dustyjim

did you have a look at it in person? if you did was it in good shape the pics only show so much.

i have been using aus hard wood (stringy bark, red gum and red box) i split the timber down so it no more than 50mm thick and all about the same size. if i cut about 1.5 drums full of wood, when the wood is burnt it fills the drum up to the top. i dont acctually wet mine because my charcoal burns without any spits an sparks. a blacksmith that i was talking to said that if your charcoal spits and sparks leave it out in the weather to get rained on. different timbers make different charcoal and they react differently when burnt.

hi guys would this anvil be a good buy at $990 au this is the description that was given. overall length is 1metre x 150mm wide x 360mm high. hitting face is 630mm x 150mm. with 40 x 40 mm hardie hole. anvil is set into 1/4 44 gall drum with concrete making it extremely stable, overall height is 740mm. side of anvil stamped 4 Hundred weights cant see 1/2 hundred weights if any due to scratches etc. and 15 lbs. making this approx. 463lbs.or heavier , anvil in good condition.

about 4 weeks mate just started

a couple of guys asked how i make my charcoal. this is the fast burn way of doing it. you need a metal drum with a lid that can be sealed.i use a 200L drum. make sure there is no holes in your drum you dont want it to draw any air other than from the top. start a fire in the drum keep adding small amounts of wood untill your fire gets going. what happens is the wood catches on fire and burns for a few minutes but the flames burn all the oxygen in the drum so the flame goes out and the wood smoulders ( lots of smoke ) when the wood has smouldered down add more wood keep the process going until the drum is full when the drum is full and the last lot of wood that was put in has burnt down put the lid on and seal the drum and leave it for 24hrs to cool down. what you should end up with is a drum full of charcoal. try and use the same type of timber so your charcoal is all the same. it took about 3 hrs to do a 200L drum full but if you have more than one drum you can make as much as you want in 3 hrs. if your charcoal spits, cracks and pops when in the forge lay the charcoal out in the weather and let it get rained on and that should fix the problem. there are a few other ways of making charcoal when i make it the other ways i will take some pics and show how its done otherwise google making charcoal and there is all the info needed there. i hope the way i explained this is understandable

a few more things i have made tongs made from BP0099 coat hook jig i made to do the heart on the coat hook small turtle hawk out of a rail pin and the handle is a pice of broken garden fork handle that i cut down with a draw knife

the pic with the batterie is a bit deceiving its sitting about 5m away from the forge and its also outside in the fresh air.

Gday Dale, i have a small fire pot that fits in the big one [

i will be making some charcoal this weekend so i will take some pics and post them so you can see how i do it. thats my young bloke he has taken clame to the small snail i just hope he doesn't drop it on his foot.

i forgot to take the camera last time, i am going to make some more this weekend so i will take some pics and show you how i do it. i googled making charcoal, and found heaps of info for making it a few different ways.

Gday mate lol well after building my forge and making some charcoal it was time to heat up some metal first up i made a poker and coal rake for the forge i finished them with wax and oil. then i made a snail for my sister then my young bloke wanted one and then my mum so here are my first attempts at snails. and a dragonfly made from a rail pin

I cut back the lip on the drum so its only 20mm higher than the top of the plate now insted of the 40mm it was befor. a mate has a few 20mm thick firebricks for me so i will sit them around the drum and that will give me a level surface so that should make fire matinance easer. thanks for the advice guys. here are some pics of the forge fired up with my home made charcoal i put this rail pin in the forge to see how long it would take to get hot, it dident take long then it started melting so i think it gets hot enough this is some of the charcoal i made

the wiring is very basic. red is positive, black is negative. the black wire goes from the negative terminal on a car batterie straight through to the fan. the red wire goes from the positive terminal on the batterie`to a switch and then to the fan. this is 12 volt batterie power DO NOT TRY THIS WITH MAINS POWER

Gday another aussie here. i am 2hrs west of sydney, where the race track is on the hill . new to blacksmithing, i have enroled to do a tafe coarse http://www.wit.tafensw.edu.au/course-information/course-details/?id=1625 i just have to wate untill they have enough numbers to run the coarse. with a bit of luck i will find a blacksmith not to fare away that is willing to teach a newby a few things. untill then the internet is my teacher. Jim

gday old N rusty. i am always nice lol. i dont think s##t is a cuss word, but if we all go through life thinking the same thing it would be prety boaring. you said to me the other day if you wont say it in church dont say it in chat well the last wedding i went to the priest said it a few times along with a few other words that i wont say. and always respect the old f***s, only if they respect me.