Michael

Don't know anything about its composition or quality, but it sure looks nice. Wonderfully heavy and thick. I'd trade my London Pattern for it in a hot minute!

Last time I was in horse country (Napa, CA, don't laugh) the local flea, along with rounding hammers, were good quality work gloves with the fingertips cut off and stitched. I'd been doing this to my work gloves for years now. Bought 3 pair, seller said they were "roper's gloves" but I may have misunderstood her.

When you get the thin crust of hard metal in the hole you are drilling, a tiny sprinkle of baking soda or chalk will give the bit just enough grip to drill thru the....not workhardened.....friction heated layer and keep cutting. Picked this trick up on a machinist forum a few years back, trying to drill 1/16 inch hole in thick music wire.

Kegan, zoom makes it very viewable, nice embellishment on the #8 especially. as to jigs, I did use a bending fork in the anvil to bend the bottom curve of the five, but that was about going thru the same motions repeatedly to try and get consistency. I did all the 5's first, then the zero Thinking that house numbers might make good, USPS mailable gifts for far off family members, though I should google street view their addresses to see just how cheesy their current house numbers are.

Meant to do this project for a while now. Weekend got away from me and only had an hour or so at the gas forge before dinner. Started with 1/4 inch square. First #5 came out great, bending the first two corners around the heel of the anvil (104 lb. PW) on all three #5's to keep them consistent, then trying a Habermann bend on the corners. Couldn't get the gas forge up to welding heat, so the zero is just lapped with the nail hole going through the overlap. Getting 3 numbers all roughly the same, easier than expected. Getting 4 numbers red hot on the anvil for a picture,not so much.

Second here for the lovely wife looking over the shoulder and going "wow, can you make one of those for each daughter". Not a lot of iron projects evoke such a swift, positive response. you done good!

Been trying to get my daughter to help out in the smithy for years now, no luck. Off to a nice start there.

Those look great, nice wide eyes. My top tools always have small eyes, need to make a larger drift.

my tool rack, gas forge and shop cart are on wheels, not that the cart and rack move all that much. Anvil on the stump and the vise stand both have round bases. All my stuff gets tucked together under the non leaky part of the patio roof and covered with tarps when I'm not working. The round bases on the vise stand and anvil let me tip and roll those out into the workspace, like barrel.

I ran a bottom blast charcoal forge for years before switching to coal. Works just fine, though after a few hours the bottom blast does tend to blow the little bits of burning charcoal out of the forge. Building a forge with brake drum, pipe, scrap metal and a squirrel cage blower, a bottom blast was the clearest path to a working forge. If all I had was wood, clay and leather for a bellows, a side blast might make more sense.

Said before, get a regulator. Makes adjusting the gas pressure to tune the burner a breeze. I get worried about gas leaks and before I start with the gas forge, I open the tank valve with the ball valve at the burner closed, and I keep a little squirt bottle of diluted dish soap on hand, to put a little squirt on all the connections between the tank and the burner. With pressure on the system, any leaks will show up as a little wreath of bubbles around the fitting. I do the same with the fittings past the ball valve, though I'm pretty sure the gas pressure at the cap on the lamp tube is minimal.

Great technique that I'll do my best to recall when next at the anvil. Made a few marshmallow forks and that transition from flat handle to round shaft is always a weak point, this adds just a bit of metal. Thank you, Just realized its on the backside of the spatula handle.

That looks great! Really nice overall.Did you use some sort of forming swage to make that little triangular transition from the round to the wider, flatter sections of the handle? Very consistant file work on the round section in the middle of the handle.

Contact him and ask. Google James Austin Blacksmith and it'll take you to his site. Jim has been studying, practicing and developing this curriculem for a couple of years now. Currently he's teaching a class making Viking style hammers, soft iron bodies with welded steel faces. A buddy is taking the class next week (and crashing on my couch). I've heard Austin speak on this field of study, viking axes/hammers. There's a wealth of knowledge he has to impart. I don't think you could go wrong with either DVD.

If you stayed over the center web it wouldn't be too bad, loud though. Stood on end and working on the small bit where the two plates join would get a lot of mass under your work too. Also started off with a section of I beam, about 75 lbs with really thick webs. Drilled a pritchel and ground out a notch for bending. Clamped a jackhammer bit to it once for a horn as well, and worked like that for a year till I found a Peter Wright Nice idea with the offset hardy shanks. There's times I'd rather have a bottom swage over the anvil's waist rather than at the heel. That I beam is holding my slack tub at a convenient height now.

My drill press chuck key was hung on one of those retractable keychain reels, clipped on to the belt housing. I'd tighten the chuck, pull out the key and let go, the reel would handle the rest. replacement DP has a keyless chuck.

I usually see braces, slightly more modern versions of the pic you posted, for $5 and under at most flea markets and swap meets. Not trying to disuade you from a project you want to do, just pointing out that this is a tool that is readily available on the second hand market. The style you posted is sometimes referred to as a Gentleman's or Gent's brace. A smith made version is usually all metal, with a "cage" style pad (top handle) similar to this. That said, this could be a fun project, akin to making your own hacksaw frame. Drifting the tapered square chuck and getting everything aligned would be key I think. And once the braces are done, it would be a snap to make some center bits I just made a square tang tool for a friend who needed a specialty brace attachment and was surprised at how easy getting the square tang taper was.

lifting the weighted chain that holds hot work on the anvil. Funny burn marks on your fingers you have to explain for days afterward. Spray painted the foot of chain that runs over the anvil bright orange as a warning. The paint in the middle has all burned off, but either side still acts as a warning.

I was quoted $145 for the box with the end closed and the 12 inch duct ring, by a sheet metal place in San Francisco. i think anyplace else would be somewhat cheaper.

Nicely thought out door, much better than the firebricks I pile in front of my gas forge.

Nice, love the angled hammer rack. That's gonna get heavy, fast!

Following a losing sports team builds character! I got to use a can of bacon grease as coolant/lube for a hammer eye punch a few weeks ago, burning coal AND bacon smells, that was a good day!

I was gifted some cable sections and a flatter, a unused flatter. I've never seen one of these tools without some wear on them. Always wanted to try welding cable, but when I see cable at the scrap yard its in big, rusty coils. The flatter has very modern 'wear safety glasses' and 'made in usa' stamped on it, and a factory grind on the working and striking edges, like it was made in the same place those fiberglass handled sledges at the Home Depot are made. Happy holidays, hope everyone got coal who wanted it. Looking forward to lighting the forge during the long break from work

If I have wood charcoal, I half fill a BBQ chimney, stuff two sheets of newsprint under it, light and when that is going good dump it on the tuyere and mound the coke from the last fire around it while supply a gentle blast of air with the blower, leaving a hole in the top for smoke. Haven't been BBQ'ing much lately, so a dry, 3 or 4 inch section of 2x4, split into kindling with a fixed blade knife and gentle hammer taps on the spine, knife edge on the end grain, gets a small bundle of kindling in no time. 2 sheets of newsprint (have to keep it in the house so it doens't get too damp) TeePee pile of kindling, then same as the charcoal. Light, mound the coke around, leave a hole and a gentle air blast. Starting with either you get a hollow under the coke so its important to knock the burning coke down around the tuyere before getting to work.

What are you going to be punching? Hammerhead, top tools, don't bother heat treating, you'll only lose the temper. For thinner stock you could temper to straw color,but punches on hot steel don't really need a heat treatment.