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Chris_Riffe

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Everything posted by Chris_Riffe

  1. Very nice. What surface prep was done before the powder coating? Cheers, chris
  2. Nicely explained Alec. By the way....I don't charge for striking so if you are agreeable; perhaps I'll find time to wind my over to the Brazeal's while the Young Smiths are in session and let you direct another hammer for me at a discount. My hammer seems to have moved to Missouri with my son!
  3. Belatedly; Congratulations! Sincerely. And though it might sound trite....I always knew you had it in you. Carry on Sir, carry on.
  4. David, You are correct....your memory holds true! The striking anvil and stand that you made for Daniel does have the oil and sand in the legs and it works very well at reducing noise and vibration. Kainon's anvil stand as well is so outfitted; I know because I welded some 7/8" stud holdfasts to it for his big Nimba about two weeks ago. I am making Daniel and I two additional striking anvils and will also fill the legs as you have suggested. Regards
  5. Vaughn, Thank you for the compliment but I am just fabbing the pieces together as a project that seems to have a "life of its own". This effort started as a means to re-pay Brian and Karen Brazeal for all they have done for my son and the "Young Smith's" and to also assist another of the "Young Smith's" private efforts. Of course, having my own striking anvil (my son ran off with our shop striking anvil) will benefit our efforts at HABA and I would otherwise be lost without a project! I will offer this........IF the striking anvils I am making are "up to the Brazeal's standards......and if folks are willing to pay me the "out of pocket costs" to produce and deliver them; then I am willing to build them and turn all the proceeds over to the NEXT "Young Smith's" program through Brian Brazeal...! I have been hoping to see the ABANA leadership or "other local forging organizations " take up the challenge of continuing the "Young Smith's Project". I am firmly in the camp of those who feel that it our responsibility to pass along our knowledge and tools to the best and the brightest of the next generation BEFORE the knowledge we pass along is considered just "anachronistic". Cheers, Chris
  6. David, Three down and three to go. I productive afternoon; but it is time to head to the barn (trough)! The costs could differ substantially from one locale to another. The pipe and plate all came off of offshore jobs as scrap in our shop that I accumulate too much of. But I put the pricing as if one went out and bought new pieces at the minimum cuts just so folks could see the material costs involved if they did not have access to scrap. And I do agree with you that I am not worried about the person who knows he or she has oil or water in a sealed pipe; I am just concerned that the anvil might end up in someones ownership that did not realize what they were working with. I am definitely filling mine and Daniel's as it makes a big difference in both sound and vibratory feedback! I hope to see you again soon, and I will always appreciate the support you have provided the "Young Smith's". Folks like yourself are the ones that will have the most influence in keeping the art and science of forging vibrant and continually filling out the ranks with the younger generation. It has been very gratifying to see how much influence Alec, Kainon, Custer, and Daniel have had in motivating others to pick up hammers and start pushing themselves. Cheers friend.
  7. Just to head you off Alec, Custer, Daniel, etc......8 degrees on the legs. I do listen to you young'uns!
  8. Here are a couple of pictures of the first of six striking anvils I am building for friends and family. Total cost of materials: 4.75" x 4.75" x 11.75" 5135 steel block: $55.00 2" schd 80 pipe for legs: $10.00 3/8" steel braces and 1/2" plate feet: $5.00 Water jetting 1 " hardy: $130.00 Square facing all six sides of block: $60.00 6010 and 7018 electrodes: $20.00 Mileage and other: $70.00 So......for $350.00 in materials and 5 hours of fussing around in the shop I have the first one finished. Not the cheapest proposition on the block; but this tool will save your working anvil a lot of abuse and is the correct height and form to properly strike tools on. And before you ask....the height is 22.5" which is lower than some folks but also allows for each person I am giving them to to use it and then I will cut new rounds for the feet of the correct height to mail to them so that they can have it the right height for their use. This is much preferred to have to cut down the legs and requires only a quick easy weld (mild to mild), and they could even bolt them on using the anchor hole if they did not have a torch or welder. And...the legs are welded to 1/2" mild doublers which are in turn welded to the 5135. I heated the 5135 with a rosebud prior to weld up to drive off any moisture that would affect the HS electrodes: I did not reach a temperature high enough to meet any industry standards for joining medium carbon to mild steel...but as a field expedient; driving off the water and at least getting everything to the same temperature does usually work. Time will tell and pretty quickly as two of these are going to the Brazeal Brothers for allowing me to steal away their very excellent David Gaddis built striking anvil for my son Daniel's use (and he has taken it the the Heartland Horseshoeing School to make tools with while he is there). I also left 1/2" holes open in the feet so that the end users could fill them with sand and oil if they so desire. I did not do so because I am concerned that an unsuspecting person might afterwards attempt to cut or weld on the legs and be quite surprised at the results. Even water in the sand could be interesting! But the holes are there and could be tapped, just plugged, or epoxied shut after filling. I am probably going to put oil soaked metal fillings from my band saw in the ones I build for Daniel and myself. Cheers all.
  9. Lyle. Thank you Sir. Your thoughts on the subject are much appreciated. It seems that the consensus is to forego drilling the pritchel. That will speed up the build process considerably. I will be swinging through your hometown very soon and hope to see you then. Regards, chris
  10. David, Thank you my friend for following this thread so closely...and thank you especially for all of the work you did for the "Young Smiths" this past year. Daniel has run off to the Heartland Horseshoeing School in Lamar, MO with the striking anvil that you made... and so I am left to fabricate another if I want to continue making hammers and hammer tools. Here in Houston it is fairly easy to get ahold of alloy steels and to have machine work done. As I am without my assistant now ( Daniel) I must have some work done outside of our shop. The six sided facing of the 5"x5"x12" steel blocks and the water jetting of the 1" hardy will amount to $190.00. Well worth the price considering the time factor involved. The welding to the 3/4" plate base and the schedule 80 legs I'll handle in house with scrap from the jobs we do; so the costs will still be reasonable. And, while I guess I could drill and drift a 1" hole with Daniels's assistance....I am not convinced I can do it without him around to help/direct! By the way... this is a major concession to the worth of any of "The Young Smith's". They really are an amazing group of "Young'uns". Kainon...you are still going to owe me a hammer for the striking anvil ;-}
  11. Alec, Thank you for the quick reply.......shouldn't you be doing homework or otherwise studying / being productive? Anyhooooo,.... after speaking with Brian, I have decided that the effort involved in incorporating a 1/2" pritchel is not worth the effort. A couple of these striking anvils will be going to Balcones members and will stay with that group...so I am still waiting to hear from them...? Most of us have an anvil with a pritchel and the "striking anvil" is a tool, designed to mitigate the damage "strikers" might do to our "working" anvils. Brian also convinced me not to "play around" with hardening Daniels Striking anvil. I was tempted to do so, but as I do not know who would be striking for Daniel in the future; it is better to play it safe and not have an anvil that might shed 'high velocity" pieces of stee! Brian Brazeal is nothing if he is not the absolute most practical forger I know! .............Preaching to the choir. cheers. chris
  12. I have no hammer since my since my loving son ran off with my Brazeal 3.5 lb !!! Alright Kainon....a hammer for a striking anvil? I'll strike if you direct. cheers, chris
  13. I am making several striking anvils for friends and family. Six pieces of 5" x 5" x 12" 5135 material saw cut to square faces and waterjet the 1" hardy (I am not the man that Custer and Brazeal and some others are, and also do not have the time to drift that many anvils). Time and effort being what they are.......how much utility is there in having the 1/2" pritchel in a striking anvil? Cheers, Riffe
  14. Dave said it all...."carry on". Analyze, improvise when required, and get the job done as you learn. You should and always go back and perfect your products or techniques; but keep moving....!
  15. Dave, Daniel also gives me an earful if I do not grind the bevel on the edges of the billets well enough before we start forging. I used to disagree with him but it does seem to make it more of a forge to finish product if the billet is thusly prepared before commencing forging. Just seems quicker and easier....I am not sure how much; but worthwhile! It also seems to forge "differently", and tends to "center" the billet in the cupping die such that it is less easily deformed when struck at an unattended angle......I know this is too fussy to seem to matter....but? Cheers my friend.
  16. Dave, Very nice striking anvil, and an equally nice job with the hammer!
  17. Dave, I like the way you think. Shops run out of room fast unless you have the ability to readily move things around. But, of course, everything needs to be well mounted and stable to work properly. This idea seems to be a good compromise! My regards. chris riffe
  18. I am not a blacksmith although I would like to be, but I have been exposed to a lot of instructors in my life that were tasked to pass along technical skills. What I have found to be true over the years is that the very best instructors students can also be reliably expected to both demonstrate and explain those very same techniques. Brain Brazeal and Lyle Wynn fall into that category of instructor; their students not only learn the skills but are able to pass them along to others. Heat, hold, hit! Surface area contact. It's so easy it forges itself Hit turn, hit turn, hit turn. Put some pine tar on it. This is but a small part of the litany I am exposed to by my son most days at noon when I take a lunch break (well he eats while he teaches me to forge). My point is that Brian taught my son so thoroughly in the techniques of moving metal that it is almost as if Brian is in the shop with us. Daniel makes me want to cry sometimes he is so adamant that I use the correct techniques (just like Brian). If you want to see what I am speaking of come by Brian's stand at the ABANA Conference and speak with any of the "Young Smiths" that will be working with Brian. It truly is amazing to watch them work and have them explain what they are doing and why! If I had more time I would spend as much time as I was able learning from Brian. As it is, I am having my son spend the time with him, and then bring the education back home to train me. My two cents worth.... Chris
  19. At my son Daniel's forge we primarily use coke in his solid fuel forge, but we augment it with charcoal that I make from cast off lumber and pallets every Sunday. We make the charcoal via direct burn in a three 16 gallon size oil drums stacked retort. We end up with 10 - 16 gallons of good charcoal which Daniel uses up in a week (solid forge burns about 36 hours a week and the propane forge about 6 hours a week). Daniel primarily uses the charcoal to keep the coke fire lit when not using the blower and to increase the heat substantially when we are forging hammer size billets. I am not sure if we save much money using the charcoal we make, but it feels good using the wood people bring us! Cheers all, chris
  20. Lyle, Thank you for the post and thank you for fabricating that swage block stand on such short notice so that Daniel could continue his tool building education. I'll have to scrap our wooden stand and have Daniel weld up a steel one like yours now. For those of you who have not met Lyle and Brian but just follow them on this forum, I can tell you that they absolutely go out of their way to assure that everyone that wishes to learn from them comes away with the knowledge they need to succeed at forging. This is Daniel's fourth time under Brian's tutelage and the third time he has worked with Lyle. On each occasion the lesson's learned, the techniques demonstrated, and the size of the projects attempted have been much more than "advertised" or anticipated. Brian and Lyle will adapt the experience to fit the skills set of the smith and push both themselves and student to the limit (if Lyle and Brian have a limit)! They also understand how to motivate young folk to push themselves. I know that Daniel will be well worn by the time I pick him up on Saturday, and he spends at least 24 hours a week on his anvil at the house! In any event, I am absolutely pleased with the instruction that Daniel has received from Brian and Lyle and encourage any parent with a child interested in forging to consider figuring out how to have that child spend some time working with these fine men. Cheers chris
  21. Lyle and Brian. Once again Daniel and I have remembered things from reading your post that we learned from you but had not given much thought to in a while. We will be polishing off our team skills this coming week to make a hump tool so that we can make top and bottom fullers and humps. Daniel has been showing the new smith at the ranch how to forge hammers and many other techniques but still prefers to spend his "off" day roping and riding. Otherwise he is spending 20+ plus hours a week in his forge and making good money taking orders at the Farmers market. He just completed 100 key fobs and several art pieces (clocks and desk bling) for a corporate party and has an order for a dozen or more decorative truck towing receiver covers. You never know what people will ask you to make for them....! Thank you again for all you have done for my son and the Blacksmithing community in general. Cheers, Chris
  22. Brian, Thank you and everyone else for this post. It is helping me to remember what you taught Daniel and I. I have been too busy to spend much time with Daniel forging, but the boy is sure a hit at the farmers market this Fall. He gave me grief for using "his" punch this afternoon, so I guess I'll put the above information to work this week. Cheers all.
  23. Alec, Very nicely done. And, thank you for describing the items that have a high turnover rate. There is a lot of merit to the "smile is the sale" advice. Daniel and I just returned from his first professional outing at a local farmers market. We joined at the last minute and so had no inventory what-so-ever. We showed up with anvil, hammers, forge and steel and Daniel pounded away for the entire four hours of the market. Waiting on heats of his wares he would pound out for free; little swords from masons nails for the kids. Once the word got out, every kid was dragging a parent over (no parent...no nail!). That unexpectedly turned into a sale maker. Horseshoe hearts, haberman hearts, horsehoe fish, and horseshoe nail fish were all in demand. We took orders for meat turners, large forks, hoof picks and a variety of bottle opener styles. We even scored a couple of hardware (door and cabinet) commisions that will still have to be negotiated at Daniels shop. $202 in sales and @ $180 in orders plus the commisions that we may end up with for hardware. Costs were $25 for space, $15 for propane, travel maybe $3.00, steel was less than $10.00 as mostly we used cast off shoes. Not bad for a kid working an afternoon and doing something he enjoys (he is back in the garage beating on something as we speak). Of course, now Daniel is also going to find out what it feels like to have the governments hand down in your pocket! The Farmers Market will run on for ten more Saturdays and Daniel will certainly start working on his inventory. I think hat pins sounds like another good idea. Although we did have to spend lots of time with the women fitting their bangles. Bangles were our number one order to fill for next time and they all wanted smaller, all leaves, and all in aluminum. Go figure? We will also make some cowboy hats and long horn meat turners ahead of time as well (it is Texas after all). Daniel and I think of you often and egg each other on whenever we tire by telling each other that "Pick it up..Alec wouldn't stop yet"! Oh, and Daniel's Blog site was hacked by some nut from Pakistan. We will try and rebuild it to post his doings again soon. Cheers, Chris
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