matt87

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

fat pete
Where does the Amish steel come from?

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/

Matt87, I would have said it in french it would have been prefectly phrased but I wonder if anybody would have understood?

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.

Any idea other than door or paper weight is welcome.

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.

... not my design Bernoulli died in 1705.

You mean... you're NOT that old!?! ;)

Paw Paw's death was truly a waste, but serves as an eternal reminder to us all; you might get away with cutting that corner or disabling that safety device 100 times, or you might die the first. It doesn't matter whether you're a greenhorn or a veteran if you know better, don't do it. Aged 1 or 100 you die just as dead just as easily.

Pocketknife, receipt for a cherry Coke and sack of charcoal, mobile phone, #2/HB pencil, wallet, handkerchiefs (2), key chain with 7 keys (1 to a bike lock stolen complete with bike over a month ago) a braided paracord thing, an LED light and a cheap karabina.

I would venture that you don't need a london-pattern anvil for making small tools. See the guide to anvils on the front page of I Forge Iron for some ideas. LB0005 Blacksmithing Anvils

Well, I'm quite tied down for now. Perhaps in a few years. Certainly better value than living here. And living next to you Frosty would be quite an experience! (Good, I think...)

What fuel were you using, Reb?

I could ask about the 15 acres next door to us. You'd have to clear and build but your neighbors wouldn't care about the noise, me on the north side nobody on the other side.

Steel, welding supplies, etc. are about 8 miles and coal is you mine it and about 30 miles.

Frosty

Don't tempt me Frosty; that would probably cost a similar amount to a 2-bed flat over here; property prices are through the roof (along with petrol/gas and diesel). Don't you just love imcompetent and greedy politicians?

I suspect there wouldn't be many; I get the suspicion that it's a fairly low-unit manufacturer (reseller?). Brooks on the other hand, there could well be a good few sitting round England, stopping doors, decorating gardens and stubbing toes in garages across the land. Plenty of anvils are put on eBay UK, most of the ones I've seen look like that sort; cast quality steel in the London pattern. They tend to go for a song too; would've picked one or two up if it weren't for the lack of a car.

Dragons, caves and waterfalls aside, right now I'd settle for a roof over my head, a better floor than badly supported concrete, a half-decent anvil stand, a mount for my vice and somewhere neighbours don't care about smoke or noise.