Jerry W.

I was invited to a spring shop by another blacksmith. We were offered some virgin leaf spring stock. Just come get what you want. He thanked us for coming out and getting some as we were leaving. Seemed very backwards to me. I see some nail headers, turning forks and who knows what else. It has been a great day.

It is a shame to ruin a good tool but, if they were going to do it anyway, I would have liked to seen them do it. It took a lot of power to do that.

Balcones Forge is a Central Texas Blacksmith Association. Our annual Bluebonnet Demo will be held at the Sycamore Creek Ranch just out of Marble Falls, Texas from Tuesday, March 25 through Sunday March 30. The featured instructor/demonstrator is Mark Aspery and he will be teaching "Joinery" and "Forge Welding" Tuesday through Friday with the demonstrations held on Saturday and Sunday. There will be a great barbeque dinner on Saturday followed by the Auction. This promises to be another great event. Of the 40 workshop openings, there are a few left for the Tuesday session. The cost is $125.00 for members and $150.00 for non-members. You can see in the attached pic that Balcones Forge and its members have been working very hard to build ten fully functional forging stations for the benefit of its members and the blacksmith community. We would be happy to see you there. Jerry W.

Speed of operation will be an issue using a hand pump. I have one that I was told is 40 tons and I wish it had more umph. One of the members of our group converted a 20 ton gasoline powered log splitter and he uses it to make damascus. In the demonstrations that he has done for us, it has performed very well.

Might be able to offer some help if you post some pics. I spent quite a few years as a lock and safe tech.

Okay, seeing where you are, you might also want to look into the North Texas Blacksmith Association and Saltfork Craftsmen (Oklahoma).

I don't know how deep east you are but, I am in South Texas (Devine) and I am a member of Balcones Forge. Because they are also a great group, I am also a member of Houston Area Blacksmith Association (HABA). We will see some of the LAMA (Louisiana) folks at some of the HABA events. You won't go wrong with any of these groups. Get on the websites as there are a lot of big events coming up in the very near future.

Enjoyed the video. I too am wondering about the burnt sugar and oil. I am hoping you will teach me something here, Jerry

Shawn, I just wanted to make sure that you were aware of a great opportunity. Next weekend, HABA, Balcones Forge, North Texas and LAMA will all be meeting in Bryan, Texas at Steephollow Forgeworks. Lyle Wynn will be the demonstrator. Lyle assisted Brian Brazeal a few years ago at the Balcones Forge workshops and demo. This is a free event but will have an auction of donated items to cover expenses. The information can be found on the Balcones Forge website. This will be a three hour trip for me but I will happily travel the distance as this will be an exceptional event. Jerry

There will be a lot of people from your area meeting at Steephollow Forgeworks in Bryan on Saturday Feb, 22. You can find the information on the Balcones Forge website. They will also be having their big demo later in March. Mark Aspery will be the demonstrator. There are members of the group that will open up the forge at Zilker Park there in Austin. Come on out and see us, it is a great group.

http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/37998-img-0448/ Okay, I finally got it figured out. Here is the pic of the finished anvil. Looking at this now, I think I may follow up and do the same thing to the chain. Good luck, Jerry

I have used Auburn Rust sold by Triple S Steel. It leaves a very nice patina. I would still use the acid bath to remove all of the scale and then after a good cleaning use the Auburn Rust. It has worked very well for me. I welded a new top on a beat up Mouse Hole anvil and this is what I used to finish the project. It is the last picture that I posted in the gallery. I am just not smart enough to post it. Good luck.

Wow Frosty, you really went way above and beyond on this one. The support that we find on the site is tremendous. Thanks, Stay warm, Jerry

You really should get with Balcones Forge. There a lot members as well as board members in and around San Antonio. The experience varies from nothing to amazing. They are very willing to share this knowledge and experience. We are in the process of building 10 fully equipped forging stations for our workshops. We have our workshops the week prior to our big demo (March). This year we have Mark Aspery and he will be covering forge welding and joinery. We are meeting later this month at Steephollow Forgeworks in Bryan. Lyle Wynn will be there early and possibly late with the workshops that they are having. These are great opportunities to see what is out there and get a better idea of what will suit your needs. People tailgate at these events and it is possible that you will find what you need there. Now about the forge - David Starr is a Balcones Forge member and has worked very hard to support the group. There are quite a few of our members that have a Chili Forge and I have yet to hear a complaint. I have seen quite a few of them in action and if I were going to buy a ready built, ready to go forge, this is the direction that I would go. I still use the first propane forge that I purchased for another member. It has and does work well but, it lacks efficiency. I have plans to build two of different sizes with efficiency as my main concern. I am looking forward to the build. If you are interested, PM me and I will get you my contact information, Jerry W.

I have really enjoyed the site over the years. It has helped me with questions that I have had and I hope that I have been able to help others as well. If this thread is an indication of the way things should be or will be, there would come a time when there would be very few new posts as the information will be available in an older thread. I feel that this would not only be bad for those up-and-coming but, those that have been here for awhile as well. We can pick and choose the threads that we choose to follow and we can choose to ignore them as well. One of the most important things that we can do for the perpetuation of the craft is to encourage and educate. I feel like this site has done a very good job of this and hope that it will continue. Thanks to all that have made this happen, Jerry

Okay, I found the book. It is Bill Epps Forges - Angle Iron Projects I actually purchased the book from Iforgeiron a few years ago. The very first project in the book is an angel.

Check out an old thread. I can't figure out how to post an image or a link. Whenever I try the page just freezes. Anyway, there is an older thread that explains a process to add a new anvil face. I have seen three others done in this manner and just completed one of my own. I have pics in the gallery (remember, I am not smart enough to get them here). I am very pleased with the results. Good luck, Jerry >www.iforgeiron.com/topic/16214-signs/

A really good place to start would be with the North Texas Blacksmith Association. They will be meeting with Balcones Forge, HABA (Houston) and LAMA (Louisiana) on Saturday, February 22, 2014. They are having a joint meeting at Steephollow Forgeworks in Bryan, Texas. Lyle Wynn will be the featured demonstrator. There is a lot of show and tell to go along with the demo as well as the four groups competing to see who can build the best hacksaw. Another really great event is the Bluebonnet Demo just out of Marble Falls, Texas. We will have Mark Aspery there to demonstrate for us again this year. This one is late March and you can find all of the details at balconsforge.org.

Bill Epps did some really neat stuff with angle iron. One of them may have been an angel. When I go back out to the shop, I will see if I can find his book and I will check. Good luck.

I have a propane forge build in my future. I have one that works well, but it is wide open and uses a lot of fuel. I want to make it as efficient as possible with doors of some sort that can be closed between heats. I have seen them set up with idler valves that worked two different ways. On some they turn the gas off. With the doors closed the forge would stay hot enough to reignite when they turned the gas on for the next heat. On others they would turn the gas very low to reduce consumption between heats. If I was doing it this way, I would pay extra attention to CO production because these burners aren't designed to run this way. I live in South Texas so I feel your pain. In my case the reduced heat production will be a fringe benefit. Good luck, Jerry

Balcones Forge has a very good following in the Austin area. They will be meeting this Saturday at Stevens Foundry in Bulverde. The details can be found at balconesforge.org. February will be at Steephollow Forgeworks in Bryan, Texas. We will be meeting there along with HABA, LAMA and probably North Texas. Lyle Wynn will be the demonstrator. Along with the demo, they will do another iron smelt. We will have our big event in March, The Bluebonnet Demo. We are very fortunate to have Mark Aspery coming out again this year. This is a really great group. A bunch of smiths with a lot of talent, all of them very willing to share what they know. Come out and see us, we would be happy to have you. Jerry W.