tomhw

Nonsense. I used to chew on lead when I was a kid, and I am.........uh............. I guess that might explain why I am as I am and not the absilute ruler of the TRI-STATE AREA!!!

What Glen said. First: Learn to manage a blacksmith's coal fire. This is a basic skill that, when mastered, will enable you to take advantage of most of the other techniques of hot work. Second: How long the coal in your fire will last depends on what you are doing. If you are working with small stock, less than 3/4 inch and just drawing, punching, cutting, shaping, or upseting you will use much less coal than if you were welding billets for a pattern welded sword. More heat more coal. You cane be frugal but don't be stingy. My Father-in-law had a plow mule when he was young. It ate so much mule feed that he decided to wean it from the mix of corn, cane syrup, and oats. Just about the time his mule was weaned... it died. Some mules are stubborn-to-death.

Thomas, there are always things that we will know, things that we will partially know, and things that we think we think we know but may not. I do not really care about the anvil in question. I thought that there were things about it that were knowable if the inquiry included objective analysis. I do not doubt that you can make an accurate identification of iron and its alloys based on a spark test, but it is an acquired skill. Simple ferrous crystalography can be taught to any trade school welding or machinist beginner such that he can make a reliable identification of any common piece of iron or steel. I got my introduction to it (and blacksmithing) as a high school kid in the Natchitoches Parish trade school in 1965. That is also where I learned the spark test.

Not a Vulcan. The waist-up part is like a Vulcan but the foot is not. This is most likely an ASO that has been repurposed. A better way than the spark test to test for cast iron vs high carbon steel is by poloshing the surface and then etching it to reveal its strucure.

I'll bet you a Brazilian it is not cast Iron. It does have the Vulcan profile but there are square handling holes in the body which suggest that it is a forged anvil. The thickened area beneath the heel, surrounding the exit holes of the hardy and pritchel, is not like a Vulcan, or a Fisher.

Years ago an old wheelwright told me that black locust is the best wood for hubs. Nothing about honey locust.

Do a search for blacksmith http://imagespublicdomain.wordpress.com/category/national-archives/

Glenn, I use less than a cup of alcohol. It lights wet fuel, even on a windy day, leaves no additional ash, and smells good when it burns. Walmart sells 90% in the pharmacy area. Alcohol- it's not just for lacerations any more.

John, I use a poker with a flat tip about five inches long and about two inches wide, angled at about twenty degrees. I slide it down the side of the fire pot to make an opening for the introduction of fresh coal. Move the green coal into the pot from the sides, compressing the coke and moving it into the hot spot. The fire stays concentrated and clear. Pressing the green coal in from the sided also permits you to raise or lower the hot spot, and move it around in the fire pot for focusing the heat and blast.

Clean, cheap, and effective: I just dump the Kingsford charcoal into the fire pot, liberally pour 90% alcohol (both available at Walmart) over it, and light it up. I maintain a steady blast until the charcoal is alight.

I don't think that a fire pot should get hotter than a black heat. A properly managed fire should have the heat focused above the touyer and fire pit. In a properly managed fire the recently introduced fuel insulates the touyer and fire pot from the the burning fuel. Using coke or charcoal requires more attention than coal because of the speed with which the fire spreads through the more pure carbon fuel. Though I am using charcoal now, I prefer coal to coke or charcoal because the smith has the most control of the fire with a good, high quality, bituminous coal.

Score! Get a chimney and a wind break. Have fun. Its organic.

If you have no experience and no preference for a kind of hammer or a maker of hammers get the cheapest ones you can find. Modify it as you gain experience until you know what you want. Then make your own. I have ball peen, cross peen, straight peen, and double faced hand hammers weighing from half pound to 4 pounds in eight ounce increments. I also have some rounding hammers and sheet metal hammers. Some are slightly modified commercial hammers, some are heavily mofified commercial hammers, and some are of my own making. I ahve forged steel using a claw hammer, a brick hammer, a hatchet, and a rock hammer. Use what you have and see what you like.

Timothy, well done- in every respect.

Michael, that is a great photo. It shows the smith's understanding of wrought iron's strengths and weakness and how to anticipate and use them for the project at hand. If you buy the anchor hold on to this section; it has a wealth of information on how to use wrought iron. Because of how it is made wrought iron is strong along the grain and weak across it. See how the smith reinforced and added iron to compensate for the iron's weaknesses in the small bends and stress points while maintaining a modest cross section along the long sections. It is good work by a good smith.

Old wrought iron is extremely variable in terms of purity (eg. hot short, & etc.). The best wrought iron can be welded in a very wide temperature range. Most available old wrought iron is not of the best quality. Test what you have to determine your approach.

When my days as a professional I often used a 6lb hand hammer. I never had any problem in my dominant right arm. I did get "Popyey" elbow in my left elbow. My left elbow produced a large spherical swelling that took a month to go away. I have no problem since then.

Now that I am old I sleep most soundly at about 74 degrees F in the summertime here in Louisiana. Anything above that is too hot for me to have have a reliable deep sleep. Steel? Steel is not interested in its heat-forced structural change until the temperature has pased well above the maximum temperature for human life.

I use Walmart's Royal Oak lump charcoal because it is cheap and available. If I could get a good quality, clean, low sulpher, bituminus, at near the same price and availability I would use it. If I was still a full time professional smith, rather than a hoby-smith, I would use coal and also gas forges.

The pin is welded so the pin does not twist in the socket of the spike and so that the socket is not deformed when the spike is being driven into the door frame.

Beth, that is a concertina belows and a side draft touyer in a heavy iron frame. It likely dates from the late19th century or early 20th century. If it is in good working order it should be worth £400 to a collector.

I am sorry,I didn't understand that this was a popularity contest. I thought that you were interested in the ideal master of the discipline in which one was devoted.

Well done. Have you used it yet? Does it tend to drip from someplace other than the wick channel? Keep going. Don't stop. Perfection is promised; eventually.

Who: Samuel Yellin. Why: Mastery of his medium and a refined eye for space and movement.

I am voting "mule shoes" and venturing corrective shoes for the rear hooves to prevent interfearance.