Matt_K

Okay. I'll bite. What are they using broadaxes for on the Solstice? 

 

 

Offerings of cervines to the gods?

This is a question I get almost to the point of annoyance when I'm volunteering at the state park. Here though, I'm willing to get into it in a bit of depth. :D

 

I tend to tap the anvil once or twice as I'm about to hit what I'm working on. At first, I was going to say that it was the equivalent of a verbal 'uh'. A momentary gathering of thought while getting the work where I want it. But thinking on it, I have a more complex explanation. 

I'm looking at my work when I'm placing it on the anvil. I'm unconsciously making decisions on where to put it and where to hit it. I'm also not looking at my hammer. I know where I put it, and I can find it without looking. But... Where did I grab it? I'm one of those Long Handle Guys, so I may have grabbed it a bit to the back, or a bit to the fore. A bounce or two will let me know exactly where the head of that hammer is without having to look, thus saving a full microsecond or four.

 

As for tapping while working, I'm with the Conservation Of Motion crowd. If I know I'm not going to get my piece turned fast enough, or I want to change my grip, or even change to the other hammer face, I'll let the hammer bounce on the anvil before the next actual hit.

 

Three taps between hits? Now you're showin' off and wasting time. :lol:

Matt K, look up the Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum in Vista, lot of good people on staff there that might be available to share an anvil or a meal with you :) it's only about 30 miles north of Carmel Valley

 

Wrong Carmel Valley. :D  Vista is a good six hour drive south of the Monterey peninsula. Thanks for thinking of me though. I used to ride right past there when we would do our 94/Sunrise Highway/Julian runs. Too bad I wasn't interested in blacksmithing at the time.

I'll be heading to Carmel Valley, Ca in a day or two. Only smith that I knew of down there though, closed up shop a few years ago. Land is 'spensive down there!

almost all of those are out of copyright and so probably available at other places; it's the list of names that is the biggest find!

For anyone unaware, Archive.org, Openlibrary, and Project Gutenberg all have a wealth of scanned, out of copyright texts. Lots of blacksmithing, as well as architectural iron design stuff. Lots of duplicates as well. Some books seem to have had the images removed to save space, so remember to look at the notes to see if it includes illustrations.

Late to the party but I believe they still have a couple copies down at The Horse Shoe Barn.

We got a complete set of the V bit bolt tongs as well as the scrolling tongs in the shop a while back. I usually use my personal tongs, but started using a couple of the V bit ones for making bottle openers recently. I like them. Nicely finished, and they do what they're supposed to. And best of all, I don't have to invest in a personal set. Yet. :)

Just don't get an NC with the turning cams on the side. (Unless you're left handed) They're annoying as... well, they're annoying.

Look up butcher block brush that is what they originaly were

 

That right there. I was paying $15 US for the style of brush you're looking for at the local farrier supply. When they couldn't get any more, I stouced them from a restaurant supply for $9 US. Hard to find them with a handle, but I had plenty of handles on the old brushes, so... :)
 

Yeah, I want one too, but I have the same problem as FXS. Just try buying a brass brush. And I mean brass not brass coated steel. I have to import mine from the U.S. - a company called Togmar which produces them for ski board riders. Again, the freight is more than the item value.
If you find a decent butcher's block brush, let us know.

 
Check the local auto parts store for brass brushes. don"t know about australia< but every napa store around here has the large ones for around four dollars

I was given some 303 stainless rems from a local machine shop. And I know I saw this style of opener, made out of a horseshoe somewhere, but I can't find it in this thread, so I guess I saw the design somewhere else. Anyway, I've shamelessly stolen the idea and modified it to work with this stock. Don't like the shape of the punch I used for the tab, so I'll have to make a new one before making the next opener. Ain't that always the way? :D

Farriers, were originally also Veterinarians. Then France opened up a veterinary school, (1848?) and further subdivided things. These days, as mentioned, I think most farriers call themselves that to differentiate themselves from 'ironhangers' or 'shoers' in that they feel they've spent a lot of time working on things like anatomy, biomechanics, and basic medical information, as well as being able to make an orthopedic shoe. They aren't 'just shoers', they're farriers.

Another thing we overlook these days, is that the local blacksmith wasn't always a generalist either. If the town was big enough for several blacksmiths to be employed, they would often specialize so as to get a larger piece of the forging pie. Someone might specialize in harness, another in wagon accoutrements, another in cooking implements, etc.

Are you in THE real Northern Ca or the want to be northern Central LOL  or Southern ??

 

I dunno. Is where they discovered gold in California Real Northern, East Northern, or just Almost Tahoe, But Not Quite?
(I'd put a laughing Smiley in here, but lately all the options have been greyed out.)

So for you guys complaining about a lack of feeling. Have you tried fingerless gloves? That's all I've ever used, and I find them to be a good compromise.

As far as anything hot getting into the glove? Why bother taking the glove off? Everything into the slack tub. No hesitation.

One I have been getting a lot recently is "How hot is the forge?" Well, I don't think the actual numbers mean much to anyone but the odd metalurgist who happens along, and they would know anyway. You could quote any number of degrees really and few would know the difference.

 
I ask the kids how hot the oven at home gets. Then I quadruple it while touching the steel to the wooden anvil stand.  Then I point out the floor is dirt, instead of wood planks. :D
 

(Besides 'very hot', that is!)

 
Every smarthindquarter kid gives me that answer. I head 'em off at the pass nowadays. I tell 'em that one's been used. :P

Nice new anvils in a variety of styles run around $6 a pound. At those prices, I know where I'm buying my next anvil.

If he wants to deal with the paperwork for working in the state parks, he could find one that still has a demo working forge and volunteer there. I have great fun at Coloma once a week, and I don't even have to light my own fire! :D

 

I keep hearing about a shop in Novato, and there is a nice shop in San Juan Bautista. (Miiiight be a bit of a drive tho)

I have never minded the redundant questions and what may be to we blacksmiths as stupid questions which we all get during demonstrations. To me, any questions show at least a passing interest in a craft that not long ago was in its death rattles,

 

Thanks. You've given me a new line to use at the forge I demo at:

Feel free to ask questions. If you ask a question, I know you're interested. If you don't ask questions, I know you enjoy working in a cubicle. :D

 

They always ask me "how long have you been blacksmithing"? I tell them I started about 9 that morning. Ha ha

 

 

"Naw they kept taking the matches away from me until I was 5"

 

 

I'll be stealing those as well. :D

All those stupid Asians and Europeans with their castles made of stone, when they could have just planted a shrubbery for defense.

 

 

Okay. Still laughing. Probably going to have to steal that one.  :lol:

It's kind of a big place. :D  Any particular part of Cali?

Well first ya take water, add honey and raisins, and bring to just below a simmer...........

 

Raisins???  Half a lemon, and a stick of cinnamon. Perfection.  :D

I have yet to make one i feel is good enough to show. (I have a touch of OCD and if the ends aren't even-steven I end up working them to death!)

 

 

Since I tend to try to do everything by eye.. And because my eye isn't so good, I found a fix for slightly uneven ends. And of course, I don't have a pic, but... I bend the longer side in farther, and place the tip of the shorter end against the longer section. And since I usually do horse heads on the ends, they look like they're nuzzling. And the ladies in the gift shop coo and fawn all over 'em.

 

 

 

 

Matt K.  Would it be possible to post a picture of the vise? to the right of your anvil and wood stand in picture number 2 and some information about it?  Thankyou.  Armand

 

 

Don't have any pics of that one. I do have this one of a modified 'faster' swan-necked vice. I personally like the spring-loaded, foot-operated ones, but they don't clamp as firmly for hard work as the more traditional ones do. Link to a source here.

 

 

YES!.... This is what my latest stand is, this is what I meant by "cribbing method" in earlier comment....

 

 

Did not know that. :)

 

Glad to know great minds think alike though. :D

I still like these styles for quick and dirty stands:

 

 

 

 

 

Easy to move, and if you're patient about getting scrap wood, really cheap to make.

If you have a local state park with a blacksmith shop, you may be able to get started for 'free'! All you have to do is volunteer your time. Then you have access to a forge, an anvil, and tongs as well as 'free' steel. (There is a bit of paperwork, so the state can be sure you're not going to snatch up the first child you see, but it's not too tedious.) I'm down in Coloma on Fridays, and it's usually an enjoyable afternoon in the shop. I don't have to set anything up, and I only have to put away what I pulled out. :D

 

Alternatively, according to the Yellow Pages, you have several working shops in Fresno. Stick a nose in around closing time so you don't interrupt their work, and ask about local gatherings or volunteering in the shop.