bruce wilcock

Davies ,Sheffield will make marks to your own pattern ,

happy new year from this side of the pond

yes thats the way i remove studs , the only diference is i use a joiners pencil and go over machined surfaces and if the stud is broken down short i pencil over the exposed threads ,then blow off loose graphite ,and fill up with weld till i can get as you do a peice welded on , the graphite stops welding to the casting and marking it , its a good job you made a thread of it irnsrgn ,grinn , the pencil is usefiull for biulding up key ways along with old brushes out of motors filed up to make spacers to keep holes clear of weld

to heat small part i find a small crucible set in the fire on its side works well we ued to heat treat taps ,dies, and drills in bigish batches using a magnet.

i have no idea what the head you have was used for ,but as to heavy hammers i have a 56 lb and up to 5 years ago we forged 56 lb hammers for quarry work to drive wedges and plugs with feathers splitting sandstone paving stones

i have allways worn a leather waistcoat and a waist to ankle split horse hide apron with leather tapes tied at the side and short foundrey boots with splash guards.

merry christmas have a nice time Bruce

a while back i made a blueprint to make a piar of pincers out of old rasps the same method can be used to quickly make a pair of bolt tongs out of flat bar with a little effort. Edit: See Blueprint BP0219

the smiths that worked at big fires chain welding developed a eye problem that my father called rheumy eye, and he olso told me he could pick out heavy chain makers by there eyes and the way they moved about ,from horse shoers and general jobbing smiths.

Thomas dont wurry about editing the spellin i dont ,i get it right first time ,allways,

yes i feel the same ,i didnt want to get involved with the anvil salvage question ,even though i felt i could contritubte but Alans prickely nature made me think twice about it ,and i dont think i was alone, this is a pitty as the idea as i see it is to build up a fund of info,and if we feel intimidated we wont stick our neck on the block,

the forgings we made were for boats rudder fittings

Monel is very hard on swages and we found it hard on the hammers the hammer has to be well up to the job or it will start to bounce and mark the work if it is used in dies.

you lads have some spotless smithys ,i have a job finding anvils im not working on

thomas could be onto somthing as we had some old anvil tools for making brass horse harness fittings out of sheet brass the blank had tabs on to fix to the leather .

Use a hammer with a face like a watch face, and see if you get on better.

a striker is as good has you make them ,so its up to you ,and no one can help you there. if you arnt confident and consistant with your own work a helper cannot help you ,becouse he cannot anticipate your next move,more strikers and any failings on your part leave them unable to work and disjointed, so its team work that makes a good assistant ,let them into your way of thinking ,so they can read your mind ,and you will make strikers that are jems.

i have upseting blocks set in the floor the on that gets used the most for small work is set under a swage block stand and the job is dropped through a hole in the block and worked on that way ,make sure the hole has plenty room, for heavy work i sling it in a chains and ram it against a hammer anvil .

yes just let it air cool make sure it isnt in a draft on the floor ,or on a cold steel plate , if its a cold day slide it into a steel pipe to lessen chilling .well every one at home seems to think i need a holliday and i am doing to mutch so to keep the peace ,im of to do nothing ,i thought i have had plenty of that for the last month or so ,still orders are orders,

Thomas you are proberly right ,there are plenty of pikeless anvils this side of the pond ,and my granddad never spoke of men in grey, or blue, bashing the anvil pikes of , we could do a good job of it ourselves.

the forge is a coke forge bricked up with a cast arch and a door at one end the other end is dry bricked up so the end can be alterd for long billets.the anvil weghts 160 lbs. the pic is of the top and the bottom half with the feet welded on just starting to soak and the gang

yes you are right you have to be verry carefull to get the blister folded in without it crumbling and loosing it. Have you had a try at putting a wash of cast iron on steel ,i have found that when working with a cupula all the lances and pokers have a coat of iron thats has hard as flint, though i never thought of using it as a wear resistant tool, can you find out more about rubbing a cast wash onto steel,its worth giving it a try .

change your low carbon steel ,for wrought iron and you will easily steel it up in a coal forge by working it at full welding heat folding and refining it driving out the slag and caburising it ,if you throw some casenit in the fire you will land up with a type of blister steel, if you fold that in ,or get some silver steel and have a easy life

this is the new anvil we forged this spring ,and a Pr of cart horse shoes we made on it

weld a heavy wall stainless pipe onto the tweer , i have a new cast water tweer i will unlikly use it ,you can have it , a slight snag its in the uk ,but if you come over you can have a week or so at the smithy and take it back with you