the iron dwarf

first one I came across on here was .iforgeiron.com/uploads/5/0/8/1/17114.attach seems to be an attachment rather than a link ( taken off the www etc at the start )

your English is very good Gergely, better than most Americans and it is meant to be the language they use  ;)

I WILL  be using the forge tomorrow

will depend on the quality, availability, size but I think it is high like the seller is hoping for someone with a lot of money and little idea of their worth, half that is probably nearer if they are top end anvils ( guessing it is close to 2 $aus to our pound, I usually estimate $us as 1.5 to our pound )

if we got 1/2" here and the country grinds to a halt

thermite

welcome, unfortunately im not in your part of the country, I will be at tewkesbury in july at the medieval festival if you want to talk

nice work

mine are 60cm square and 15cm deep

you could add a plug in earth leakage trip as used for mowers and other outdoor tools, it will shut off the power if insulation burns or anything else goes wrong

pits in hammers and anvil with heal with use, you grind and polish you hammer but dont grind an anvil, if you want a smooth surface to hammer on to finish things you can make a hardy tool that is just flat on top or use a separate block of steel, a piece of rail can often be found and it will have a reasonably flat top with a few radiuses and curves too

for controlling the speed of a motor I normally use an inverter, it changes the frequency going to the motor and are all electronic, can have either push button controls or it can have a knob, normally there is a digital display, there are also thyristor controlled ones that work like the speed control on an electric drill but with a knob mostly then finally there are resistive ones that drop the voltage and if it is a 1hp motor ( 750w ) it can generate 750w of heat which is a lot.

the first is best and the last is worst for heat generation.

it will mostly depend on what temp it is meant to work at ( the element in an electric fire is a resistor and is made to be happy at red hot

happy birthday

you can stop when you have more anvils than thomas powers

contact a few local ones and ask if they know of a meet, some may say that they would go if the was one then when you have a few interested and they know other want it too maybe one will get organized

organise a group?

we can send you plenty of rain for central and northern australia if you want we have a surplus here

there are many books, some can be downloaded free from the downloads tab at the top

I want an induction forge

the answers you seek have been posted above, some here may get a little jaded from the regular posts of a newbie who want to make a sword, most have never worked metal before and are convinced that the secret is as simple as adding a new app to their phone and within an hour of the first time they light a forge they will have the best sword in the world.

it happens often here.

some try to explain that such skills take time to learn, many years in some cases and often the newbie is convinced that those here just dont want to share the secret and are being mean to them when in fact they are being told the secret and that is it is hard work and practice.

you were asked above if you could add your rough location as it would mean people could help you better, it is no good telling you to check out a place in the US if you are in australia

there are several places that teach here, hereford is well known and friends of mine went there and now run a business in the area.

Warwick isanother

thanks TP

have a nickel anode from a former electroplating works.

it weighs 10lb  8 1/2 oz ( 4.77kg ) and is 28 3/4"  ( 73cm ) long.

when new it would probably have been 2" by 1" but has eroded down to a sort of chunky sword blank shape.

anyone got any idea what the current nickel price is so if people are interested in it I dont try to over or under sell it.

the screw for mounting a giant buffing wheel maybe, not seen one bigger than 2" diameter before

im just a 'shortfellow' but I may borrow a few things above ;) 

we try to help people out ( as soon as we find out how they got in ;) )

im just a beginner at forgework, not done any blades but I think start small and work up.

I meet lots of people who think getting a forge means they will be making fantastic swords in 2 days and it is often difficult to get them to slow down a bit and think and then find out what skills they need to learn.

I cant help much but some who may seem to be discouraging are really trying to help.

you can get spring steel in many forms to practice on, if you know people who fix cars get a broken or unwanted coil spring and heat  it till you can straighten a section then make a knife from it, anti roll bars, coil or leaf springs all can be reused and made into useful items.

you can learn not only how to shape them but also about heat treating them and failures dont cost much