Clif

Peter, Thanks for the post. Been thinking about making one of these and the kicker spring idea makes a lot of sense. Now to find some springs and...... Many thanks Thomas, did you notice there are 2 chain links on the are where the kicker spring connects? you could put several on the arm to engage the kicker at different heights for your dies. not as fine an adjustment as a turnbuckle but changing would be faster.

Thanks for the replies. I found a guy who makes them not far from here that makes them and has invited me up to look at them and talk about pros and cons. I'll let you know how I get on. be sometime later this month.

Morning all, I'm digging for some info and advise on the English Wheel. I've never worked with any and only seen them used on you tube. My son is retraining into sheet metal fabrication and has been looking at these to add to the shop. the cheapest cast iron one is around £1700 and up. ($2500). Steel tube versions are a quarter the price, but he has heard they will flex, throwing off your work. What do we look for? I realise this could be the proverbial "how long is a piece of string" question, but I'm not sure of what to look for or where to start. Cleon is looking to make custom car and bike parts. so size wise we are looking at 3 - 4 foot neck, and the anvil and shaped wheels will vary, but what are the frame issues we should look for and avoid? any help is welcome Thanks

Thomas and Frosty, Thanks for your expert comments. I have read up on forge welding many times and not gotten quite what the author meant. Your descriptions clicked and I can match them to what I have seen in my forge. I keep going past the watery/melted butter and in to the sparkler range and my weld aren't very good (land look nasty). Again many thanks.

Well Done Marcy, It's both better and more functional than my first weld. Keep going you've got a knack.

Daydream believer, I found this on the UK bladesmiths site. Hope it is close enough for you to get to. James Todd (AFCL) Ltd The Forge Great Warley Brentwood Essex CM13 3JF Tel: 01277 222645 Fax: 01277 224522 e-mail: jamestoddafcl@hotmail.com I live in Ely and have a local coal supplier that carries coke beans. Do a google search for Blacksmith forge coke beans and your should get some hits. coal4you has it by the 1/2 tonne pallet at £292, but that's far too much for me to use up in a reasonable time. check out the baba sit as well. they have a list that might help you. Welcome the craft Clif

Evobob, I use lump wood charcoal for my medieval re-enactments, I burn through a bag the size you showed in a weekend (about 8+ hours of forge work). My first guess would be your putting too much air to your fire, second would be that you're getting a cross breeze that is burning up your charcoal while your working your metal. My first forge was about the size you state your is. I then used fire brick to create an area about 10 inches in diameter in the center ( mine was a flat plate with 1 inch sides). I use a small 2 gallon bucket and will load with about half of it, then work for 1 1/2 to 2 hours without topping up more that a couple of handfuls. the times I burn through more is when I get a med to strong cross wind and my charcoal is burning while I am working at the anvil. I've never used the Royal Oak brand of charcoal. but I have found that the supermarket lump wood is not good quality (mostly mangrove wood) I have found that good local hardwood charcoal is the best. See if you can find mesquite or oak charcoal. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Cooper Elf, Nice work. where about in England are you? I'm up Ely way. Clif

Max, I had/have the same issue. I don't get many opportunities to work with skilled smiths. I spent ages trying forge welding with no success. A friend stopped by the forge one day with a school friend in tow. turned out to be a proper blacksmith (by proper I mean went to school and earns his living from blacksmithing) from down near London. In about 10 seconds he told me what I was doing wrong. I get scrap steel from work, Stainless Steel that is. Arc, MIG, or TIG all day long, never get it fire welded using charcoal or in a gasser. ONE limitation of the self taught method, I do not know how different steels react or what is good for what. As my medieval style forge would not get to welding temps Jude was not able to help me weld that day. I got to make my first weld working with The Iron Dwarf using his coke forge at a different event. it took about 10 mins and some pointers from Dave and I had it. Now have to try it at home. Best of luck. Clif

To all, Great thread , I agree with Laertius, this has gotten a lot of varied imput, which for a newbie like me, with no forge welding (successfull anyway) experiance, the amount of knowledge and veiw points was good reading. Now as an ex-teacher one rule we used was First learned Best learned. So I will agree with Brian that this may not be the best first weld to teach a first time student. What I have not seen are suggestion on what should be the first weld technique taught. Any suggestions? Brian gave his reasons for not liking this weld as it causes thinning and weakness. How can it be improved and made useful to a student? For the Pro camp, I agree that this is a one handed weld technique that keeps it simple for the student. This follows an other teaching rule of KISS. Which brings me back to how do we improve the process for the student? To those of you that have posted pics, THANKS the work is beautifull and way beyond what I can do, great inspiration. Please keep posting.

I was given a 3 inch solid ball used for topping railings. Had the guys in the weld shop weld it to a 3/4 square bar. then to polish it I turned it on the shop lathe using 40 grit sand paper and worked down to 400. still has a few dips but will work for either armour or body work.

Life is always good. Spent Sunday (as this was started then), it the rain (under supervision of the wife) clearing out my end of the garden. 3 trips to the tip (trash dump) later and I found the gas forge and her trellis project that got buried at christmas. Got me hankering to start the brick forge and finish the shed for it that I promised myself a year ago. Thomas - Please post the weather report come Easter and its over 100 down your way. Kids never let me forget the melted easter eggs for the backyard hunt! (San Antonio in '98).

Daniel, Great post, clear and to the point. Loved it. Thanks man.

I grew up on a farm with smithy at the bottom of the garden. Played with the fire and anvil to make small stuff for farm. Learned to junk weld watching my brother. After 25 years touring the world via the USAF, I found myself in England and talking to a reenactment group. couldn't swing a sword due to a should injury (surgery fix that) and their blacksmith had turned to wood turning, so I took over the forge. That was 4 years ago and still loving it and still learning.

The first pair look alot like a ball joint puller I used on my truck. good ideas just keep getting reused else where I guess.