Dan P.

It's really not that difficult, just maintain a steady pace, and as Moony says, make sure you use dead soft wire. Target starts to get quite small toward the end! So, who's up next?

I shared my dynamic and groundbreaking innovation involving this technique on another forum. I call it The MagiAquaForgeTM; http://www.bladesmithsforum.com/index.php?showtopic=27004#entry255331

Oh, that little thing?

Very nicely realized!

Take it easy, Mr. P. What we are talking about is someone looking for a fuel source in the here and now. My professional opinion is that charcoal is not a first choice, when there are many others and better. All have their pros and their cons. That is all I have to say on the matter. But; If you would like to blather on about whatever fuel the Phoenicians (or whoever) used until you are quite blue about the gills, that is your choice.

Mesmerizing. Made me pucker a little when the fellow slipped the drive belt on connecting to the self-feeding engine. Bye-bye finger/s!

Thomas, I am afraid all I have to offer is my (professional!) opinion, no matter what factually erroneous red-herrings you choose to throw into the mix.

Mixed with coke works good, as does mixed with coal.

Thomas, as one pedant to another I wonder if you would like to point out where I stated that charcoal is not a good fuel? My argument is that it is not the best fuel available. Use it if you want, or if you have to. Don't use it based on some peculiar ideal or notion not based on experience.

Ha! I have a stash of large graphite bars (...somewhere!). Came out of a gizmo for cleaning silver. If I should drop dead I don't imagine many people would be able to guess why I had them. I took them ostensibly for lubricant and for a finish for ironwork, but really because graphite is cool and strangely dry and slippery at the same time, and can be used as a giant pencil. Unfortunately the bars in question have some kind of nasty binder which bubbles and gives off a stink when hot.

I dunno, Andy. I've never seen anyone do serious smithing with charcoal except youtube videos of japanese sword makers (and they are using mountains!). As I believe I've said, it's an interesting and rewarding fuel to use, and one I have used a lot, but it has vey serious limitations. I like to work mild steel at almost a dripping heat, which is just not possible using charcoal. Welding anything over about 16mm is also going to be a problem just from the sheer volume of fuel you will need. And doing anything resembling a production run becomes a problem because the charcoal gets pushed about, and the heat dissipates while the charcoal that you don't want to be on fire burns merrily away. "Fire flies" have nothing to do with it.

Mark, charcoal is fine, but it is expensive (or time consuming to make), burns away quickly, and is easily disrupted due to being very light. I occasionally use it myself, but it really isn't a first choice for serious smithing. Forge coke is actually a good deal harder to light and keep burning than coal. It requires a decent blower. It is not quite the same coke you get from burning coal in your forge.

Charcoal is really a stop-gap only for modern smithing. I am unable to offer very much advice on the topic, but if I personally couldn't get gas or coke/coal, I would start doing serious research into oil or other liquid (atomized liquid?) forges. They are and have been standard in industry for years, often on quite a small scale.

I don't know about white hot, but here's my attempt;

+1 And they come with the little curtain hook tab thingies already attached.

You found it in Afghanistan? Strange. Could be an antique. Plenty of rough castings from back in the day! Could be Indian made. Certainly an unusual object.

I recently built myself a forge from kaowool, using thin gauge expanded metal mesh for the shell, held together with bits of angle iron and other bric-a-brac. A thin fire brick does for a floor. The problem with cutting up propane tanks is that unless you are working to a proven blueprint, there are kinks that might need to be worked out, kinks that might involve wishing you had not cut the tank the way you did. With the wool and mesh, you have a lot more flexibility.

Best thing to do, Gary, is trawl through your yellow pages and give people a ring.

It doesn't. It relates to the one of the hardies in the picture that you posted. Concerning the hardy in the first post, I might suggest that it was for making/dressing the corner on certain cutting tools, such s scythes and sickles, but the block is too broad to accommodate the curve these tools have. I am skeptical that either of the hardies discussed have a use in making horseshoes. Too deep, wrong shape, to my eye.

I have never seen concave bar made with a hardy swage before; It seems surplus to requirement, when you can just concave a bar by knocking one of the corners off. Is it a new thing?

I believe in the UK and Ireland that would be generally known as a concave shoe. The fuller referred to in the titles refers to what you might know better as a creaser or creasing tool.

What's a tool and fuller shoe? It's not something I've ever heard of.

A hook for retrieving buckets accidentally dropped down a well? 1. Throw hook down well 2. With a rope, lower smallest person you can catch down into well to grab the hook. 3. Hope the bucket catches on the hook while you pull small person back up 4. Repeat until successful

A guide for getting tightly furled napkins into napkin rings that a bit too small?

Or a sack/bale hook?