Aaron J. Cergol

thanks for the quick replies all. "A complicated 1:1 gear ratio would be a little worse than just going without gears. A bit of energy is lost in the gears (turned into heat and noise)." I had figured as much, but still couldn't quite grasp the idea. Thanks. When I was twisting them by hand, putting a 3/4" pipe around them helped take any warrble out of them immensely. I would think that a machine would keep it pretty straight by itself, but if I see that it's not, I had thought about using two pieces of angle iron for the "pipe". have the two pieces together to make a square; one being stationary, and one hinged and on pivots. This would allow for you to open/close it easily, and I could have a simple locking "slide" on it to adjust for width of the piece. However I do not think that it would be needed. I do have an ancient Oster pipe threader that came off an old battleship, I had considered using it, however I use it as a pipe threader, and manual tapper, and simply do not have enough room for it in my current (very small) shop. This being said, I'd be looking to twist stuff 10' and under. Heck for the time being, I may either have a clamp on unit that clamps to heavy steel work table, or even something that sits vertical in a corner due to space. I think I'm going to do some drawing of this and a little more tinkering with design and then I'll try and post my final concept. Thanks, Aaron

Hi all, after twisting over 300 1/2" pickets yesterday by hand, I would like to make a twister. that being said. I like to keep my shop as "primitive" as possible so I'd like one that is hand cranked. Now I've seen some nice ones online with four long handles and a bed with a "tailstock" and I like this design, but I'm looking to twist larger stock cold... So I'm thinking about buying a gear reducer. I have found lots of 30:1 however that would take far too long to do by hand, so I'm thinking 12:1 is a better choice, and could be hooked up to power and timed if necessary. however, that still would seem to take a while if I'm doing a run of them. Maybe this is a stupid question, but would it be feasible to use a 12:1 or greater reducer, and then increase the gear ratio on the handle, so in theory it would be a 1:1 ratio overall, but with two reducers? or is that completely eliminating any reducing advantage that you had hoped to achieve in the first place. Something tells me it wouldn't work, but a small bit in me says that it might be crazy enough to work. Also can you guys think of any way to set a "stop" or a timed system to do even turns if I want to crank out a lot with a motor? I know there is stepper motors and all that, but is there an easier way? Lastly, will a reducer mean it won't take as much torque (or physical work for me) to turn, or will it be the same amount of work, but seem like less due to it taking smaller bites (turns) out of the piece... I am thinking a 4 jaw chuck would not hold it well enough, so I'm thinking of broaching several "chucks" to have square holes of different sizes that would be held in place by the reducing shaft. Thanks for your input, and I apologize if these questions seem stupid. I just can't seem to grasp the overall concept of this. Aaron

That is a cast steel Austrian anvil with church windows. you can tip the anvil on it's side, and use those depressions as swages. the angled table above them provides more mass for drawing over the edge to prevent mushrooming or chipped edges. Note that a good 2-3" of the top are of a different color-perhaps this means that the bottom half is most likely some kind of cast iron or ductile iron, and the top half is tool steel, and possibly forged...? Generally Austrian anvils tend to have shallower church windows and are a bit more rounded on the inside, also they tend to have a more angled face on the side. That being said it is a fine anvil, and you should get some good work from it. Aaron

Well this is excellent news! Thanks all for the help and input. This saves me an awful lot of money. and also, duly noted-do not quench. So just to clarify, the consistency may vary from piece to piece due to the lot having different Shear PSI ratings? If that's all I have to worry about that's no real concern. I read some more and it seems to fall into the 1010-1035 range for carbon, is this correct? Ric-thanks for the info. Long time no talk, I had shot you an email a while back, then my email was hacked. Let's stay in touch, I'd love to come out to your place again and help you with anything if you need it. Also you're more than welcome to my shop in Milwaukee. We can make some hammers! Aaron

Hi all, simply put, what is the difference between A36 ad 1018 mild? I have a railing job to do-just some basic twisted spindles and scrolls, and I see that A36 is substantially cheaper and I'm wondering if it will work for light forging operations. Also, what about forge welding? Aaron

Sask Mark- wow that is a screamin good deal. If you ever want to sell that big Cannedy Otto, let me know please as I'd be quite interested. Today on the way to work, I stopped by a used machinery dealer I know to talk for a bit as well as pick up a baby (tabletop) camelback drillpress. Well, when I opened the door, the first thing I see is a MINT condition cone mandrel. a 4' tall one with an approx 20" base. He was asking around the high end of what I was willing to pay, but because it was in mint condition I went for it; tha being said, it was well under $500 which would have been a good deal in and of itself for it. He says "wanna put it on layaway?" I say yes, and he proceeds to load it into my truck. no down payment or anything. So that was a good start to my day. He also had found a metal shaper for me, an old Prema one from Sweden and I got to play around with that for a bit. Him and I do a lot of trading, so we try to find things the other is interested in. I'll be trading him an older style punch press for the shaper. On ebay I finally found a matching blower for my rivet forge. That was an exciting find, as I was outbid on another one several months ago. Looking forward to restoring the forge to proper working order. I also got another full size camelback drill. I had picked up a LARGE Cannedy Otto one a month or two back and is still in the process of cleaning and restoring (previus owner sandblasted then clearcoated...which pretty much turns to glue and seizes everything.) the other one I just picked up is a somewhat smaller (about 5' tall)...the brand name escapes me, somewhere from Chicago though. This one runs, and needs just a bit of fine tunining to run perfect. Lastly, a few weeks ago I took a drive out of town to some antique stores. Digging around through the layers of dust and grunge on the floor, I fin an old Roper Whitney sheet metal punch. the big, two handed version, and not the kind with the lever, the kind that screws down. He was asking $19 for it. I proceeded to dig around more and found a bag with a complete set of 14 dies (that's 14 males and 14 females). we started talking and he let me have it for $15 even though I told him I'd happily pay the full price. Aaron

I agree, fascinating stuff' lots to learn. Well I ended up making a bowl from 1/2" plate dished on the anvil, and then welded a flared ring to the base. His father loved it. I had tried the pipe method, but didn't work out. it got so thick in the center that it became difficult to move-difficult to heat that middle section too. I would like to eventually try it again though. Aaron

Hi all, I recently bought two camelback drills. the Smaller of the two currently works, and is an unknown make. She stands about 5' tall, and has a rectangular table which leads me to think that it's relatively newer. the bigger of the two, is currently in pieces. it had been sandblasted and clear coated by the previous owner-which did a phenomenal job of stopping rust, but turned all of the sand blast media into glue and seized everything something awful. This one is substantially larger, and I am thinking older due to the round table, and older style chuck, and the "sash weight" to bring the quill back up. I am wondering several things about this. first off, I think it may have originally had back gearing and/or auto feed, but several parts are missing, so if anyone has pics it would be a great help. I doubt I'll find parts, but I just want to know what it would look like. Along those same lines, if anyone has an old advertisement for Cannedy Otto camelbacks, I'd like to see that too. Second, Several of the parts will need to be polished. parts of the quill, some of the handles, and part of the main support column that the table rides up and down on. my question is, how do I polish these? I was thinking about taking a palm sander for the support column, but I can imagine that taking forever. What about for the handles? just dremel it carefully? possibly flap wheels? Lastly, I'm looking to restore this as accurately as I can; so would anyone know what the original colors would be? I'm thinking black because I see lots of other CB's that re, but I'm also thinking that "rust" red that I've seen some Cannedy otto blowers with gold lettering. And what about paint? do I have to use a certain machine grade? Thanks all! with any luck, I'll have a camera at the sop tomorrow and I'll snap some pics. Maybe even pick up my baby tabletop camelback too. Aaron

My best guess would be that it's a William Foster. Everything abut it screams that to me, especially the numbers. We know that it's also pre-1835 as there is no pritchel hole. you did very well. Want to sell it? I'll double your money Good find! Aaron

Fantastic work Lyle! While Brian does teach how to make such things, you seem to have a distinct style all your own. Overall very clean and crisp lines too. See you in IL! Aaron

George, I'm happy to hear the new coal is working out for you. Thanks for the contact, I'll be in touch with him shortly. Aaron

Howdy George, that wouldn't happen to be 120 miles north of you would it? I still have about 1.5 tons of coal in reserves, but I suspect it'll be pretty well diminished by the end of this summer, so I'll be looking for a new supplier. If they are north, I'd certainly love their contact info if you wouldn't mind. Thanks, Aaron EDIT-what size is this coal? Also, how well does it coke?

I know how to neck down smaller pipe up to about an inch in diameter, but how would I go about doing this on a large scale of say 4"+ in diameter? I suppose the same way I would neck don normally-with either a spring fuller or a top and bottom tool, but I just imagine it being more prone to collapsing upon itself... also, I can see necking it down to a reasonable thickness and then flaring the base, but how would I fill the hole then? You say forge weld it, but I see that being a bit problematic in terms of actually hating that area. I am liking this idea, but I'd like to figure out a bit more about it. Thanks -A

I do not how well I feel about my forge welding skills to pull off such a venture Thomas. I like the die idea, but I lack a large enough press for it...unless Thomas thinks it's up to snuff-I'm fairly certain you and I own the same model Hopkins... Thanks for the ideas folks, but I'm still needing a doable one. Perhaps dishing some 3/8" plate into a deep form, and then welding or riveting on a ring on the bottom for a base? Heck, nothings saying that it even has to be welded or attached. It could just sit on the ring and with one hand holding it steady, it wont go anywhere. what do you all think? Aaron

Howdy all, I was asked today if I would be able to forge a mortar and pestle, I said yes, thinking about several ways to go about doing it. Thinking more on it now, I'm curious to know which might be best for such a thing. Here's a couple of the ways I was thinking about... -a 3/8"-1/2" plate, cut into a circle, worked hot into a form. The downside to this would be the hammer marks inside, and also not having a steady base. any suggestions for a base? Also, getting an appropriate depth could be troublesome. -a circle or square of VERY thick plate, say 2"+. Work it hot by bashing a large diameter mill ball into it. this would have the advantage of having a sturdy footing, and have relatively few hammer marks. the downside is actually bashing said mill ball into it. I cannot imagine it being fun or safe. So, that being said, I do have a 20ton fly press that I could use to press the ball into the steel. It's in my storage unit, but I think I could get around that. The other downside is again, the depth. depending on how large he wants it, either one would be quite doable, but the larger he wants it, the more difficult it will become. How would you go about making it, or do you think either of these ways would work? Thanks, Aaron

Good point about losing energy Rob. I do agree going with a smaller trailer than originally intended. much easier cheaper and more efficient n the long run. I am hoping to do a quick (paint) mock up picture and post it later on tonight. Aaron

sent you an email Sir.

Fiery Furnace- thanks so much for all your input! I do realize that I won't be making a killing at farmer markets, but I will at the very least be getting my name out there, and hopefully be making some good contacts. for $150 for the 15 week season, in a more wealthy area of town, I figure I can at the very least make that back over the course of the summer. I very much like your setup. I especially like your forge built right in! Originally I was thinking of making something like that, but have hemmed and hawed for several reasons. one, I like portability-as in not having to move my bigger tools in and out every time. two, security-I want to be able to lock my stuff up and leave my tools inside. three, weather-I want to use this as my full time shop in the summer as I will not have a real shop until Fall again, and want a roof over my head. Although you do have me thinking... I could certainly build something like yours, weld tool racks all over it, and have a "hinged" vise on the side. I could build some more boxes for storage of tools, coal, and products, and lock those up... If all I have to move is my anvil, that's not a huge issue-the rest is mostly self contained. I wonder if I could somehow build a fold-able roof on it...I could certainly still build a big box (for lack of a better term ) around it that would open up, and give me the roof I need. That way I could still lock everything up, and even have a hood for the forge. This would certainly be cheaper to buy/build and take up much less space. What are you asking for yours? I am quite interested as it would save me a lot of time. David, I would love to eventually make a historically accurate one and bring it to reenactment events with me, but I simply do not have the time for it now. I'm a history nut, and when I replicate something, I want to have everything spot on accurate, so it would take some time. Thanks for the links. I really appreciate the input guys. This is giving me some better and (easier) ideas. Aaron

Hi all, I appologize if I'm posting this in the wrong section. I am going to be buying a trailer this week; and contrary to what all my co workers think, it's not to haul huge pieces of machinery or more anvils. I will be getting a 7 or 8' wide by 14-16' long flat bed trailer (dual axle) to build a portable blacksmith shop on. Basically something that will have a fully functioning coal forge, anvil, vise, old school drill press, and even an old foot powered grinder. It will essentially be a glorified "shed" that will have sides that open up and will be able to close and lock when not in use. The plan is to bring it t events, farmers markets and demos, unlock it, open it, and start a fire. End of the day, put out the fire, close her down, lock it and park it. I will be leaving the tools inside. I work at a lumber yard/hardware store, and plan to use a good amount of corrugated roofing. Not only for the roof, but for the retractable sides. Eventually I might like to make it into a "Lincoln logs" trailer, but that will have to wait as I'm pressed for time. I have several questions for all of you. First off, have any of you built such a thing? and if so, care to share any pictures and pointers? Do any of you have any design suggestions for it? Design in general, or layout, or even storage-I'm open to anything. The other thing-and quite frankly the more important issues are the legal ones. Who should I be in contact with to make sure this is "Road worthy"? Will I need a permit to bring fires to events? Rural events I am not worried about, but what about city ones... and are any permits needed to pull such a big trailer? my ruck already has a class C plates on it. Thanks for your time and help! Aaron

very nice Josh! I am quite jealous of them, and I appreciate your offer on the 152KG one. If I had more money now, it would be mine. I am still quite curious to see the CW's you brought over, if any. any unexpected surprises on this load? How many did you bring over on this one? Ciao Josh, Aaron

Well I'm back home and have been catching up with work the past few days; just getting some time to reply now. I drove home, a 14 hour drive, through Sunny and warm MS, and was greeted in WI with freezing rain and clouds. haha, it was to be expected I suppose. To start, one cannot have more hospitable hosts that Brian and Karen. I was greeted by their attack "dog" Dagni who may actually be a cat in disguise. Karen is an excellent cook, and kept me well fed and put up with my messy clothes dirt I dragged in. Talking with her, I'd say she knows more about forging and blacksmiths than the average smith I have met. She helps Brian out more that I thought. if not for her, his schedule would be a crazy mess, and he'd be in 10 places at once, or none at all. Thanks to her, I had booked my spot just in time, and had the fortune of taking this class. She deserves a lot of credit for Brians renown. Brian is the first to say "don't believe anything I say until you have tried it for yourself". It's a good thing too because when I first started forging with Brian, I thought he was crazy; well, maybe I still do a little bit...but in this case, crazy is an excellent thing. He challenges what others say is rule, breaks them, and proves it wrong-time and time again. I am mainly self taught, and have had a little help along the way. I am of the school of "keep hitting it until it looks right" kind of thought, so Brians techniques seemed very counter-intuitive to me, and more than a bit awkward at first. but the more I thought about what he showed me the more I got that "AHA" moment. Using what he has showed me, anyone can very effectively move metal with little effort; so much so that every blow is planned. I have never in my life been able to move metal that fast or with that much precision. I am still working on the precision part of it, but with a little practice, I think I will have it down pat. By using these techniques, I will be using so much less fuel, so much less material, so much less time, less heats, and less effort. I'm not saying it's easy, but it is simple. All this being said, I got much more out of the class than expected. For the first bit I was the striker, and I learned how to read the metal, and Brians movements. Then I got to experience the other side of it, holding the metal, the top tools, and directing the hits. It is a whole new perspective, and really give me a better idea of what to do when striking and how to change according to the metal. I found it much more difficult to direct than to strike. Then, onto the hand forging. Forging Hex was a great new thing to learn for me, and saves so much time. Half hammer faced blows, and working on the near and far side of the anvil are such amazing fundamental tools that everyone at the very least needs to try. As mentioned above, I have never been able to move metal that fast, and actually got the metal to "light up". One of the things Brian would repeat over is "reduce the surface are of contact" which at first didn't really seem to click for me. But when you stop and think about it, that's all forging really is. Focusing on a very small area not only allows you to better control everything, but work faster, more effectively and keep the metal hotter for longer periods of time. By continually reducing the S.A.O.C. you can do so much more in one heat, and functionally divide the metal up allowing you to not only create shapes with better and stronger forms, but to use less material and rarely have to use tongs. Forms-this was another thing that Brian would talk a lot about. Creating forms that have no weak spots, and forms that naturally lead the shapes to make themselves. By creating a strong form, the work went so much easier in the long run, with few to no problems occurring. a good example of this would be when you are dividing the metal for a leaf-generally you work over the edge of an anvil and neck it down on all sides. Overworking this area will grab too much material at once, and usually lead to cracking and risk having the leaf fall off. by Using Brians methods, this is nothing to worry about, and I ended up with a much cleaner looking product in the end-with fewer heats. All of Brians forms are very simple-simply effective. sometimes less is more. Like the animal heads, simply using a fuller will not only add definition for a mane, but also naturally arc the neck. likewise with the facial areas and hitting on the diagonals and giving it more depth. And then there is Lyle D. Wynn...what can I say? Lyle is so much fun to be around, and has a great sense of humor. He also taught me an awful lot; especially involving striking. He is the best striker I have ever worked with and should be an example for other strikers to look up to. He had a lot of patience with me, especially when I really put him to work making my hammer with the big cheeks. That was my first time directing the hits and holding a top tool, and he really helped me along the way. Lyle is also a very adept smith in his own right. He made his first pair of hammer tongs when I was there, and they blew mine out of the water. His cable knives are something to be seen first hand and he helped me make a RR trowel which came out quite well. He also has some very original and creative ideas of his own. If you can convince him to, you must see his Clogging skills and watch him juggle...maybe he'll even do them at the same time. I have also never met anyone who takes a game of Wisteria more seriously. A big thank you to Lyle too for taking the wonderful (and not so wonderful...) photos. He is an excellent photographer, and really got some great shots. I cannot thank the three of them enough for the hospitality and everything I have learned. I will hopefully be forging in the middle of this week again, and will try and take some pics of the things I will be practicing. If all goes well I will see you three (and Dagni) in July in IL. Ciao, Aaron

I went to Bob Bergmans this past week and came back with a Murray power hammer frame. It's awfully close (if not exact) to a 25#LG. I intend to turn it into an air hammer or a tire hammer at some point. Aaron

I saw this on Ebay.co.uk a while back and was tempted to buy it simply due to the fact that it is-or was at some point in time, an Austrian anvil. on the other side there should be a diagonal "step" and possible two church windows. Were it me, I would cut/grind all the junk off it, thoroughly re-weld everything, re surface the face, polish/blend all the welds and re patina the body. However that is quite a bit of work, but depending on what you paid for it, it might be worth it. Austrian anvils are very sought after and it's a shame to see on in such a state, I'd fix it up pretty and have it be how Austrians are meant to look. Just my $.02 Aaron

Kroil is the best stuff I've ever used. I use to think the same of PB blaster. I would soak things in PB for weeks and have them still be seized, I'd spray (sparingly) on Kroil, come back in an hour and have the thing already taken apart, cleaned and put back together for me. kidding of course, but it literally works in minutes-not weeks. at $80+ a gallon it aint cheap, but it's worth it. BTW-I got a gallon for $20 at the used machine dealer by me. PB blaster is a great product, and I still use it, and manage to get a headache every time from the smell, but I always go to Kroil when I have the chance. the simple fact that it smells nice and doesn't give me a splitting headache is worth the price tag. if that doesn't work, then try heat. Aaron

You'll enjoy your HB and it being your first anvil, will become your "go to" anvil regardless of how many anvils you have. My first anvil was also a HB. I had been into blacksmithery for about two-three years, and was about 13 or 14 years old. I got really tired of using a cheap HF anvil. So I got a ride up to the local blacksmiths shop (now closed) because I heard that he had an anvil for sale. it was a 175# HB I didn't know at the time however. I paid $300 for it and thought I overpaid seeing as it took me a couple months to save hat much. thinking back now, pretty good deal for a HB, and I learned an awful lot on that anvil. Now I am focused more on the European and Colonial pattern anvils, but she's still my favourite, and because I spent so much time learning on it, I know every sweet spot, dip, ding, and curve on it. I love that anvil and wouldn't sell it for the world. Aaron