Timothy Miller

All steel and iron was heated and shaped at some point. So even if you don't do it, it was done on your behalf at some point. How do you think it got into useful that bar shape? For me, at this point having the induction heater and air hammer hot work is where I start. Cold work is for only where I can't do it hot or the tool requires a degree of precision that can't be achieved hot. It takes just as long to walk to the saw as it does to use a hot cut.

Yes all of this is good useable steel but you need to know what you are dealing with. It can be very frustrating to forge a tool from mystery steel and have it be too soft and not hold an edge or have it crack in hardening. For a beginner who may only get a few hours of forging time a week how would it feel to forge a blade from a spring and have be full of cracks because you did not know the steel needed to be oil quenched. Or use a steel that did not have enough carbon to make a good cold chisel capable of cutting iron.

I guess you read that in a book somewhere. Try that with an automotive spring if you can do that I suggest you get into strong man competitions.

Why not just buy some new steel, used auto parts cost money and are not known alloys so proper heat treatment will be by trial and error. Between your time and cash outlay you will be ahead of the game buying some new steel. That being said the best stuff are axles, leaf springs, coil springs, torsion bars and steering linkages. Keep in mind you may expend all of this effort only to get material that is unsuitable to forge what you want to make.

I think for the uninformed hand forged iron work in counter intuitive. They can't imagine how someone could make something like that. They think it was cast or made by some magical machine its just back ground stuff to them. I have noticed that beginner smiths are sometimes upset by such work because they realize how far they have to go and how little they know.

I don't think some one who is only willing to spend $40 to $60 dollars on an anvil has a very high commitment to learning the craft. It takes years to build up equipment and skills.

I don't think its about tradition. Its about mastering forging and being able to make the tools you need on the spot as needed. I make my tongs in a gas forge with a power hammer that's hardly traditional. If you wanted to be traditional you would use wrought iron and forge weld on the reigns. In terms of effort the "traditional way" it is far less work than forging them out of mild steel from one piece.

He can buy an arc welder and a cutting torch but wont spend money on an anvil? The logic defies me.

I got the dovetail fitted and brazed it together yesterday. I had to do a few brazing heats to get enough brass into the joint. I had to do a bit of filing and chiseling to get the excess brass off the threads and continue the threads through the dovetail part.

Nice one, most old mouse holes are very worn form years of hard use.

A tradesman is there to do a job, get in and and out. Their goal or at least it should be is to use the least amount of effort, time and materials to do the job at hand. They need to meet the specifications and satisfy the customer.

I would rate it 3.5 out of 10.

I have done some work for some big deal people in the art world. My contact with these people has made me realize I can't do what they do and they can't do what I do. They pay me to do their work but It would never occur to me to make what they make. Very rich people shell out major cash for this stuff think six figures and up. I look at it as I am a tool in the hands of the artist and I expect to be well compensated and treated with respect.

The craftsman seeks perfection through practice of a craft or process. An artist may be a good craftsman but they primarily are concerned with conveying a thought concept or feeling. The best works are often a thoughtful union of the two. Sometimes the crafts-person transcends conventions and expectations of their discipline and becomes an artist. There are poor artists and sloppy crafts persons.

Did you time it? How long did it take you to get to the point of shaping them in the forge? How long did it take you to lay out the shape before you started cutting?

Plumbers calking iron for packing the joints on cast iron pipes in tight spots. They made many shapes and types.

So I got side tracked for a few days due to a big rush at work. I got the dove tail filed to shape and trimmed. I started to cut the female part in the remainder of the screw with a hacksaw. Luckily wrought iron is soft and easily cut and filed. Next step will be to chisel out the slot and file to fit the other half. I may have to forge a special chisel to do the job.

Door stop

It is useless without a die set in it. It will make the same part all day. Blacksmiths don't do that kind of thing normally. Most of that kind of work was shipped overseas long ago. You could sister the frame with steel plate and bolts.

It is at least mid 19th century if not older.

As a full time smith plasma cutting seems slow and difficult not to mention all of the grinding to get the slag and rough edges off. I can with the (help of a power hammer) forge simple tongs in about 25 min. If I had to do it by hand it would take me about an hour. I don't think its cheating it is avoiding necessary skills you will need down the line though.

Nice work you are getting good fast.

The only ones I have seen were cast iron often with an integral die. It is possible that some were wrought iron but I have never seen one, not that I have seen more than a 3 or 4. I wonder how a build up forging would have held up in this application.

Normally those helve heads were cast iron.

I would recommend you forge it to be more close fitting so the spring can exert full force upon the front jaw. Also make the strap longer so you can use more than two lag bolts, it may work loose over time or the bolts may pull out when the you really exert force on the vise. It is good enough for occasional light work but it probably wont hold up over time.