matt87

What size of wood do you have stored? If it's over a couple inches you can probably split it to get to the dry core.

If you want to make an anvil devil, start with an old triangular file...

Main drawback is that it requires a constant air flow (bellows monkey or electric blower a good idea, if not essential). Also you can't make a cave fire like with bituminous coal.

$4,575 would buy you a lot of tools, coal and stock...

I enjoy the book, especially the thrifty 'scrounge-and-make-do' attitude, though I must say I was a little disappointed. Perhaps I was expecting a book with more emphasis on forging than grinding and sawing. It is of course a product of its time and some of the practices are... best avoided for safety's sake. There is no discussion of welding beyond 'it's cheating'. Furthermore although the three titles are now contained in one handy volume, I find it awkward to have to search for something in three different indeces and then find a lot of duplicated information.

Just some minor niggles I suppose, it's a good book overall!

a while back i sent in a blueprint to make a smiths hammer ,it seems to have gone ,along with a blueprint to make a pr of pincers out of a rasp, there were lots of blueprints all very helpful and well presented that disapeared ,perhaps they can be reteived

1) would this be a drift or a punch?

2) is a HC RR Spike considered Tool Steel? If not, what would it be?

Do you think that A36 will absorb too much of the hammer blows? Sorry. I just heard someone say it so I had to ask.

edit: can A36 be harded in a coal forge and quenched with water or oil to make it harder?

You'll get a much better anvil by mounting the rail vertically.

There's been a few discussions on these before. A search for "chip forge" (quotation marks are important) brought up at least two relevant threads on the first page of results.

Make sure to let us know how you get on Pete, and welcome to the forum!

Why did or do they create cast iron anvils with steel faces? Seems like by the time you do all that work you might as well just pour steel. Especially with the fact that cast will never fetch as much. Is it just because the heat for cast iron is much less? Is that the only factor? Or is it also price of ore? all of the above?

I understand there's a few at Ironbridge... I'd love to see that shingling hammer going in person!

This may echo UnicornForge a little...

I've not yet got around to forging wrought, but the received wisdom is to work it as hot as you can; it's not steel so it burns at a higher temperature -- white is typically mentioned.

Whenever I orient my anvil with the horn to the left I end up with a horn to my right as well! I must have some sort of Mobius anvil...

I avoid much of the 'hardy issue' by putting it in my vice.

I like it! Any chance of a blueprint? ;)

Coke is an odd fuel; it seems reluctant to burn and indeed makes for a fairly good insulator but when it does it is very good. It doesn't need 'topping up' with charcoal so long as you don't let it go out.

Where did you buy the coke from YISS? Was it in bags? There's only a few 'brands' available in the UK so I'm sure someone on here has some experience.

No suggestions here as to HT, but could you please post pictures? Cheers!

Welcome to the forum YISS. It'd probably be wort your while adding your location to your profile, you never know when theree is a smith just round the corner able to help!

The smithing coke we get in the UK is known as breeze and yes it does take a fair amount of heat to get going. Firelighters do not, in my experience, get hot enough on their own, though they work fine for lighting the next stage of the fire ready: a good wood or charcoal fire. Once there's a good solid fire going I then work the coke in from the edges of the fire, being very careful not to choke it. Takes a few minutes from striking the match to putting steel in the fire.

Jerry, Deb, my thoughts are with you both in this difficult time. Here's to a swift and total recovery.

no, i am stating that in my experience with rebar (god knows what type/quality) i've found just because its looks hot doesn't mean i can take a 3# hammer to it and expect it to move the way the mild steel of the same girth i just got done working with did. even hot the rebar seems to fight back and retain shape. there for it would require longer heats to work easily. and as for your tool steel numbers they may as well be Japanese. because i work in scrap. i don't know the numbers, i know that working 1/2in rebar requires a longer heat in my propane forge than most of the random 1/2in scrap i pick up does to work. who knows maybe the 1/2 inch rebar i got is magical, i know at a dark orange i may as well be hitting my anvil instead... i may make more progress! and if it is magical what do you think? +1 or +3 rebar of zombie slaying?

If you take the rest of that 6x4 bar, dig a suitable hole and mount it end-on, you'll have a very efficient anvil...

Amazing pics Peyton, thanks for showing us!

Looks French to me too. I believe the word is 'enclume' if you would like to do some further research.

also keep in mind that rebar is rough to heat. depending on the quality of rebar your playing with, your going to need a serios fire going to heat it to dark orange or better. i run propane and i spend almost twice the time heating rebar as i do almost any other stock.

I've lit charcoal and coke fires with several different methods and techniques and IMO nothing beats a decent wood fire to start with. I have been known to use all sorts of things to start the fire, even 3-in-1 oil soaked into cotton wool (works but smokey). Now I avoid accelerants -- I've never had an accident but the risk is there and frankly I can light a fire without them just fine. My favourite way (probably make our Scandinvian smiths happy) is birch bark and split, dry pine. I'm very careful with stacking the fire, adding fuel and air as needed (easy to get carried away and choke or blow out the fire) and can usually get a forging fire ready in under 15 minutes with one match (I forge outdoors in my native, damp habitat). I find that with (industrially burned) coke it's important to have a good bed of (wood) coals roaring before raking the coke into the edges of the fire gradually (it's a bit of a bugger to light and comes sopping wet). A handful of lump charcoal helps it get going.