Daryl

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.

The tempering process for an anvil would be far more straightforward than hardening. While I haven't hardened and tempered an anvil, I have done so on a flatter (same principle, much smaller scale). I had read a book on it and tried it myself (successful after four tris) - the process involved has to ensure that the edges would not end up harder than the center (difference is in the larger mass in the center not bing able to cool off at the same rate as the edges (the rate of cooling from non-magnetic temperature to cold - hardening); this is done using a water hose or stream aimed at the center and allowing the water (or whatever you are using as a cooling agent) to flow equally over the surface. Hardening can be verified using a file. Remember, it took many tries to get a decent harden and temper on a two and a half inch square flatter; I doubt an anvil should be a first project. As far as I know, the best person to contact would be John Adolph - unless you can go visit the Refflinghaus factory.

The subject of using clay and plaster is discussed in depth in Max Metzger's book "Die Kunstschlosserei - 1927". The high degree of skills and the mastery displayed in this book are incredible.

You should give your fire extinguishers a rap with a mallet at the six month point. On its first birthday, buy another one or have the current one serviced and certified by a qualified Fire Protection service outlet. A fire extinguisher may seem an unnecessarry expense............. until something goes wrong. That is when something that goes wrong (small fire getting bigger) goes horribly wrong (fire extinguisher doesn't work well or at all), and you can't press a rewind button.

Quite simlar to Sandy Creek. Though I charge $27/hour for my time at the forge (I will explain later), I also charge a separate fee for design. Once my design is finished, the customer can not take it with them until they pay for the design - this way, if they choose to have someone else make it, I am not out money. I am very good at design and layout (and proud of it, too), and several of my designs have been done by a mass-production shop (with much of the details, rivets, collars and finials eliminated); one of my designs never has been done - the customer had the large sheet with the overall design framed and matted. I charge that much for my time for several reasons: I am paid quite handsomely at my regular work (despite spending almost 40+ hours a week smithing too), I also like spending some time with my family, AND I will not cheapen my work just to sell it for less than the smith who IS full time and can't afford to have another guy undercut him just to make a sale. If a customer truly appreciates the handwork of smith, paying an honest price isn't a great concern.

In my area a few years ago we had a mouse problem of Biblical proportions (it actually made the national news one night - yuk). Mice in the fields were measured at twelve to fifteen per square metre (about a square yard). This condition lasted about three weeks before they all died of some lung disease that develops when they are overcrowded. At the time, we were using the five gallon pail traps all over the shop and getting from six to thirty every morning. East of where I live there was an area that had a similar rat problem. If you live in the country, particularly where there is a grain elevator - talk to them and see what the current best method is. As well, if you trap one rat and paint it pure white then let it go, chances are that the other rats will find another place to go when the white one goes back to its home - the others think it is a ferret. Ferrets are incredible mousers and rat hunters, unless there are too many or too few subjects to hunt - too many and they will probably get killed by the other rats, too few and they become a problem themselves... best to see if a friend has one to borrow for a week. Grinding up asprin to a powder and mixing it with flour also rids you of the little beggars (they heammorage internally from the asprin). I once had a small can of old (very old) case hardening powder, it had a high concentration potassium cyanide - sprinkled a bit around the edges of my walls and the next morning I would find the mice in the middle of the floor (!!!). I finally found a company that would dispose of the stuff properly as the idea of having a can of the stuff in my shop freaked me out.

Seen in some of my friends' shops: I made an agreement with the Bank: I won't loan money or give credit And they won't do Blacksmithing. . Of course you wanted it yesterday, If you wanted it today, you'd ask for it tomorrow. . We have done so much for so long with so little, we are now able to fix anything with nothing. . Here, the impossible is easy. Lately though, I've been having trougle with miracles.

The question 'how can we learn to forge?' is the original post. The intent of this post (I believe) is about the wherefore's and the why's of Blacksmithing. For those starting out, and for everyone else looking for tips and different methods of doing the same work, this is a website where you can find virtually all the information required to get a good start. However, I feel it is important to remind us all (including myself), pay attention to the basics, ALWAYS. The basics are called that for a reason, without them, work is difficult to start or finish. Remember to monitor your fire, pay attention to your method of striking, and watch the heat in your iron - everything else becomes easier with the previously mentioned taken care of.

I have made a few double bellows. A couple for other smiths and one for myself. While there are many plans available in books and probably on the internet for making them, i have noticed that little attention is given to coordinating the size of the bellows to the size of the forge itself. While you may want to start out small for constructing your first set, remember it may not have enough volume for anything but a small fire. Without going into anal-retentive detail about why, I suggest you start with nothing smaller than a double bellows of 24" x 50".

I point it such that the cut-off hardie will be placed away from my hammering hand (in my case, hardie to my left). My anvil has two horns.

If you wish to get a better idea of what is in used motor oil, send a sample to an oil analysis center. For example, many heavy truck fleets during oil changes will send samples away to companies such as Caterpillar for aid in engine analysis. By examining the oil and its contaminants, you can clearly see what is in used oil. The guys are right, you will find heavy metals, sulphur and such. You definitely do not want fumes from any of this stuff in your lungs or on your skin! I say use whatever quench for your iron that you wish; just be consistent and don't use waste oil.

To lament over the over-use or under-use of electric / gas / fire welding is a moot point. It is important to know ALL of the fastening techniques; welding in a fire / with gas / or electricity. Do not forget rivets, collars and mortise-and-tenon. At the end of the day, it is what will get the job done in the most efficient manner. If fire-welding is part of the project and the cost has been factored in, I see no problem with the expense of a fire-weld, it is a added feature to the work. Electric welding is also suitable when required. ALL of the skills we discuss in this or any other forum are necessarry to the survival of our Craft. As has been said already, just do not misrepresent the work; such does not reflect on your reputation or the industry in general. This is a honorable skill, let's keep it that way.

If you are going to get a 2HP motor, consider wiring it for 220. It makes life easier for the the motor, especially on startup, and your overall power bill will be less.

I also work in the 'patch. My repairs frequently include stuff with liquid Nitrogen, liquid CO2 and other stuff where CO and H2S detectors are a must! While at first, these detectors seem quite sensitive until one has an understanding as to how dangerous gases are. If you are going to set up in your basement, I urge you to buy a permanent CO2 detector for that airspace. Mistakes of that nature are not habit-forming.

Habu68, I am familar with the book you speak of. The fellow who wrote that had many little bitter comments about Europe - as did some immigrants of the day who were given no choice but to leave their homeland. I feel that such was the reason for his low opinion of European techniques and customs. If you look in the blueprint section (BP0038), there is a reason for tapping the anvil. In large shops there is far too much noise to speak effectively; so you must use signals of some sort. I was taught the signals when I apprenticed, and I still use them all the time, even when I am the only one in the shop - it is just good practice for when you have a striker.

Quality coal will help the smoke situation some. As for smell, it is quite 'country' (a selling feature). There is a method of making a cyclone for cleaning the majority of dust from the smoke - a cyclone about 36" high with a decent fan would be the smallest you could use. I tried a similar setup many years ago and did not get the result I wanted. There are cyclones illustrated and for sale on ANGELE Schmiedetechnik - ANGELE-SHOP

So, what you are saying is you have the Blacksmith equivalent of a GED. Consider post-secondary now. If your mentor is quite successful as a Blacksmith, the obvious answer would be to stay with him and learn the hardest skill - the business of a Blacksmith. We ALL can eventually learn the mechanical skills and the little tidbits from which we develop our products, yet few of us (including myself) pay much attention to business. It is more than make something and sell it. Many successful businesses (not just Blacksmithing) are started and run by people whose only real skill is business. You can be the most talented person in world and still not be successful without sound business practice. The more successful Blacksmiths out there, the better it is for all of us.