VaughnT

Very nice work. I like how each sheet seems to have its own look, but they all come together to create a unified appearance.

Fabulous work, sir. That's exactly the kind of thing blacksmiths were known for back in the day, and you really made that box shine. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it must have been to scroll that flat stock the hard way like you did. Incredible. If you hadn't said it was forged, I would certainly have assumed that it was cut from sheet by a laser. That you were able to make two pieces so close to each other in appearance, well, that shows a masterful control of the hammer and metal. Excellent all the way around.

For me, a large part of the attraction is the isolation of working as a blacksmith, but that doesn't really address the question. Why is blacksmithing important in this day and age? As a trade, blacksmithing is still used throughout the world. The poorer the nation, the more prevalent are the individual smiths making everyday items for everyday use. In wealthier nations, the blacksmith is relegated to the sidelines, pretty much, but is still providing a valuable service in the maintenance and repair of antique ironworks, as well as decorative pieces for those that can afford it. On an individual basis, blacksmithing is like any other hands-on trade in that it teaches the student fundamental skills and abilities that will serve them well throughout life. From design and planning, to the execution and promotion, building something teaches kids all sorts of skills. Just being able to persevere and see the project through to the end is a huge thing now that we live in an age of instant gratification and mind-numbing classroom work. Will blacksmithing continue to be important? Yes. While the opportunities for paying work as a blacksmith are rather limited in first-world nations, the hobby of blacksmithing provides far too many benefits for it to ever go away completely.

Very neat bit of construction. I've never seen a "modern" hammer designed with a cam lift. It's almost hypnotic to watch the cam turning!

It would definitely be fun to save that old girl. If nothing else, the anvil would make a dandy anvil all by itself.

Fine work, hoss. I just picked up a handled punch that's a bit worse for wear and I think it just might be a good candidate for an eye punch.....

2b, glad I could help. I was in the beginning stage of building my own when I was given the Majestic, so I've got a lot of unused ideas bouncing around. You can save some of the heat by doing a good job with the insulation. The forge I posted before is a perfect example of what good insulation looks like - kaowool, cement, then IR reflective paint. The floor is a hard fire brick for durability, but it's on top of a bit of blanket insulation. This helps to keep the heat in. I've seen folks make moveable walls so they can shrink down their chamber unless they need it. I don't know how well this works, though. Sounds like a plausible idea. This afternoon, I worked on two bracelets and a hammer eye drift, probably made a dozen small doo-dads, and never once needed more than the first 8" of the 18" that I have. The biggest thing I would suggest is that you need to have the face able to fully open. A small window is great for holding the heat in, and it's probably what you'll use 99% of the time. But then you'll have someone ask you to make a 10" scroll for their plant hanger..... As for getting sheet metal, one old beat up washing machine or water heater will give you more than enough to make a doghouse-style forge like I posted earlier.

I have tried the chain wrap around the waist and never found it to do much more than get in the way. It surely didn't kill the ring, and I have better things to do with 20' of chain. I've tried a powerful magnet on the side of the anvil. Again, it didn't kill the ring. It was great for collecting scale, but the ring was still there in force. I did have a modicum of success by placing a strong magnet under the heel of the anvil, and another one on the horn. I even made a video showing the change in tone between the chains and magnets. All of that, though, was nothing compared to the change made by simply setting the anvil in a bed of silicone caulk. If you want to deaden the ring of the anvil, lay down a half-tube of silicone caulk or masonry adhesive on the top of your stump. Then sit the anvil down into it. My wilkinson anvil went from sounding like a church bell to something more akin to a Fisher. It sounded like I was pounding on an oak plank. My conclusion: there is zero reason to use chains or magnets to deaden the sound of an anvil. All they do is create a mess and get in the way. You can get the same effect with lead or a box of sand, but they require special steps that a bed of caulk doesn't As for the stand itself, I'm partial to the wood stump if you can get it so the anvil sits level. If this is too much for your tooling, the metal tripod is a great alternative. I made mine from 1" solid square stock and haven't had any real issues other than it likes to migrate across the floor. I would never have imagined that nearly 500lb of metal would move under my 4lb hammer, but it does. Slow as the glaciers, but move it does. The good news is that it's not a permanent fixture and I can move it out of the way whenever I need to.

I had the same problem with my forge. Finally, I solved the problem by putting down a cookie sheet, then a layer of fire bricks, then a few more fire bricks to make legs that the forge sits on. I now have a 3" air gap between the floor of the forge and the layer of bricks. That air gap makes a huge difference. For a portable and fireproof stand, the best I ever saw was a platform bolted onto a cheap hand truck. The propane bottle sat on the bottom, with the hose zip tied to the handle. Easy peazy to roll in and out, and no chance of it catching fire.

I built a KMG clone with my father and it's been a real boon around the homestead. Wood, plastic, iron... you can do rough sanding with a 36-grit belt or move up to fine polishing with a simple switch out. I tell folks all the time that I just don't understand how people can get by without a 2x72 in the shop! While I'm rather pleased with the grinder, it does have some shortcomings in the design. We built ours just before the TW90 came out, and I would love to have something like it over the KMG! I get by with a slack-belt, small wheel attachment and an 8" contact wheel. A work rest would be much appreciated, but I haven't figured out how I want to go about making one. A flat platten is definitely something you should consider a must-have for the grinder. The TW90 has some really solid engineering behind it and is a bit more versatile than the KMG, in my opinion.

Wonderful work, Tim. These are the kind of pictures I like to show new smiths to remind them of just what a blacksmith can do. You did a masterful job and I'm sure they'll be a joy to work with over the years.

I wouldn't say that it was ever meant to be a functioning tool. More likely a "look what we can do" kind of thing. Maybe made for a special occasion and handed out to staff at the Christmas party. The fact that it has a matching hot cut kinda points me even more towards the notion that it's meant as a novelty.

NJ, did you happen to catch that 5lb Fisher being offered on ebay? I wasn't sure if it was authentic or not, and the guy selling it wasn't sure either. It has Fisher Norris hand-stamped into the side just below the face, like the old FN anvils, but that doesn't mean much. Did Fisher always offer tiny anvils?

I'm not saying to sell it for 300. I'm just using that as an example. A lot of people get stuck on the big price tag, but if you factor in the resale value when/if you do sell it, the price really isn't that much. You could definitely sell that anvil for $300 in a year or two, and that makes the initial purchase price only $200. If you sell it for more, great, but you know you'd get a sale at three bills so that's what I went with. When you look at it like that, $500 isn't really that big of an initial investment.

I think it would be a good purchase if the funds allow. I'd certainly try to talk the guy down at least another hundred because of the serious chipping on the edge, but I wouldn't balk at five bills if he held firm. A quality anvil like that will last you a few hundred years if you take care of it. And you could definitely sell it next year if you decide to get out of the business. Buy it for $500, use it for a year or three, and then sell it for $300. In effect, the original purchase price was only $200, and that's if you sell it for less than you bought it. If you can afford it, feel comfortable that you're getting a great tool for a good price.

Fudd, I know what you mean about her calling to you. It's no coincidence, to my mind, that she ended up in the hands of someone with the knowledge and skill to save her. From a financial standpoint, since she's in perfect condition otherwise, if it costs $1500 to repair the top you really haven't exceeded the cost of buying a new anvil. I don't think it'll cost that much in time and materials, and you'll end up with a true beauty unmatched by anything being made today. Rest assured that the task is worthy. I'll drink a beer in your honor.

I'd love to take on a project like that. It would be really satisfying to save that old girl.

Ooh, let's not forget upsetting the bar in preparation for a tenon. Some time back, I made a plant hanger for my mother that had a 2"x6" backer piece that the arm was riveted to. I used 1/2" square stock for the arm and upset the end to make it nice and fat. Then I butchered a small portion of it to form a rivet. You don't have to upset the hanger bar, but I thought it looked a whole lot nicer with a bit of swell starting at the base. And, it's a sure sight more fun than making yet another boring hook! As a teaching aid, it allowed me to experiment with texturing the surface of the backer plate and punching holes. The hanger arm leaves you plenty of room to bend and twist however you like. You can even pierce the arm or give it texture. Lots of ways to go about it, teaching fundamental skills while the students get to make something a hair more complicated than an s-hook.

Black Frog did a very nice tutorial here on IFI wherein he demonstrated his masterful skills at making a bottle opener. The openers are made from 1/2" square stock and have the end upset a bit to give room for slitting and forming the eye of the opener. Wonderful photography and step-by-step instructions: Though, I should note that I haven't been able to duplicate the results and wonder if this isn't some type of computer trickery like that alleged moon landing malarkey NASA was putting out.

Nice work.

Still a mighty fine anvil and I've no doubt it will clean up nicely with some hot iron and scale to smooth the face out.

Rushes for rush light are, literally, rushes - a marshy plant kind of like a cattail. You dry them out, cut them to length, and they wick up the oil in the lamp. I've also seen folks using splinters of soft wood, but they don't wick oil very well and rely more on the burning of the splinter. Betty lamps and such are just a container for oil. The wick is anything soft and absorbent that will move the oil. I've used cotton clothesline (easy to get), moss, poplar bark rope, sisal rope, hemp rope, etc. If you don't have anything thick enough, it's an easy thing to twine up cotton butcher's twine to make a thicker bit for a wick. The oil you use will determine the quality of the light and the amount of soot. Lard or drippings will do the job, but the impurities give you a lot of soot and a weak flame/light. Olive oil is primo stuff, but you're going to pay for it. There's a reason why it was so valuable back in the Roman times! Whale oil was the go-to oil of the day because it burned clean and bright, and was relatively inexpensive. The lamps all work on the same principle as a kerosene lamp - the more wick you have showing, the dirtier the flame and the faster you'll run out of oil in the reservoir. It's a balancing act and the only way to learn is to experiment with the gear you have on hand.

That's a pretty brilliant idea! Looks like you got yourself a good flatter and had some fun doing it.

I wonder if the bolt is actually a u-bolt or two L-bolts. If they go into the body an inch or so, they'd have plenty of strength to hold the pieces together. Sure a lot easier to drill two 1" deep holes and insert a couple of L-bolts. I agree with welding up the prepped ends and leaving the "fix" in place for posterity. It's a neat repair!

Just watched a pair of Wally Yater swage blocks go for crazy money on ebay. I don't know if the swage blocks for the iron for you, but they'd sure better do something really spectacular for $2000! What's really funny is that every item that I decide I really want always goes for crazy prices. If I decide that I'm not going to bother, the piece will go for pennies. I was watching a pair of rusty old tongs that I was thinking would be really easy to turn into a set of hammer eye tongs. The starting bid was less than $10 and I decided to not worry about it because they'd surely go for $50 and I'm not paying that for a mangled pair of rusty tongs that I'm going to have to reshape to be useable. Sure enough, I don't bid and they close out at just over $10! I just can't win!! :(