Joel OF

I hit the skin back off the tip of my thumb. I was very lucky I didn't do a lot worse because at the time I was cold cutting a bit of 6mm round wire and had my thumb been further forward over the cold cut... Not concentrating was the cause, I remember thinking "I'll just do this quickly before I call it a day". It was one of those 'no blood, no blood, no blood, then BLOOD' injuries . I've taken chunks of skin off my finger tips too when my leg vice tightening arm has fallen through the hole quickly and my finger tip has been squished between the arm and the hole. That's always a joyous occassion. That always happens when one hand is by the vice and another is reaching for the twisting wrench.

Cheers. Well they are what they are, but like I say they're good things to try variations on...round stock vs square stock, fish tails or finnials, twists, reverse twists etc... Rob, if this is literally the first time you're picking up the hammer and giving some metal a whack I wouldn't worry too much about having a project in mind, I'd just get a lenth of 10mm+ round stock and learn tapering! When you've learnt tapering, learn how to put a finnial scroll on it. That's what I did anyway, and when I'd done it I just cut it off and did it again. Sometimes I find it can be kinda demoralising taking on a project as a beginner because you'll inevitably hit a problem, (and sods law it'll be near the end), and the whole thing is ruined and you've got to start again...whereas if you practice the little elements like tapering and scrolling seperately, when it comes to forging a hook or whatever, you've got the practice at it to just put it all together like a jigsaw. I should probably follow my own advice there because I fail miserably every time I try tongs, I always end up throwing my toys out of my pram and storming off swearing.

Hi Rob, I'm a beginner too and realistically only a little further down the line than you. My 2 cents worth is: make a few of whatever it is you're trying to forge and try to make them exactly the same. I've found that I've learnt the most about how metal moves, where to hit, how hard to hit and all the rest when you're trying to make things identical. For me that's been especially true of scrolling, and more to the point, undoing a scroll that isn't quite right. I couldn't agree more with what Nobody Special said about hooks because there's endless design variations, and if you end up swimming in hooks as Vaughn said, get a chunk of wood, tap a few in and take them down to a local ironmongers and see if they'll sell them "sale or return", that's what I did. Even these aren't perfect but at least they're outta the house haha!

I recently overheard a smith (who was a volunteer at a working museum) telling a member of the public that large chain used to be forged by 5 guys. There'd be 3 swinging a 3 handled hammer & 2 guys that would help get the hammer back up in the air on the rebound by somehow. He also went on to say that the buyers were allowed to have a section cut out & tested before committing to buy the whole length...but because the company buyers weren't the sort of guys to get their hands dirty they'd never actually take away a test section...so the company making the chain wouldn't cut sections out needlessly & always dragged out the same 1 section they cut out years ago & just pretended it was from the length they had just forged. I don't know what sort of size chain he was talking about or what period in history, but it all sounded good anyway.

Cheers for the food for thought rthibeau. Yeah Ian, I'm going to a boot fair tomorrow for a hunt around. I do constantly hunt in salvage yards, junk shops and the like.

Nah, no refunds on something ordered in special. Shame these companies don't do 1.25kg / 2.75lbs.

Cheers folks. Thanks Tim, I had seen the Kennedy hammers on the Cromwell site before but assumed they'd be poor quality because (relatively speaking) they're so cheap. Somehow even though I scrolled through their branch list 2 or 3 times I missed that Rochester branch so maybe I'll mosey on up there. Whilst I've got your attentions, what do you all think of this pattern of hammer? http://c.shld.net/rpx/i/s/pi/mp/8145/635073811?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.downloadedimages.com%2FImagesJuly%2F31SRYu8oQdL.SL500AA300.jpg&d=4177c7c8d40291a86d0d2a63199cb70964776372

I've got two questions which are kinda interlinked... 1) What do you think about buying hammers without being able to feel them? I.e over the internet or having to pay a shop upfront before they'll order it in. 2) I've just come across the brand Gedore, does anyone know if they're any good? Can you guess the link? ;) I'm not keen on the idea of spending £30 on a hammer I can't feel before I part with my money but there's no shops anywhere near me (as far as I know) that stock German pattern hammers, AKA "engineers' hammers".

Only if you struggle with keeping a coke fire going and lose time messing around with it when you could be spending the time hitting hot steel from an easier to manage coal fire. Other than that, no. Whatever fuel you use don't be stingey, get a good deep mound piled up, say 6 inches deep, and you'll have more joy with the coal/coke retaining heat so that when you're away from the fire and not cranking the blower the fire isn't dying too quickly.

Ditto what Gustav said. Ontop of that I'd say that coal was probably the better choice if you're just starting out because coke is "higher maintenance" and requires a little more attention regarding air supply. There's a million and one threads on the forum about coal vs coke so if you do a search you could read till your eyes bleed. One other thing: other users of the forum will want as much info as possible about your setup to help them give you a better answer. I.E how big is your fire pot, do you have a forge table to mound coals up, what is your air supply, is it a side blast or bottom blast forge, what size of coals are you using etc etc etc. Kiss goodbye to any social life you had and welcome to the addicting world of forging...

Cheers Basher, I've looked through the BABA site a few times for smiths in Kent, I think it's a bit out of date as it lists some guys as being in Kent but then when you go to their sites they're in another county all together! It lists you as being in Kent, nudge nudge wink wink... Cheers Beth. Originally the idea was to do a "Amazing Workshop" one not exclusive to blacksmiths but then I thought why not do a range. I'd like to do an "Independent Woodyard and Coppicers" one too. The whole idea is to promote independent businesses/crafts. There's a woodsman/coppicer/timber framer down the road from me who's been pretty generous to me and let me buy his "junk" to help clear his yard. (To him it might be junk but to me it's incredibly useful!!!) Huge square chunks of oak beam: £1. (Made an anvil stand out of some of that). Six foot lengths of oak slabs: £1. (Clad my smithy out of that). Six foot slabs of yew: £1. Be nice to spread the word about these kinda guys...make the public realize there's something beyond B&Q.

How do you refer to different styles or ironwork? Is it as simple as using generic art and architectural terms like "gothic, Georgian, baroque, deco" etc, or are there metal specific terms that can help focus a search? I often Google image search ironwork for fun and inspiration and I'd like to know how to refine my searches for the more "modern, simple and understated" styles.

Haha. I think there's a market, I think they'd sell in places like National Trust gift shops. People like my Dad are the target market I reckon: bald men with beards that watch Time Team.

Hi I was just wondering if anyone knew any professional or semi-pro blacksmiths in Kent? Reason I'm asking is because I'm thinking of doing a couple photographic calendars for 2014, one of which being "The Blacksmiths of Kent". Obviously that means I need 12 willing blacksmiths. The idea is that for every month there'd be a nice picture of the smith in action/part of the smithy/some of their work/whatever, with their contact details, location and all relevant information listed. It's basically free advertising. My gain out of this is I get to meet a bunch of blacksmiths, see their workshops and hopefully make a few quid from selling some calendars. Could be fun...

Going by your picture of the slug with all the holes in it, that's not what I mean. I mean drilling holes where the hole saw is cutting, not inside where the saw is cutting. Unless you do that sorta thing I think hole saws can only really go down about 3mm in steel - or that's what the shops will say the spec is anyway. With regards to the welding underneath, I did with mine but I don't think it was neccessary afterall, I just did it because I'm a complete novice at welding and I just wanted to have it belt and braces. What's that saying? "If you can't do knots, do lots."

Just a by-the-by Andy...when drilling thick steel with a hole saw, to make life easier and avoid getting the slug stuck in the saw, don't drill all the way through in one hit. Drill in about 3mm with the hole saw, then when it gets to be a bit of a pain because the "waste" (brain freeze, can't think of a better word), hasn't got anywhere to go, drill a bunch of regular holes, say 6mm, where you've just marked with the hole saw, then go back to the hole saw. That way the "waste" has got somewhere to fall through + you've already got the holes you need in the slug to pull it out if it's stuck in. The slug at the end will be round like the hole saw, but it'll have semi-circular or near circular holes at the edges where you drilled through with a regualar bit. Get it? That's just something I came across before I made my firepot, saved me a load of grief as all I had was an electric hand drill, no pillar drill.

Something else has just occurred to me - continuity & the problems it poses. The continuity persob won't want the headache of making sure the iron is heated to the same colour each time you see the smith, much easier for it just to be cold. Also films are very tightly budgeted, if it's going to cost them extra insurance money to have an extra in the background hitting hot iron, they wont pay it.

B.T.W careful what you post about films that aren't out yet. If the production feel you're giving away anything or undermining them in any way, you'll really know about it. It's getting insane the levels of protection they go to to protect script leaks.

My mum works in the film industry & worked on the re-make of Great Expectations, i haven't actually seen it yet but she said Jason Flemyng (who played Joe Gargery) had blacksmithing lessons as part of his role research. Hopefully it shows in the film.

Yeah cheers, read that a few times before but always good to be reminded of it. That reminds me, whilst we're on the subject of raising, check out these cool bench stakes/anvils... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQoiVnYYnjs&list=FLvIcTMXYVztEQpEgZTxzdOw&index=1 Skip forward to 5:22, I don't know how to do the time link thing. They're very similar to Eric's but have a nice curve too. This is obviously an old documentary but still useful and I know the processes apply to steel even though this is silver. Everyone in Britain still talks exactly like the narrator...everyone.

The handle is quite long so my guess is it's intended to be used 2 handed when used a raising hammer. I say that because whenever I see videos of people raising it's typically around chest height and I think you'd wear your forearm out pretty quick using this one handed. By the by, does anyone know of any fire bowl making videos lurking about on the internet?

Yeah I can't see myself raising with it T.B.H, I'll probably just use it for the initial sinking before raising with a lighter hammer.

Cheers. I can't see it being too light, the bathroom scales say it's just under 3kg or 6lbs. 6mm plate is probably as thick as I'll go for the minute & I think it'll be man enough for the job.

Hi folks, anyone have an idea of what job this hammer would have been designed for? I'm going to use it for sinking thick bowls. One side is slightly larger & flatter than the other. Cheers

Sorry, that's assuming you meant drawing out a long stem and wrapping it around itself? I would have edited my last post to include that update but I can't find the button. David, if you're demoing to teenagers take a bit of 6mm plate and forge an iPhone or TV remote