Bentiron1946

I guess we're all caught under the branch where them there particular birds have come to roost.:(

swage block

I have done bronze cast for several years with home made furnaces of varying size made from fire brick and fire clay or from fire clay, silica sand and Portland cement. The ones that have lasted the longest have been the ones out of fire brick. I usually pour my bronze when the pyrometer reads 2,450f so the furnace has to be some hotter then that. The problem with clay, sand and cement furnaces seems to be cracks that developed from heating and cooling over time. These have to be continually patched. The furnaces of both types have to dried out very slowly or expansion of moisture in the refractory will cause explosions. The Portland cement helps the castable refractory flow and mix better then the straight clay in my experience. Very little is required to help mix the sand and clay together with a minimum of water. It should not be so much pourable as packable.

Cut it yes, but in half, close maybe, why? All of the stuff I make could care less and if I'm that short of stock I'm in real trouble. Hack saws, hot chisels, cold chisels, hardies or any other tool you can think of are all nice. Some very helpful tips here, thanks.

blower........

Shucks, I thought you were asking what you should name you anvil. I was thinking Dagmar would be a good sounding name.

That had better be some wonderful tool for the price plus the shipping cost. I think that I would scout around for a deal in the neighborhood.

I recently bought cut-offs at $.69/# three weeks later it was $.89/#. Within the last year local scrap steel prices has gone from $36/ton to $98/ton. The fellow at the scrap yard is sending containers of scrap to China as fast as he can fill them. He said he used to send it to Mexico for rebar production but gets a higher price from the Chinese. There is little steel production in the USA anymore what with high labor cost and environmental protection rules. With Brazil, India and China leading the way in production with cheap labor and no or little environmental protection and the cost of fuel going up we are left with paying the shipping. We have opened the door for being held hostage to others for our steel here in the USA.

hardy........

I guess you could always give it a try and give a ten page report with photos.

In my neighborhood I can't use coal at all so it is gas or nothing at all. Charcoal is not an option because of sparking and the extreme dry conditions. The last thing I need is a brush fire.

The last time I ran gas line I chose black iron(steel) over copper because of the cost. Black iron is an approved pipe for all gas piping, air and is very easy to work with. The use of a hose with braided metal covering is suggested around hot metal as it doesn't take much to burn through a neoprene hose. Propane is heavier then air so have all of your electrical outlet and switches high on the wall just encase of an overnight leak. Yes I know your supposed to turn it off but sometimes one forgets. Have adequate cross ventilation and if you smell gas don't flip on a light switch.:o

That's a nice use of the tire set up. I like it.

Nice work and nice poetry. I liked it and thanks for posting it.

If you want some patterns for armour here is site Armour Archive -- Pattern Archive: Great Helm by Sinric that has helmets and other items.

WOW! Sounds wonderful. When is he going to let us know what it is? I hope that it is a whole lot better then my cheap HF four way diamomd hone I bought at a yard sale. The old guy died before he could use it.:D

My first anvil cost me $0.65/lb, my second was $0.75/lb and my third was$0.60/lb. All of them were bought before 1978. So what is the rate of inflation on the $/lb of anvil these days?;)

I don't know about cats but some crazy spinner/knitter had my Malamute's hair shorn for three years straight so she could make a dog hair sweater.:D

Looks like maybe 250#. So did you get it?

I haven't weighed mine but I would say around 70# or so may be more. It is an Iron City and has 6" jaws. I paid $12 for it at the salvage yard in 1973. At the time I thought I got ripped off since it was missing the spring but the guy at the junk yard got a valve spring from a Chevy engine and put in there and there it has been ever since. Some fool painted it silver and your right it is still silver. Ugly!

I like the tongs. They are easier to make then my simple tongs. I got lazy about making tongs when I decided that I wanted to make art rather then first rate tools. So I would use 3/4" X 1/4" flat HR stock, drill a hole for a 3/8" bolt, then draw the handles out, twist the flat stock just in from of the bolt and weld on jaws to accommodate what ever stock I was going to forge. Not pretty but functional and cheap but not as cheap as "JAYCO's".;)

I started using "bentiron" when I first started forging sculpture way back in the early iron age when one of my pieces was called a hunk of bent iron. The 1946 is the year of my nativity. I have become a little more proficient over the years but not much just thicker skinned. I have also participated in other forms of metal working and have enjoyed them all. I like metal and fire!:D

If you are interested in melting iron I suggest the book Iron Melting Cupola Furnaces for the Small Foundry by Stephen Chastain, ISBN #0-9702203-0-8. I found the best price at Alibris Books. As to clay crucibles you can get a helpful book from Lindsy Publications on how to make them plus plans for bronze melting furnaces and other good metal working subjects. Have fun and be careful as molten iron is really very hot. Be sure to have a full set of leathers, face shield, leather soled boots and tape the laces so no little globs get inside. Love that molten metal.:D

That ad for a foot powered hammer looks like the hammer in this picture

I think that there are plans in the Blueprints for an Oliver hammer if you want to build a much simpler version but that sure is a neat model.