matt87

Thomas, prepare to be agog. Source: Schubert, H.R. 1957: History of the British Iron and Steel Industry from c.450BC to AD1775. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul P.117: "The application of steel to missiles first occured in the reign of Henry III (1216-1272). In 1227 a Royal order was issued to the Sheriff of Hereford. The quarrels were to be 'winged' with feathers and their heads pointed with steel." P.119: "As the [Hundred Years] war procedded, the demand for missiles which by no means diminished, gave unscrupulous arrowsmiths the opportunity to produce defective heads. To protect and maintain the quality a Statute was passed in 1406, decreeing that every head of an arrow or quarrel was to be hardened at the point with steel and engraved with the mark of the manufacturer." Statutes, vol. II, P.153. London, 1816 There are also many discussions on steel armour from this period, providable at request. I haven't seen much on carbon content yet but I'll keep looking.

Could be a handled bob punch or centre punch of some sort.

I think plastic won't hold up to much heat... You looked at side-blast forges? A box with a pipe. I'm building one 24" square out of pine. They've worked just fine for millenia. Most of the inside of the box is filled with ash, sand, earth, pearlite, coal fines whatever you have around that is suitable. Bottom-blast and side-blast work just as well as one another. To an extent it comes down to what you are used to, but I think it's mainly what you have to hand. There are threads about side blast vs. bottom blast if you want to look. I think the main advantage with side-blast is that you can make it out of just baout nothing, with little experience needed and very few critical sizes. I think that, being young, you presumably have little money available. If you built a cheap and simple side-blast forge (at least to start with) you can spend your time and money on practising smithing skills and buying fuel and tools. Heck if you get forgin, you might be able to smith yourself towards a bigger budget! (Forging money... )

I should probably warn people, that 'Ancient Blacksmithing' article Ultrahigh Carbon Steels, Damascus Steels, and Ancient Blacksmiths (Oleg Sherby) does not conform to the 'accepted', 'mainstream' theories of archaeometallurgy. Some very... interesting theories and assertions. I don't know how the first section holds up, but it's very interesting in a completely different way, from what I could understand.

Hey Frosty, have you tried any Frosts knives? Sounds right up your alley I've had one or two carbon bladed ones in the past and with a little bit of work they were excellent, especially for the price.

I don't have the book to hand, but according to my notes the law was passed in 1406, the reference being p.119 of: Schubert, H. 1957: History of the British Iron and Steel Industry. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. I will be on campus tomorrow, and will visit the library if I can remember.

For the record, Chinese or Indian files are usually case-hardened mild steel, whereas 'proper' files are made from a high-carbon steel blank; around 1% carbon. Theoretically a case-hardened file is more durable than a 'proper' one, as the soft core backs up the hard case. However I expect that, the nature of the economic beast being what it is, the case depth is very shallow and so wears through very quickly. Also, plain-hardening steels are shallow-hardening, with the core remaining relatively soft so their durability isn't really all that less. (Of course, you shouldn't be dropping or hitting your files at all...) Time was, files were always case-hardened, from wrought iron. Good steel was just that expensive that even such a fundamental tool as a the humble file was too much to have it made form steel.

Are you sure there isn't a small steel point or lamination on it Thomas? I thought it was common practise back in the day to do so. In fact, there were laws passed in England about 500 years ago because certain unscrupulous persons were selling iron arrowheads as steeled ones.

I'll swap you two dinner bells for it. That's a 100% profit...

That thing looks almost Colonial! How much does it weigh, 20lb? Would be great as a loan-to-beginners anvil.

Looks great! Now form some plate armour and test it ;)

"Strike while the iron is hot." - Anon "Get it hot, hit it hard, quit when finshed." - Anon

Tong material is a matter of debate. For one's first tongs though, mild steel is certainly good enough. It's tolerant of heating mistakes, fairly easy to work, and it's cheap. It makes perfectly fine tongs, but more experienced smiths often make them from a medium-carbon steel like AISI1045 or EN8; a non-alloyed steel with about .4% carbon by weight. Other smiths use steels like 5160, which is an alloyed spring steel. The advantage of these more advanced steels is that the smith can make the tongs thinner and thus lighter, and can make the tongs springier in the right places. Are you looking for cold-work or hot-work chisels? The traditional choice is a plain-carbon steel with around 1% carbon by weight, like AISI1095 or W1. This is very good for cold-work tools, but with hot work the heat treatment is affected if you don't cool it in water every few blows of the hammer. H13 is a well respected but expensive tool-steel that's designed for hot work. It hardens in air, and is very hard even at red heat. It is hard to shape by hand though, as it's just as hard at yellow heat as mild steel is at room temperature. S7 is similar, and also very good for cold-work tools. Remember that blacksmithing is an art rather than a science; if it gets the job done, it's good enough. There are many steels you can use, such as old springs (c.5160), and old files(c.1095/W1). A very useful resource: Steels Useful for Tools

Presumably, the cementation process ;)

We're supposedly blacksmiths Jet, we can handle a little heat Was your new hammer advertised as Czech by any chance? According to Mr Hofi, it's just a cheap copy of his design. I think that the name Hofi is handled as a brand or a franchise, at least relating to hammers. Some Hofi hammers are forged by Mr Hofi, some are cast to his specifications, some are forged by others, such as Tom Clark. http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/hofi-hammer-real-story-4973/

For what it's worth, your English is far better than my French, by several orders of magnitude. I guess I'm lucky in that my native tongue is the most commonly spoken one on this planet. Also, your English is far far better than that of many people who apparently have it as their native tongue.

Hi there Jon. Welcome to the addicting world of metalmangling! Probably your best start is to look at the lessons here. Start with lesson 2: safety. Once you've read all the other lessons, read it again. What aspect of knifemaking are you interested in? There are basiclaly 2 approaches: forging and stock removal. Forging involves fire, hammers, an anvil and sweat. Stock removal is basically taking a piece of metal and grinding away everything that is not knife. Steel can be had from many sources. If you're willing to go down the scrap route, springs, files and the like are classic sources. Try your local mechanic, scrapyard, junkshop etc. You can buy a wide variety of steels from online retailers, like Speedy Metals, Admiral Steel etc.

It would make an interesting paperweight indeed, but I'm not sure it'd make a very good door. Oh no... I'm becoming Frosty! :o

Buongiorno Antonio! Due video molte interassante! Sorry, that's about the limit of my Italiano, haven't used it in years... That anvil of yours looks real good -- both aesthetically and funtionally. It certainly has quite a ring to it! Your completed knives look excellent. May I ask what the 'typical Sicillian' knives were designed for? They look a little unusual in being either short and stocky like a chipping knife, or long and thin.

Blimey Philip; that is truly a Rustmart frying pan! :o

Take them to your local range and buy a box of tracers! (The little 1lb ones don't explode as such, they just sort of fly upwards...) Needless to say, I am not reponsible for any injury, damage, death, holes in the space-time continuum or fun incurred...

Anyone found a use in blacksmithing for an arbour press? 1/2 ton ones are available for less than

Strange looking anvil; 2 hardie holes, 4 pritchells. Any idea what it's called/designed for? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BLACKSMITHS-ANVIL_W0QQitemZ110260447335QQihZ001QQcategoryZ112398QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Hi there Stubs and welcome to IFI. Further to Jose's post, you may like to peruse Lessons in Metalworking > Blacksmithing > Lesson 5: anvils. The list of Lessons is here. We have over 500 blueprints on tips, techniques, theory, chemistry and myriad other metalworking topics, but only around half that number are online at the moment due to a refit. BTW, what aspect of gun smithing do you do? Feel free to PM me if you don't want to veer this topic off course.

That's about the long and the short of it John. It's a specific type of thrown spear called a pilum; a weapon unique to Legionnaries (the main division of the Roman Army). The long head had an added advantage in that, the long, skinny part being only 1/4", it bent easily. Therefore chuck it once, it bends and it won't fly straight if it's cucked back at you. Post battle, it can be cold forged back straight. Each Legionary carried 2-3 into battle, and the first order of battle was to launch them all at the enemy ranks while they were a ways off; it removes their shields, thins their numbers and disrupts any formation they may have.