David Einhorn

Have you tried lock nuts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locknut) , or castle nut (http://www.fastenal.com/web/products/detail.ex?sku=90692) ?

Sounds like a decent deal to me.

Very nice. .... Have you considered mounting it on pivot pins?

Welcome! That is good advice from WayneCoe.

Or short lengths of angle iron. Cut the angle iron half way at the bend, then bend those cut pieces back to form a lip to keep the angle iron pieces from slipping through the hole.

Good score!

You can make adapters to allow tools of smaller shafts to fit into your 1 1/4" hardy hole.

I have accessed the feature so that I will not see any more postings by a person who will not be mentioned, and blocked messages so that don't get any more warnings to "stay out of (his) way".

I'm not a rocket scientist, but my humble experience is this: - I have one chair that I can sit in pain-free. When I strained my back last year, it was the only one that I could sit in without massive pain. It was made by Herman Miller. - On occasions that I have tired myself out from using hammers, by picking up a balanced hammer and using it, it was like getting my second wind. - When using a balanced hammer head, I have less pain in my shoulder. In case anyone is interested in a little reading, I have an older edition by Barlow that I enjoyed reading as part of a course that I took when pursuing my first Masters Degree : - Single-Case Research Designs: Methods for Clinical and Applied Settings (paperback) Alan E. Kazdin (Author) - Single Case Experimental Designs: Strategies for Studying Behavior Change (3rd Edition) [Paperback] David H. Barlow (Author) It is very unfortunate that when conversation returns to this topic that certain individuals return to insulting bullying postings. ** Could a moderator please close this thread?**

WARNING: Norton security software told me that the euroforgi.. website tried to attack my computer when I went to that web site.

I tend to agree with you, and have held pretty much the same opinion that you have described for several years. When looking at the videos (including ) it is a bit difficult to see their forge, but that said, the wheels with tires, spokes and fellows that appear to be mid to late 19th to 20th century 48 inch standard farm wheels. Didn't they use solid wooden plank-type wheels back then? The forge cart appears, at best, to be a hand cart.... I would like to see them try to move it a couple of miles by hand, as it would be fun to see them try... especially over muddy fields and muddy medieval roads. ;-) I especially love their clean and absolutely white shirts. Wouldn't they have more likely worn homespun or some other off-white shirt? And isn't purple called Royal Purple due to the expense of purple dye from the east? Maybe they are noblemen that are slumming it? ;-) If you are going to do medieval events, my advice would be to build a small portable wooden forge, stick a bellows nozzle through a hole in the back and line the bottom of the fireplace with dirt and/or brick. Either that or even better to dig a hole in the ground and the bellows nozzle into the hole. Form follows function, and in my humble opinion, a hand cart would not have worked very well if at all especially in medieval times. So in summary, the wheels are from many centuries later, and my humble opinion of a hand cart is that hand carts are just plain too silly to be historically correct. At least they are using bellows, so that is a big big plus that makes their other stuff very very forgivable in my eyes. It seems to be a reasonably decent presentation where they have made sufficient effort and expense to do the best that they can. No one's presentation is perfect, especially due affordability limitations. All things considered they seem to be doing a decent presentation.

Hi Wayne, A somewhat controversial topic/question. In over 39 years of interest in the subject I have yet to come across any documentary evidence of a Medieval traveling forge, or Medieval forge cart. Unfortunately it appears that gossip and word-of-mouth, as well as optimistic imaginations seem to be the main sources of information used by *most* reenactors to justify the historical accuracy of their equipment. One very nice but imaginative smith even went so far as to write a book justifying his "civilian traveling forge" as supposedly being accurate for use with the U.S. Army during the American Civil War. He is a very nice guy, but his book is a combination of poor logic, hopeful thinking, and just plain silly. It takes a brave soul with solid self-esteem to admit to the public that their equipment is their best guess but that there is no physical documented historical evidence of the type of forge they are presenting at an historical presentation. Again, be very leery of any forge cart that is presented as an historically correct forge or traveling forge especially if it is built as a *hand cart* (short handles)!

When people think historically about the word "cart" they tend to think *hand cart*, however having a hand cart to move blacksmith equipment more than a few feet let alone miles tends to be impracticable. Instead think horse cart, a larger affair designed to be drawn by a horse. Besides size of the cart, the other main difference between a hand cart and a horse cart is the difference between short wooden handles that would be expected on a hand cart, versus long curved wooden members designed to stretch along side of a horse for fastening to be drawn. Here are three 1700s military forge horse carts (traveling forges), one American, one German, and one French. You will note the long poles in the front of each "cart" so as to be pulled by a horse. By the 1800s the "carts" of various countries evolved into designs that were more wagon than cart in nature either with the forge attached to a limber or forge built as a one-piece wagon. By 1865 you start to see patents for increasingly portable sheet-metal forges, at first with bellows, then with blowers after the American Civil War.

I welded a short piece of square tubing to the back of one of my wrenches. I use it in the hardy hole of my small portable anvils as a small vise for twisting and bending at public demonstrations where people can see what I am doing up close.

My first forge was a wood forge 2ft by 2ft with 2 by 4 sides and a plywood bottom, with 2 by 4 legs. The air supply was simply black pipe, with a cap on the end that had a slit cut in the cap. I found a store in a historic district that allowed me to set up in front of his shop. I left the forge there and carried a small bellows to and from his shop. Years later I found myself living two blocks from the Museum of Industry in Baltimore. They had a small blacksmith shop inside the museum that I volunteered with for a short while. Now I have my own shop, but many beginner smiths in the area use the local guild's forges twice a month when the blacksmith school is open to members' use, and they also have the opportunity to volunteer in the historic museum shop at the same location. My advice is to join a local group and see what they suggest.

1) You might wish to move your coal bin a bit further away from your forge. 2) Remember to keep an appropriate space between a forge and a wood framing or wall. 3) Build as large of a building as you can afford. 4) Frame a large doorway opening in the wall where your have your stock rack, that you can open into a doorway later when you decide to expand. 5) Construction elements need to be calculated on 2 foot intervals. Unless you have found siding that is over 4 feet wide, your framing as shown does not provide wood to nail your siding to.

My advice is to join a local blacksmith guild or three, and take a few courses either in Virginia or Maryland. - Central Virginia Blacksmith Guild http://cvbg.org/ - Blacksmith Guild of the Potomac http://www.bgop.org/ - Blacksmith Guild of Central Maryland http://www.bgcmonline.org/ - Mid-Atlantic Smiths Association http://masametalsmiths.org/ - Tidewater Blacksmith Guild http://tidewaterblacksmiths.com/index.html

That anvil is a steel plate welded to a wrought iron body. How much thickness of the steel plate is left after using the grinder?

Skipjack Press is one of the companies that was purchased by Kinney http://www.finney-hobar.com/skipjack.htm

A couple of points, first like Mr. Brazeal said, your first consideration is to properly face your hammers. It is difficult to describe facing hammers but that said, the face should be slightly domed with the edges and corners rounded. Properly faced hammers are less likely to leave dents in your work or your anvil. Secondly, work near the edge of your anvil. That way if you miss your work, your hammer is more likely to hit either air, or a spot somewhere on your work piece. Also when working at the edge, your hammer is less likely to touch the anvil when tapering an edge of your workpiece. Thirdly, practice hammer control and good posture. With practice, working near the edge of the anvil, and with a properly faced hammer, your work experience will be more pleasant, you will get more accomplished in less time, and your equipment will remain in excellent condition.

Years ago I met a young man who was demonstrating at the yearly blacksmith event in Delaware. He said that he went to a university for a degree in design, then went to Europe as a journeyman in shops in more than one country there. After that he returned to the U.S. to open his own shop doing high-end artist-blacksmith projects mostly for the homes of the wealthy. It depends on what you want to eventually have as a goal. What category of blacksmithing are you planning for yourself, and what do you have to do to get there? My advice is to find someone successfully making a living at what you want to do, and ask them how they got there.

The answers depend on what you have available and your preferences in how to build a forge. My advice is to visit area blacksmiths, and try out as many forges as possible to see what fits your needs and style of working. That said, fire pots are designed to maximize your experience by creating a coal fire with a neutral zone to heat your metal, heating up your metal quickly and minimizing destruction of your steel's surface. 3' by 2' is a decent surface area but 2-3" sides will have coal falling off the sides , I recommend 5-6" sides with cut-outs. The thickness of the material is not crucial, I have an old Buffalo forge with sheet metal sides and bottom supporting a firepot. A coating of cement or refractory will protect a thin bottom.

Here's one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/320923194953?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

If I remember correctly, there was some discussion on the forum about installing ironwork and federal lead certification requirement. http://contractormag.com/news/lead-certification-2345

The forge at Old Sturbridge Village is where I was first inspired as a child to have an interest in blacksmithing. I would like to some day visit the Philadelphia Blacksmith's Guild, as anything that Stewart associates with must be worth seeing.