Blakksmyth

I received a donation from one of our smiths when I had my new 224 lb anvil delivered the other day. The stand used to hold a swage block, then got modified to make a small bottle jack press (didn't work too well) and then it was stuck outside for many a year before I spotted it. Anyway, after slicing and dicing, adding some bits and welding it up, it has turned out to be a nice little stand. I have slipped a couple of slats of hardwood under the feet of the anvil but haven't got to use it yet. I will run a couple of struts between the legs and some tool holder rings down the track. A good bit of recycling and big money saver on material and welding rods. Cheers -Rob ABASA Secretary

There's been some good tips in this thread, but a subject that has come up with our members is regarding the thickness of the handle. We have members who prefer a thick handle and then some who say they prefer the handle at a thickness that allows your finger tips to touch the palm of the hand. What is the general consensus regarding thickness? Also, while on the topic of handles, what is the best wood for handles? We predominately use hickory but is there a stronger, longer grained timber around the same weight we could use? Thanks for your thoughts folks. Rob K Secretary Artist Blacksmiths Association South Australia www.artistblacksmithsa/org.au

Hi Mark and George, The Mannum Dock museum is located at the riverside town of Mannum on the banks of the Murray River in South Australia. I have just updated our website http://www.artistblacksmithsa.org.au/Mannum_Museum_Forge.html with information on the site. The museum also has a website http://www.psmarion.com/ that details their activities. As far as blacksmithing goes, it has a lot of potential, as Mannum does see a lot of tourist activity throughout the year. Anyway, have a look at the sites as there are a few photos posted. Once the forge is up and running, I will be doing an article in our newsletter. Regards, Rob Kenning Secretary A.B.A.S.A.

Hi All, Just a note to let everyone know that the wheels are turning on the building of a new forge area at the Mannum Museum. After meeting with the representatives of the museum today, they are very keen to have our members attend the forge and promote black smithing to their visitors. The museum is located close to the edge of the river, so forging in summer will be a pleasant breeze, if you'll pardon the pun. Anyway, when news comes to hand I'll keep you posted. I'm in the throes of getting a page added to the Country Forge section of our website. Cheers, Rob Kenning

Hi to All A.B.A.S.A. Members, We had a fantastic meeting on July 28th, with a great turnout and a heap of enthusiasm chucked in. We have a lot on the burner, with the establishment of a home base, the installation of our three power hammers and developing a training manual to get our members off to a flying start in blacksmithing. Equipment donations are still flowing in, keeping me busy cataloging for the database. The training program is being refined by our most senior smiths, Geoff Barnes and Des Mumme, and will be formatted by our Vice Pres Wayne Bickley. Wayne, as a high school teacher, is also on the road to establishing a training regimen for his school students, so it will be advantageous to have a standardized manual of training. I'd like to thank everyone who has renewed their memberships for the next year and thereby supporting our association, and to the small band of really dedicated members who travel the hundreds of kilometers each month to attend the country forges within our state. There is nothing sadder than opening an old forge and seeing cobwebs across the bed of coke and dust on the anvil. We have two workshops this month so I hope to see you book a place and come down for a hit. We should have a couple of the large forges going with the electric blowers, giving everyone a larger and deeper fire to take a heat. Cheers for now and I hope to see you round the fire. Rob Kenning Secretary Artist Blacksmiths Association South Australia.

Thanks Phil. I'd like to know forging temperature and heat treatment data so I can do it some justice. By the way, the material is actually octagonal bar, so it was probably purchased with punches in mind. Cheers, Rob

Thanks for that guys, I will treat it as shock resisting then and see how I go. Many thanks for that. RobK

Hi everyone, I have come across a few pieces of what I am told is a tool steel called 'Double Griffin'. The stock I have is 20mm hex bar in 10 foot lengths. I was working as a heat treater back in the nineties for eight years and I can remember seeing documentation on it but never saw it come through the door. I am guessing it is either an O2, A2 or A6 grade but I am only guessing at this stage. I was wondering whether any of the senior smiths may have heard of it. I believe it may have been made by either Comsteel in Australia or Eagle and Globe in the UK. There is no reference on the internet that I can find, so if anyone has any information, I would appreciate it. I will do some tests on it with heating and quenching in air and oil from around 900 celsius and see what hardness is achieved, but solid info would be very handy. Many thanks if you can help out. Cheers, Rob Kenning Secretary Artist Blacksmiths Association South Australia.

Hi Members, Our next meeting is on July 28th. I hope to see you all there. Don't forget that membership fees are due by the end of this month. Regards, Rob Kenning Secretary Artist Blacksmiths Association South Australia.

Hi Dylan, There sure is. Look down at the bottom of the forum and you will find us there. Or visit us at artistblacksmithsa.org.au Rob Kenning Secretary Artist Blacksmith Association South Australia

The last workshop was well attended by eight members. A few more basic skills under the belt for those new to blacksmithing. We now have a register sheet,at the workshop site, that will need to be filled out each time you visit. It will include what skills you have practiced and will help out down the track when the official training gets under way. The next workshop is on the Wednesday the 27th of July for those who can't make the Saturday meet. We hope to have at least one of the large forges up and running so that everyone can get their steel to heat a little quicker and will give us a break from cranking the blowers. Mind you, with the cold weather the other day, it kept us warm cranking the air. The July meeting follows on Thursday 28th at 7pm. Get down a little earlier and enjoy a great meal, drinks and a chin wag before the meeting. Hope to see you there. Rob Kenning Secretary ABASA Inc

Hi all members, We have a workshop scheduled for this Saturday 9th at 10 AM at Terrys. Stock is available or bring your own. See you there. Rob Kenning Secretary ABASA

Hi Andrew, Have a look at my blog at http://artisans-in-iron.blogspot.com/ for one recommendation. Give us a ring if you need more details. Cheers, Rob K Secretary Artist Blacksmiths Association South Australia

The way I was taught was to draw out your pattern to scale on a concrete floor or steel top bench.You can then use a tailors paper tape, string or wire to work out the length. These days I use a cad program and print out the template full size. The computer gives you the length of stock down to the last millimeter although you have to allow for draw down or upsetting depending on what type of scroll form your doing. We even made jigged up rectangular boxes using any light scrap at hand, so that we could form the scrolls and then try them out in the jig. Very handy when you have a lot of the same form. Have fun. RobK

Hello everyone, It's great to have a presence on iforge and I thank Glenn for the invitation. I hope everyone has a chance to view our new site at artistblacksmithsa.org.au I visit iforge regularly so if anyone has any questions or queries you can throw them my way. I'd like to thank all the contributors to this site, as you all make the craft more enjoyable for everyone, whether they are new to the craft or seasoned blacksmiths. I look forward to participating where I can. Best Regards, Rob Kenning Secretary Artist Blacksmiths Association South Australia.

Thanks for that. I'll download a few to start with and if successful, go from there.

Hi everyone, I am wondering whether anyone can confirm that the Blacksmiths Journal is still an active and safe for purchasing and downloading back issues. I would like to get a collection as a reference for our association here in South Australia. Many thanks for any advice. Rob Kenning Secretary Artist Blacksmiths Association South Australia.

Hi Allan, We have a Blacksmith Association in SA if your interested. We have been going for two years and have 38 members and growing. We have just started holding workshops twice a month. Two of our members live in Murray Bridge. We meet at the Elephant and Castle hotel every third Thursday of the month starting at 7 PM.We have quite a few members in the starting out stage, hence the workshops. We have quite a few skilled blacksmiths to help out those people starting out. Hope to catch up with you one day soon. Cheers, Rob Kenning Secretary Artist Blacksmiths Association South Australia

Thanks very much. It is a pretty comprehensive site. Rob K

If it was me personally, I would take it to a heat treater and get them to normalise the anvil. I would them use "Weldall" arc rods and lay a bead across the entire face then grind to flat, use an oxy/acetylene torch with a large tip and oxidising flame and running water to flame harden the face, then temper the anvil at 280 Degree Celsius in an oven to bring the face back to 50 Rc with at least four hours at temperature. Over here in Australia you would be looking at at least $100 to Normalise and $200 for the rods and maybe $50 in consumables to grind it flat. A professional tool grinder will grind down 30,000 of an inch without ruining the temper but will cost a few hundred dollars, and leave the anvil 1mm thinner on the face. The other option would be to mill off 10mm and get a high carbon steel( K 1040 to K 1070) face plate welded on using the plug welding technique. It is very time consuming but offers the best result when done by a professional welder. With such a nice anvil to start with I hope you do it justice which ever way you go. Best of Luck, Rob Kenning Secretary Artist Blacksmith Association South Australia.

I have a fair bit of 1/4" round to play with so I am making various cooking tools.They seem to go over well with the general public. RobK Secretary A.B.A. South Australia

Hi Frank, I received word last week that Alan and Helen are selling up and moving from Logan Village in the next few weeks. Some of the other Australian blacksmiths may have further details. Regarding the Anvils for sale over here, we have a few members interested in acquiring them, myself included. I have a 100 pound anvil and a 4 pound hammer that don't get on to well together so I would like to get a 220 pound anvil from the OP's source and try it out. I have heard from a reliable source that the knife makers love them because of the wide table. I hope to get back and report on the anvil when I acquire it, but there is a Lincoln Plasma cutter at the top of my list. Regards Rob Kenning Secretary Artist Blacksmiths Association South Australia

+1 on the Polyurethane. I made a batch of Linseed oil, Turpentine, Bees wax and Japan Black. Japan Dryer is a rare animal in Australia. I think it's called something else down under. The Japan Black is basically black paint, but does add a nice color to the work, and it isn't sticky unless you hold on to a piece of work for awhile, and the heat of your hands reacts with the beeswax. Rob Kenning Secretary Artist Blacksmiths Association South Australia

Fantastic Guys. Thanks Steve for the photos and details. And thanks Francis,for the blueprints. I'm sure the info will be more than enough for the spring maker to go by. You all have our thanks. I've seen a few youtube videos of the hammer operating with the same spring setup as Steve has shown and I hope ours will be as smooth when the springs are fitted. The other thing we have to look at is the HP of the motor, it's RPM and the pulley size to get it running at 2,500 RPM. Our unit has had the original motor replaced by the last owner. We saw it in operation before we bought it and he (the previous owner) had been running it for many years with the current motor, but we will need to check the power and speed all the same. Best Regards Rob ABASA