Daryl

In the words of one of my teachers:
THAT is a piece of iron......... I am art.

Here is a thought: The majority of us are using old anvils. Very few of us have aquired new or recently new anvils. New and recently new (when made) anvils would be considered anything ten years or newer; old anvils are usually anything fifty or more years old, some are over one hundred fifty years old. These are bona-fide antiques! Now take your bona-fide antique, place it in a shop and pound the bejeepers out of hot iron on it. Antique dealers probably cringe at the thought (ha!).

Hey guys, remember, that regardless of whether the tools are rusting away in a field (awww) or painted bright gold as part of someone's front lawn flower display (yuk!), they DO belong to someone else. There have been items I had tucked away out of plain sight (as I currently do not have the room in my shop) that have been 'liberated' as well as people knocking on my door almost demanding to 'have' the 'junk' I am not currently using.
Just because items are not being used in the immediate sense or whatever means nothing. If I choose to allow my wagon parts to rot in my yard, that is my decision, not someon else's. Unless someone offers me a foolish amount of money..........maybe.

A Blacksmith's first sale (usually a coin of some denomination) is kept under his anvil to remind him that only when he is hammering at the anvil is he making money.

I follow the advice of my first teachers, the same from a book by Otto Schmirler and strangely enough, Francis Whitaker provided the same advice when I met him at CanIron II. Most everything beyond a candle holder is planned out full-scale on a piece of thin sheet tin. It is infinitely easier where accurate measurements can be made for material calculation, details such as finials, twists, whether collars, rivets or mortise and tenon may be employed. Because the plan is on metal, the hot iron may be placed directly upon the plan for immediate comparison.
My two cents worth.

Brain, eyes, protect both. The rest are details.

By trade(s) I am a certified Agricultural Mechanic (spent many years at a New Holland dealer) and Commercial Transport Mechanic (Kenworth). I still average 35-40 hours a week Blacksmithing. The mechanic side of my life keeps a roof over our heads and food on the table, while the Blacksmithing side supports itself plus provides money for extras (holidays, etc.).

Piece of speaker magnet stuck to the top-front of the drill press holds my drill chuck in a handy spot.

In a perfect world, the lighting around the forge itself should be just low enough to see the colours as they change in the fire and at the anvil. I have a natural light (a north-facing window) on one side of the forge so tempering is easier, and the main work area of the shop is well lit. I find if the floor gets dirty (dark from dust, etc.), a simple clean-up job brightens the area immensely. Remember, if you are young, having good lighting is not really necessarry... until you get older. This is an area where taking care in planning your shop and work area will take care of you later.

If you google 'Champion Blower catalog on cd' you can go to a website where you can purchase the entire catalog on CD Rom. I bought a copy for reference material years ago when the Canadian dollar wasn't doing too well and I still believe it is worth every penny. (I am unsure if mentioning the website would be too bold.)
Good luck

I have only one adjustable wrench in my collection, it is a 24" model, and I rarely use it for anything other than prying when I can't find my prybar.
Phil is dead-on right.

Obtain a copy of Diederot's Encyclopdeia of Industry (I think that is the correct name), it will give you a little bit of an idea of what life was like before the Industrial Revolution. This may not be an old nough period for you to study, though it will give you some idea.

On the praries, when a farmer gives you prmission to scrounge through his scrap pile in the field, it's called "slough fishing". Friendly tip: always make sure you have a fishing license (permission).

As far as heating goes, I usually turn up the heat in my shop the night before I go in (yes, a luxury, I know), or I do the old heat up a large piece of flat bar and lay it on the anvil for a while. Once the sweat is off the anvil, it's ready for work. Warmed up to -25C today. Dimag lives much farther north than me, and it gets CCCCCCCold there too.

Drill bits! Don't feel bad about being unable to sharpen them correctly (yet). The shop I work in is filled with mechanics under 30 who seem to only have the ability to create arrow heads with drill bits, or worse. Yes, at Tech School they are all instructed in this arcane art and are passed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Strangely, after my days off, my first task in the shop is not to sharpen drill bits, but to make them so they will actually drill a hole. I don't use a gauge or drill doctor or assistant, just a decent, trued grinding stone and a piece of graph paper. The real secret to sharpening drill bits correctly (or anything else worth doing) is to pay attention to what you are doing and to what the result is.
BTW, poor drill bits are a real pet peeve of mine.

Any fastener can be retained with what some call French-locks or Tab-locks. These are washers that have two or more long tabs that extend outward and are placed under the head of the bolt before it is threaded in. Once torqued down, one tab is bent downward over the edge of the piece, while the other is bent upward and over one flat of the bolt head. A common place to see these was on the small block Chevys up to the mid-70's. Another common place is where a PTO has been installed on a manual transmission (these washers are almost always included in the Eaton and Chelsea brand kits). As for placing them where there is no edge to bend downward, drilling a shallow hole in the surface a short distance away from the bolt hole will allow you a point to which you can push part of the tab into.
I hope this helps.

My condolences. As well condolences on behalf of AFAM #135.

Here is my 25# Jardine, the Canadian Giant. Purchased it from a good friend last Autumn. I have since made a brake for it and mounted a 2hp 115v motor on the top. As the hammer will soon be lineshaft driven, I left the pulley flat and machined a flat drive pulley for the motor.
I used to have a 15# Kerrihard, nice little hammer. At the time I needed other 'stuff' and horse-traded it away.

Aside from environmental concerns, or even preferences about heating processes, it is important to consider what atmosphere is being produced in your immediate area (your shop). I do not have the specifics handy for me, though I do know that propane constantly produces carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide among other nasties; coke (I am referring to quality metallurgical grade) also produces similar gases, though in slightly less amounts per BTU produced; coal is at the lower end of the scale, and with poor coal, will produce vast amounts of sulphur dioxide. I never tried charcoal, so I can't comment on it. ALL forges also produce particulate matter, which is bad for your lungs - this includes gas forges, as there is a constant deterioration of the lining of the forge (be it ceramic wool or high temp cement/clay).
Number one: what do you have for good ventilation?
Number two: do you have a functioning carbon monoxide detector?
Number three: is your work and are your products more suited to gas or open fire? A small gas forge does you no good if you want to weld wagon tires, conversely a large open fire is a waste if you are doing a production run of fire pokers.
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Me, I use propane, coal or coke, depending on the work I am doing. I am fortunate to have all three choices in my shop.

Flypress screws have been listed with two- three- and four-pitch threads. The listings have also made mention of straight-cut and Acme threads. Both threads can be a bear to cut on the lathe, with the straight-cut being more challenging. The difficult part of that exercise is cutting threads for the nut or female part of the structure. As for thread pitch, yes there probably is a formula somewhere though I have no idea where. A larger number of thread pitch (four) would be a faster advancing ram per revolution than a dual pitch. As for making one on your own, understand this is not a weekend or four weekend project to make one that does more than go up and down; everything better be right on.
I suggest getting a video on one and visiting a website or two.
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I still have six feet of two inch diameter, two-pitch straight-thread with nuts (can't remember where I got it), plus much three and four inch solid bar, and after doing much planning a year ago, I still haven't started because it is fairly intimidating.

I seriously doubt the threads being cross-threaded. If the threads are straight-cut or Acme threads, someone able to cross-thread such would be a miracle worker. I suspect the threads may be worn and then subject to over-tightening. You have probably three options: 1. Find another screw and box set (most don't work well mis-matched), 2. Weld up another set from Acme screw stock and nut (the most efficient good, reliable method), 3. I believe somewhere on this website there is an outline of the old method of brazing new threads in the box-end using older methods (never tried that myself).

I agree with skunkriv. I would also add you are probably holding your breath while hammering.
When starting out, your hammer handle is a throw away item. Buy several hammers, a half-round bastard file and a medium-sized wood rasp. Your hammer handle MUST conform to you and your hand, not the other way around. Shape the handle such that it is comfortable to grip and you can swing it with confidence. My grip on the handle is such that the thumb, index and middle fingers have a slightly snug grip and the other two are used to accelerate the hammer. If you are unable to do this, re-shape the handle until you get it right. You may go through several handles to get to this point.

Swinging the hammer is employed almost all the time, the most attention should be paid to it when beginning. Despite this, we are ALL exited to create something NOW, and fail to stay with the basics. While everyone's physical makeup may differ to a degree, the movements must be natural and done such that all the muscles in the body work as a whole, not singly. Get the technique right, and do it all the time and it should be done in as such or you won't last long.

Having done my apprenticeship on a bona-fide, pre- 1890's set of bellows, seen many more true antiques, and built several sets of double bellows myself, I would verify first the details of the item. There are many features that to me would be questionable. That being said, if you want a set of bellows to USE, AND you can get them for the right price......................

When. after not seeing you for years, your old high school friends marvel at how thick and black your hair still is................

When as your other job is a mechanic, you can repair or remove more things with a hammer than most of the other guys can with wrenches.

Here is my anvil. A 200kg double horn, with pre-anvil and upsetting block. I made the stand from 1/4"-wall 12" diameter pipe and some 3/8" plate; there is a piece of 1/2" thick hard rubber underneath to lessen the ring. Yes, my first dollar is under the anvil.