fciron

I don't think you need a needle point on your anvil horn, but coming down pretty close is handy. The taper of the horn means that it actually needs to be quite a bit smaller than the hole you are trying to dress. I do use the end of the horn to dress and finish punched holes (such as you might find on the end of a handle), little curlicues, and the occasional chain link. It is easy for an errant blow, or even an overly effective blow, to hit the tip of the horn while doing this. I think this is a more likely explanation than thigh safety. In my experience, walking into a dull horn hurts just as much as a pointy one; it's the large mass behind it that does the damage.

That's a nice, solid looking vise. It looks as though the jaws close evenly. If they are lined up with each other I don't think I would worry about the bend in the moving jaw. (It's in a weird spot too, that's not where they usually bend from repeated over-tightening.) You could probably straighten out the leg without hurting anything. It would make mounting it just a bit simpler. ;)

Hi, I accidentally made a punch and die for my fly press. I made a little tool to make 3/4" round flat spots, then later I used it to hot punch through a little slug of steel that was hanging around. Looked at it the next day and the little light bulb went on. My little press will punch 3/4 inch holes in 16 ga steel cold. Cool. The tool was forged. 1" round to fit into the ram, I left a shoulder to take the driving force, and drawn down to the form I wanted. (Huh, looks just like a commercial tool.) I don't think it would hold up in mass production, but it illustrates the principle and it could be fun for messing around. I'd be inclined to buy a punch set or turn one up on the lathe if I wanted to do any kind of production work. I'd also want a way to secure my die under the punch, misaligning them will mess up your tools in a hurry. Accidental punch and die set for the fly press by fciron, on Flickr

What Grant is saying is simple math, if your were making a part for $50 and you dropped the price to $40 then you'd have to make 5 parts to earn $200 dollars, instead of 4 parts. You may be doing more work, but you you've got to do 20% more work to earn the same money. I turn down work all the time. I don't weld on cars; I don't build fences; I don't use decorative parts from catalogs. I am trying to make a living as a blacksmith, every time I take a job that does not fit in my definition of blacksmithing I lose that opportunity to do work I want to do. Yes, I might gain a customer by taking that job, but there's a very good chance that customer and his or her referrals will be more work that is not blacksmithing. I wired some light fixtures that I made for a regular client, an interior designer who I've worked with for years. Then I was asked to wire an existing candle holder, now she wants me to do all the repair and wiring of all her light fixtures. Antique crystal chandeliers are not in my business plan. If you take every job that comes along, no matter how bad, then people will bring all the lousy stuff no one else will do. That's no way to send your time.

I have made nails to be used in a crucifixion sculpture and for the stations of the cross (both in a Roman Catholic church). Since I'm Jewish, it seemed especially weird. For the clamp type header (and a lot of other things) I use a business card as a shim between the two jaws when I drill the hole. That way the resulting hole is just a shade smaller than the drill bit and will contact the work before the jaws contact each other.

I can't see much point to an aluminum, miniature anvil as a salesman's sample. Miniature anvils are frequently made as souvenirs or just for fun. That one looks almost like it could be homemade. Being aluminum is probably a sign of recent vintage. Sure is cute, though!

Ferguson, as you speculate, the nail should come out of the header easily. As the nail shrinks it contracts, and as the header warms, it expands. The nails should fall out, a tap at most to encourage them. (Don't want to bend the end, then they become rivets and won't come out.) If you bend the nail you can have some trouble getting it out, so I recommend making your header large enough to go over the hardy hole. It can go over the pritchel hole, but that's so much smaller and increases the chances of an errant blow making a mess of things. I also find that more mass in a header makes it feel more solid under the hammer.

Rusty, Thanks for the clear explanation of the Fibonacci scroll. Frank, Thanks for posting an explanation of other scrolls. I too find Archimedes spiral to be a much more practical starting point for explaining scrolls to blacksmiths. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedean_spiral As you said, a scroll is any curve with an constantly increasing distance from the center. A survey of old ironwork will show a lot more of Archimede's spirals than Fibonacci's. The Fibonacci method is certainly the most famous, it seems to be popping up in popular media lately, but I don't think it's the best for most blacksmithing applications. The scroll is used in wrought iron to fill space, so the curve of the scroll needs to be the one that fits the space. Some scrolls are narrow, some are fat, some are even oval! I practice by sketching scrolls so I can see how to fit them pleasingly into different shapes. If I can draw a pleasing scroll then it's a lot easier to forge one. Watching the negative space is the key in both cases, because it is the space not the line where the math is happening, even if you don't do the math. ;)

You did use the work truck, right? Whatcha gonna make with 'em?

Fiery, I thought of you, but your were outside of the 1 hour window. The Discovery folks also found the S-E Kentucky guys and found someone to work with. So my job is done. :rolleyes:

Thanks KYBoy. I'll give them a call. I've met a couple of those guys. Anyone else? They were interested in 'the trades' so I think they might want someone full time.

Hey all, Apparently, my phone number is the only one on the Kentucky Blacksmith Association page that still works. The KBA has been defunct for a few years now so that stuff doesn't get updated. Someone from the Discovery Channel called me earlier today looking for a blacksmith within about an hour of Perry County. They are doing a show on Appalachian crafts and trades centering around Hazard and they would like to contact a blacksmith. My Blacksmith shop is in Louisville, so I'm no help to them. If anyone is interested I'll check this thread again. You can message me through iforgeiron or my email is fciron@yahoo.com I told the guy I'd call him back on Monday. I hope someone gets to take advantage of this opportunity. Lewis

casting would be iffy, the nut will contract onto the shaft as it cools. Very hard to get out. Maybe if you made a dry-sand core... but you'd still have to make an internal spiral in your core box and sand-casting is less precise.

I use an oxy-propane (LPG) system most of the time. If you want to get anything over about an eighth of an inch red hot then the additional expense of the oxygen bottle is unavoidable. If you go for a oxy-propane system, you need to get the appropriate torch tips and an LPG rated hose. This means buying it from a welding store and not the discount set from the home supply big box store. I like the oxy-propane system for heating because it lets me use some large rosebud torches. From what I've read an oxy-propane torches uses more oxygen than a comparable oxy-acetylene system, but I haven't done a side by side comparison.

That's a nice looking machine. My big drill press in missing the power feed. I don't think you could go wrong with gear oil in the power feed; it's not a high pressure or even that high speed an application.

For what it's worth, I didn't have any trouble with the imageshack link. SL, you may want to run your virus scanner to make sure it's not a problem on your end.

Never heard of them. Any information on that label?

Manufactured rivets are actually softer than standard mild steel, so you may be better off making your own for tongs. I use a bolster underneath the tongs while I start one side and then flip it to do the second end of the rivet. You only need the bolster while you start the first head on the rivet, it keeps the tongs from sliding around on your rivet. I should probably draw a picture.

Methinks those are tiny pics without any information. It might be a forge, it might be a pizza oven. It's not an immediately recognizable Johnson model. If you're motivated you might peak around their site and see if you spot anything. What's that label say?

Huh, the wikipedia entry for 'maraging steel' specifically mentions it's use in fencing swords. Cool. (Maybe that's how Matt Bower knew what it was?) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maraging_steel

Cool. Any idea what powered it? Obligatory link to my pic of the "world's largest riveter". It's for reaching inside tanks and such. Vogt - Riveter by fciron, on Flickr Vogt - Riveter Specs by fciron, on Flickr

...but it's in "good rusty condition". Patina is valuable!

the problem doesn't seem to be the bending, it's the "as desired". :P

Sounds about right, you can bring the whole thing up to a dull red for your preheat. Makes the torch work easier. I'd be paranoid and try to heat the whole thing evenly, in my experience these big, thin forms can be fussy.

It's also hard to diagnose problems based on verbal descriptions. Pictures of the problem area could help a lot, especially if all grease or old scrapyard dirt is removed first. I would not sandblast the press, you don't want sand or grit in the screw or in the ram guides. even if you get it apart you don't want those surfaces roughed up with the sandblaster. I have not separated the ram and screw on mine, but there appears to be a collar around the end of the ram that is threaded into the top of the ram. could this be the piece you think is smushed tube?