philip in china

Having said what I said above I have a couple of machinists vices for all the work that doesn't involve forging! I have them mounted exactly opposite each other so big work can be clamped in both. My next project will be to get a second post vice but that will have to wait until I can afford it.

Modern post vices are forged steel (at least mine is) and that is about as strong as you get. On mine even the plates to anchor it to the bench are forgings so the whole thing is very resilient.

I think it looks like a British Vaughans. Certainly looks like a British something. Try Vaughans Even if you don't find what you are seeking it is always worth looking at. Generally, though, these have a water cooled tuyere. Perhaps the water cooling is a more recent addition. The water is useful as it heats up- yes I do use it to make coffee. I am truly disgusting!

You really MUST look at this carefully. I would try a really smokey fire deliberately and see where all the smoke goes. (This assumes that smoke is allowed where you are). I have been fortunate in always working in well ventilated (read open sided and cold) shops.

Only thing I would add to Frosty is use chain saw sawdust. You need the particle size.

Try it and see how you get on before repairing it. Say try until Christmas. By then if you still want to do some work on it post again.

I am a judo coach here and wouyld agree with everything that has been said above. If you want to toss iron about then lift weights safely! I have made up a whole weights room here with a forge and a stick welder.

Well done. If my fiancee (or the wife) had wanted my first product I would have made a point of making a hardy or a chisel. You have done very well for a first attempt. Keep up the good work.

A serious enquiry Glen. How much to send a hofi to me?

Stephan Christ? No but the surname is familiar. Did he have a brother;-) I will be with you in spirit and maybe one year when I am at my place we will get together.

Oy vey! For once in my life I am in the majority.

Just when we thought it was pretty much all over we got a big aftershock. 5.9 on the Richter scale did some damage but not like the big one. Goes to show there is still plenty of siesmic activity here.

Does anybody out there know what sort of size of crane I could mount on the back of a unimog?

Could be worth seeing if you can find a farriers website. Maybe somewhere is a farrier with a blacksmithing anvil he wants to trade.

As I get old I get worse and worse tempered and I think music in the shop would just make me worse than ever. So I just don't have anything except the sound of the work and me muttering to myself.

I am only 5'6". Does that qualify me as a little smith? Sean's son Ethan is a deal younger than your apprentice. We got him a little ball pein hammer head and made a handle out of a broken drumstick. I will get Sean to post photos or provide a link. Ethan also has a tiny anvil and a small vice.

Sort of sorry to hear that. If you really are taking an enforced break of a couple of years grease everything up including the anvil face. Keep in touch with evrybody here. Maybe you will find a few jobs that need to be forged during your lay off.

Those anti tank projectiles, if they were APDS type would have good tungsten steel in them. Where was that dumpster?

Ideally I would like some plans for a general swage block for making half rounds and squares and oblongs.... which I could show to the casting place so they could cast me a couple next time they are doing something of the kind. Is that vague enough? I realise I am unlikely to get exactly that but some high resolution photos of a couple of blocks with some idea of scale would be very good. It would cost me a fortune to import a western made swage block so that is a none starter.

I made quite a few pegs during the immediate aftermath of the earthquake. I just used our old friend rebar. Put a chisel point on one end and quench at purple. Allow the other end to air cool. These were being driven into thin concrete, dirt, rocky ground etc. and my Rustmart motto still stands. Not one broke!

The last place on earth I would look for a forge is Ebay! Don't waste your money. You can make one for a very few dollars. You need a fire pot and a source of air blast. Everything else is just the style in which you do it! So look around for stuff that will make a fire pot. An old brake drum etc. etc. etc. For a blower just get anything that blows air. Control it with a dimmer switch which can be any rheostat type device that will handle mains voltage. If you do not have the imagination to create a forge (and a lot of other things) out of nothing then you are going to be a very dull blacksmith anyway! Save your cash for things you have got to buy such as your anvil. Pretty well everything else you can make or scrounge! If I have not told the truth the other regulars will shoot me down in flames.

Does anybody have a pattern for a useful general purpose swage block? I think I have got a place here that can do small runs of castings and I would like to try to make some swage blocks.

Very nice work. How much did it weigh?

With the huge hikes in raw material prices scrap theft is only going to get worse.

First of all please confirm you are not selling insurance. :-) How much is your (insert word) worth is usually a question they ask! I am in a strange position. If my contract here finishes and I need to leave China all my main equipment would have to remain here as it is all too big and heavy to move. So my 2 anvils at 125Kg each and my Vaughans post vice etc.etc. will either be left at the school or possibly given away to a Chinese blacksmith. I had considered trying to get a 20 foot container and packing everything (including the complete rack of welded dumbells and barbells) in that. Maybe I will. So what is it worth? Well during the fixing things stage of the earthquake it was very valuable. Would I sell it? Probably not unless somebody made me an offer of a lot more than it is worth in which case I would just set up again!