DSW

For a one off, I might simply make the jig out of plywood. It's not hard at all to cut a round with a simple radius jig and a jig saw. You can use that to make a metal ring if need be. Simply screw a piece of metal to the outside of your plywood jig and weld where they meet. I'll often "cheat" and try to find items roughly already the diameter I will need. I have a selection of odd size pipe lengths, rims etc to make things simple. If that doesn't work, there are all sorts of other options. 1st I'd lay out the circle you want on a piece of plate. Then you can use a bending fork and "bump" the bend, checking it against the chalked ring to get it even and smooth. You can do the same thing with a hammer over a hollow like a large hardy hole, or two pieces of round stock. Best bet to to do small changes frequently vs big changes less often. The arches on my forge stand were done cold on the anvil over the hardy hole with a hammer. Stock is 1" x 1/2" It was a bit too heavy to do the bends with a bending fork easily. Distance across is roughly 24".

Shoulder rehab? Sounds like the ideal excuse to invest in a power hammer myself.

I made a lot of friends in college because I was one of the few who thought to bring tools along with them, especially power tools. They became especially useful once we started to do our architectural projects and needed to do models and sections. If I'd been more into smithing at that time, I could easily have seen me with an anvil and forge in my room. I did have a small bandsaw, table saw, stationary belt sander stored under my bed besides all my small tools like drills, circular saw, hand tools etc.

IIRC ... If I remember/recall correctly.

I really like that look. I'm thinking you used rebar or threaded rod as your base stock to get that look. What did you do to get the dark and silver look to it? Sand the surface lightly?

You are assuming they are quenching in water, not oil. Flames and oil in a plastic bucket has "BAD IDEA" written all over it. Monster Metal here had that shop fire caused by quench oil and I'm betting he had a metal quench tub.

Nice looking anvil. I have always liked those long graceful anvils like Trentons personally for some reason, so that one really appeals to me. That's as opposed to some that are more blocky like my Badger. It's an aesthetic thing more than anything. Sort of like how some guys like thin women vs ones with more meat on their bones. I certainly wouldn't choose to do sledge work over the heel on that anvil, but I wouldn't hesitate to do most forging on that anvil. Hard to get a good feel for size in that pict, but it looks like it's at least 150 lbs.

That's not a swage block, it's additional vehicle ballast to gain traction in the snow and ice. Also doubles as a handy door stop in high wind conditions...

I'm not 100% sure I can envision what you are describing. If you are talking about the typical set screw arrangement similar to how many bath fixtures and all are installed today, I personally wouldn't use a set screw unless you locktite them. I see way too many back off under even minimal use. I'd look at something like possibly a roll pin driven in a thru hole possibly or a "bolt" that threads into the stud itself. I'll be curious to see what your handles look like. I do some work occasionally for a church/school and am always on the lookout for project ideas that might interest them.

Frosty is commenting about the site bug we have here where you type out a reply and submit it, but the site doesn't record it and you loose all that you typed. It's an intermittent bug and doesn't happen all the time. It does seem to be happening again more frequently than it was. Comments like his are designed to let the powers that be realize that the problem hasn't gone away or been fixed yet. Many of us are trying to be patient about these issues but still want management to understand that there are frequent frustrating problems.

Now figure out a way to have the spike head be the thumb latch for the door handle...

Mods please merge with original thread.... This thread will answer most of your questions easier than me retyping most of it. I'm doing 1/2" and 3/8" crosses. I haven't tried any 1/4" ones yet but I will at some point. I need a better saw that what I'm using now. As far as ideas, do a google search on shows and put Iforgeiron in the search and it may bring up a bunch of previous discussions on the subject. A few picts of my last display to give you a few ideas. "Table" is an old barn door. Upright panel is some bead board left over from a job to help get things up off the table so people can see them at a distance. I was kind of limited where they stuck me. I can't find picts of the demo at the Grange fair right now. That display was a lot nicer.

Stupid dissapearing post issue again...GRRRRR!. Key chains ( leaf, animal heads, split crosses), RR spike items, Horse shoe items, bottle openers, dinner triangles, plant hangers, S hooks... The list goes on and on. I like to price my stuff in the $5, $10, $15, and $20 range as well as have a few other more expensive items that show off my skill set to possibly pick up commissions. That makes making change easy ( I get a wad of $5 and a few $10 bills to make change with) and are reasonably priced for "impulse" sales. You might also think about getting some business cards made up. Vistaprint often has offers for inexpensive cards. that way someone will be able to get in touch with you later. I had a customer who bought one of my openers this summer contact me for a few more for Christmas presents in November. I brought over a dozen or so to give them some selection and they bought every one of them. Selling is more than just items. A big part of it is presentation. If I am doing a demo, I can usually sell almost every leaf key chain, split cross, or bottle opener I make to some one in the crowd who is watching. If not I'll often sell them one of the "spares" I have out on the table.

That works. It's nice to see twists on "round" stock. Everyone twists square, but you don't often see twists with round for what ever reason.

I can remember back in 1981-85 openly wearing a Buck folder in a sheath all thru Jr high and most of High school just like most of the guys (and many girls) did out in Kisap Co. Wa. A few wore smallish 4-6" fixed blade sheath knives. Today I worry if I'm going to cause issues when I'm working in the school doing repairs and have a utility knife or Leatherman. I'd hate to work in one of the public schools with the metal detectors and guards as something as simple as a pocket knife can get the whole school district locked down.

Das I like the one you are using to hold the lantern. I was thinking though I might turn that one upside down so the head is facing down with the hook up. I'd also maybe flip the head direction and angle it out away from the wall after the mounting hole. That would give you a double hook. Hang your jacket or coat on the spike head, and yout hat on the drawn out upper hook. if that makes sense. I think the spike and rail lantern fit quite well also.

Hello and welcome. It might pay to take a minute and list where you live in your profile. You may be surprised at how many members live within a reasonable distance. It can help when asking questions about where to get materials, and guys who know you are in the area may offer to help you learn, or make a point of mentioning local blacksmithing clubs or events you might like to think of attending. Most here are more than willing to help a youngster learn to grow and enjoy this hobby of ours. You have to help us help you however.

Actually open carry in Texas is legal now, but you still have to have a permit to carry unlike other states where open carry is legal without needing a carry permit.

Great job. I have been putting off doing a set of tongs I need to make trying to catch up on presents I didn't get to before Christmas. I'd planned to do something very similar to what you did. The picts just reinforce what I vaguely remember from the last time I did one. Thanks. What did you use as base stock, 1" x 3/8"?

I wonder if this is a project you are ready to take on at your level of experience. I'm not sure with my years of experience I would want to take on this challenge with the high level of craftsmanship I'd expect it to require. One thing to keep in mind is that restaurants frequently "loose" silverware if they get trashed by accident. You may need to make more than 30 sets, or be prepared to later replicate the patterns if they loose some. As far as making the swage, I'd probably grab myself a few pieces of 4140. I'd choose that because it's easy for me to get locally, and I have a fair amount of experience heat treating it. I'd taper and upset one piece to fit my anvils hardy hole as my bottom swage. The 2nd I'd shape as a top tool to forge the spoon shape into the swage. I'd probably make 2 tools. One as a "roughing" tool to use to form 90% of the shape, and a 2nd one as a "final "tool because the heavy forging will probably distort the shape some and I'd rather have my finished profile done before starting. That may not be necessary depending on what you make the tool from and if it's hardened and treated or not. I'd probably fuller around the tool and use a rod handle vs punching and drifting since it's easier to do that by myself. The top tool will also be useful to shape your final spoons. You may also have to do some grinding with a die grinder to finish up the forged shape and smooth it out. Included are picts of the simple bark swage I made up for my wine rack earlier this year. Idea is the same as what you are going to need to do. Only real difference is I welded the shank to my piece rather than forge it all from one piece since I only needed it for limited use. I this case I didn't need a final top tool as the hammer was used to drive in the stock.

The disappearing posts issue is an ongoing site bug where posts you submit simply disappear and are not recorded. I just lost a 2nd one, give me a few minutes to retype it all again....

Darn disappearing posts just got me again... GRRR!!!

If it's a commercially made forge, chances are you can get a lining kit for it from the manufacturer if it's deteriorated severely. Picts of the forge might help someone identify it if you don't know who made it.

Spoon swage would be a tougher find. "Cheap" doesn't help. Other than forging the shape into a block, my 2nd thought would be machining one in using a CNC mill. In some ways I almost wished I'd been doing more forging when I took my night class in machining. There's all sorts of things I could have made with access to the schools machine shop vs making the small "make work" projects they had us do.

What are you trying to do and where are you located? Plenty of places sell swage blocks both new and used. Simple ones can be made relatively easily. I've made basic swages for use in the hardy hole of the anvil. I've also got a decent sized ( 3"x4"x6") chunk of steel I've been tempted to drill so I have half rounds of various sizes, or rig it up on my small mill and mill out V groves in the side to fill in the smaller sizes my big swage doesn't have.