larrynjr

I must be what could be referred to as a Blacksmith Aholic of the snob variety. I wasn't content to locate a nice, used, well broken in anvil to sooth my addition, I had to lay down the big bucks and get a................................NEW ANVIL! Also a new Hofi hammer. Still the same old gas forge though. Just got another load of mower blades from my work................plus steel from the wife's grandparents..............................help................me.......................

My wife's grandparents are no longer able to take care of themselves so they are now out of their house and things are being distributed out to their kids and grandkids. Here is what we came home with.

Thanks Thomas, I'll do that. Do the rods need to be rated for DC to work? Like I said, I AM a neophyte!

I'm still a welding neophyte myself but I've heard from others here that welding with DC can be easier with less spatter than AC.

I've got an opportunity to pick one of these up via Craigslist for $100. Anyone have experience with this model?

Richard, That looks Great! A very awesome display of skill. How did you happen into this commission? No worries about me, trying to steal any from you, I'm not doing any smith work for pay, just curious about a commission to the Phillipines.

the way I learned it and have done since, is to twist the wire tight first, then just hammer and turn it clockwise between hits on the flat face of the anvil. Works well for me.

Good looking stuff Bart, welcome to the site!

The way I was taught and did again successfully last night is to heat the cable to red, then clamp one end in you vise and with tongs or visegrips or pliers of some sort, twist the cables tight in the direction they are already twisted. Then place the end you were twisting onto your anvil and lightly hammer the loose ends back together. Wirebrush and return to fire, remove, wirebrush and flux it, return to fire until you see little bubbles forming between the twists. Be sure to twist the cable counterclock wise as you are forge welding it so it does not come apart again. Start at the very end of the cable first to tack it all together. I use 20 mule team when I do this.

Welcome to IFI Warhammer, this is a good place to learn about smithing. The majority of smith's use a type of peen hammer, straight, cross, diagonal, ball as their regular hammer. I use a cross peen, the "back" of the hammer head is a narrow wedge of steel that is horizontal to the handle of the hammer. Many smith's use this type. It does not have to be a particular style or type of hammer to make knives with. Here is a picture of my primary forging hammer.

I worked the pair I had too cold and they snapped at the rivet.

Centaur Forge carries Climax, EZ Weld and Cherry Heat fluxes. All manufactured by Superior Flux & MFG. Co. Welding Compounds My forge weld teacher did say that these products are ones not normally talked about by blacksmiths but are widely used by them...... He would have us use regular borax on the scarfed ends then put some of the EZ Weld on the piece that would be laid on the anvil. When you lay the top piece on it, it feels tacky, like glue and just some light taps with set the weld. Great stuff, haven't bought any yet but it's on the list!

Thanks everyone for your replies, it's always encouraging to have a productive forging session. Frosty, If I had my druthers at the time, I'd have moved to the Leavenworth / Wenatchee area. But my ex was from this area and my kids are here now so.............But this is a nice area too, we are up out of the valley and close to the mountains with great views. Surrounded by orchards.

I had another good evening of forging tonight, finished a pair of tongs that I've had sitting around for a while, made a new pair of scroll tongs, (pictured here with my last attempt for contrast, the new are the short ones on the right) I also made another beltclip keyhook, which I posted in the (what do you carry thread). They were still hot in this picture, so I hadn't cleaned them up or polished the scroll tips yet.

I was out forging tonight and made another keyhook. I like this one a bit more. I included the original one for comparison.

I've never heard of that brand of flux but in the forge welding class I took recently we used "EZ Weld" that help the scarfed pieces to stick together and weld very easily. It's LIKE GLUE! Awesome score on the other equipment though. Did you get it at a good (cheap) price?