Borntoolate

I am pretty new to this but I have had the horse shoeing comment when you say the word blacksmith. This is actually a great time to educate folks a bit. You introduce them to the word Farrier. Then give them a very short history lesson about how everything made of metal 120 years ago or something like that was all made be a blacksmith. And yes as the modern age began to reduce the need for the blacksmith and so many got into shoeing horses as well. The profession of a Farrier still exists and is needed today. But there are also many groups of Blacksmiths across the country and so on.... So if nothig else they learn a new word. You can even let them know that some blacksmiths are a little touchy about the whole horse shoeing comment. People kind of think that if you do blacksmithing that this is somehow like a funny joke. Give them some knowledge, let them know just how important the blacksmith was and start putting a positive spin on the whole thing. Then bring them a steak turner or something.

Nice Striking! Glad to see Brian is back in plaid and that Aliens have not replaced him. Those plugs are so Cool! I don't know why.

I also am not clear what a "shearing blow" is vs a regular hit it as hard and solid as you can striker blow.

Thanks Lyle.

hey, Brian,
By the way. The anvil stand above that my anvil is on is the one I was working on while you were packing up. Now I can do the crotch hold. ;)

I also used the three leg bottom approach such that it will always find footing. I see no reason why the three legs can't be affixed to the stump rather than routed as I did previously. Just some oak pads screwed to the bottom might be what I try on this one. This would be a useful idea for those that lack the chainsawing resources or routering resources. The three pads could help level the top by adjusting the thickness of the pads.

I like the routering approach to get things true though as I am not the best chainsaw-er. Though my new one is sitting pretty tight with just rough chainsawing.

I was actually thinking I might do some serious belt sanding and staining with a clear coat. That could look awesome! BUt I was a woodworker before I started blacksmithing. Yeah I know that is way way overkill but I may do it because I can. Why not forge hot iron on a fine piece of furniture? The burn marks will add patina. I might go into high end anvil stand fine woodworking business. Another wood treatment I might consider is ebonizing. The water from the slack tub should do the trick for oak. For those that don't know of ebonizing you basically let the iron in water react with the tanin in certain woods and it turns a blackish color. Not all woods ebonize well. Oak ebonizes pretty good. In fact I think I will go dump some slack tub water on it right now and see what happens?

I am on stump #3 for my 275# anvil. I am quite happy with it for now. I say for now because it is not a hard wood but rather an available wood at the time I decided I needed to change it. This is a spruce stand. Prepped with a chainsaw and leveled with a router using a square frame and sled that the router sits in. I say for now because it has numerous cracks in it. THough it is VERY solid. But maybe it won't stay that way. I don't know.



Here is the router jig. Behind it is a wood slab that I used the jig on to smooth. The router goes in the sled on the right and slides on the square frame over the slab or anvil stand hunk of wood. I did not create this I got the idea from Finewoodworking magazine under how to deal with slabs.



Just curious how others prep and/or make a good stand from a piece of wood. I am working on another stand from this piece of oak. This was just cut down this week. I have chainsawed away the back to make a rough shape. I have not done any routering yet. The wood is very green.



Finally, I choose this particular stump because it is actually a section of tree where the tree spits in to two trunks. This means that the grain inside divides and makes this type of wood hard to split. You can't see the grain from this side. My thinking was that if it is hard to split then it will not be as likely to split over time. I have no experience with that tho.

So I'm trying to understand what makes a fabulous stump for an anvil stand and what you folks consider when picking a piece of tree and how you prepare it. On the other hand maybe you just need one big enough and flat enough to hold the anvil more or less level and still.

What Caused the cracks? mild steel, 1/2" bar.

I was trying my hand at this flower approach demonstrated by Brian here.
http://www.youtube.c...d&v=OekAZsymUd0

I did not notice them (Cracks) at the time but the next day when I came back to this there were numerous cracks at the point where the stem joins the flower. I was having a little trouble with my hexagon so I stopped for the night and came back to it. I had just finished the two sided taper and made the length across my anvil. My hexagon was complete but a little ugly.

My theory is that I was either working to cold or as I did the two sided taper across the anvil that my flowered end was being jolted and making cracks at the joint. Or is this caused by something else? I probably made the joint with the cracks to thin too soon before doing the rest? Or not heating enough while doing the rest.

I saw a guy showing someone how to make a ring. They were using stainless (so different material) he said it is not uncommon for the flowered end to just pop off while drawing out the band. This is where my theory of vibration at the far end, heavier end is causing cracks. Making any sense?

Pics, now attached. Thanks John B for the reply without them. I went and finished up as best I could with what I had. The flower needs work and maybe some of the tooling to (shown). But I'll get there.

WEll that just pushed my button so to speak. I am in fact not selfish in any manner. If someone comes to my door they will likely dine here. If someone comes to my door and is rude they are simply not welcome,,ever. Not selfish at all. When someone asks for help in the room or in the forums and by word or action does not use any of the help provided. For instance when they ask about heat treat. Wayyyy too much info for a simple answer or reply. Someone will offer a little advice and one of the troup will offer a link to a wonderfully composed tried and true method that will not require one of us to sit and write it all out once again. Then when they post the same question again and it is easy to see they did not reseaerch the links provided, that is just rude. And at times it is even worse. In the chat room I have seen a question asked and someone spends a few mintues giveing a well thought out answer of great value. and by the time they hit the magic button the other person is gone. And That samwe person will ask the same question again another time. RUDE! You have a right to feel I am being selfish when I never ever help that person again. I disagree.

Rich, I wasn't meaning to be rude to you. I mostly reacted to part of what I had read. Teaching and sharing knowledge is an important value that I think is underutilized by Selfish people. However, the examples you give I agree with. Rude people who don't try or don't listen don't really get shared with anyway because... well they don't listen. So, I agree where there is a point with some people that it is not worth our time nor theirs for that matter. But perhaps that is also an opportunity to teach them something else. Like if you show up at my door and are rude and expect kindness that maybe you need some basic training on behaviour. So there is always help and advice that can be given. You would think this would not be necessary but then again many folks have never had the opportunity to be taught basic respect or were spoiled or what have you. They go through life with a great disadvantage. IF someone takes the time to help set them straight with some tough love or what have you... even some of those seeds will grow.

I was not able to read this whole post. it hit one of my buttons...

Knowledge that is not shared is wasted! Why hold back on sharing knowledge based on what others may or may not apply?

Sharing knowledge is like planting seeds. Some grow. Many will not. Others will lay dormant for years or decades then take root and blossum. Some will bear more fruit than the seeds you have sown. Many seeds will whither. This is NOT your concern.

YOU do not know which will happen and so any individual who decides to restrict his sharing is potentially not planting the seed that could grow into a fabulous tree. Now, in one to one training, day to day this is very different. But in an online forum I do not think that holding back is wise. Whether you choose to take the time involved to teach effectively and thoroughly is your choice. But don't hold back based on some sort of belief that some don't deserve it. Others do.

Holding back knowledge is selfish.

That was cool!!

I shoot a LOT of pool. Or actually used to. Blacksmtihing is more my passion these days. But there are many similarities. Pool is very visual and also requires the physical aspect. Bigred, do you shoot pool?

IF you are good with seeing the angles and such then pool could be a sport you may enjoy. But seeing the angle is one thing. Now you have to also physically make the shot.

I would be curious if Brian Brazeal would comment on this. When he was here for two days he taught me during the day and I tried to to teach pool in the evening. He seemed to like pool and was a good "student". I attempted to make numerous comparisons to blacksmithing and pool. Some may have actually made sense. BUt it all comes down to eye hand coordination and being able to visualize the outcome then physically execute the Shot or the Hammer blows with precision AND having an accurate plan that actually works. Man I could go on with many analogies but won't.... :)

Well I managed to Butcher mine into four slices. It was pretty bad. I cleaned up each rod and twisted tight together. It looked ok twisted tight but... This is where things went bad. Because each square bar was not consistent... (Calling them square is a bit of wishful thinking actually) Because of the inconsitencies when I went to un coil it looked quite horrible. One of the bars had a bad nick in it and was thin. This one looked particularly horrible. Needless to say the uncurling made a very inconsistent "rats nest" handle. I tried tweaking but it was a lost cause. Need to take more care to be consistent with the cuts. :(

I'm liking the welded options more and more..

The link above did not work for me but I found the book on google books free. Just query the Author "Googerty"

Thanks, these pics remind me of a few things I "learned" with my two days. I will have to go back and try them.

Brian is looking incognito. No plaid shirts and looking a bit hairy.

John, THanks for the pics and explanation. Got it. I can do that. :)

Those particular ones are not mine Matt, They were just sample pics I took at the New Forest Show for reference should anyone wish to aspire to making them or looking for ideas, most were made by Guild members and I didn't have much time time to answer when I put those up,

These are some I made that may be relevant the split cage is in 12mm (1/2") square bar (made similar as to the video)



these others firewelded round bar bundles, one with a ball forged on

John, How do you make those last three?

Learn to fireweld a collar onto the end of the bar and forge that into a ball

I considered that but lack confidence in my welding to make it look clean. But, seeing it done and seeing the result always helps motivate me to try. THANKS

Just out of curiosity, why don't you want to weld it?

I have made a handle but the end after welding becomes fairly small in diameter. My "customer" brother in law asked for some sort of decorative ball at the handled end. For that I need a fairly fat hunk of metal at the very tip of the handle. Seems that would be hard to incorporate into the forge welded bars or forge weld in afterwards. Thus the desire to make this from a heavy chunk. AND I just like to try and to learn new things.

I appreciate the traditional blacksmith responses the most. I don't have a water knife so that doesn't help much. Now I would like to have a water knife! I very much like the responses that describe the specific tooling, dimensions, contours and sequence approaches / Technigues. I am actually making very few things. I spend much of my time trying new things and then making the tooling needed to make those things easier to make as well as learning the technigues to use them effectively. Though in this case this is to be a handle for a broken fireplace tool for my Brother in law Joe. So I guess I am making something. Just don't ask how much time I spend making one handle.

I also do enjoy teaching and I think I am actually good at that. To do that well I feel one needs to really understand the challenges, tools and technigues very well. This along with having made as many mistakes as possible. As long as I learn.

Lyle, at the hammer workshop I went to last year with you and Brian you gave me some tips on how to strike without killing myself. You showed me some simple stuff that quickly made striking much easier than I was doing. I have split at least two+ large oak trees worth of wood with a splitting mall for firewood so I had some background to work from. I suspect most folks don't have that. Even so that doesn't mean I did it right or safely or effectively. Though this helped me be able to hit accurately. One thing I have not seen on this site is anything about striker technigue. It's kinda like in the NFL where the running back gets all the credit for the touchdown but he would never have even gotten close without all the blocking and other support needed. Let us know how to be a good striker!

I challenge you to have Brian or Karen take the pics while you show us the correct technigue to strike effectively and without hurting ourselves. What can you teach us? A video would be cool to.

I like to do things myself.... Or at least be able to. BUt the other day my son came out to the shop and just held a piece for me while I used a hot cut. Suddenly it all went so much faster. This isn't a striker story but I think I need to re-think my whole "be able to work on my own" approach. That second set of hands plus the tools I guess can really open up some doors to making more things faster. Anyway, just something that has been tickling my brain lately.

This video I posted in the "post your favorite videos" thread kinda pushes me to think about teaming up as well

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=PwgIjPEZzSE

All, I am attempting to make a basket weave handle from a single 5/8" bar using no welds. This has proven to be a difficult endevour though I am learning, as always.

I made a 6 sided ball on the end of a 5/8" Bar. Then I decided I wanted to make a 4 strip basket weave handle below it by cutting the strips hot. I squared the round bar so it would lay flat and have been working the cuts slowly with a hot cut but this is proving to be a huge challenge to get the square bar to hot cut into 4 equal square strips, nicely aligned in roughly 6.5" in length. I am also trying to keep the opposite end from the 6 sided ball in one piece thus not requiring any welds for the basket weave handle.

If you guys were to do this how would you do it?

Now it may be true that I should not attempt to do this because it is very time consuming. BUt I would really like to hear how others have done this, assuming you have... And how best to get it done within a reasonable time, while keeping the 4 square strips relatively equal, no cold shuts due to misalignment and no major damage to tools and/or anvil. I can post a pic of where I am at on this but right now it's been a long day and I am just tired and hungry.

It's hard to tell from the pic but If I look at the fracture surface, right piece, lower left corner... The corner appears darker that the rest of the fracture surface. This may have been where a crack started. The upper right corner on the left piece looks similar. I am thinking you had cracks at these locations prior to your recent use of the tool.

It's hard to tell from the pic but If I look at the fracture surface, right piece, lower left corner... The corner appears darker that the rest of the fracture surface. This may have been where a crack started. The upper right corner on the left piece looks similar. I am thinking you had cracks at these locations prior to your recent use of the tool.

Nick, welcome. This craft definitely gets under your skin. You start to think you could eventually make anything. I get a lot of learning from the videos on you tube and so forth. watch the video, try it, rewatch the video to see the subtelties you missed, try again at the forge.

I also have Loreleis book. Did the forge welded basket twist the other day. It came out great. S hooks are fun and easy to make. Don't take much metal and help tech decent hammer control since they are small and don't require a lot of heavy hammering.

That was cool. I like the high speed. IT shows the process without taking forever and also makes the smith look like a jackhammer fast forging machine. Cool

So let me verify the length of a rivet? 1.5 x the thickness for the head. So two heads equals 3x the thickness plus the thickness to be riveted. Is that Correct?

I have been making tongs and I can make a rivet just fine. hole in a block, put hot rivet bar in,, hammer the head. My block has through holes so I can pop it out from the bottom side. As it cools it aughta shrink and pop out easier but who can wait that long... BUt my 1" block is too long. Thus my clarification question above.

I have few solutions but when I do things I always mess up and can list my screw-ups (learnings) easily.

Rivet too long. Makes it hard to put a nice head on. IT bends over and makes a perhaps serviceable but ugly rivet. Make sure my above question is correct and follow it.

Hammering carelessly. Rivet bends over and makes an ugly rivet. Solution: Watch Hee Haw. "Doc, it hurts when I do this" Doc says "Don't do that". So, Don't do that. Lots of wisdom in that old show.

Riveted items not held tightly together when making the first hit with hammer. Rivet expands between the two items to be riveted and creates a gap filled with expanded metal between the two pieces. ITems are not able to be riveted tightly now. Pain in the butt to remove rivet. Have to start over. Have to make a new rivet. Potential to damage or disform the two parts getting the rivet out. PITA! Solution: Slowdown and make sure the riveted parts are tight together before making the first hit. First hit is critical. Practice prior to riveting to make sure you know how you are going to do this. Start over if this takes to long, don't just hit the rivet and screw up.

Rivet hole closely matches cold rivet diameter. Rivet is heated and expands. Hot Rivet does not fit in cold rivet hole. Fumbling at the anvil trying to make hot rivet fit cold holes. Can't be done. Solution: Make rivets smaller than hole (or drift hole larger than rivets) Let hot rivets expand while you hammer them to fill larger hole.

Rusty, you got the space. Go for it. Don't tell the wife. Shhhh everbody.

If he gets one I bet he'll let me use it....