VaughnT

I definitely agree that smithing is good therapy. Some folks have said I have PTSD (non-mil related) and others say I'm just plain crazy. For me, smithing is all about focusing right there on the metal. I zone in on the project and quite honestly forget about the rest of the world. I remember reading about an organization that was helping wounded vets learn how to make custom knives. It received some good press and got a lot of help from the office of veteran's affairs as I recall. Were it me, I'd definitely contact the local military organizations and see if there wasn't a program already in the works that you could sign on to. A lot of the time, you can be paid for the time and materials the soldiers use - and that only allows you to help more Joes. Might be worthwhile to contact the Wounded Warrior Project and see what they have going on.

The angled faces are supposed to match the arc of your swing and hit the stock square and true. It's much the same as how you see some doghead hammers with the handle and head at slightly less than 90º to each other.

Being disciplined is sooooo hard! I try to take photos of every piece I make. Even a simple point-n-shoot camera can be a tremendous aid when you're trying to remember how something was done! I'll second the idea of making a double. Every single project I've ever made has always come out better on the second try. Often times, the second one has had slight changes made to it because what looks good on paper doesn't actually look "right" in reality. Moving the hooks on a coatrack a quarter-inch closer or farther apart, for example, is something that you can only really judge when you have something in your hand to look at.

I'm a fan of the old forges, and dearly wish I could have added that one to my shop. But, for the same money, and no drive time, I could fabricate a forge that fit my exact design wishes. I'm still keeping my eyes open for a big cast iron forge, though.... I love the history behind them.

Hand axes are surprisingly effective in moving through green wood. Your design will wear your hand to a frazzle after a few minutes, but it's an excellent bit of artistic work. I love the way you scrolled it. If the Elves had a neanderthal stage, this might be how their hand axes looked! :D If you had drawn the butt end to a point, you could have made a very functional hafted axe by burning the pointy end through a handle. Very common design in primitive lands even today.

Looks like a great design, to me. I like the flare you added to the back plate. Gives me a few ideas.......

I watch ebay a lot because you sometimes come across tooling that's cheaper to buy than try making. I'm a sucker for old hammers that have neat lines, and I'm apparently not the only one. Watching rusty old tongs sell for three times the price of a new pair really boggles my mind. A set of 6 tongs recently sold for over $300, and I haven't got a clue why. Must be a bunch of interior decorators buying them up. I recently lost out on a matching pair of hammers. The bidding went all the way up to $70! I really wanted those hammers, too. Never seen anything like them, and a matching set would have been just too nice to have in my collection. Of course, there's always the run in with folks that watch too much American Picker and think they're sitting on a pot of gold. I had one guy try to sell me a big cast iron forge for $500. The only problem, I explained, was that I was looking for a forge to work with and not running a museum. While that forge was just right for my needs, I could easily buy a quality firepot and build the rest of the forge without hitting the $500 mark. A person only needs that "ole timey" look if they're having a bunch of visitors that expect it. I just needed something decent to burn coal in! Would have been nice to have, but certainly not worth a six hour round trip and five bills.

Well, Nick, you got me a hankerin' for an adze. I keep saying I'm going to forge one and never do, so I decided to fish or cut bait. I found an old mason's hammer in my box of bits and pieces. The head is 1x1x1.3, roughly, and is already isolated from the eye, so that will become the blade. I'll cut off the chisel end to make some flint strikers. The plan is to split the head to half thickness and fuller it wide so I can get a 2" blade with a bit of curve to it. No telling how long the blade will be, but I'd rather have too much iron out front than not enough.

I would definitely consider that colonial anvil you linked to. That's a fine tool and in very good condition for its age. Head and shoulders above the harbor freight monstrosity you're currently using. If you can talk them down any on the price, that's just an added bonus. I wouldn't worry about $400 if you have the cash on hand because you can always sell the anvil next year for $300 - your total investment would only be $100. When you see what a difference there is between a real anvil and what you're using, you'll shake your head in wonder. Folks just don't understand how much extra work goes into forging on a lump of cast iron! As for transporting it outside, leave it permanently fastened to the stump and turn the stump into a dolly with wheels and a removable handle. There are plenty of photos wheeled/portable stumps all over the internet. No extra room needed to stow a dolly when the stump is the dolly.

This is one of the reasons I always council beginning smiths to buy their first few sets of tongs rather than trying to make them. While making tongs is a noble aspect of the job, the crude tongs that a beginning smith can make will only hold them back rather than help them advance. We can all relate to the difference in weight, balance, appearance and general quality between a mass-produced pair of tongs and the first five or ten pairs we tried to make on our own. Heck, I just bought a pair of 1/2" v-bit tongs from the one supply house and they are head and shoulders above anything I could hope to make for the same money. $40 is small potatoes for a pair of tongs that will hold both 1/2" and 3/8" stock as solid as you please. Should you know how to make a quality pair of tongs? Sure. But save that for after you've had a year or two of solid forging time under your belt. When you're just starting out, buy tongs to cover your main stock sizes (1/4", 3/8", 1/2") and a few pair for working with flat stock. It will make your life a sure sight easier, and you'll actually enjoy forging more.

There are about a eleventy-million types of hooks, and they all start out with the same motions. Instead of pointing the iron, flare the end and give it a fishtail look. Are you forging in a countersink for the screw head? Have you made some from railroad spikes or flat stock? Why not take a handful of hooks and rivet them to a longer bar so you could make a pot rack? Or rivet them around a hoop so you could make an herb dryer? Look up 'hand forged wall hooks' on pinterest and see some of the many variations. The biggest problem new smiths face is in seeing the possibilities in the iron.

Have you made any scroll forms? Have you ever made a hook out of a 12" spike from the garden center? Have you made a nice selection of punches and chisels? What about making a nice medallion with a rune carved into it? Projects are great, but don't forget making the tools that help you make projects. For me, personally, I have found a lot of inspiration by searching Pinterest. Even if I don't intend to make a forged iron gate, searching through all those pictures gives me a slew of ideas for bottle openers, latches, coat hooks, etc. You might not be interested in the whole, but parts of the whole can give you some wonderful ideas. Does that make sense?

I would humbly suggest not using the cylinder unless you just happened to have an old beat up piece laying around. The best/easiest design I've seen in a long time uses nothing but sheet metal and offers a lot more flexibility in design because of it. Also, the chamber length of 16" seems a bit longish to me. I do a lot of general forging and have never needed that much chamber, and I'm currently using a three-burner 18" Majestic monstrosity. Even for scrolls, I keep two burners shut off and only use the first third of the forge chamber.

Even with the heel about to come off, your anvil is a far better anvil than this h-beam will ever be. Most folks have a rough time with an anvil only because they don't have the anvil solidly mounted to the earth. As NJanvilman noted, a broken anvil is only broken so long as you don't attempt a repair. I would clean out the notch and have a pro weld it up securely. The small amount invested in repairing the anvil would be worth it. Any hardy tools can be mounted in a sturdy vise. You do have a stout vise, don't you?

Beautiful score, O1. To drill those holes larger, go to your tool rents place and rent a drill with a magnetic base. They usually run around $50 a day to rent and have automatic feed so all you have to do is set it up and forget about it. With an annular cutter, they'll go through 1" plate in no time.

I remember seeing a clip of him on some other show. I thought it was hysterical and give the guy big kudos for even coming up with the idea. His work is definitely very good - even if he's not making real fighting equipment. I'd definitely love to have some hollywood types cast me in a show so I could do three episodes before it was canceled and make a small fortune!

Dutch, there's no harm in buying those tong kits; I was just looking at them myself. By the time you do all the work to get to the point that the tong kits are, you will have burned up a lot of time and fuel, both of which cost you money. Plus, they still leave a lot of work to be done, and that's good practice. Even if you only buy one pair, it's hardly a waste of money because you couldn't afford to buy three more at the same time and save on postage. That one pair of tongs will jump start your forging ability. As a beginner, you need three sets of tongs: 1/4" - 3/8" - 1/2" With those three pairs, you can make a bunch of s-hooks and dinner triangles, both of which are really easy to make and don't require fancy tooling. So, you get good practice and something marketable. Put them on craigslist, use the proceeds to invest in more tongs. Just one pair of tongs to hold 1/4" round stock will allow you to comfortably make a ton of s-hooks, drive-hooks and steak flippers. I'll admit that I'm something of a stickler/snob when it comes to tongs. I've seen far too many instances of people struggling with the wrong type of tongs, making the job 10x harder than it should be, and getting hurt in the process. There's nothing like that moment when time slows down as you watch some scorching-hot steel flipping through the air! All for the want of some decent tongs.

Dutch, at your level, research is a wonderful thing. You've already got a good forge set up, so you really don't need more than a few hammers and some tongs to start producing stuff. I always advocate buying new gear when you can, especially things like tongs, because it makes your life so much easier. I know a lot of folks will tell you to make your own tools, but that idea can get to the point where it's more of a drawback than an advantage. If you are a novice, why complicate things when a nice pair of brand new tongs is only $40? Yea, it's money out the door, but it also gives you a quantum leap forward in terms of metal handling and manipulation. The best propane forge design I've ever seen didn't require any freon tanks or fancy tools. Self-tapping screws and some sheet metal.... I'll have to see if I can find a photo of it again. Keep up the good work, and thank you for your service.

That's news to me! I'm guessing it would be a great anvil for someone that does a lot of sheet metal work, and I certainly wouldn't mind having it in my shop even though I don't do sheet metal. Definitely a neat contrivance.

Very nice work. I've been wanting to try those wedge locks ever since I saw they on the Greene Bros. house.

Pretty brilliant idea!

Frog, you've got a really good girlfriend! Surprisingly, I got a pair of OCP blade box tongs out of the blue. These things are very nice and have already come in handy when making a grab rail out of 1.25"x.25" stock. The offset jaws stay well clear of any curls or scrolls, and the stock is held very securely. Oh, and I ordered myself Mark Aspery's 1st volume. I've heard a lot of good about it, and enjoy his videos, so I decided to start the new year with a bang.

1) People that expect me to work for pennies. Hint: I don't live in a third-world country! 2) Never having the size stock I need for a project I want to get done. It really sucks not having Ausfire's scrap heap nearby! 3) Ausfire's constant teasing with all the pictures of his utopian piles of rusty wonder in the outback. ;) 4) Guy's that see me sweating my butt off to make something and turn to the wife to say, "Save your money, honey, I can make that when we get home." Yea, right, bucko. 5) Running out of fuel at the most inopportune time. 6) People that say they love my work but never seem to find two nickels to rub together so they can "support the artist". 7) Heavy hammers with spindly handles. I just don't understand what these manufacturers are thinking! Overall, 2014 was a decent year and I'm looking forward to seeing what 2015 brings.

Both of my non-Fisher anvils ring like church bells and I can't stand working on them when they're like that. I always secure them to the stumps with silicone caulk to dampen the noise. My Fisher is the anvil I work on regularly and the dull thud is very appreciated by my ears and my neighbors. I don't do demos and fairs so I don't need the ring of the anvil to draw a crowd.

With all the tools you've listed, the only thing I would really consider semi-vital is a torch. If you're running a propane forge, consider getting an oxy/propane torch set-up. There are a lot of times when being able to spot-heat a part makes life a soooooo much easier, and there's no reason to go with oxy/acetylene when you've already got propane on site. Propane streamlines the supply process and works just as well as acetylene. And get a gas-saver gizmo so you're not wasting fuel while you do heat the part. Seriously, with a cutting torch you open whole new worlds of possibility.