Ohio Rusty

A Ball bearing question ... How big of ball bearings do you have to make a flat piece that thick and that big?? All the ball bearings I have ever seen are tiny balls suitable for shooting out of a slingshot or smaller. Looks like hard embedded forge scale ... Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge

I like all aspects of blacksmithing, but what really floats my boat ....twangs my string if you will ..... is historical documentation. Being a historical re-enactor and a blacksmith at a historical village, I truly enjoy Ohio historical history and going back to the 18th and 19th centuries and reading the account ledgers and diaries of the people that lived back then. It gives is a true window, albeit a small one, to look thru to the past and see how people labored and lived. I have come across several blacksmith diaries and account ledgers online and I am currently perusing "A day in the life of a Blacksmith". https://blacksmithaday.wordpress.com/1869/07/ An apprentice blacksmith in a wagon shop had the forethought to make notes of some of the daily work he was doing in a wagon/carriage shop. As I intently peer thru the portal of the past, here are some of his narratives: September 15, 1869 Blacksmithing again. Set eight tires and worked on a plow wheel and other jobs. Bullard and I made nails in the eve, fifty cents again. September 11, 1869 Blacksmithing again, jobed and made two seat springs. Bullard and I made nails in the eve, made 200 nails in two hours and a half. September 10, 1869 Blacksmithing again, set nine tires and worked on wheels. Bullard and I made nails in the eve, fifty cents more. September 9, 1869 Blacksmithing again, worked on two express wagons and set nine tires. Bullard and I made nails in the evening, I guess I made more than fifty [cents]. September 8, 1869 Blacksmithing again, worked on wheels and plows and axles and so forth. September 4, 1869 Blacksmithing again, set four tires and worked like a tiger all day. Then Bullard and I went to making nails, I made about 50 [cents] tonight and feel pretty tired to pay for it. Mr Daniels is laid up with a boil. September 3, 1869 Blacksmithing as usual, set 16 tires, two of them was five inches wide, hard work I tell you. I retired pretty early for I [felt] tired. You have to realize this apprentice isn't getting up at noon and working for a few hours. As an apprentice he would be up after dawn and get the forge up and running (running the fires he calls it) and get all the tools and iron set out for the days work ahead for himself and he master smith. He would work all day helping to forge wheel rims and set those on the wooden tires. He mentions working into the evening, sometimes until 9 at night making nails they would use building horse drawn wagons. He mentions often making 50 cents a day for his work !!!!! Forging all day for 50 cents !! ..... It makes me appreciate my paycheck and not needing to 'work like a tiger' as he calls it for his low wage. Eventually .... he would become a journeyman, maybe strike out on his own and set up his own shop where he would make a living wage and hopefully obtain prosperity, a family and a home --- That was the American Dream. It is these types of historical readings I truly love to immerse myself in so I can get a good understanding of the past, and try to re-create what they actually did and how they did it when I run the fires and hammer the iron. This deeper understanding is what gives me my deeper satisfaction as a blacksmith. I also love making nails but I could never make 200 in two and a half hours ...... Whew !!! Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge S.E. Ohio

I make lots of different frontier/period items as I also do re-enacting ...turn screws (screwdrivers), nails, eating utensils like spoons and forks, fire steels (every one owned at least one), candle holders, beam hooks and about anything else a rifleman or frontier settler family might need. In Ohio prior to 1850, there were very few roads thru the country. What roads that were cut out were poor, rutted and stump strewn. Buffalo traces were the normal route and horses were the better family mode of transportation. Many things families left behind in the east to head to frontier Ohio. When they arrived here, alot of barter went on for goods and services as period documents mention that hard coinage money was difficult to have or keep. Most everything a person used or owned was made either of wood or iron. People preferred wood bowls or truncheons to eat out of instead of china as china quickly dulled the edge of a period blister steel knife. About everyone came to the blacksmith for almost all their wants ... hunting implements, tools, house wares, farming goods, horse needs like bridle bits, stirrups and tack, and including getting their teeth pulled if no doctor was available !! Ohio Rusty The Ohio Frontier Forge

I spent Christmas near Ft. Worth Texas. I had contacted the Texas blacksmith assoc'n to see if there were any smiths near my location that would invite me over. I received an invite from Chuck Stone at Masters Forge in Newark Texas. Chuck is a really great guy and truly a master smith !!!! I also met his son who was working on a knife and his wife Cathy who passed thru the shop to say Hi. I wanted to publicly give kudo's and thanks to Chuck Stone as I really enjoyed my visit and pounding metal in his shop. He has a really nice place there !!!! We made a flint striker, a civil war campfire cooker and I worked on the twist handles for the new anvil stand I'm making (which all can see at the 2015 SOFA get together). It was great to have his guidance and experience on figuring out the bends I needed to make on the handles. Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge S.E. Ohio

Picking up a piece of metal on the floor thinking it was cold ....... Dang that hurt ...... Assume every gun is loaded and every piece of metal is red hot ...... two good rules to live by. Ohio Rusty The Ohio Frontier Forge S.E. Ohio

BTW .... It was great to meet a lot of the other IForgeIron members there and spend some minutes talking with you all. I also enjoyed finding some other folks not far from me that are also doing blacksmithing stuff. QuadState is one of the most valuable resources we have for tools, equipment and meeting others with like interests. There will be a lot of up and coming blacksmiths this year and maybe the list will grow bigger with new people. Someone told me that between Thursday and Friday, more than 100 anvils were sold. I hope any new folks that bought one got some other good equipment so they too can start forging and enjoying poundin' iron !! Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge

I stand close to the anvil about the middle of the anvil, and I broke myself of putting my face over the anvil. 2 or 3 years ago I was hammering pretty firmly to move high carbon metal with a straight peen hammer. One strike I missed the metal and the hammer rebounded up off the anvil and that straight peen hit me square in the forehead and brought blood. Man did that ache for a couple hours. Never again ...... One lesson is enough ... Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge

I missed the group photo by a couple of minutes ..... I really enjoyed talking with all the different folks that stopped by my canopy and trade blanket. I really enjoy talking to folks from other parts of the continent. I did sell some stuff and bought a few things. I'm even. The wife enjoyed being there even though she wasn't very mobile having recent foot surgeries on both feet. You couldn't have asked for a nicer sunny Friday to be at Quad State. .... Today ,..... back at work. Ohio Rusty

I'll be arriving Friday morning and be there thru Friday suppertime. I have to go to work early Saturday morning and do my Volunteer gig on Sunday. If you hear bluegrass music coming from a guy with a trade blanket out and lots of goodies on the trade blanket, that will be me. Stop by introduce yourself and say 'Hi'. Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge

What about an auto junk yard ?? There is bound to be a few of those in the UP. Making the assumption that car/truck leaf springs are 5160 ... they are about 3 inches wide and easily .25 thick. If you were to squeese the width from three inches to 1.5, you could get a half inch thick. My nail header head is easily a half inch thick and was made from a piece of leaf spring I found along the freeway. Not knowing what the final product you want to achieve, If you wanted a perfectly flat mirror finish on the finished bar, it could possibly be machined. Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge

I like the old Nicholson files and Black Diamond files for making flint strikers. I've found a few really rusted or worn out files and they get bought just for making firesteels. Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge

I took a few pics of my nail making stuff. The headers are for using 1/4 inch square or 3/16 square. The left side header has both nail sizes in one header, and I find myself using this header the most. It is made from 5160 leaf spring steel that I scavenged along the freeway. The middle header is the same spring steel and the header on the right is just carbon steel. The two cutting hardy's shown are made from a coil truck spring almost an inch across (sitting on the anvil). Those hardy's fit the pritchel hole. Two different sizes of shaft so they will fit about any anvil or any swage block with a hole. Real handy when you are hammering at different places with different anvils. Lastly the nails .... The one pic shows the nail being formed with the shoulder, then the nicking where the top of the nail would be. This is heated in the forge, the working nail stock stuck into the header hole, the nail snapped off then the head formed into a rosehead nail. Another picture of some of the nails I've been doing. I had some really nice looking ones but a couple were sold and some were given away. I really enjoy making these !!! The nail making history I find fascinating...... Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge

I used a cut off piece from a 20 gauge muzzle loading smoothbore barrel and made a wad punch by sharpening the end. It made excellent over powder/under shot felt wads for the guy's .62 caliber muzzleloader. Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge

Heck yes you can use scrap iron !!! I'm definitely a metal scrounger. I pick up broken leaf springs and pieces of coil spring off the sides of the highway. I've scavenged coil springs and broken/rusted/wore out files for flint strikers. I've been given used up saw blades and mower blades I've used for knife projects. I made an eating spoon from a bolt I found along the road ...... I have lots of different pieces I've picked up I use for different things. About anything metal you'll find it can be used for something. Look at all the different things that have been made from railroad spikes. Use what you have and what is available to you. Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge

John King examined the wrought after I slit open and bent the iron to expose the fibers. He said it looked highly refined to him. That made me feel better about what I had as my wrought knowledge is limited but growing year by year. I just have to remember to keep the wrought at a high heat. Maybe that will break my habit of still working metal when it is at just a red color ............. Carpenters would flatten the nail tip removing the sharp point as the flattened tip would go into the end grain of the wood without splitting the board. This type of nail undertakers preferred for making and closing coffins ..... Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge

You have fun doing this ....... I need to post some pics. I made three nail headers ... one from mild steel and two from 5160 leaf spring. I also made a couple of hot cuts that fit the pritchel hole for nicking the nail rod where it gets snapped off, and they were made from thick coil truck spring. All three headers have been making great nails !!. The punch for the header was made from 4140 rod. I have been making nails over the last 3 weekends. I have been using just mild 1/4 and 3/16 square stock cold rolled. This weekend will be more of a historical adventure as I cut some real wrought iron into thick nail rods I can 'draw' to 1/4 and 3/16. I want to make nails from wrought like all the originals were and this weekend I get to compare wrought to mild steel. The nails will be forged over coal in a hand pumped bellows forge. The only way I can know and understand what the thousands and thousands of both men and women nailors did to make nails is to duplicate how they did it. I'll post pics when I get a chance ...... Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge

I made a mix of melted beeswax, gum spirits of turpentine and some boiled linseed oil. I made something like a spar varnish that protects wood, and a little beeswax helps seal in the other ingredients (like you do for a boat transom so it doesn't rot). I worked that melted ingredients into the top and bottom of the stump with a paint brush. If you still have the bark on, you can seal the ends of the bark with this mixture also also. After two years, I still have no cracks in my stumps. I also have my stumps up off the dirt floor on a pad made of bricks.. That helps stop the bottom of the stump soaking up moisture from my barn floor and start rotting in the future. I also wrapped around the top and bottom a wide strip of metal to make the stumps look more rustic. Note that your stumps will shrink, and you will want to coat the ends of the stump while green. If you don't seal the ends, the ends may split ('check'). (Wood turners do this with green wood so their wood chunks don't split.) A stump can last a long time if you take care of it in the beginning ..... It's just wood ...you need to give it a little protection. Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge

I wish I could get a jack hammer bit or two for free here. In Ohio, they run $11.00 each in used condition. Hardy tools are going for $30 to $35 each in good condition at auctions. Tongs run $20 to $40 depending on condition. You need deep pockets for auctions in Ohio. These prices are now the norm from all the auctions i have been to in the last year or so. Anvil prices have gone out of sight it seems. Most I have seen sold are too expensive. An acquaitance recently purchased a small Trenton anvil in good shape .... but the lowest price he could get was 7 dollars a pound. 4 to 5 dollars a pound is normal around Ohio for anvils of less than stellar quality. One acquaitance of mine was recently at an auction and one buyer was buying ALL the concrete horse figures, large and small. My friend asked him what he was going to do with all those. That buyer said that the Japanese right now are looking to buy lots of American memorabilia and folk art stuff. He said he takes all of the stuff he gets to Georgia, doubles his money and it get shipped from there to Japan. Here is the part that will get under your skin. My friend and the buyer were talking blacksmith stuff, and the buyer said that last year he took 400 anvils to the Georgia resale place, doubled his money and they were all sent to Japan !!! 400 ANVILS !! That is 400 anvils no longer in this country that none of us will ever see again or ever get to use. Supply and demand will make anvil prices alot higher in the near future. Buying cheap anvils and post vices and hardy tools is fast becoming a thing of the past. I remember when you could buy a brand new car off the lot for $3000. Those days are long gone .... just like cheap blacksmith prices are going away faster that you can imagine. If you have the stuff ....you better hang on to it as you won't get it again for the price you paid for it. Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge

So ..... Why is anthracite coal unsuitable for blacksmithing ???? Blacksmiths that live in areas with anthracite coal are unable to do any blacksmithing or are there no blacksmiths in areas with anthracite coal ??? I have also been told over and over that sulfur coal is unsuitable for blacksminthing .... That is all we have in Ohio and It has been working well for the last 5 years. I have a lifetime supply of the stuff .... I just need to let it heat up and the sulfur seems to burn off. Wet it, then it's time to forge. I have some anthracite and I was planning to use it this weekend as it doesn't have the sulfur content like the coal from my area does. Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge

The microwave. I microwave spindles for bow and drill firemaking and the microwave drys out the spindle nicely. If the spindle is damp, it is very difficult to form the glowing coal you need to start a fire. Ohio Rusty ><>

You can always get a tall tree stump or oak wood square , drill a hole for the existing piece of the leg, put that under the vise and remount it to the bench. That will support the weight of the vise until you can figure out if you want top forge weld or weld the leg back on. If you can get your hands on a second post vise with a good leg, mount the broken leg one horizontally onto the bench so now you have a vise with the jaws sticking out so you can do sideways horizontal work. Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge

I'm maybe out 10 or so minutes from Logan .... It still looks as nice and hilly as when you left. I have hunted and fished all over Michigan. I've fished every major river there up to the U.P. ...... A very nice state for outdoorsy people. Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge

This story made me upset. My friend, John King, just went to an auction last weekend. There was a fellow there that bought up all the concrete horses, large and small. John asked the fellow that bought the horses what he planned to do with them. The winning buyer said that the Japanese are wanting anything Americana. He takes it to a place in Georgia to re-sell it and they send it overseas. The buyer noticed my friend had bought some of the blacksmith stuff. He told John that last year he had collected 400 anvils, took them to Georgia, doubled his money and put them all of a cargo ship to Japan !!!! 400 anvils we need here and they are being sent overseas. All in the name of money. ...... Supply will dry up and anvil costs will skyrocket ...... I guarantee that .... Ohio Rusty The Ohio Frontier Forge

If you didn't have your post vise, you would definitely miss it. My post vise serves to hold my cut off hardy that used to be a splitting wedge, I use it to twist square stock, to bend metal back straight again, it is my third hand for holding anything hot and I use my post leg vise for all my wood carving of hammer and axe handles. I would be totally lost without my post leg vise. I have a spare vise put away in case something odd happens to this one. I would be lost without my vise. Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge

..... well ... i probably could, but it's not the same as your 'perfect' hammer. Have you ever put a rifle to your shoulder and the stock was too short and it didn't feel right ?? Ever sat in a car where the seats didn't fit you well ?? Your hammer and handle is alot like that. When you have a hammer that the weight and balance is perfect, the length is right and the handle fits your hand perfectly, then you can forge effectively without thinking about your hammer and having to constantly adjust your grip. My original handle went bad and I needed to remake it ..... It needed to be made exactly like the original to feel right in my hand. The original handle was octagon in shape, it was a bit narrower in the front where your fingers curl around the front of the handle, and it had a sight waist where you held it and flared out slightly again at the bottom. There were no shorcuts (power tools) in duplicating that handle. I don't have electricity in my little smithy anyway. A draw knife, a woodplane and a file were used to duplicate the handle. Now that the hammer is finished .... I can forge on again !! This hammer was a priority !! Ohio Rusty ><> The Ohio Frontier Forge