philip in china

For the male of the species physical activity relieves stress. That is why gymnasia are so popular. For those with a job which doesn't create something physical a hobby that does gives us a sense of achievement which is otherwise lacking. Winston Churchill used to lay bricks and found that soothing. As the female rarely enters the workshop it gets us apart for a period which means that we appreciate each other all the more when we come back together. Fire is a wonderful element with which to play. We all enjoy that. My final satisfaction, not available to all, is in being able to help poor people by making, fixing and dressing tools etc. for them at no charge. They all know I am crazy but are happy to take advantage of my eccentricity.

Bill, It is your call but unless you need a small portable anvil I think you would be well advised to go for something a little bigger. You could do small work on any of those but you won't be able to do bigger work successfully. I use a couple of 280 pounders which are possibly bigger than you need but if you loook at the prices and the costs of transport and installation you might be surprised at how little extra a bigger unit costs.

Bill, It is your call but unless you need a small portable anvil I think you would be well advised to go for something a little bigger. You could do small work on any of those but you won't be able to do bigger work successfully. I use a couple of 280 pounders which are possibly bigger than you need but if you loook at the prices and the costs of transport and installation you might be surprised at how little extra a bigger unit is.

Thanks Glenn. I am always available to anybody who wants my time. I am about 2 years into my shop design and build. Still learning.

60 paces from the house door to the forge door. that is via the concrete path. Less distance across the grass and I do have only very short legs!

Thank you Glenn. I need to use my eyes more.

I think this has been discussed a long time back. Does anybody have a register of touchmarks? If not would anybody consider starting such a register? I have a touchmark which I use on work that I am happy with (so yes it is still like new). Is there any way I can register that as a trade mark or something to stop anybody else from using it? I don't think art forgers are suddenly going to start faking copies of my weightlifting benches or log baskets but it is nice to be able to "sign" a sculpture uniquely. I suppose as I am living in the land of the illegal copy I am probably the least appropriate person to be asking this question!

Frosty, I was very surprised to hear that an anvil rings less on a steel stand than on a wooden one. It seems to be sort of the wrong way round don't you think? I need to make a stand when #3 anvil arrives later this year. I was thinking about making a wooden mock up and then getting it cast in iron. Of course I am lucky here because I can get casting done at a reasonable price and the foundries are happy to do one off jobs in sand.

My Vaughans brooks has a 30mm hardy hole. I absolutely love the anvil. Mine is exactly double the size of the one at which you are looking- a 280. If I could bet a little one like a 140 I would definitely take it. Check out Vaughans (Hope Works) - For all your Blacksmith, Foundry, Farrier needs. Now available Ironworkers and Bending machines

As some of you might know I was commissioned to produce a wall sculpture for a very up market school. I wanted something the kids would enjoy so I made a moon out of 2" plate, 3 stars cast out of aluminiumn and a sun cast out of brass from a forged steel original. The school owner was absolutely delighted and asked me to see him in his school office at 12.30 today. Bemused I went along. There was a camera crew from China Central TV who filmed me and the work! So that can't be bad can it? I have plans for a comet and a planet in the future (if he will cough up). Once the stuff is installed on the wall I shall post some photos.

I have a reprint of a 1907 Army & Navy stores catalogue from which you could buy anything needed to live anywhere in the then British Empire. That was from "palm to pine" so could have been in chillliest Canada or red hot India so it includes plenty of variety including blacksmiths tools. I think I would have my name down for a pair of London made sidelock ejector double shotguns and possibly a dounle rifle as well as the complete range of blacksmiths tools.

I sort of qualify as a british smith although I no longer live there. Good to have another member.

Only people I know making them new are vaughans. Follow this link: Vaughans (Hope Works) - For all your Blacksmith, Foundry, Farrier needs. Now available Ironworkers and Bending machines Item ALV40 on page 39 of their 98 page on line catalogue. One tip though, make sure you are sitting down before you look at the prices.

Re. Filing the hardy hole the answer is yes and no. If the anvil is soft, and therefore worthless, yes you could file it. It would be a huge amount of work and you would have a useless anvil with a square hole. You could keep it near your real anvil just to keep a hardy in but it hardly seems worth the trouble. If it is a properly hardened anvil (which frankly I doubt) then you will wear out a lot of files before you make any serious difference. Even if you cost your time in at minimum wage I think it would be cheaper just to buy a decent anvil in the first place! There are plenty of well made, proper sized anvils out there. Pass on this one and let somebody who wants an ornament for the garden have it!

British made Vaughans (check the spelling NOT Vaughns which are made in India) are as good as anything on the market and available single or double horn, farriers in 2 types and even a saw makers . Their main anvils are in sizes from a handful upto 560 pounds. Beat that anybody. Vaughans

Jafo, that's a great idea. I used to use dirty oil for a whole lot of things but that is new to me. Here in sichuan it is warm and very humid which is the worst combination for producing rust. So I paint wherever possible or as much as possible and then just keep the unpainted areas bright with grease.

Of course there is always Spike Jones doing the blacksmiths song on Youtube. That could help you a lot. I don't have the link but there is only one Spike Jones so you should find it OK

The problem with my current portable forge is just that- current! I have no speed control on the blower so it is either on full or off. Today I was looking at some shelves of general junk whilst the photocopier was churning away when I saw something I can use to control the speed of my fan. It is..... a fan speed controller. (Should do the trick?) So this weekend that will be wired in! Should give me good control and save me a lot of coal!

Uri Hofi is number one without a doubt but, of course, that is just my opinion. I happen to have seen a lot of his work and he has been kind to me by giving excellent advice. Junior Strasil has also been a great help and encouragement. For a practical smith doing traditional type smiting work I doubt if he can be beaten. So many people here have been a big help though. So I think we ALL should put Glenn somewhere on the list. Thank you again Glenn.

Has anybody got any information about how to make a sun dial?

You might be well advised to start with a few basic tools and then just make the others as you need them. Actual blacksmithing tools I have bought (rather than made0 are anvils, a post vice, my first hardy, some hammers and files. I think I am right in saying I have made everything else and learnt a lot from doing so. I would almost never buy a chisel or a punch or a drift unless I saw one at a very good price. This approach does mean that youy spend many hours making tools which is non profit making but it teaches you a lot. I am now in the fortunate position of ebing able to sell my work and so might actually start to buy more equipment rather than spend time making it. That is the luxury of setting up the new shop of course but I am glad that I learnt to make things first.

In my experience COSIRA was never upto much. The books they put on the net were excellent but the organisation- well it was a government agency. You know the 3 greatest lies in the world? 1. Of course I love you. 2. The cheque is in the post. 3. I am from the government I am here to help.

I use that same design for hardies- the axe type curved edge- which I find works very well and is so easy to forge but I do put a shoulder on mine.

You managed to get people to buy into something based around junk. You wouldn't be a member of the Irish O'Bama family would you?

I saw one young lady from the Norh West of England who is an artist blacksmith. She works on her own. I had never before been jealous of a bar of steel.