matt87

I've heard them to be a useful grade of tool steel. However, more crucially, most of them are chromed, and you certainly don't want to put that in a fire.

So far as I've seen, most general purpose anvils were basically a lump of wrought iron with a steel face (if you were lucky) until a mere, say, 200 years ago. Separate bick-irons/bickerns set into the end of a log were commonly used when you needed one. Armouring though is another kettle of fish, and judging by the woodcuts etc. I've seen, I would say that's where the double-horned anvil comes from. There's also been suggestions here and there that 'church window' anvils were armourers' anvils, for use as swages in shaping sheetiron. As an aside, I don't see why the London pattern is so common. Okay, so with the integration of so many features, a smith might be able to perform say 85% of forging tasks with a London pattern anvil and a hammer, as opposed to 80% with a suitable hornless and hole-less anvil. Why not add a square horn on there and increase that still?

Put me down as interested, John! I can probably recruit a couple of friends too.

Welcome, Talis. Which part of the southwest are you to? Try contacting John B (member on this board) -- he runs courses at the Westpoint forge, just outside of Exeter.

A small hand fuller is great at the bottom of a split, e.g. when making a fork; it helps prevent the sharp edges of the split from spreading. As already noted, a hand fuller or a handled/set fuller can be placed with more precision than using an integrated one. Spring fullers and guillotines fitted with fullers can be used with great precision -- even without great hammer control.

There is another type of rifling machine, where the cutter rod is attached to the centre of a pinion. The pinion and its rack ride on a carriage, which is slowly fed away from the barrel blank, which is fixed in place. The rack slides perpendicular to the bed, and is attached to a sine bar which is moved along a guide bar, at an angle to the bed (and thus the barrel). Therefore the cutter rotates as the carriage is advanced, at a rate proportionate to the angle of the guide bar. By altering the angle of the guide bar, the twist rate can be adjusted. By using a curved guide bar, a progressive twist can be cut. I understand that this is how the Pratt & Whitney machines worked. They produced the most advanced cut-rifling machines by powering these by hydraulics and attaching a second cutter (so two barrels are simultaneously cut). Such machines, built in the early 20th century, are still used by some of the smaller barrel manufacturers, and just as accurate today. Nowadays, most barrels are button-rifled or cold-forged around a mandrel.

Welcome! That's a nifty-sounding setup you've got there. My main concern would be though, what size is your jeweller's anvil? Most I have seen are weighed by the gram, not the kilogram.

Don't forget, what is often called damascus steel today, is not how the 'swords of Damascus' were made. In the past, trying to recreate Damascus blades, smiths tried forge-welding different types of steel in a method we would today call pattern welding. This emulated the look of Damascus blades, and so it was thought for a while that the mystery of Damascus steel had been sold. When the structure of the steels were examined though, it was found that Damascus steels were very different. Long story short it was found that Wootz steel, a form of crucible steel probably developed in southern India, was probably the raw material for the Damascus blades. The question remained about where the patterns came from. The leading theory for a while was that the carbon somehow developed in various patterns across the blade. This article propounds the theory that there were small amounts of vanadium in the ores used, which caused the patterns. There is though literary evidence, as well as some corroborating evidence, that the steel came from a very different smelting method from Sri Lanka, until the 11th century AD or so. If you want to make Wootz steel, expect a steep learning curve. There is though some community for it online. (Of course, the so-called 'swords of Damascus' were so-named by the Mediaeval European Crusaders, as this is where they were encountered. There is though no evidence that these swords were made near Damascus; they were simply sold there.)

Or use a metal ammunition can from your local army surplus. Then you can run control wires inside and mount them through the wall, and open the lid for access.

I would agree that it's upside down. Looks like a typical late Mediaeval anvil. Heck if I had a bit more money I'd consider buying it and shipping it over.

A very interesting article. I would like to read more in-depth material. (Mind you, he made one slight mistake; Damascus swords were probably sold in Damascus, not made there )

Another excellent butty filling is chips. Some might call them French fries, others pomme frites. For best results, use a white bap, apply plenty of butter, and use proper chips, none of this oven chip or pencil-thin 'fries' malarky. Or, start with a hot, oiled pan and add small bacon chunks, making sure to not cook it all the way through. Add chopped onion, mushroom, grated cheese and either tomato puree or preferably chopped ones. Keep stirring as it finishes cooking, and serve hot with oatcakes, tortillas, crackers etc. A good sausage or other cured meat is good here also. For the cheese, the more mature the better. Chopped or dried chili, crushed peppercorns and all sorts of chemical fire can be added to taste.

Don't forget, a leg vice/vise spring doesn't have to be very strong, just have enough oomph to 'persuade' the moving jaw outwards when you open the screw. If you make it too strong it will be hard to close the screw. You should be able to squeeze the jaws closed with one hand. Truck springs are (I think) 1/4inch (6mm) thick. The spring on my vice is about 2mm thick, or 3/32inch. Dimensions-wise, most leg vices I've seen have the spring anchored by some method where the mounting plate attaches to the leg, and terminate an inch or less above the pivot. Use the search function in the gallery, and Google image search, for terms like 'leg vise' 'post vise' etc. In the gallery, just 'vise' will probably suffice.

Smiths traditionally used low carbon wrought iron rather than the c. 20-30 point carbon 'mild' steels used these days. They also often had helpers with big sledges.

Don't forget guys, in many states pointing even an empty gun at someone is considered application of deadly force. As already said, know your laws. A very interesting website, with semi-scientific food-for-thought (especially if your house is made of drywall) The Box O' Truth - The Box O' Truth

Welcome, P Perry. It would help if we knew where you live so we could help you better; just go to the top of the page, hit 'User CP' and enter your location. Then it appears in all of your posts.

Sounds like a leuku or a parang or a billhook to me. These tools have been used for a long time to chop, carve, and in extremis, as a weapon. If your life depends on the function of a small group of tools, you avoid damaging them as much as possible. IF you can't clean the black powder residue out of your gun, or you HAVE to use your knife as a pry-bar, you do so, but you avoid it. If you have to build a fire in a hurry and you just snapped the blade off the only chopping tool you have, you're going to have great fun splitting kindling with your teeth...

As an aside, the table fork in various simple guises was used by the Romans. It was eschewed by most people in Christendom until the Renaissance (as I recall), most using their fingers, a spoon and their belt knife for eating. As it was when forks became fashionable, they were considered ungodly by the Church as they replaced God-given fingers. (The fact one tends to use fingers to hold a fork was for some reason ignored.)

Regionalchaos, I don't know how old/mature your kids are, but if you're worried about safe storage, there are gun lockers available designed for your situation. Some are opened in about 1 second by your fingerprint. A .357 snubby or a 12gauge or whatever your home defense weapon of choice is can then be kept ready for use securely.

Depends on the fire type. Charcoal can do a little over 1,600 degrees C (3,000 F), coal/coke generally a little higher. Gas varies.

The one with the snowy beard in the last picture if I remember correctly.

Glad to hear you're still doing the big projects Bruce -- what with the prices of coke and iron going up and all. Would be great to get a DVD made up like your anchor-making one. Perhaps next time you should forge a set of shackles for the cameraman before you start on the anvil! ;-)

I'm sure I've heard a myth about a group of blacksmiths where if one just has two rocks, some iron and a fire, they will use one rock as the hammer and the other as the anvil to make a better hammer. Then using that better hammer they will make an even better hammer, until they have a very good hammer. If you have a hammer, an anvil (doesn't have to be London pattern), a fire and a bar of iron you can make a chisel. (Use the edge of the anvil or the hammer as something between a fuller and a hardy.) Then you can make a punch using the chisel to cut the bar neatly. Then a pair of tongs. From then on you can make just about anything, given enough time, skill, fuel and iron. Perhaps not a traditional leg vise using traditional methods, but if that beginner smith has a welder, some other fabrication gear and the knowledge to use them, a suitable alternative that is as good or better is quite possible. Example: http://www.abana.org/downloads/education/VerticalVise.pdf

David Robertson's videos are great. I recommend looking at all of them. Signing up for his email newsletter can also be beneficial. When I was in Sri Lanka, I visited a blacksmithing village -- one where the entire village was employed (directly or indirectly) in blacksmithing for trade. Every smith there was forging in a sarong, and occasionally a shirt and/or flip-flops. As you say Glenn, personal safety is a personal choice and will often depend upon your circumstances - financial and environmental.

With respect I disagree; it's the man's name. That's why a lot of places say 'French pattern' hammer or a 'Swedish style' hammer; it avoids the ambiguity associated with saying 'French hammer'. That's like, say, selling a CD of covers of Beatles songs as a Beatles CD.