Dave Leppo

I have a potential client who needs his Stone Hammers dressed and tempered. He has several OLD hammers that are 3 to 4 pounds, and similar in shape to a straight or cross pein forging hammer. He has had them done by someone, and now complains that they are too soft, and the working surfaces quickly mushroom. What are your various opinions on the final heat treat of Stone hammers? My idea is to harden the whole hammer; quench in water. Then temper the whole hammer in the toaster oven to 450 deg. Fahrenheit. Then, with the pein setting in a pan of water and dabbing the face with a wet rag, heat the eye with a torch till it is blue. He

Two guys encountered a bear like that. The first said “What do you think we should do? Second guy said “I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna run for it.” First guy said “you can’t outrun an adult grizzly!” Second guy said “I only have to outrun YOU!” Seriously, nice work, Frost!

Got a Fisher Norris anvil to repair (bottom of horn), wish I could go! Myabe you can post some general tips after the class?

The result. If one spent a little more time, they could a bit more realistic.

jackell: http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/thorn-rose-stem-9827/

I thorn.pdf

I've been trying to make Russian roses, too. the two I have are barely keepers in my eye, not half as nice as these. I did find a way to make thorns on the stem, though.

check with commercial electrical contractors - they have to make custom knockouts in large panel boxes, and may be able to save you the slugs. however, the kind of punches I'm familiar with create slugs that are bent into a "V" shape rather than flat, and have a pilot hole in the middle. They may also be painted or zinc plated depending on the boxes they use.

I've used nails, cut off below the head, heat, insert, and form an opposing head by peining

THANKS, ALL! pig; sorry, no pic, but yes, I incised four lines. The material is 1-1/2" wide. I have a 1/4" and a 1/2" incising chisel. These have a cutting edge, and a "hook" edge which I run along the edge of the bar, setting the distance. I clamp a rail plate onto the anvil to give me a "fence" to lay the bar on. This was dome cold in this case. then, when you fuller the edges in, the grooves follow to varying degrees depending on the distance from the edge. I'm not as happy with the towel bar in this respect as I am with the attached experiment. Thicker bar works better.

Doug Firestone is highly skilled, and I believe teaches classes occasionaly. About two hours away from you, I believe. Home

ANOTHER SOURCE OF INSPIRATION:

Thanks, Ian!

Here

Punctuation Made Simple: Overview

I broke the PT holder in the break room @ work, so I installed a replacement. There are actually two, and I have another in the works, matching but slightly different. 1-1/2" x 3/16"thk fb & 3/8" dia round

Important to note: if you are placing the end of a pipe or tube in a coal forge, plug the other end with a rag, piece of wood, or other means. This prevents hot gasses travelling thru the pipe and heating it above a comfortable handling temperature. also be careful when quenching hot hollow forgements; the pipe can become a steam jet and scald the quencher.

I made a touchmark w/ my last name by stamping a piece of sheet metal with standard letter stamps (took a few tries till I was satisfied). Then took an old chisel, flattened the end and shaped it to be a little larger than the stamped word. Heated the end of the chisel, and drove it into the stamped word, driving the hot steel down into the letters. Then re-heat-treated the chisel, after grinding the rest of the material outside of the word

Wertz coal yard 829 west trindle road mechanicsburg, pa 17055 717-766-9592 $15.00/bag just bought four bags - they charge you $00.10 for a bag - i took back some of my old bags for refiling the pile's rather big!

Champion blower w/ sheet metal fan housing & 400 modle crank case - works great! $6.00 at the annual williams grove, pa consignment auction

Blacksmiths Gallery closeup showing twisted tip. Yea, they're Rebar!

Blacksmiths Gallery Set of four twist gimlets (2mm thru 5mm) & countersink, for hand-drilling wood. These are for Dad for Christmas. Refer to Garrett Wade #37J03.04 Mine would not sell that cheap; if you just want a set to use, just buy them. Anyone guess the material? It proved hardenable. Oil quenched the tips of the gimlets, water for the countersink, all tempered to 475 deg F.

YouTube - Forge Welding - 1904

I been smithing for three years (hobby) and I still find I usually have to make one extra of whatever it is i'm making, and that's the first one! I call this the "test piece" and it's mostly a failure, but it shows me what i should have done in the first place to make it properly. If I don't do things this way, and try to save the "test piece", it's usually not as good as what i'd like it to be when finished.

I have mounted my vices to the posts of the building, which might not be convenient for you. However, you did mention a dirt floor, which I also have. I use a steel plate 1/4 to 3/8 thick, around 12” square, with a hole about 1-1/8" dia. (or whatever fits) in the center, for the vice leg tennon, and four stake holes at the corners. This supports the leg, and keeps it from sinking into the ground. With my big vice, which is mounted lower, the plate is buried about 8" below grade. With my smaller vice, it sits level with the grade - this vice is up higher for lighter work. The plate spreads out the downward pressure from the vice onto the dirt – otherwise the vice leg would be driven into the ground. Hope this is clear enough, and helps.