JimsShip

Here's my son and I proudly wearing our new matching shirts. He was very excited to get the package, and even happier to point out that his anvil was bigger than mine. I think he's right. :(

I just clicked on my profile tab, and all that came up was a "what are you thinking?" box. I'm thinking I can'[t access my profile. I'm kind of new, so i guess everythings right. Thanks for working on the site, I know people hate change, but I also know it's needed. Go easy on the web builders guys, it's not as easy as you think!

I love Shorpy's site! I wonder how many men were injured in those gears? Can you spot the number of safety violations by todays standards? No safety glasses No Helmets No fire extinguishers or proper signage on the exits. There must be a dozen more...

I was thinking more along the lines of candle stickers, or something. I'm not sure how hard it will be to use, since I haven't tried it yet. In my head i figured I'd toss a section in the fire and hopefully pull it apart and then cut it into decent lengths. I did get a few pieces of 2" spring, that I thought would be easy to use by heating and pulling apart creating a nice spaced spiral, then all I'd have to to it decorate the ends with a leaf or scroll or something. (Looks like a glass insulator from the old RR poles would fit in it nicely to hold a tea light) Again, i've never tried it, so if it does prove to be a pain it can always go back to the pile!

After hearing all the tips on using old garage door springs for flint strikers, I stopped by our local garage door dealer and asked him if he had any. He told me there's a small pile out back and to help myself. When I went out there I expected to find a few small broken springs, but when I went out there I found 2 really large industrial door spings. They measure 6" across and I got a total of 4 and a half feet all for free. (I also got a few of the smaller size springs!) I'm assuming it's the same steel i'd need for the strikers, but if not then i'm sure I could use it for candle holder stock or something.

I would never give my wife a hammer. She's likely to use it on me! :P

What's the link for the bottle cap roses? I tried to search the site, but nothing was found.

Watch yourself on the tracks- it's against the law these days to do what we've done for years! ;)

I haven't done any welding myself yet (aside from a ring I made once) but the spit on the anvil / rifle pop makes me want to try it that much sooner. Scares the crows away? I'm in! :D

Would a long slice of railroad spike (marked HC on the head) make a good striker? I have a few pieces left over from a project I was wondering what to do with.

As a parent of a small child, my first thought after seeing the video was how unsafe that pot of boiling water looked on top of that thing!

I posted the other liquid goooooold video, but now it's gone. (Good advertising though, it's been in my head all day)

They were tossing these around the chat room the other night. (I don't remember who gave me this link, sorry!) Liquid Gooooooooooold!

I just found this listed on ebay, and I've never seen one. What is it, and what would it be used for? (I'm assuming it had another purpose than just blacksmithing.) http://www.ebay.com/itm/Unusual-Old-Antique-Primitive-Bell-Shaped-Metal-Blacksmith-Anvil-/140688389337?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20c1ae74d9

I would also suggest battery operated candles if possible, so you don't have an ugly cord hanging down and distracting from the piece. Google turns up a bunch of possibilities.

Great thoughts all, (Thanks Glenn for finding the creator of the spike one!) I think I have an idea or two of what it will look like, now I need to see if i have the skills to make it. Son of Bluegrass- (whose abbreviated name would be S.O.B. which is what I first typed, but then changed when I saw it!) Thanks for that silicone tip, that's a great idea. I'll keep you posted. Wish me luck.

It's for her desk. That feather is nice! I didn't make the RR spike one, I just found the pic on the web during a google search.

Hey all, I'm thinking of making a business card holder for my wife for Valentines day (she just got her own office) and couldn't seem to find any blueprints or ideas around so I thought i'd see what you guys may have made in the past. The only one I found was a swan one, which isn't really her style. I also found a RR spike one (which is my main material besides horseshoe nails) but it looks very heavy, and not to feminine. (see pic) http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/19976-rr-spike-card-holder2-0/ Any thoughts? RRcardholder.bmp

I just realized Nakedanvil's Grant was the same guy who passed away recently. (Now I know why he didn't reply) I'm sad to have missed a chance to correspond with him, he sounds like an awesome guy. :(

You have it better than I do. All my stuff is tightlypacked in the garage, and I have to handtruck it all out into the drive way to do any work. Ahhh- The fresh open air of the NY hillsides! (Brrrr....)

Hey Alex, I'm about as new to this as you are, and although I'll leave the actual forging techniques to the experts, I will give you a bit of advice from my own experience. The anvil you have looks awesome, but you should really try and find a better log or base for it and secure it down. I'd hate to have you lose a foot should that ever get tippy due to mud, or hammering or whatever. The copper pipe looks a bit thin from what i've read and tried myself. I built a brake drum forge before scoring a Champion one of my own, and all the tutorials used a bigger sized black pipe. (I tell you, making that thing was almost as much fun as smithing!) You may want to try building one for yourself, and bring the forge to waist level. Although you did a fine job as it is, my back would be mush from all the stooping you must be doing! (Yeah, i'm old.) It sounds like you're having fun, and learning at a decent pace and those are really the most important things! Happy Hammering!

This would suggest you resolution was broken the moment you made it. I like it. I'm going to try and tackle the weight again. Ugh. :unsure:

I actually like the idea of the marshmallow fork, with the spiraled end for the stick, Great idea!

The way it's printed does make it look like an old WW2 campaign ad, so maybe it was originated in the large factories. ("Hitler loves when you lose your temper" kind of thing)

I'm having the same problem mark, it's so xxxxxxx cold here I get about 3 strikes before I need to take another heat! I can't post a pic here (some error message) but it's on ebay. It shows a guy next to an anvil, and it looks like he's holding a bowl with a wet rag and he's cooling the anvil off. I can't imagine how much work it would take to overheat an anvil!