Neil Blythin

They may be built to take a beating Steve - but there sure are a lot of busted anvils kicking around! Tough, not indestructible.

Purposeful? Or perhaps the 'break' was cleaned up. If I managed to break the horn off an anvil, I wouldn't leave the break all jagged. Looks like it'd make a great upsetting block!

I'm very excited to see this! The new TV series "METAL MASTERS" premieres tonight on the History channel. This new blacksmithing show features the guys from Thak Ironworks (Robb Martin & Ryan Leis). Robb is an active, long time member of the Ontario Artist Blacksmith's Association, and does an awful lot of teaching. Many an Ontario blacksmith has started out with one of Robb's courses. I really hope this show does well! Info is here: http://www.history.ca/metal-masters/episode-guide/metal-masters/

It's not that I'm overly surprised that the Chinese manufacturer would add the zinc. I'm surprised that the American & Canadian consumers that shop at places like Harbor Freight & Princess Auto would buy them. The retailers wouldn't import things that don't sell. Obviously some people who weld are buying these - if not, the store wouldn't stock them. It's like with the cast iron ASO's ... Someone must be buying them. And buying enough of them that they keep making & importing them. It boggles the mind.

I was just browsing through the current sale flyer for Princess Auto (Canada's version of Harbor Freight)... One item that looked interesting, was a small fold-away welding table. I thought it'd make a handy portable work/tool table for doing demos. Then I looked at the description. The top (which appears to be some kind of expanded metal / hardware cloth) is zinc coated. Really? Why would they do this? Are people who weld not as concerned about zinc as we are? And if not, why not? I'd have to assume that zinc/galvanized is just as apt to burn off from the heat of welding, as it is with anything we're doing. I just don't get why anyone would zinc coat anything that's intended use puts it in contact with extreme heat! I know these stores mostly sell cheap imported junk, but still. Zinc is as dangerous to Chinese lungs as it is to a North Americans. And they certainly do enough welding over there...

Modelling clay (play dough works in a pinch, but dries out). Helps me visualize what I want to do, and figure out material requirements.

Yes, for some reason, people tend to give 'artists' far more wiggle room as to how, when and where they make their art. Far fewer questions than if they think you're running a business.

Likely not the cause in this case Matt (as I was using a gas forge); but that's good to keep in mind if anyone runs into similar issues with a solid fuel forge. Thanks!

Apparently, I didn't know to specify either. So I happened to call over to my local Metals Supermarket this afternoon. Generally, their cold rolled is 1018 and their hot rolled is A36. Not sure the cost difference, but will certainly specify 1018 next time.

Thanks guys. I suspect you're right. I've been getting my steel from Metal Supermarkets, had run out of 3/8" and just restocked. I'm guessing they gave me whatever they had on hand. Ah nuts! I've got 80' of this stuff to use up - and do a lot of twists with the smaller scale items like this. :-( Well, lesson learned. I'll me more specific the next time I go shopping. Cheers, Neil

I've *never* had a problem with this before, and am a bit stumped as to what's happening... I made a couple of handles yesterday out if 3/8" square hot rolled mild steel. Just finished wire brushing them (after a vinegar bath to remove scale), and noticed cracks along the edges of the twist. I twist well into the oranges (and understand this stuff can be twisted cold), so I can't imagine that was an issue. Again, I've never run into this with mild steel before. Any thoughts? Alright, here we go with some photos.

But in answer to the original question, mine was some plate/clip things I made for a stone mason. I still don't know what they're properly called, apparently they were commonly used in Europe in centuries past. The client had seen them in a garden wall at Versailles, took a photo, showed it to my mason friend, who asked "can you make something like this?". "Yes. Yes I can".

Define 'making a profit'?... You can make a hook from $0.05 of mild steel and sell it for a few dollars, and it won't have taken long or used much fuel to do so. But it'd sure take a while before you've paid for forge(s), anvil(s), tools, books, courses, association memberships, etc. I'm making some money on things that I've made, but I'm not yet to the point where all of my smithing activities are paid for. A lot of knife makers seem to have success turning a few dollars of material into something that can fetch a good price .... although I can only imagine it takes a fair bit of time doing all the finishing work. How much are they earning broken down to an hourly rate? As mentioned above, it can certainly become a self-sustaining hobby. But it's a big step to jump from that point, to an actual working professional.

If there is a demand for it, have any of you with a larger shop considered buying a drum of one of these, portioning it out and selling it? Perhaps if you ideally want a smaller amount (1/2 drum), buy a full one and sell the rest... A lot of materials handling suppliers sell empty pint, quart & gallon containers very cheaply.

And you're happy breathing that stuff in when it burns?

Garage / yard sales are a great place to find tools (especially this time of year). You should be able to lay your hands on an old ball peen for a couple of dollars. Sounds like you're in desperate need of a better heat source. Even if you plan on sticking with very small scale work, you may want to consider making one of those small (one or two brick) gas forges that are run off a standard plumbing torch. I've never made one, but have seen a lot of videos where they look pretty simple yet effective. As for stock, drill rod comes in some very small diameters...

I will of course post photos of the build! I don't have the time just at the moment, but am anxious to start on it soon. I've actually just dragged the sewing machine base out of storage today, ready to remove the top and see what I have to work with. I'm aiming for a forge that's small and compact (the top not much beyond the footprint of the base), so that it'll lay flat in the back of my pick-up with the fibreglass tonneau cover closed. And I don't plan on tackling any big projects while doing demos, so it won't need to be much of a forge. I'm still trying to figure out what I'll use as a blower. The only hand crank I have is a Royal Western Chief - which I think will be a bit big for what I want; and would also mean taking it off of my big coal forge every time I want to use the small one... So, we'll see. I'm currently watching Kijiji & CL to see if something smaller (and affordable) shows up in the next while.

I came across a very unusual, but very neat looking forge on Pinterest. It was built on the cast iron base from an old (treadle type) sewing machine. I've done a web search, but can only find this thing on pinterest now (the original blog that the photo links to is gone). Anyways, I happen to love the idea, and also happen to have such a base from an old Singer machine ... so am thinking of building one. The one I saw a photo of had a hand cranked blower; but I'm thinking about finding some way of using the sewing machines original treadle and some kind of a foot powered blower. Perhaps operating an English round bellows or something like that. Wondering if anyone has seen a forge like the one I'm describing (or have built something like it). I'd love to see some more photos other than the one photo I see over and over again online. I'd also be interesting in hearing any feedback / ideas as far as a treadle operated bellows or blower. I'm thinking of using this as a small portable forge for demos, where I usually burn charcoal (less smoke, or at least less obnoxious smoke), which means I wouldn't require much in the way of an air blast. Cheers, Neil p.s. This is the photo that's sparked this idea. Again, the original blog that pinterest links to is gone, so no idea whose forge this is or where its from...

I don't want to come across as trying to talk you out of using a coal forge. I love using solid fuel forges, and do so often. But your situation sounds like it's the ideal use of a gas forge... Come home from work, spark it up and you're hammering in 5 minutes. Shut it off, and you're done.

That's quite the generality. Not as good in what application? I don't see a lot of forged swage blocks around, but lots of nice cast steel ones. There are some mighty fine cast anvils as well... Although those are no doubt beyond what individuals are making at home with their backyard foundry.

Matt, if you take a look at the ABANA website, their education section has a self-study cirriculum called "controlled hand forging". It's freely available, you don't have to be an association member to access that part of the website. Just work your way through the 'lessons'. It's things like drawing a taper, upsetting, punching, drifting. All of the basic forging processes. They're 'techniques' based rather than 'project' based lessons. Meaning, you're starting with a bit if square bar and drawing a taper on it; at the end all you have is a tapered bar, not a hook. But once you learn and practice all of the individual processes, you can easily apply them to making whatever you like. It's well worth the effort of going through the exercises.

When I was getting started, I took a weekend long basic/introductory course (well, after playing around on my own and not accomplishing much). The course I took was, in my opinion, really well planned for a progression of skills from a very simple project up to more complicated. And I have replicated the same progression whenever teaching or coaching others who are starting off. That first course started with a simple hook (Friday evening). The following morning (first full day), we did the same hook again, them a leaf hook. We then moved on to a coal rake, tongs, and forging a cold chisel that went into vermiculite overnight to anneal. The next day, it was a roasting fork, heat treating the cold chisel, a strap hinge and finally a flint striker. It was a very rewarding weekend, felt like a very natural progression as far as building on skills and level of difficulty, and helped develop a lot of confidence for moving forward on my own at home. It feels odd posting photos of my work from so long ago (looks crude to me now); but there it is. My very first efforts. Should give you some ideas for beginner projects. The cold chisel is a piece of coil spring. The flint striker is W1. Everything else was mild steel.

My gasser gets the same way after a while. I flip the brick over when it gets too sticky. Once the second side gets the same, I replace the brick. I keep the old gummed up bricks to close off the back door / pass thru of my forge when I want extra heat for welding.

If you want/need sharper edges, just get or make yourself a square block that fits the hardy. You can give each edge of the block a different radius. No need to do anything drastic to a serviceable old anvil.

For those of you who make a lot of bottle openers (and many of them are beautifully done by the way); I'm wondering - are there certain critical measurements in the working end? i.e. the 'lip' that grabs the bottom edge of the cap should be a particular size, and it should be 'x' distance from the part that rests on the top of the cap? I've only made a few openers, they're not really my area of interest, but have been asked to make one on occasion. Mine have been a bit 'hit and miss' as to how well they function. They've all worked, but some seem to take a bit more effort, or want to slip off. Cheers, Neil