poundhound

thanks for the link to the site, it has lots of great info in the news letters. looks like he used the side of a container as one wall for his shop, I may do a 18 foot door with an awning that way I can keep tools etc inside and lock them up. condensation not normally a problem Menifee is in California desert, just rains a few times per year, otherwise mostly dry. PoundHound

Forgive me if this has been addressed before. I did a search and it did not return anything. I am currently working out of my garage. and want to move to a shop on my property. I am trying to decide between a steel building, or a cargo container. I was wondering if anyone has tried using a shipping container as a shop. I have one now I use for storage and wood working. they are 40 feet long, 8 feet wide and 9 feet high. the sides and roof are heavy gauge metal. the floor is plywood, so that would have to be addressed. I guess the restricting factor would be the 8 foot depth, they can put an 18 foot roll up door on the side. would expect to work with the door open. cargo container 4k, steel building 25k any thoughts? any one tried this? PoundHound

I did not purchase the anvil without the rebound. I bought the one with the rebound/action. There are test to do for rebound (ball bearing test) so at least some feel it is important and worth checking, from what I know about it, it makes the work done on an anvil more efficent and lessens fatigue. I was just a curious about why the loss of action or rebound happens, in hopes of avoiding it by doing some thing that could be avoided. Pound Hound thanks to those who gave constructive answers to the question

So, back to the original question What causes an anvil to loose its rebound, go dead. So far being in a fire (basially whole anvil is annealed) is the only answer I heard. So if I purchase an anvil and it has action, I don't have to worry that it will become dead with use? Not age related? PoundHound

I did not buy that one since it had no ring and no action when I hit it with a hammer. the guy said that was a 280 lb anvil. I bought the 150kg or 330 lb one he had, it had ring and bounce when I hit with the hammer, I will do the ball bearing test when I get home. the stamp on the one I bought is RBR with the last R backwards. but they look about the same as in no dings in face, or horn. poundhound

That is exactly it. there are the two fluted areas on the back side, what they are calling "Church Windows" . the guy said it was from the 1940s. there is an RBR (with the 2nd R being backwards) as a mark on it. The one in the picture was the 280 lb size, but I bought a 336 lb size anvil from the guy since it had ring and rebound, it was not embedded in the concrete on the stand, it sat on top. if these are recent prices then I did OK, I paid $1500 for the 336 lb size, with a very heavy steel and concrete stand, delivered. large anvils are somewhat hard to come by out here in California, prices seem to be bid up if one becomes available. How do I do the rebound test, with ball bearing?

I don't know exactly the guy was selling it said it was off a ship here is a picture if it helps

hello, this might have been addressed before in the fourms but I did not see it in a quick search. I was looking at an anvil a guy was selling, but when I hit it with a hammer it did not ring, and there was no rebound. what causes this to happen to an anvil? can this happen to anvils I have? can it be prevented? PoundHound

here are some good ideas by Brian Brazeal about 5 posts down the page

thank for the clarification. the heat treating thing is new to me, and apparently I did not get it right (when punch broke in two). will try again with minimal heat on springs. then do the heat treating as describe above. After that it is only shaping the ends (may be the hardest part).

I have been looking through the forms to try to improve my blacksmithing. It has become apparent to me that in addition to years of practice to be a good smith (and make good products), you need good tools. I came across this thread by Brian Brazeal (I truly great man/smith/teacher). http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/12321-tools-from-spring/ I have tried it but have some questions since some of the punches I have made have broken in use. In the thread Brian states in response to treating the spring tools: It may be I am just unfamiliar with the terms, or phrases. does he mean heat the piece to 3/4 temp, or 3/4 of the tool? what does " I'll draw a temper with the remaining heat maybe up to 3 times quenching like above in between draws." mean any help appreciated.

anvils come up from time to time, but like was mentioned in one of the answers the prices vary wildly. I am not in a rush, it would be nice to have a cone shaped horn, but I can wait for a better deal. I don't want to take on the job of fixing one. right now thanks to you all for your answers

found this ad on craig's list. he said it is a peter wright 140 lb anvil. but there is damage on the side. he is asking $200. is it worth that? can I get the damage repaired? My anvil now does not have a cone shape horn, very wide/flat, so I was wanting to get one with a cone shape horn.

thank you BlissStreet and MattBower for you input. for some reason even though the process should be easy and easy to find out the steps (and some tips/tricks at each step), it is not easy to come by. I will print out both your replies and keep them in my work shop till I get the process down.

I watched the videos, in the ones from the second link, they guy anneals prior to forging, is that necessary, I would think you would anneal after forging, so that the blade is softer when filing, sanding etc.

don't know about the video and the hammering speed, etc, but he ended up with a pretty good knife in the end (if you watch to the end of the video). seems to know what he is doing.

pretty good for for first attempt and just using your wits to make it. I am finding that once you learn the proper techniques for creating knifes, you will gain more confidence and create better and better knifes. still not too late to temper it, just remove the cord and heat to 400 degrees for an hour or so a couple of times. PoundHound

Thanks, It is helpful to hear from those who have expertise to save time an effort then to use trial and error to figure things out.

Hello again, I am just starting and used a couple of railroad spikes to attempt a couple of knifes. I have the blades about where I want them (or they want me). but I was thinking of putting in a fuller (also known as a cannelure) in the wider of the two blade running parallel to the top. Do I do this taking it back to the forge and try to hammer it in, or is it a purely grinding operation? if I was making a knife from scratch is it done at the time of forging or later with a grinder/Lathe? PoundHound

sorry for the confusion, in my first attempt I hardened (quenched) the blade before working on the finish. then after reading the articles on heat treating and tempering, I tried forging to rough shape, then annealing, then shaping with grinder and files, and sand paper, next will harden ( per the sticky articles) then try to temper, then finish and sharpen. I did not know how much hardening and or tempering will destroy any work done on the blade previously. For example if I file and then sand down the blade to 400 grit, will the heating to curie temp and quenching undo some or much of my work? here is a sequence I found from another site. -Forge Knife Blank -Normalize (cycle of 3) (is annealing with one heat good enough?) -Rough Grind and clean up -Harden the blade -Temper the blade -Polishing and Sharpening Where does the sanding step come in? Before Harden? PoundHound

I too would like to add my complements, a great piece of art, as well as serous weapon. one question though, do you put in the grooves during the forging, or is it remove from the blade later? sorry if its a dumb question I am new to blade making. PoundHound

I am new to blacksmithing, and even newer to blade smithing. I have read through the stickies (very informative, well done and great info). but my question is what order do you make the knifes in. I have tried several different experiments, but figure that rather then find out by trial and error I would ask the experts. I have tried, forging the blade to approximate shape, cooling rapidly then trying to shape the blade (working with hard steel not too much fun). second attempt was to forge the blade to approximate shape, then anneal the steel (bring up to curie point, then put in sand til cool, then refine the blade. but how far should I go before then tempering the blade, since I don't want to redo steps like filing, sanding and polishing if that will be destroyed with the tempering. hope this is clear, just looking for efficient steps in blade making like forging, shaping, smoothing, tempering, re smoothing, polishing PoundHound

Hello, I have only been blacksmithing for a short time on a propane forge. But in an effort to move on to bigger, and better things, I purchased a used coal forge. I think I got a good deal it seems to work and be in good shape. I paid $100. now for the questions 1. I have been reading about claying, which I need to do. do I clay the entire pan, or just in the well in the center? 2. what type of grate should I get / make. the guy I got it from just had some expanded metal there. the triangular piece in the middle (to remove clinkers?) sticks up above the top of the hole it sits in. 3. When I load coal and start a fire in it, do I keep it in the center depressed area? I know these are dumb questions, but any help appreciated PoundHound

what about coke vs coal, I am hoping to pick up a solid fuel forge soon. is it true that the coke burns cleaner, with less smoke? PoundHound

here is the forged but unfinished cross I came up with from a railroad spike, not too bad for first attempt I used the peen of the hammer to get the wood effect. PoundHound