george m.

Dear Clinton, I don't want to sound like a "critic" but is this an object which you find pleasing to the eye or want to communicate something to the viewer or is it just an accumulation of "stuff" and random shapes that you decided to stick together? If it is the former, I'd say that you should refine it to the point where you are satisfied with it. If it is the latter, it may be better recycled to something else. It may just be that I'm an insensitive philistine or that I, personally, don't respond to what you are trying to express but , to be blunt, my reaction to the photo was "why?" Don't take that too much to heart though because I very often don't "get" abstract art. Maybe, better expressed, it doesn't get me in the sense that my mind and esthetic sense doesn't respond to abstract expression very well. I don't want to reignite the "what is Art" discussion but I guess that I'm at least blowing on the coals a little. Artlessly, George M.

There is a good argument that a "balanced" hammer is less stressful on the arm. That is, one with as much mass on one side of the eye as the other. A symetrical shaped sledge type hammer would be an example. That said, I've never noticed that one type of hammer made my arm more tired than another. Weight, yes, a handle that didn't feel comfortable, yes, anything else, not so much. It may only be noticable if you're spending 8-10 hours every day at the anvil. Tirelessly, George M.

Dear Francis, Could you please post a picture of you block in use? I am having a hard time visulizing how it would be used. Also, what is it made out of? I'm assuming steel but I'm not sure from the photos. Thanks, George M.

It depends on how your lifestyle is oriented. If you are an early riser who wants it to be light as early as possible you will be a fan of standard time. If you get up and go to an office at 8AM you will probably want the daylight hours backloaded with DST and have as much daylight available after you get off work as possible. In our largely urban society there are a lot more of the latter folk than the former. Anyone who says that their lifestyle is "superior" to the other is suffering from an excess of hubris. No better or worse, just different. MacB, will you be at the Rocky Mt. Smiths event in Loveland tomorrow? If so, look for a tall guy with glasses and a graying beard who will probably look a bit confused. That will be me. Valueslessly, George M.

Dear Dave, It has been my observation that it is tough to accurately judge heat by videos. The cameras adjust for exposure and depending on the camera, ambient light, etc. will not show the same color as a live eye would. Often, the video shows the metal at a hotter temperature than what it really is but I've seen the opposite too. It appears to me that Daniel is a pretty experienced smith and I would be suspicious of the idea of him working metal at too hot or cold a temperature. Anyone who can accurately judge welding heat usually knows one end of a hammer from another. Lightly, George M.

Dear Chatch, Actually, we're on Standard Time now. We "fell back" a couple of weeks ago. Daylight Savings Time gives us an extra hour of light in the evening. A lot of rural areas do not care for DST because it means that it is darker later in the morning and kids have to catch the school bus in the dark. Same amount of light and dark, just shifted on the clock. DST was first suggested by Ben Franklin and was adopted during both WWI and II. Timely, George M.

Dear BillyO, That was a really good post regarding treatment of strains/sprains. Thank you very much. I read it aloud to my wife and son and we all learned something. I'm going to print it out and keep it. Again, Thanks, George, Martha, & Tom

Good explanation. The carbide lamp shown is a larger version which was hung on a timber or a rock ledge rather than a smaller cap lamp. The larger lamps were often known as "foremen's lamps" and were not carried by the ordinary miners. Carbide lamps were also used in early motor cars with the acetylene generator on the running board and tubes to the lights on the front of the car. A carbide camp lamp puts out about as much light as a 2-D cell flashlight and lasts 2-3 hours on a single charge of carbide depending on how high or low the flame is adjusted. Detailedly, George M.

No, that is almost certainly a carbide lamp. The spark wheel is used to ignite the acetylene gas which then burns with a bright flame from the center of the reflector. A davy lamp kind of looks like a hurricane (barn) lantern with a glass chimney around the flame but there is a mesh or screen around the flame. Without going into details the screen is what keeps the flame from igniting any explosive gas. Illuminatingly, George M.

PS Although the Davy explosion proof light was invented in 1815 I suspect that open flames were used for light in many coal mines, particularly those which were not considered to be "gassy." Also, davy lights were pretty expensive and a mine operating on a low margin might consider them to be an extravagance. Davy lights continued in use after the introduction of electricity in the early 20th century because changes in the color of the flame could indicate an accumulation of explosive gases. I've worked in hard rock mines but coal mining, even today, would be more fun than I could stand. GM

Dear Daniel, What sort of a price would you put on one of these and how long did it take you to make it? Curiously, George M.

The miners' candleholder of this sort was used in mines from about the 1860s when parrafin candles becme cheap as a by product of oil refining until the 1890s when carbide lamps (burning acetylene gas from the reaction of calcium carbide and water) were introduced. Before the introduction of cheap candles miners used oil/fat lamps similar to a colonial betty lamp. After carbide lamps came electric cap lamps. Miners' candle holders were manufactured commercially or were knocked out by the local, often the mine's, blacksmith. Some were very elaborate and decorated. They were used by small mines well into the 20th century. Carbide lamps are still in use today by some old school cavers but calcium carbide is getting harder to find. Yes, sometimes miners' candle holders were worn on the miner's hat. Think of a baseball cap with a stiff piece of leather above the brim and possibly a thin piece of tin into which the hook was placed. One of the tricks of making them is to make sure that the hook is right at the balance point so that it hangs level when hung by the hook. I once sold a dozen miner's candle holders to an antique shop in an old mining town here in Colorado. 6 months or so later I was back in town and sent my girlfriend (now wife) in to see how much they were selling them for. They had soaked them in a bucket of salt wter to rust them and were telling folk that they were 100 years old and had come out of a local mine. I was livid but decided all I could do was never sell to them again. The lesson I learned was when making something which could easily be passed off as an antique to strike the date (in either arabic or roman numerals) beside my touchmark. I think that's about all a smith can do. Historically, George M.

Dear BillyO, Why ice and not heat? I had always thought that in reality they are interchangable because they both increase blood flow to the area being heated or cooled. The body is either trying to cool off the area or heat it up by dialating the blood vessels in the area and increasing the blood flow. Is there more going on than just increased blood flow? Stimulatingly, George M.

I suggest that if you are short on tongs use visegrips. I didn't have any tongs when I started and used those. I still probably use them at least as often as tongs, particularly if I need a really tight grip for a process. It may be heretical but I think that the use of vice grips by beginners may be preferable to tongs if they are working short stock that they cannot hold in their hands. I know that this will probably cause postings of outrage that "real" smiths use tongs and students should not be exposed to anything else or that tongs are better than vicegrips because of X. Grippingly, George M.

Dear Dan, Unless it was tuned to a particular note by the manufacturer I have never found an anvil's ring to be musical. Not necessarily unpleasant but not musical. In response to your comment about being efficient I'd say that if you want music in your shop, buy a player and CDs. That's what I did. Unmusically, George M. PS I have a mental vision of some guy at the anvil factory testing each anvil against a tuning fork and if one doesn't match he rejects it or instructs someone to file some metal off the heel. ;-) GM

My 2 cents: There is a reason that gas barbeques are made of aluminum and charcoal barbeques are made of iron or steel. Using aluminum for the base of a forge puts too much heat too close to the aluminum. If it does fail it could be while you are forging and you could have your entire fire and perhaps, just for fun, some molten aluminum hitting the ground right in from of your feet. That would be more fun than I could stand. Don't worry much about a fire pot. I've been using a flat bottomed forge since 1978. You just need to heap your fuel up higher to get enough depth to your fire. The perforated steel tuyere plate (14" mild steel) has lasted me 15 years but is getting near to replacement. I agree that something made of iron such as a brake drum or a charoal forge is a much better place to start building your forge than an aluminum barbeque. Meltingly, George M.

Speaking of floors, a year or so ago I picked up some interlocking foam mats from Harbor Freight and they have really reduced any pain in my legs and back. They do burn if you drop hot iron on them but they are self extinguishing and go out as soon as you pick up the hot iron. Even if you don't use them right around the forge and anvil you might want to consider them at the drill press, grinder, etc.. Comfortably, George M.

Dear Ajax, When I set up my post vise I was faced with two potentially incompatible issues. The jaws of the vise are supposed to be at the height of your elbow to permit easy filing (forearm horizontal) and the post is supposed to be mounted to the floor to carry the force of the blows to an immovable object (the earth). I'm a fairly tall guy (6' 2 1/2") and the height of my elbow left the bottom of the post some distance off the ground. I mounted it to the wall of my shop at the preferred height and placed a 4x4 vertically under the post (with a large washed to spread the force) to correct for the difference in height. One thing I have always wondered about is whether the elbow height rule is for machinists and may be disregarded by blacksmiths. If so, I don't know the rule of thumb for how high or low to mount a vice. The above described mounting has worked well since 1995. Vertically, George M.

Dear EGreen, Most of the copper pots, etc., at least in the 18th and 19th centuries were tinned to avoid the problem. I have always considered the copper pots and pans from the mideast which are tinned to be more likely to have been actually used or made for use with food while the plain ones are made for the tourist trade. I was at the Grand Bazzar in Istanbul last year and at one stall I stopped at it appeared that most, if not all, the older appearing items were tinned while a smaller proportion of the shiny, new items were. Cautiously, George M.

Dear Alec, At about 1:20 min. in the video, about where you are at the 8 sided stage, there is a series of blows that appear to be hit, tap, hit, tap, etc.. This seems to be a planned rhythm which appears to be different from the other taps where it appears you are shifting grip or something similar. Am I correct or am I seeing something that isn't there and am reading too much into things? If it is a preplanned thing why at that point an not elsewhere. It seems too rhythmic to just be a pause while doing something else physically or mentally. Yours, George PS What weight is the hammer you are using?

Dear Terr, That is seriously scary. Did you head out the door or to the bottle to shut it off? This sort of thing is why my propane forge is my secondary forge and why I do most of my work on my coal/coke forge which doesn't have the potential for blowing up me and the entire shop. Also, when I turn off my propane forge I always close the tank valve first and then the forge valve. I agree that you should demand your money back no matter how old it is. That is a fundamental manufacturing flaw that is not obvious or even visible to the user. I don't have to wish you a happy Thanksgiving. You've already had yours. Combustibly, George M.

Dear Brian, I apologize for being so dense but I don't see what being able to draw out a large piece of steel in a single heat has to do with tapping or not tapping. Anyway, happy Turkey Day. Thankfully, George M.

Dear Brian, Aha! Thank you. A solution to the problem caused by the stacking of tools. I have thought about having some sort of easily adjustable in height anvil but have never come up with a practical solution. Once, when I had about 4-5 inches of tools and work in the hardy hole I tried standing on a piece of plywood on top of a couple of 4x4s. It worked but didn't feel stable enough for me to repeat the experiment. Also, I was working alone without a striker. Yes, I probably do need to get out more but living in the rural areas of sparsely populated states (Wyoming & Colorado) works against that. Yours, George

Dear Brian, Yes, you did and I'm trying to get some clarification because I'm unclear on your meaning. This is one of the problems of electronic communication. You don't get tone of voice, facial expression, body language, or are able to immediately respond to clarify something. You said, "For all those non-tappers, draw a point on a 1 1/4 inch jack hammer bit in one heat, and then get back with us. " The "then get back with us" seems to me challenging and implies that if a person doesn't tap they won't be able to "draw a point on a 1 1/4 inch jack hammer bit in one heat" which it turn implies that tapping is better than non-tapping and is the correct technique. Am I correct in your meaning or did you mean something else and I have completely missed it? Please clarify. I'm really trying to understand. You are an excellent smith and I hugely respect your opinion but I'm honestly confused. Yours, George M.

Dear All, "Striking anvil" is not a term I was familiar with before I began participating in this forum about 3 months ago. Am I correct that it is an anvil that you use when working with strikers, particularly more than one? Is there any difference or advantage from using a regular anvil? The two things that I notice in the photos is that the striking anvil is located with plenty of space around it (I assume that is because the strikers need somewhere to stand) and it appears to be lower than the usual knuckle height of a regular anvil. Is this correct and if so, why? Strikingly, George M.