anvillain

That's terrible! Now all my stuff looks like garbage in comparison. :+)

I agree with all the tools mentioned and especially the organized shop. which I haven't quite achieved that. My favorite power tools are

dewalt 4 1/2" grinder and 14" chop saw.  One I haven't heard mentioned isn't really a tool, Its a sketch pad. I have some training in mechanical drawing and I love to design at the kitchen table with a coffee nearby.  You can prevent quite a bit of frustration with a step by step plan on paper can really keep you from straying. Especially helpful for me because I sometimes am delayed for quite long periods from idea stage to completed project.

That is beautiful! How do you accomplish the blue tinted damascus?

Here is the first HHH Sharpfinger!
Specs
OAL: 7.5in
BL: 3.25in
Twist pattern damascus, with birch burl handles
This is a dagger for a custom order with twist damascus
i'll put up more pics when we finish the dagger!

I would like to add that in addition to a gentle air flow with charcoal you need a deeper fire than with coal, much deeper in my opinion, and with the nice coal forge shown I would suggest standing a row of firebricks on edge to effectively make a deeper firepit. Then if you switch to coal you can remove the firebricks. A deep fire is good also with coal, in using coal you can push it in from the edges and wet it to keep it from spreading where you don't need it. With charcoal its much easier to form up something to contain the deeper fire to keep the heat concentrated.

Anvillain

This is a great new section (toolmaking). Very impressive thread here.This is a very efficient process and high end thinking and equipment involved. There is also the other extreme, which I use, only because I don't have the equipment. Maybe not the capacity for high end thinking either If you have a bucket of old tongs accumulated one way or another, it is quite efficent also to heat the jaws and joint area and resize and/or reshape to do new things with old tongs. Also it is very satisfying to me to hand hammer new ones into what I want but at a little different pace than the videos of course.

Anvillain

I'm agreeing with Boggs and Sells. The world is full of this union or not union rhetoric, but I think many people have a misguided view of the role of unions. There was a time when unions may have abused their power, but that was self corrected. In the construction unions most of the workers have a very high regard for their contractors who pay good wages and no contractor has to put up with a non-productive worker. The last few decades was probably the best time ever to be a union tradesman. The mid-70s to early 80s was a time of realizing how good we had it, nearly all became highly productive. Also there has been a continuing drive to educate and obtain higher skills through that time period. Todays trades are very well trained. Yes non union workers may also have the skills needed. There is virtually NO non producers in the work force today. I know nothing about the village in question here but there is good chance there is no budget to pay union wages, or maybe no wages. I demonstrate at a county fair and a log cabin village for no pay, but only a few days a year. I am able to do that because I retired early and do it for fun, but it is still hard work and I would not do it every day like that . I always felt that I was well paid and actually loved going to work and making a good livable wage. No way do I look down on non union or lower paid workers I just wish every worker could have it as good as I did. Anvillain

I'm not sure what the carbon content of a disc axle is but have used them to make good chisels and small hatchets. I like to hammer them on the diagonal to spread out the blade for a hatchet and also for wide chisels.
Anvillain

I believe this tops any presentation I've seen for process,tooling and assembly. It must have been quite a chore just to get the photos together. Thanks!
Anvillain

I would call them awkward hammers, or maybe accidents waiting to happen, but I have no clue what the technical term is. That is not to take anything away from their skill in using them.

Anvillain

For me it depends on the season, as I don't have heat in my(shop) garage. Yes I could have but if I really want to forge that doesn't stop me. One of our old bosses in the building trades would say on a frosty morning " the heat's in the tools! I'd suggest you get a handful and get to work!" Thats true in my case, once I get a fire in the forge and get in the swing of it any more heat would be too much. In spring and summer I'll spend more time listening to the birds sing. pet the cat and rejoice in the sunny promise of a new day. Sometimes I actually get to work at what I planned on, but usually the phone rings and jerks me back to reality. One thing, I have made it a ritual to at least put my hammers and hand tools where they belong even if its the end of a long day. Sometimes when I come back I still have some stowing away of materials and clutter. Getting out there is the main thing the rest will happen, (or get interrupted)

Anvillain

Frosty I noticed your post saying you tried to upload a photo of your forge. I saved a copy of it when you used it to answer a question of mine last Feb. I'll see if I can load it here for you. Pardon me if I can't get it done. I was very impressed with it and I still want to model one for myself using some of your ideas.

Anvillain

I could not upload it either, but see if this brings up the photo you have in mind:

http://www.iforgeiron.com/uploads/9/7/8/11431.attach

Having no knowledge of Blacksmithing other than reading about it and not having easy access to a class, im in a bit of a bind. If anyone knows of any places around St. Louis, Illinois where someone can teach me, by all means let me know. I would love to take a class, I've just been unable to find any. I live 15 minutes out of St. Louis. Im wanting to learn how to Smith blades if that matters, im sure any blacksmith could head me in the right direction though. It's just going to be hard to teach myself something such as this.

Aral:

I'm sorry you have been running into so many obstacles. I remember when I was trying to get started in smithing but I was travelling to work in construction most of the time. I found a lot of pleasure in continuing to think about it, when I had free time I would always have a pencil and some paper, so I would sketch different ideas that would come to me. Making drawings is part of the process for me now as well. You can learn a lot and save yourself time when you DO get all your ducks in a row. Hang in there. Anvillain

Hello Mrs A-W

rings like you describe should not be prohibitively expensive. Most blacksmith's would be able to forge weld those nearly as easily as electric welding since the easiest way to bend them would be with high heat. I would scarf them before turning them, and then another heat to bring up to welding temp. They would LOOK authentic and would BE authentic. The nice thing about welding rings like that is that you form them so the scarfs are in the right position before bringing to a welding heat. Often my biggest problem in forge welding is getting every thing in the exact position in the few seconds while the welding heat remains. If you were nearby I would help you or show you. I recommend mild steel about 7/16" or 1/2" dia. Nothing wrong with wrought iron either but you will probably pay a premium for it.

Richard Stephens

HAPPY New Year 2010!,

Good intentions pave the road to ______, so this New Year I have to make the rings with strap hangers I've planned to make, tried to purchase, but couldn't afford those I did-could find.

The best description I can offer is a hitching ring about 3" - 4" diameter about 3/6" - 5/8" thick loosely hung from a 3/4" - 1 1/4" wide strap maybe 3/16" thick with at least 1 prefer 2 1/4" mounting holes?

Technically they will be decorative, but at minimum they should be able to work as tie out rings in a horse stall / barn. I'd like them to look as close to wrought iron as practical if there's a way to use mild steel and give it the finish - appearance of wrought iron.

To save time, effort, and heat, I'm willing to purchase machine welded rings, if available. They do not have to be forge welded closed (unless someone LOL is offering 6 - 10 at 'fire sale' pricing).

Any suggestions - advice on how best to create a wrought iron - forged look without the 'real thing' since they will not have to be historically accurate, will be GREATLY appreciated!

One and ALL, be WELL 'n be SAFE!

Mrs. R A-W

I at first was amused

now don't get me confused

is it really hot enough in a forge to be used?

If it welds two pieces they would be "corn fused'

the race to be the first to cornfuse their iron is on--history could be in the making.
hoodathunkit :-)
Anvillain

one morning it was colder than a well-diggers ankle bone.
Anvillain

Dan, I was amazed about the seals dropping dead. And where did this info come from? How do you tell why they dropped dead? They may be overpopulated because of some laws preventing the harvesting of seals. I know nothing about seals and even less about harp seals. For some reason this sounds very much related to global warming hype. But then I'm not that much concerned about saving whales either. So, no doubt I AM an insensitive clod. I think it would be great if corn was better than charcoal, or coal but it will really surprise me if that turns out to be the case. I am guessing that corn burning will not smell like popcorn but like burnt popcorn. But I admit to being cynical and doubtful about some things. :-) Anvillain

I have a champion 400 and a small rivet forge. Both are well worn and a little noisy in the gears. I use chain saw "bar and chain oil". It is designed to stay on a high speed chain. There are summer and winter grades. Use the winter grade as it is not so heavy. It quiets down those old gears very well. What ever you use, just don't run them dry. Anvillain

You guys ARE in bad shape. I can quit smithing any time I want to. Just yesterday, I quit three times. Anvillain

Roy
I have a Kerrihard 30 lb hammer. A friend of mine knew which junkyard his uncle's machine ended up in, so I went to inquire about it. This was about ten years ago that all this happened. I got it for less than scrap price. It was lying on its side in the mud but mostly unharmed except for the large crank bushing was so loose it had nearly a quarter inch of slack in it. Still in its sorry condition after cleaning up and putting an electric motor on it, it would hammer. But it was so loose I could not tolerate it so I rebuilt the crank and put a new bronze bushing in it. (It originally had no bushing, I believe, but I used the bushing to help make up for the lost material) After a little TLC it does a respectable amount of work. I will try to get some pics posted. Mine just has drawing dies that were mostly used for sharpening plowshares back in the day of moldboard plows. But it is very versatile in that it doesn't care if its hammering a plowshare or drawing out some tool edges or making tapers etc. I also know of a Kerrihard of the larger size which I believe is a 55 lb hammer. It is at a historic blacksmith shop. I love the mechanical design of it which allows a very small power source to operate that hammer. I you study the mechanism you will notice that the upstroke is slower and has more torque, but the downstroke, because of the geometry of the linkage is really quick which gives a lot of punch from such a simple machine. In my opinion those engineers really created a jewel of simplicity. Also the clutch will last indefinitely. It is a free wheeling wide pulley(made for flat wide belts from an overhead line shaft). However I just run mine on a single v-belt,3/4HP elec motor.There is adjustable clearance between a cast iron face plate and the pulley. When you step on the pedal a cam squeezes the two together and engages power to the crankshaft. I fear that whoever welded the dies together did you no favor. I would guess it has not been used since the welding was done or the weld would be broken. There are probably many of these machines around, I've seen several in my limited travels in the blacksmithing world. I removed my dies during cleaning and for curiosity. IIRC they were locked in with thin wedges. Anvillain

Hello, Ten Hammers

Good to hear from you. Do you remember way back we talked some on another forum?

Also, another trick I like is a bundle of 7 round rods of any size will nest together. One in the middle, six around the one in the middle will fit perfectly. this gives you a hexagon shaped bundle of round rods.

I need to clarify that it needs to be 7 rounds of the same size together. But seven small rods or seven huge rods will nest together. I like 1/4" rods for basket twists.
Anvillain

I think you are right on! HOT SHORTS often smell like sulphur also! :-)
Anvillain

Here's something that may help, if you don't want to get out the math books. If you draw an equilateral triangle, (equal length on all three sides) each angle will be 60 degrees. But if you don't know how to find a 60 degree angle how do you know that you want a 60 degree cut? A protractor is useful also. Anvillain

I have the Roger Lorance firepot and also the B-2 swage block. I bought both of them about 12 years ago from Roger at one of our IVBA blacksmithing functions. Roger is one of the early members and mentor to many in Illinois Valley Blacksmith Association. My swage block is so versatile I have never felt that I needed a different one. The firepot would last a lifetime or 2.
Anvillain

Roger Lorance
email: mrnobody3@aol.com