nhblacksmith

If you have a full scale drawing, it's easy. If not, sketch out the design full scale on a bench or piece of sheet metal (even plywood works) with soapstone or other marker. Set a pair of dividers for 1" and just step off the center line of the scroll. It will be pretty accurate. For small scrolls, use 1/2" instead of 1" because of the smaller radii.

FP, isn't that Fisher Price? Seriously though, looks like this was made by a Polish company. I have copied part of a discussion from Practical Machinist.com below. The original discussion can be found at http://www.practical...il-vise-200007/ FPU is the Polish company that makes Bison chucks. Around 1970, there was a discount department store here that sold several sizes of those Polish vises. I believe they are copied from a design I associate with Leinen and G. Boley in Germany. Tony mentions the vise in his pages and says Leinen invented it. The G. Boley vises with 1.75" jaws were very popular with watch repairmen and copies were made by other makers. On the Bison website, the company name in Polish has the initials FPU, and some pre-Bison brand chucks have the FPU trademark stamped on them. http://www.bison-bial.pl/

"Mark's PPE lineup is good though I have a couple things to add. Wool is a good natural fiber, it's really HARD to get burning and the smell is something you are not going to miss." Cotton is a much better choice than wool. Wool, like synthetics and plastics gives off hydrogen cyanide when it burns or smolders so if you smell it burning, you are breathing hydrogen cyanide. In the days before fire departments required air packs for building entry, it killed a lot of firefighters and even now is thought to be responsible for heart attack-like symptoms in some firefighters during the overhaul phase when the fire has been nearly extinguished and breathing apparatus is taken off. In open air or very small quantities it may not be a problem but you should be aware of the danger.

I have worked with a number of elementary school groups and one demo that always wows them will also demonstrate how we are able to forge the iron. Take a 3 or 4 foot piece of 3/4" square bar, clamp it in a vise or stick it in the hardy hole of your anvil and ask the biggest, strongest boy to step up and see if he can bend it. After he fails, take a heat in the middle, and ask the smallest weakest girl in the group to try. When she makes it look easy, you can explain how the metal becomes like clay when heated. That demo will stick in their minds long after everything else is forgotten. One caution-remember that kids are short and their eye level can be close to the anvil top and most likely they will not be wearing safety glasses. A welding heat is not recommended unless you maintain a long distance from them to you. Liability insurance is a definite plus when doing demos.

A few thoughts...For the door, you might consider leaving the large sliding door on barn door track. It would be easy to fabricate a new one, relatively tight if done right, and doesn't take up any interior or overhead space like overhead garage door track. Garage doors when they are up will collect lots of dust and dirt in a shop. I've had a 10' x 10' sliding door on my shop since new about 20 years ago and it has held up fine. As far as the pit goes, I have had two pits in past buildings and while they are great for working on vehicles, they are extremely dangerous. An uncle of mine was a mechanic in WWII and told of knowing of three separate incidents where guys blew themselves up from gasoline fumes and either a cigarette or a drop light. Most insurance companies will decline coverage these days if you have one. If left open, they are like pit traps for a bear especially when you come in from the bright sun and forget the covers are off. Remember too that propane is heavier than air and any leaks are likely to settle into the bottom of your pit where they will remain for a long time or until ignited by a stray spark from a forge weld. Concrete is expensive these days but many years ago we had to fill in an area inside a building and had a concrete company deliver gravel instead. They used the chutes to place it and there was relatively little leveling when they finished. That would fill in the pit and level up the floor to use as is or pour a new layer of concrete over the top. If the pit comes in the right area and you decide to fill it, think about setting a large timber on end to mount your anvil and maybe a pipe to mount a vice. I have an 8 foot 12" x 16" Rock Maple timber that goes down 5' below the floor and the anvil is rock solid. I also used a piece of 6" pipe fabricated for a post vice that also extends 5' below the floor. For electricity, it doesn't pay to skimp on code. You might think about burying some 4" PVC through which you can pull new wires. If you lay a smaller pipe a couple feet over, you can run a phone line out as well. In general that building should work out fine. Good luck with the project

We used to use mutton tallow but it's hard to find these days. If Prid works anything like that, it is a miracle drug. It will draw slivers when all else fails!

I picked up a book some years back entitled "Modern Metalcraft" by John L. Feirer that was published in 1946 when that sort of thing was still being taught in schools. It might be ideal for projects such as you are seeking. Without typing in the whole index, it includes things like drilling & punching, using cold chisels to cut metal, filing, bending sheet metal, scrolls, twists, annealing, raising, fluting, flaring, doming, planishing, tapping, chasing, etching,seam work, soldering, cutting threads, and treatment of surfaces for finishing. It was written as a text and is full of simple projects like metal lamp shades, ash trays (remember when they used to smoke?), monograms, shallow dishes, flower pot holders, and many, many more. Before I whetted your appetite, I checked and used copies are available cheap on Amazon for just over $4. http://www.amazon.co...r/dp/B0007DUXQ6 It sounds like it might be just what you're looking for. Kudos on working with the Scouts, it's a great organization.

Nice job on the tongs and a good observation about forging to a finish rather than filing. One heat can save you many minutes with a file. You can make your tongs even more functional by forging or filing a v-notch at 90 degrees to the one that is already there (across the jaws). That would allow you to hold round or square stock vertically from the side for upsetting, heading, etc. I have made a few like that and they are among my favorites because they are so versatile.

Does anyone have any historical references they could quote on this tradition or is this a product of our modern society? I've been a full time smith for over 30 years and have shelves full of books but I don't recall hearing of this before. I doubt that historically a bunch of people (especially other smiths because there weren't many in an area) would get together to pound an anvil in memory of a blacksmith. Not that there is anything wrong with the practice but if it is other than a recent tradition I would be interested in how and where it started. Thanks.

I buy supplies for my sawmill and wood cutting through Baileys and would recommend them. They have a pretty complete line of arborist equipment including climbing supplies. there are pictures of a couple types that would be fairly easy to reproduce in a blacksmith shop. You might consider buying their replaceable spurs and making your irons fit them. You will undoubtedly need a climbing strap as well. We have a local hunter who has been in a wheelchair for about ten years when he fell trying to get in his stand. Better safe than sorry. Anyway for what it's worth as ideas and inspiration here is the link: http://www.baileyson...ry.asp?CatID=33

Because this is an antique shop, the market is likely to be people looking for traditional iron items rather than modern craft type work. Remember that both you and the shop have to make a profit but don't give your work away. Your time is worth something. Almost anybody will take iron to sell if you put it in their shop on consignment but in my own experience you are much better off selling it to them outright. Otherwise, they have nothing invested and their motivation to move the merchandise is not as great. Ask the shop keepers what they think would move and what price range would be best suited for their clientele. I used to have my shop at a museum and sold items to pay the rent. S-hooks of varying lengths and small hooks with a bean cusp are timeless and you will sell all you can make. A nice touch when selling hooks is to stock a box of black screws of suitable size and include one with each hook. Run the screw through the hole in the cusp and put a piece of masking tape on the threads behind the hook to keep it there. People can take them home and put them up as purchased without having to find their own screws or nails. Ironwork will make you wages, marketing will make you money. You could make nails but remember that two of you have to make a profit on it and not everyone wants to drive a nail into their woodwork. A simple traditional trivet might be a good choice if you have a design that can be made for a price that will sell. Start simple and expand and good luck.

What I said was that I "center" the rivet over the pritchel hole, that is get it so that it protrudes evenly on both sides. I just glance at it on edge and if one side is longer, put the short side down over the hole and give it a tap or two. Then I do slide it back to the face of the anvil before setting the rivet. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

I make hundreds of pairs of tongs every year and like others have said, use the same material the tongs are made of. Most of my tongs are just mild steel so I use 3/8 mild round stock cut to the length I want for the rivet. My tongs are drilled but you can hot punch the holes also. I assemble the tongs cold, insert the rivet, and then give each side a few glancing blows on the end of the rivet to keep it from falling out in the fire. I heat everything at once, come to the anvil, center the rivet in the tongs over the pritchel hole and then head the rivet alternating sides with each few blows to keep the heat even. You will find that the rivet actually upsets and fills the hole tightly so the last step is to take the tongs to the slack tub and work them rapidly in the water as they cool. Done right you will have a nice tight fit and smooth action.

The average house fire burns at around 1100 F if memory serves me correctly. Depending on the contents and any special flammable material it may go to 1700 F but that will be at the ceiling. It is likely this anvil was stored on the floor or a low stand so those temperatures would have been much lower. The heat builds from the ceiling down and I've seen melted TV sets with a VCR in the bottom of the same cabinet that still worked. Look at the walls and material around where the anvil was stored-is there still wallpaper, is the wood burned? That will give you a clue to how hot the anvil got. You can also have it Rockwell hardness tested to see how hard it is now. A simpler version of that test would be to check both the base and the top with a file to see if the top is still harder. You will probably find that the anvil is still OK. I seem to remember someone about 25 years ago who re-hardened an anvil and they heated the top with the anvil upside down over the heat source and protected by a steel plate. When up to temperature they used chains and tongs to flip the anvil over and just kept playing a garden hose over the top until the anvil was cool, leaving just the top hard and the body softer.

Some years ago I had a customer from the western part of the country for whom I did "rustic ranch hardware" (pulls, hinges, etc with a western motif). She wanted a brown finish and we ended up using rust. First, I soaked the pieces in acid to remove all scale, followed by alternating soaks in a brine solution and drying. After several dips in the brine and after drying I just wiped the surface lightly with a cloth and sprayed them with urethane. Hanging them over the wood stove in the winter accelerated the oxidation process. She and her customers were happy with the result and it was brown...just not my choice of color for iron.

Fantastic bargain!!! They sell for $536 new. I have both an SS3 and a B3 Beverly that I've had for almost 30 years. That B1 will be real handy for cutting out patterns that you can use with hot work or for trimming light hinges-H, H&L, butterfly, cockshead, etc., for cutting circles to use as drip pans under candle cups, for cutting out parts for forged roses or other flowers, and any of a million other uses you will discover over time. According to Beverly, your shear has a capacity of 14 ga. mild steel or 18 ga. stainless. Once you get used to feeding it, you can do some really complicated curves. As to cutting bar stock, unless you have some 18 ga. square bar, don't do it. You risk seriously nicking the blades. I would also stick to using it cold. For one thing, it's pretty hard to follow lines drawn on hot steel anyway and for another, you risk ruining the blades. Random cooling with cold water leaves you with an unknown temper and replacement blades are not cheap. If you need more capacity, look for a bigger shear or if you just want to lop off hot steel, there are other, better choices for shears. Factory sharpening will run about $40 and new blades are just north of $100. They are difficult to properly sharpen yourself because of the compound curve that makes them work so well. There are a couple set screws on the left side of the base that determine blade clearance and these need to be set properly for the tool to work as designed.

Lead is fantastic for backing when doing raised metalwork or repousse and can be reheated and flattened as the work progresses. Just melt and pour it into pieces of wide channel iron with the ends blocked. As has already been mentioned it works well for dead blow hammers or casting your own bullets. I have several hundred pounds stashed away.

And don't forget that one indispensable piece of moving equipment, a 2 ton come-a-long. That a bar or two, some pipe rollers, cribbing, a couple chains, a set of chain falls, and a set of heavy duty 8' steel ramps will move anything anywhere given time enough and takes up almost no room when stored. A two wheel dolly is nice as well. Some years back I had to move my 40 x 40 shop and spent the bucks to buy a two wheel dolly that was rated for 1200 lbs. It also has an extra set of wheels that pop out on the back when you push a lever. These wheels allow you to carry a load in the tipped back position without having it come over on you. The extra frame for these wheels is nice to stand on for increased leverage when tipping a heavy load back. I have easily moved a 700 lb wood stove around the shop by myself.

The gas companies can be sloppy too. In addition to gas in my shop, I have a propane furnace hot water system for the house as well as dual electric/gas hookups for the range and dryer and for an outside barbecue. I also installed all the gas lines using 1" schedule 40 pipe, and then the gas company tested them. The guy kept insisting I had a leak but couldn't find it with soapy water. After a couple hours I decided he was the problem and hooked up an air compressor to the line and charged it to about 75 psi. Guess what, no leaks. Turns out he had a faulty test gauge. Installing the lines yourself can save tons of money, especially if you can thread your own pipe, etc. Just make sure to have it tested, hopefully by someone a little more competent than the one who checked mine.

From personal experience, this method works quite well. I have two anvils in my shop of significantly different sizes. Most of my hardies fit the smaller one having got that about 5 years before the big anvil. Instead of making a whole second set of hardy tools, I took a piece of angle iron as described but instead of leaving tabs on the top, I ground a slight taper so it wedged in the hardy hole. Do some measuring so you get the right thickness angle iron. If necessary for a good fit you can grind it down slightly on one or both sides. Once the hardy plus the thickness of the angle equal the size of your hole, cut the sides of the angle to fit the hole. The piece only needs to be about 3-4" long. Leave the top 1" a tight fit and angle it below that like a wedge. Mine has been in constant use for 25 years and never moved. The problem with tabs on top is that they make a very uneven base and the tool can move around. If you ever get larger tooling, simply take a punch and drive the angle back out from below.

No matter what size you make it, it will be too small. Once one starts collecting tools and equipment there is an unwritten law that says you will always collect at least 25-50% more than you have room for! Kidding aside, 16 x 16 will make a nice sized shop unless you intend to run a business full time doing large work. In another lifetime I was a builder before being a blacksmith and have a couple suggestions you might find helpful. First, get some graph paper and lay out the intended size to scale. Next, cut out scale floor prints of any equipment you intend to use now or in the foreseeable future. That will let you play with various layouts and visualize the space you will be working in. Will you have a bench, a slack tub, a leg vise mounted on a post set in the ground, a cone mandrel, tong rack, swedge block, layout table, etc.? Consider other sizes. A 16' span will mean some pretty heavy duty rafters if you use a sloped roof. It would be OK with trusses but I think a rectangular building, say 12 x 20 might be easier and cheaper to build and you might find you like the layout better. Since you are in Ontario, you should think about a wood stove so you can forge in the winter. If you are using gas it will be plenty warm while you are forging but when you are doing bench work, layout, finishing, etc. You will freeze to death. A coal forge throws very little heat so with that you'll be cold all the time. A big opening is really nice and sliding doors might be an easy way to close it up in cold weather and to lock up your equipment. You haven't mentioned a floor but you might consider excavating the topsoil and replacing it with fine gravel that will pack. Later if you want to make it better, rake it level and dry lay used brick, filling the gaps with sand. It makes a very nice floor and will let you find things that you drop or even to sweep up all the scale that accumulates. My first shop had just a dirt floor and every night my legs were black up to the knee from the mixture of dust and forging scale that arose with each step. I changed it to brick and it made life much more pleasant. If you are having windows, think about where to put them so that you never have direct sunlight shining on your anvil. It makes it very difficult to see the color of the iron. Glass will be quickly etched if you put the windows in the spark stream where you will be grinding. I have been in three different shops over the past 30 years and my first was only about the size you are planning. It even included an air hammer and I did some pretty large work. My second shop was in a 40 x 40 building on a farm we bought but that was hard to keep warm up in northern Maine and I never mastered good hammer control with mittens. I designed and built my current shop here in northern NH. It is 28 x 40' 2-1/2 stories high and with a 28 x 14 lean to on the back for storage. Most of the floor is concrete but the forge area is brick set in sand. The anvil sits atop a 12" x 16" piece of Rock Maple set 6' in the ground and the vise is on a 6" pipe also 6' in the ground. If I ever decide to move my anvil or vise, all it takes is a shovel and not a jackhammer. Good luck on your project and have fun planning.

Years ago a friend bought a house in Concord, NH which had formerly been the residence of one of the blacksmiths for Swenson's Granite Quarry in that same city. He gave me a number of tools that were left in the basement, among them a sloped hardy and slope-faced hammer exactly as you describe. The hardy actually has a short reverse slope so that when the hammer comes down it can overhang the hardy a bit on the side away from the smith. Very ingenious tool and very effective. I have used it a number of times to sharpen bars.

One of the nice things about blacksmithing is that there is almost always more than one way to do something. If drawing down large stock to leave a shoulder is a problem, you can weld a collar onto smaller stock. I have several like this that I made almost 30 years ago and they are holding up fine in regular use. You can also take a piece of appropriate sized stock for the hardy hole and fold the top third over onto the middle third, leaving the bottom a single piece and the rest double thickness. Then you just forge weld the seam and forge whatever hardy design you need. Think "outside the box" and you can usually find solutions.

I use a 4 burner Whisper Gran daddy Forge that needs 10-15 lbs operating pressure. I have a 100 gallon tank located outside the building with steel piping to just inside the wall near the forge. At that point there is a ball valve followed by rubber hose to the forge with a second regulator and ball valve located right at the forge. The rubber hose is suspended from the ceiling so it won't be walked on or have a piece of hot iron melt it. The gas company had no problem hooking it up even though they had to order a special high pressure regulator. They did insist on the steel pipe with an inside shutoff in case the rubber hose failed or burned through. One doesn't want to have to run outside and shut the tank off. They told me that while it wasn't required I could make the setup safer by installing what they called a "slug" valve at the tank. They would have insisted if I had gone with a 1000 gallon tank. That valve shuts the propane flow off at the tank if it senses flow over a certain amount. That saves dumping the whole contents in your shop if something ruptures. A friend of mine is a glass blower and had exactly that happen. He also ran high pressure and his furnaces had to run 24/7. One night a line failed and he had a propane fed fire inside his shop. Needless to say, nothing left. Be careful about hypothetical situations and advice. If your property has any value and you skirt the codes, it is very likely your insurance company will not pay in case of catastrophe. I have been using this setup safely for over 15 years and my insurance and gas companies both know and approve. Codes may vary so check yours.

As has been pointed out, there are no hard and fast rules such as there are in professional sports. Trying to define a "shop" anvil could run on for weeks but an anvil in the 150# to 165# range should be adequate for almost any general blacksmithing. Less than 150# they tend to suffer in mass and stability. Once you become familiar with an anvil you will use nearly all the areas-sides included-and a 100# anvil isn't real stable when struck from the side, no matter how well it's fastened down. It just doesn't have the mass. You can do very small work on a very large anvil by using saddles and hardy tools but it is difficult to do very large work on a very small anvil. One of the drawbacks to an overly large anvil, especially if you live in a cold area of the country, is the length of time it takes to warm up each day. If you are only forging part time, a very large anvil will suck a lot of heat and you will have to reheat the work much more often. You can always have more than one. For welding small pieces, I set a 30# Columbia anvil right on the forge so it's warm and doesn't waste heat having to walk to it.