Bentiron1946

Plan? I think I've heard the word before but seldom use it or at least that's what my wife says.

This guy has some nice looking stuff but having it as "pick up only" sure is keeping the prices way down. I wouldn't mind having that little lathe of his.

I don't think his slave smith had much incentive to be much better at his craft. It was an interesting article to read. Ole George must have been hard to work for since no other smith would hire on with him.

Bet you could work some wicked armour up on that thing or work on some big copper bowls.

I get the same thing when folks see my anvil. I have the cards of two very good farriers that I hand out. If any of you are interested in taking a course in shoeing horses I can recommend Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari, NM. Their email address is Mesalands Community College . It is a wonderful small college. I was there two weeks ago for the annual iron pour. They also have a very good foundry arts program.

There is a strange looking power hammer on eBay POWER HAMMER, TRIP HAMMER - eBay 130207947058 end time Mar-27-08 19:31:35 PDT) I hope that all of this line of xxxx gets you there.

I don't know about length but there is a big difference in head size too. Several years ago I was picking up spikes and when I got home and started sorting them out as to quality some had heads that were nearly twice the size of others. Do you know the reason for this?

When the spring broke on my leg vise many years ago in the midst of a job my smithing buddy reached into his box of junk and got a valve spring from a 350 Chevy engine and stuck it in the bottom pivot and it has been there 30 years doing a great job of opening the jaw.

You might look up Budget Casting Supply on line. They sell small amounts of silicon bronze for hobbyist.

Retired draftsman. Did HVAC, plumbing and fire protection plans. Did smithing on the side for ten years , also did bronze casting during that time. Then I had a family and had to make real money to feed them.:D

Henry McKinna

I think that a nicely made scale of justice would be nice and you could put a card holder on the front of it too.

Happy New Years. May your fires and iron be hot!

If it were a hot dipped galvanized nail it may have caused you some problems or if a vinyl coated sinker or a bright nail maybe no worse then burning a normal piece of steel.

Well Xxxx's fire, ain't none of you ever chipped fire sides on a boiler? Some fun that with a hammer like that.

What's the new project? Turkeys perhaps or something else?

There is nothing wrong with what your mom says. Learn the basics and then do your own thing. I been down that road for a while until I got a certain technique down and then I did things my way. Who knows you may find an ole fart that thinks your wonderful and will pass all of his wisdom off on to you.

Heat is heat. What is authentic is the work you produce. I know money is tight but price out the bits and pieces and see what the cost is. Charcoal isn't cheap either and coal can xxxx your neighbors off real quick.

I buy from a steel supply yard that also sell scrap as well as new. That was if I need a short section I buy by the pound and if I need a lot of a certain size I buy the new stuff.

The noise of the hammer forging iron. The tippy tappy of hammer on anvil will drive some folk up the wall. Instead of coal or charcoal I will recommend propane. An atmospheric burner makes some noise but it is clean burning and propane is a lot easier to find. If you go to Zoeller Forge you will find plenty of information on making simple burners and forges. Good luck with your mom.:D

Did I miss them somewhere?

Maybe you could drink the beer and filter it through your kidneys and then use that for a quench? NAW that would stink!

When forging on a daily basis it is best not to use a glove. You get used to the hot metal. If you are weekend smith and doctor or a dentist wear gloves. When I was doing it more or less full time I wore no gloves but when I was making my living drafting and had to keep the tracing clean I had to keep my hands nice to prevent the coal dust and dirt from my hands. I always did my best work without gloves. I only got one bad burn from hot metal and that was because I was talking and paying attention to which was the last piece out of the fire. When everything is black it is hard to tell how hot it is:D

Davis Salvage in Phoenix, AZ has several short sections for sale by the pound. I polished one up for jewelers anvil. Nice steel but the web between top and bottom flange is a bit thin for heavy forging.

Here in the Phoenix Metro area we are now getting Colorado River water and it is like thin concrete. Does it make acceptable slack tub water? Yes since it does cool the steel. It is the pits for irrigation though because after a year or so the soil is white around the trees and shrubs. We have to change it daily or leave an oil film on top because of mosquitoes. I used to raise turtles and their shell would be white from the hard water. It may make an excellent quench if you let the water evaporate and the dissolved solids concentrate.