matt87

Haha Habu, I recently had a very similar idea to that re: water jackets from pipe nipples and reducers.

File cutting is amazing. Making a couple of my own is on my list of 'things I want to do one day even though it's probably not worth it, because I'm just a little bit crazy'.

Cool, I use an almost identical setup! I find the parts of the track other than the 2inch x 3inch 'top' part very useful for various tasks.

The one far right is not a hammer but a flatter; this is a set tool which is placed on a piece of hot iron and struck on the back with a sledge hammer to achineve a smooth finish.

Sean, may I ask what role you represent at reenactments? I'm a little confused between your BS gear and the Legionaries in your avatar.

I've seen 3/4inch mentioned in British texts. I've used a back blast coke forge before, and IIRC it had a 3/4inch inner diameter. (And about 3inch outer diameter )

Pictures of the two sites aren't all that exciting, mainly due to the weather. (We spent much of the day inside a cloud.) Here are a couple of pics I nicked from some friends. The first picture gives an overview of the smelting site, which is located in a small river valley. The horizontal platform in the centre of the picture is where the smelting actually occured. The two vertical dark blobs are people. Much of the platform is made up of slag and other smelting debris, as well as earth dragged down form further up the slope. As you can imagine, this is a considerable amount of material. The site is completely littered with tap slag, as well as furnace lining and charcoal. There are several large pieces of slag (over 12 inches in diameter) which have been broken up from even larger pieces. They have a shape indicating that slag was tapped into a bowl-shaped depression. These large pieces show perhaps eight layers, each one representing a different smelt. The slag is quite dense, containing much 'wasted' iron, in the form of iron carbonite. (Roman-period smelting was not as efficient as that of later periods.) We took samples of these slags and will be analysing them later. This smelting site is knonw to have been operated during the Roman 'occupation' (i.e. between AD43 and AD410). It is not obvious however exactly who ran it (the roman army, locals supervised by the Romans or local entrepruneurs). It is known though that the Romans were the main consumers of the iron smelted here and the qualitities of iron produced were far in excess of local demand. Charcoal was produced on site, and iron ore (haematite mainly) was transported to here, as charcoal was the more difficult to transport (it crumbles too easily). The extraction site is locally known as Roman Lode, though this is a modern name and does not indicate a neccesarily Roman exploitation. It is known that this area has been exploited and mined for approximately 4,000 years, though not neccesarily continuously. There is evidence all over the local landscape showing mine work from throughout this time. The picture shows a typical open-area excavation thought to be from the Roman period. They range from just a few feet deep to perhaps 15 feet. (I suspect that many of them have been partially refilled due to soil falling in.) The area is rich in various iron-bearing rocks, and the ores have been exploited until the early to mid 20th century. These sites were excavated a few years ago, run by my metallurgy tutor and two other archaeologists at the uni, who accompanied us on the visit. (There is another dig being planned at the moment.) If you're expecially keen, PM me and I'll point you the direction of excavation reports etc. Hibernicus, I'm afraid I'm not familiar with him, and a cursory Google search returned nothing relevant. What is his area of expertise?

There are some interesting/useful tong articles on here: iForge Blacksmith Projects #132 is probably very good for a beginner #114 is... probably a good aspiration :D

Interesting. May I ask what you feed him on? I'd have thought that only herbivore dung would work, due to the large amount of cellulose etc. (the undigestable parts of grass).

Hi there Hibernicus and welcome to IFI! Some very interesting stuff there, especially since I'm a second-year archaeology student at Exeter University, taking modules in archaeometallurgy and the Roman Army! My dissertation will probably be on some aspect of ancient iron smelting. I visited a Roman-period ironsmelting/smithing site and an iron-ore extraction site on a field-trip yesterday. (I also have a great interest in experimental archaeology, especially with regards to metallurgy.)

My smithery is located outdoors, so this may affect my reply. I tend to start tiding up during the last heats of the day; putting tools and materials away I know I won't need gain today. If I need to anneal something I'll put it in the fire and get it hot, cover in coals and remove blower and tidy everything away. If I'm not annealling I tend to shovel the burning coals into the slack tub; I use charcoal not mineral coal and this not only saves fuel (I am a poor student ) but also makes sure it's well soaked for the next forgin session. Only my anvil and forge pot stay outside over night.

On the end of my drills, i.e. on the metal shelves in the lean-to Presumably you mean something other than your garden variety hand or power drills here.

Don't get hung up on the shape of your anvil; an anvil is something fairly heavy and hard to hit things on. There is a blueprint on using 'things' as anvils I think.

Mark, I apologise if you read my response as condescending; I did not intend it as such. I realise now that my post could have been longer and less dubiously worded. As I'm sure you're aware, there are a lot of things that can go very bad very quickly with an oxyfuel set. You did not make your question/situation very clear within the original post. A lot of people read this forum, and there is no way of telling their experience with such potentially dangerous tools (as of course with you). Making it clear that oxyacetylene sets are not designed to fit onto propane tanks could well have saved someone time, money and possibly serious maiming or even their life (as of course it could with you, had you been less prudent than you are).

Step one: find an oxy-propane set Step two: buy said set Step three: attach and use said set Different fuel gasses use different connections and hoses.

What temperature was the quench?

Good points Wayne, I stand correced. That is a very cool cannon. I too now want to jump on the band(ed barrel) wagon... if only I had any skills as a smith... :D

Welcome, manitou!

Looking again, it seems like the barrel (the pipe thing) was rolled from a piece of plate before the video started. This may be a legal thing; it wouldn't withstand the pressure of a non-blank load (i.e. with a ball), and so therefore it's not a firearm legally. (Just a guess, it seems logical to me.)

With one of these Fermentation lock - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (scaled up of course)

A something I've been mulling over regarding combined blast and draft in a solid fuel forge. If one were to take a conventional bottom-blast forge and attach a centrifugal blower sucking air from the tuyere and blowing it through a water tank vented to the outside, as a crude form of wet scrubber. (Obviously this would need a blower capable of handling hot gases.) This would eliminate most fumes in the smithy, and would possibly allow smokier fuels to be used in more sensitive areas (like in urban areas). Could also conceivibly reduce the ash/dust problem associated with using solid fuel. If the blower were placed after the tank, you might not need a hot-gas capable blower. Anyone got any comments? I'm not planning on constructing this, it's just an idea I've had.

Welcome there, from a Brit to a European! Nice work there. Amazing for a first go! I think that wood and steel are made to go together...

With a smoothbore frontstuffer, you can always find ammo... :D

If it's only used with a blank load (no shot), I suspect it wouldn't need proofing; there is little pressure generated. Mind you, I don't know whether Danish law requires it be treated as a firearm. (It probably would in Britain. But then, a $3 can of pepper spray is a Section 5 prohibited firearm, legally speaking... )

I agree with Ice Czar; build a solid fuel forge. Much simpler. Much cheaper. Check out pictures of my forge: a stainless bowl, a piece of shopping trolley poking through the side and a blower I cobbled together from junk. Start with something simple and crude, and see if you enjoy blacksmithing. In that case you have welding ability and probably steel plate; you can easily fabricate either a side/back blast or bottom blast.