philip in china

Welcome Ken. If ever you are passing please drop in for a chat. After a few days you will be amazed what you will be able to make just by pounding iron. It is a great game.

Copper baseball cap. Isn't something very similar an integral part of the elctric chair? "A copper cap, that's the last thing I shall wear." (A quote from Ted Bundy perhaps?

Do you need that wall thickness? If not you will get scarp when they are demolishing buildings and removing forced air ventilation systems.

How thich will the rebar be? I would go with bolt croppers if it is thin enough. Also try to think about making a jig to bend. It can be very simple with this rebar. Here they just put pegs into holes in a piece of wood and bend round that. If things are a bit stiff at the end just put a length of pipe over the end of the rod to give a bit more leverage. What are they for? High spec rebar shoudn't actually be welded but if, as I suspect, you are just making reinforced paving slabs or something like that it actually doesn't matter.

Did you get it?

Ami, see my PM to you. As you say safety is not a game. Here in rural China there are very few precautions taken for industrial safety. There are also prodigious numbers of people with limbs missing! Even with the correct safety equipment we can get hurt so please, everybody, get the equipment and use it!

Further to my earlier post above I heard today from the factory in Prague. They are having a clearance sale withI think a further 15% discount. So if anybody wants a few Euros now is probably a good time to buy (except that the $ isn't very strong at present).

Being in Australia isn't it more likely to be a British made anvil? Or did the colonies trade with each other?

Euros are produced in the Czech republic and so are cheaper. You might have to do a bit of finishing on it but it would be a good , sound, big anvil at a price you can afford.

Why not send a message to Uri Hofi. His anvils are 125Kg (=275 pounds) and their design sets them apart. I am not sure who is the agent in USA. I have one here and if I were you I would certainly not buy anything else until I had had a chat with Uri.

BTW if using Mum's oven don't say we said it was OK.

I generally use coal and order 500 or 1,000 pounds at a time. I have about 200 in store at present. I aso use coke and have an unlimited supply free here on site. I sometimes use charcoal and again get that free here. I have 3 stacks of cut split logs which I also sometimes use as smoke is not an issue. So I think the chances of running out of fuel are fairly low.

#1 Hammer. Without that you can form nothing. You can form steel cold and you could use a rock as an anvil but must have a hammer. #2 An anvil. Yes I love my 2 quality 280# anvils but a big piece of steel will do as a substitute. Lots of things will do some of which you can get free or virtually free. #3 A forge. Again this can be made out of almost nothing. #4 Tongs. These can be made very simply and will work. A piece of strip bent double like big sugar tongs will work- upto a point. We are now at the stage of tools you should be trying to make for yourself! #5 Hardy. Very useful and pretty well essential. #6 LEG VICE. Not a machinists vice. This is not an essential but I wouldn't like to have to work without one. For forging those are your essentials. The vice you have to buy but everything else can be cobbled together out of nothing. BTW I know that tradition has it that you can make your own vice. Somebody who is such a beginner cannot hope to forge a vice. If you don't agree with this please supply me with a list of the beginners you know who made a leg vice as a first project!

So I get the steel, clean it up, put it in a lump of clay surrounded by powdered charcoal. Then I put it in a fire and, effectively, forget about it for a few hours? Is it as simple as that? Then eventually take it out, crack ioff the what is now pottery and clean up the steel again. I will try that next time I am going to have a hot and long lasting fire- possibly next time we roast a whole animal.

Is it possible to make my own hardening powder? I have only very basic materials here but would be interested in trying. Recipe anybody??

On the original question of how much is your shop worth there is a very sad thread running on another site about a man who has had everything destroyed by a serious fire. He is trying to count how much all his tools, supplies etc. were worth.

For a good video clip of general forge work and hot shoeing a horse have a look at YouTube - Spike Jones - Blacksmith Song I intend to use it as a training video for my students here.

I have an abrasive wheel saw. It is just a Chinese generic one with no brand name. I have been using it now for over a year. It cuts 6" I beam, 6" channel, 1" rebar fairly easily. Yes it is a bit slow and the material comes off hot but it does everything I ask of it. The only problem is that after a few hours I have to take out the brushes and clean them. Were I to get another saw I would get a slightly bigger abrasive wheel saw. One with a separate motor and v belt drive as these are more powerful and, believe it or not, cheaper than the more modern type!

hanton@prumyslovy-servis.cz would be interested to know that there is no czech hammer.

Avadon, you can burn dishing forms into the end of a tree stump. They get bigger each time you use them but they do work.

Inazuma, You will be amazed to hear that we use a lot od Chinese hammer heads here. Most are very good although some need to be heat treated to get best performance. A western hickory handle and away you go. (The local handles could be better. If there is a flaw in them they stick a label over it). Arbalist, on my 280lb Brooks I have a piece of 20mm plate nailed to the stump on which it sits. Actually 2 pieces which are sort of half moon shaped with a cut out the shape of the anvil base. That way they stop the anvil skipping about. I use them for upsetting but yes I think some of the force probably is absorbed but they do work. My number two anvil is a hofi of the same size. Of course that has the wonderful upsetting feet as one of the many revolutionary design features. Of course for long upsets I don't think you can better a drop from a very heavy cut just on the floor in one corner of the shop. Bolt it down if you want but it isn't going to walk off. Better still embed it in the floor so it is the same level as the rest of the deck then you cannot have any problems from a trip hazard.

Where are you in England? You migt find a member here quite close to you. If you really are interested you will find a lot of us will do what we can to help you.

Finnr, Is there a photo of your block anywhere?

Sorry. Of course their website is Pr

hanton@prumyslovy-servis.cz is the sales guy at this company. They cast the Euroanvils and doa couple of sizes of swage block and also a stand for the blocks. Their current prices are (in euros): 80 Kg (176#) 627 60 Kg (132#) 431 That includes tax but obviously not carriage. I don't have a current price for the swage block stands. Following Lehman Brothers' debacle I expect the US Rouble will be in free fall again against the Euro so you need to check the current rate. I also know there is a price rise in the pipeline largely because the Czech currency is surprisingly firm against both the Euro and the US Rouble.