anvil

Very cool project! Thanks for the detailed share!

Also you might just try a water quench. I've not had any problem with water.

Frosty, you must have misread my post, I don't use BLO as my hot oil finish ever. I use the very traditional mix for both wood and iron of BLO, turps and beeswax.

Cool!

Lol, A grinder will solve your fit problem there. However, if for some reason you can't grind the flatbar to fit the channel profile, and you can 't find actual replacement castings, then I would, as a traditional smith, enjoy using your pattern above and modify the bend area with added material for a forged to dimension right angle bend. The formula is half the thickness of the material added to each side of the bend. Lol, from the simple to the sublime.

Show a pic, that helps. Learning the basics is always hard, no matter what steel you use. There's little difference between a long drawn out experience in life, or drawing out a piece of steel. Same with an upsetting experience. Usually the iron ones get solved easier,,,. Sounds like you are having fun with this, Frosty! Thats cool.

Lol, the Devil's in the details and this detail will prolly be the most expensive part of the job. I like Thomas's idea of starting with the proper sized channel.

I use that finish quite a bit. First apply the brass. The more you brush it, The more brassy it becomes. Then apply your hot oil finish. The finish settles in the low areas and the brass hits the highlights. It makes a really beautiful antique finish. Proper temp is an experience thang for me since its all done at a black heat, which is a pretty large temp range. With "S" hooks and small items, I can apply both in the same heat. I prefer beeswax, blo, and turps for my hot oil finish, Actually, heres the rest of the steps I use. When cool, clean with denatured alcohol, then rub it with a carnuba based paste wax cold. Be aware that when you clean it and especially when you rub on the paste wax, it will remove some of the brass, depending on how hard and how long you rub it. This will remove some, not all, of the brass and adds britework highlights to the finish. The really cool thing is the infinite variations you can get are endless. And its pretty durable, depending on situation. I've used it on anything from "S" hooks to, the largest, an exhaust hood for a 6 burner stove. The frame was made from forged angle covered with a forged strap facade, and sheetmetal. I applied this finish to the sheetmetal. The strap facade Had a hot oil(BLO, beeswax and turps) finish for contrast.It had an exhaust fan, lights, and an air filter system inboard as well.

You almost got it. If the yard guy will do it, support the two ends of the 20' length of 1" hot rolled on two saw horses. Then look at the middle and see if the center is on the diamond. I'm sure it was Turley who said this, and I can remember the bright beautiful day I tested it. Alas, that was '81 or so and I just don't remember the results. I suspect that if it had been contrary to what he said, I would have remembered that, so I'm assuming, because of that, it did end up on the diamond. Hope you give it a try. As far as twist in parent stock, I'ts just my shop practice to cut material to length, then check for twist. two pieces of 1" angle iron 4" long, my post vice and the mark one eyeball tells me where the twist is, then my scrolling wrench straightens it. Its a rare occasion to not have to remove twist and edgebend in stock that comes factory. My mark 1 eyeball is not good enough to see what I can see by adding two simple pieces of angle iron to site down. So you might try this as well. cut a 36" length of half square and clamp one end in your post vice. Leave the top flat a little high above your vice and put your two pieces of angle iron on top and close together. site down and the top edges will tell of twist. move the one angle outwards whilst sighting down and when the top edges are not parallel, that is where the twist begins. Mark with chalk and move the chalk mark to the edge of your post vice and use your twisting wrench to straighten. Then repeat til you are at the end of your piece.

This fine bit of trivia on steel wanting to twist came from Frank Turley. What you said about hammered steel is true as well and can be corrected quite a bit by experience. A 20' length of 1" square is hot rolled, not hammered and to the best of a 30 year old memory, it was on the diamond in the middle. Check it out. I don't know why he specified 1". The purpose is to make people be aware of this and that it needs to be corrected before final assembly, no matter an "S" hook or a railing. When I do a railing, I first cut the pickets to length, then check for and remove twist. On a 30+" length of half square, there is always a little twist that needs to be removed.

Next step is to forgeweld that 1" square...

Nat, nice repair. Now you know what an "upsetting" experience is!

Obviously, fuel usage depends on what you are working on. My routine is to add a 5 gal bucket to my forge in the morning and a 5 gal bucket beside my forge. This usually lasts the day, as a full time smith. If I am forge welding or forging 2" square stock, I use more. If I am forging a bunch of 1/4" finials, I use a lot less. Without knowing the details, its hard to compare the two. I also buy my coal loose and by the ton, which makes a big difference. I don't believe I come anywhere near spending the cost of a 10# propane bottle When using coal for the same time. To be honest, I don't burn propane in my shop, I do use it in other folks shops but I have never really done a detailed cost analysis.

Steel has a natural propensity to twist. I was told if you support the ends of a 20' length of 1" square on the flat, the middle will be on the diamond. I remember trying it, and I think it did, but hey, that was a long time ago. Experience means that when you are done, you will have less twist to remove,,, but there is always a bit of twist.

Nice!, Rojo. And really nice first attempt "S" hooks. Lee

I use the cross peen on my hand hammer to draw a taper for a froe or a knife. Drawing dies ( like a rounded crosspeen) would work for your hammer. They are a good all around set of dies, but I prefer flat dies as my daily driver 25# lil giant dies.

I reread my post and don't know how this happened: "You can't beat a on line forge firepot setup". Should say You cant beat a Centaur forge firepot setup. Sorry for that.

one step at a time.

yup, thats it.

You can't beat a on line forge firepot setup. I've used them since '79. However, I just purchased a new one from someone who advertised here, but I don't remember his name. Both are ~ 10x14 and 4" or so deep. For me, a twyre and clinkerball are mandatory. I prefer cast, but have never used one made a fabbed one. The only difference may be how long they last. I recommend blacksmith coal over anthracite. You should have no problem finding it in your part of the world. Check horse shoe supplies or your local ABANA affiliate. Coke works too. Also I recommend buying a ton when you buy coal or coke. Its far less expensive and you only need to make a single trip every year or so. Of course this depends on your own situation. In my shop I have always used a hand crank, a Champion 400, 14" and swear by it. I've used electric in other shops with no problem as long as there is an air gate to control air. There aren't too many differences. My forge was an antique, a 2'x3' rectangle, cast with a flat bottom and no twyre ranch forge. I cut an opening for my first on line forge firepot and it works well. The versatility of coking coal/coke over gas is well worth it, as you have mentioned.

what kind of hammer? Treadle? Lil Giant? Air with lots of control?

Fireant, nice brackets. They have an Art Noveau look.

Some great advice here! You are well covered. Enjoy

Lol, private opinion, not general advice. Whenever I use a gas forge and turn to my anvil, I just can't get away from the wasted energy when I hear the roar of the dragon and see its long tongue lashing out of the opening. I worked in Prague with a group of smiths in '87. He got his coke from the Gypsies. Who knows where they got it. They still use coke as an easier to get and less expensive fuel source, not to mention the limits a gas forge has when doing large scrolls. Also, I know Joey used coke and he is in your part of the world. Alas, I don't think he is active anymore. Considering the color the world seems to be headed, both coal and gas may be expensive and hard to come by. We all may be making our own charcoal for our fuel supplies.

awesome hammer. Keep us informed