip mongering, character assassination, basic incompetence.... you name it, I got to see it. And the amazing part is watching the boss actually believe the tripe he's being fed by his inner circle. There's a lot of truth to the old adage 'the king is judged by the court he keeps'. Now, the only problems that come up are the ones I create. You still have to deal with people, and there will come a time when a customer causes some problems, but that's small potatoes compared to the constant warfare that goes on in other types of work. Every time I get a bit lonely, I can always run to town and drink a few beers at the local watering hole. That'll create enough drama to keep me going for another month or two!

The face of that anvil is pretty trashed. Whenever someone counsels using the anvil for a year, it's because the anvil has a pretty smooth surface and you can work around the defects. Your anvil is altogether different because there isn't any smooth-ish area over the waist of the anvil. If it is just an abused Vulcan, it'll have a tool steel face on it and you would probably be better served by having the grooves filled in by a good welder. Some of those grooves look entirely too deep to grind through. The Gunter Method of anvil repair is tried and true, but is it worth the cost?

That's some excellent craftsmanship. Top marks all around.

Exactly what we'd expect some super-secret agent to say. "Nothing to see here, folks. Move along." Or do you routinely blame things on marsh gas refracting light from Mars or the like? I've always liked the idea of an AWACS plane. Shear brilliance when you think about it, and a huge step up in warfare technology. Being able to listen in to enemy chatter and shut off their cars and planes has got to come in real handy on the battlefield. How powerful are your laser cannons on those thing? Have they upgraded the pulse rifles for the door gunners, or are they still in the 40-watt range?

Gotta say that's some mighty nice work. I like the shape of the handles and how they bring out the lines of the heads. I always have problems with handles coming a little loose after awhile. I have tried every wedging technique imaginable, as well as using carpenter's glue and epoxy to fill any gaps between the head and handle. To date, no luck in keeping the heads on rock solid.

If you keep the bone solid, the wall thickness should be plenty thick for carving. The only issue you'll have to deal with is the size of the hole in the middle and it being far too large for the tang. Epoxy weighs a ton and you don't want too much of it in there being used as a filler material. I've had good luck glueing slabs of softwood around the tang and then trimming them to fit into the bone. You can also use balls of tin foil crammed down around the tang; they take up the space but will lock to each other so you can still pull the tang out to apply your epoxy. I do like the tin foil method....

Looks rather minty, and you'll love the quiet thud that Fisher's are known for. I have had other anvils, but after working on my Fisher, I wouldn't want to use anything else. Great anvils and you'll find yours is a perfect size for all manner of general smithery! Post some photos after you get her cleaned up so we can see her in all her glory!

Try a wider/rounder peen on your hammer. A sharp peen acts more like a chisel, really diving deep into the steel but not pushing it sideways to spread things out. A flat peen might sound contradictory, but the wider face forces the metal to the sides considerably.

Looks great. A good anvil stand makes a real difference in the performance, but I've also found that they make the smith happy and want to actually forge stuff. Good tools are like that! Now, get out there and make the iron move!

Very nice work, Mike. I'll be honest and admit that I'm a bit disappointed that you didn't mail that anvil to me like I asked, but I supposed this is a good secondary use of it. Your first project needs to be to put some nice bends on some 1/8"x1" flat stock and replace that strapping you've got holding everything together. What you've got on there will get the job done, but the fung schway of the whole thing is way off and will negatively influence the mojo of your forging. Overall, excellently done and she'll surely help you on your journey forward.

Check out Mark Aspery's videos. He's just started a line of them that covers "old school" things. It was a real pleasure to see a big hook being made because a lot of what's written in old books just doesn't seem to translate in my brain. Trace Hook, "Old-School" project #1 Rowan Taylor is another one to keep an eye on. He's doing a lot of "simple" projects and his work is top shelf. Blacksmithing: making a rush-light holder. I really appreciate their taking the time to do solid videography and not crowd the scene with cheesy soundtracks and the like.