HWooldridge

That's the exact setup I have for my demo rig. 55 gallons of water in a steel barrel with an sized average vise will give you around 500 lbs of weight and it's easy to drain when the demo is over. I made a bracket on the outside of the drum to hold the vise leg, which makes the whole arrangement quite solid.

It is also worthwhile to experiment a bit - my anvil was too high for many years and I unconsciously started choking the hammer stroke. This happened because the dirt floor eroded around the anvil where I walked to the forge and I didn't notice the gradual change. You can stack up lumber until close then go up or down 1/4 to 1/2 inch at a time until it feels comfortable. Try both higher and lower approaches than what first appears to be obvious so you can feel the postures of being potentially cramped or having to "reach" with the hammer. I have long monkey arms so my anvil sits lower than what the average person might like but an added inch below knuckle height feels the best to me. Another thing to watch is your holding hand - although it is constantly moving while working, it is also good to hold a bar in a normal grip and have it be about level. Aside from these points, ditto what everyone else said.

I tend to agree with Mark and find it much faster to add material by welding or forge it down from larger diameter stock than trying to upset (I actually think it's called "upset" for a good reason since that's typically what happens to the smith - similar to "losing your temper"...)

Wow, I wasn't aware y'all were getting inundated. Today, we are having our first appreciable rainfall in almost two years - having only had 17 inches officially during that time so it is the worst drought on record for Central Texas. We've had some pretty bad floods in the past but the water typically drains in a few days. You guys have to put up with it for longer periods due to the slower runoff. Good luck and God bless - stay dry.

Well, I went out and bought a Scale Master tonight at Home Depot - $64.81 including tax. It gives similar readings to my dressmaker's tape but is much faster and easier to use. I am currently working on a gate with 28 scrolls, 10 of which are complex (multiple ends) so I used the gadget to measure one chalk outline on the table. The finished scroll was within 1/4 of fitting the drawing and that was easy to tweak to size. Anyone who does architectural work should consider getting one of these; my wife and I were joking about going to court over custody since she wants to use it for quilt patterns - but actually, I'm smarter than that and will just leave it in her studio until I really need it Thanks Firebug - a great suggestion...Hollis

They were also forged in a set of dies. The taper was forged first then placed in a swage that was struck only once as multiple hits will foul the threads. One hit would generate some flash at the parting line and the part would require some cleanup but it still saves a bunch of time with a file. With a little practice, you can also lay down a decent thread by hand on a lathe. Once the initial scratch is made, the remaining cuts follow along. The first threads were made this way - before threading gears and lead screws were invented.

Browning Gear will have them - they have distributors all over the country and they might even ship to you direct. Please post the diameter of your flywheel and we'll be able to provide an accurate size for the pulley (most driving pulleys are around 3 inches).

Terry, That is exactly what I was looking for - thanks very much. I'll try it and see what happens. The old timers didn't have CAD and they probably didn't like "cut and try" any more than we do so I figured there had to be a formula. I have about 30 scroll forms I've made over the years and they are all marked with the stock requirement (for example, "snub, 1/2, 15" denotes type of scroll tip, stock size and length). However, it's fairly common that other sizes are needed for new jobs and I was looking for a starting point to prevent trial and error. Mike, keeping an extra scroll is a good idea. I would even say a person could make a range of stock sizes - maybe 3/8, 1/2, and 5/8 - and bend each one over the form as the look will change dramatically depending on the size of the parent bar. As you said, a good design tool. Thanks for the replies...H

I was wondering if anyone who does a lot of scroll work has a good mathematical formula for determining stock length. My method is to first draw the scroll on the table then use a dressmaker's flexible measuring tape to determine the finished length. For a simple tapered tip, I subtract double the material thickness from the final length, so a C-scroll from 1/2" stock that must complete at 28 inches would start with 26 inches on the assumption each end will draw by an inch. This method normally gets me pretty close to the table sketch but the other night, I had an S-scroll finish about two inches longer than it should have so I'm having some doubts about the validity of my theory and would like to know if anyone has another technique. Thanks, Hollis

My great uncle had one which was very similar in appearance but it had a one piece brass handle. He called it a "cape knife" but I don't know where he heard the term. I do know it belonged to his father so it probably was made no later than 1880 and may have been even older. Before immigrating to the Americas in the mid-1800's, the men on that side of my family were Danish mariners so it could have been an old ship's knife. I remember uncle Bill kept it very sharp and used it primarily to eat with. It disappeared after he passed away and I have no idea where it is now - his daughters didn't value any of his things so may have tossed it in the trash. I really like your version - I would sure carry and use it.

I do as the others have stated and break the fire by pulling out the coke and exposing the fire. After the color is gone, I sprinkle a bit of water on it but stay away from the firepot. I can also relate an anecdote on this subject you may find interesting. About 20 years ago, I had a forge in my first shop that was an angle iron frame with fire bricks laid in a single layer to form the hearth. The angle iron also held the firepot, and the sides of the hearth had 1x6 pine boards bolted on all sides to keep the coal contained. The whole hearth was 4 feet square so the wood was a long way from the fire. One night, I put out the fire (or thought I had) and went home. I came back a few days later and smelled a sweet, burnt smell upon entering the shop. I didn't find anything at first so dismissed it as something in the neighborhood. A few minutes later, I noticed that the side of every board was burnt through - with dead embers and ashes on the floor. Apparently, the fine coal dust that collected over the years had ignited and burned ever so slowly across the hearth - and it kept burning from natural draft coming up between the bricks. Neither the boards or the rest of the raw coal broke out in blazes, but there was a fine layer of ash under the coal and on top of the bricks, which reached across the hearth from pot to sides. Fortunately, the floor was dirt so nothing in the shop caught fire. I doubt anyone could recreate this incident on purpose but it goes to show that fire can be persistent and linger for days under the right conditions. The Europeans also have a habit of laying their fire tools across the fire pot so they can easily see that someone looked at the forge before leaving. It's a good visual tool to remind you that the fire may still need attention.

The old superquench was lye and water. It was nasty stuff and like other folks, I had a bad experience with it soon after Robb G published the recipe. He realized that risk and developed the salt/Dawn/Simple Green solution, which works just as well and isn't dangerous. However, I don't quite understand why you would want to retard its cooling rate when you have oil available for a slower quench if desired. Plain water is a bit slower than brine but often imparts more stress in a piece of steel because the steam pocket limits thermal transfer. This is the reason superquench is faster and typically gives better results because the brine helps remove the heat and the soaps act as surfactants to break the steam envelope.

The basic desirable characteristics of any anvil are a fairly hard face (45-55 Rc) and enough mass to make the hammer rebound. Cast iron anvils are not very useful since they don't meet the first requirement and train rail anvils don't meet the second one. Beyond that, the other elements of the anvil such as the horn and hardy/pritchel holes are functional elements to improve overall usability (in other words, a 200 lb square piece of hardened tool steel will make a good anvil but will not hold tools or allow certain operations to be performed). Brands are varied and as suggested above, you might want to check out Postman's book. Hofi's latest anvil is a well thought-out tool for the working blacksmith and was designed by someone who uses one daily, so it will cover a wide range of general tasks. You might look closely at the details so you can see why he designed it that way.

I normally will let anything that is not a precision instrument or wood cutting tool to develop a rust finish since it acts as a protective coating. The Europeans discovered that characteristic when their polished muskets kept rusting in the field and "browning" was born. "Blueing" came later but all are forms of iron oxide. All of my blacksmithing tools are black but it's a combination of rust and oil - any oil. WD40 works fine but plain old ATF is also pretty good for general lubrication and protection. You will find that it's almost impossible to keep larger tools from rusting (anvils, swages, etc.) in a humid environment simply due to the thermal mass causing condensation from daily temp changes.

I'm with you...same as using a piece of sheet metal just behind the weld collar. So long as you don't flux and hit it, it will easily peel away after the weld is completed. I saw a similar description in a British blacksmithing book but I can't remember if it was a COSIRA publication or something else. At any rate, it certainly does a good job - a very nice piece...

Slideshows These leaves were a couple of test pieces. The lower one was damaged when I used too large a chisel to fold it. The other passed muster so I made about 40 more with tails so they could be welded to the balance of the work. The larger piece was an attempt to copy a Yellin "sketch" from Jack Andrews book.

"Tongs" can be used by many industries so this may have originally been designed as a pair of specialty tongs. You often see odd tongs in old shops with no readily apparent function but the smith obviously had some intent when he put the time into making them.

I use a standard collared hardy but I do use the curved blade concept and agree that it cuts better. I am also less likely to hit it accidentally with a hammer. My hardy is also beveled on one side and flat on the other so I can vary the cut surface profile. For production, I would try to make two at once. Put your bar of tool steel on a big cheese fuller (top and bottom) and make two shanks in one heat. Forge each end to the blade form then cut in half to make two chisels.

Mark, As usual, great explanation and pictures. I can't wait for your book! I learned to make snubs by watching Francis Whitaker at a demo about 20 years ago and wanted to add to this thread that his advice was to never hit the same place twice when rounding up the tip, so he constantly rotated the piece with his left hand while his hammer stroke rose and fell in a consistent manner (the left hand did all the brain work). In addition, a snub is typically forged from square material while a ha'penny is usually made from rectangular stock. The half-penny is forged on the edge and then twisted to a right angle with the stock. The best description I could offer for either one is to visualize a circle on the end of a straight tapered scroll. I've attached a couple of pics to illustrate. Hollis

Try posting your question here: The Home Shop Machinist and The Machinist's Workshop There are a lot of lathe historians there who may be able to assist.

Rib ticklers...ooooh!

My first shop was 20x20 and it was plenty large enough to work in so long as I didn't have a bunch of spectators. I had two forges, two power hammers, one anvil, one 4x8 work table, one small air compressor and all of my hand tools in that building. It was quite cozy and suited my needs for many years.

A tall stack really helps burn up sparks. I live in the middle of a big hay field and any errant spark when it is dry will set it ablaze (especially now since we have had no appreciable rain here in 18 months). We experience many fires around here every year from the trains, or cigarettes, or a broken piece of glass in the sun shining on the wrong piece of tinder; anything that gets out of my shop would very likely start a blaze. There is no rain cap on the stack or anything inside to stop a spark. I've stood outside at night with the blower going full blast and thousands of fire fleas going up the stack but nothing comes out except smoke. BTW, this is a side draft box with 10 feet of 12" round chimney (and about 2 feet sticking out the roof). My other recommendation is to have several fire extinguishers around the shop. They are life savers when you can't get a water hose over to the fire quickly enough and will usually knock out any normal fire. The final choice is yours so use common sense and do as Steve recommended with regard to prevention.

The water quench was probably too harsh - try oil the next time or even an air quench may be enough as compressed air on a blade will cool it quickly enough in some cases to make a great edge. In addition, did you draw or anneal prior to quench? If not, that probably set up some excessive stresses, plus any notch left by grinding or not completely removing the teeth can create a stress riser and start a crack. I have a draw knife that I made out of a spring and drew it closer to 500-600 degrees after an oil quench because they are more like a hatchet than a chisel with regard to hardness. You want something tough and easy to sharpen rather than a blade that will keep an edge forever.

You probably need to set the shoulders with a double fuller or you will likely continue to fight it (so the material looks like a bow-tie from the side). You then forge the lump out to a rat-tail but the shoulders are done to the correct depth with the fuller. Rather than do all that forging, you could also split away the material and leave a rat-tail. Even a reduction to an inch or so cuts way down on the hammer work.