HWooldridge

A traditional great bellows works just fine for the normal hand powered forge. Three platens made from plywood about 3'x4' and the sides from either leather or vinyl will function well to blow a large fire. Takes a while to make but the results are worth the effort plus the raw materials should be relatively cheap and easy to locate.

I also buy mine from Jay-Cee. They are prompt and easy to order from, plus they carry a wide range of sizes. Every blacksmith should have a good selection of solid rivets.

Looks Persian - I can see it cutting the reins of crusaders' horses (and tendons).

We have a lot of oilfield pipe down here (or used to before the scrap wars) and we'd make both box and post out of sch 80 then set it into about a square yard of concrete. Front and back covers were usually 1/4 to 3/8 plate. It took a lot of energy to damage one so the yard gorillas would get a real workout tiring themselves out. Unfortunately, they usually took their rage out on the neighbors boxes.

That's my deal, too. I make a good living during the week and do my forging on nights and weekends. Some weeks, I work over 70 hours between the two but I thrive on it and there are a few breaks now and again - plus it's nice to have some money in the bank. The company owner knows about my moonlighting and has no objections so long as I don't pursue my personal stuff while on company time. In fact, he's probably happy since I don't ask for raises very often...:-)

Get some 20 ga or so sheet metal and make your own using the old blades as the pattern. The originals are probably riveted on - pop rivets will work on the repair or can use solid rivets if you like.

Fan's probably cocked on the shaft. Sometimes the position of the set screw can push the fan out of position enough to make it hit the housing.

Many years ago when I was first getting started, I broke a HUGE Wilton machinist vise ago trying to bend a hot piece of 1/2" tool steel by hammering. I was whaling away and suddenly the movable jaw flew across the room - talk about a sick feeling...

Otto Schmirler's book "Werk und Werkzeug des Kuntschmiedes" has a picture of swages used for this purpose. If you are only doing one or two, bend hot as tight as possible and then upset each side in a half round swage. You have to work a bit from each side but you will eventually get the outside corner filled and sharp while leaving each leg round in section. One thing to watch is that you don't get an extremely sharp corner on the inside of the bend or it will break there when you drive the holdfast - about 1/8 radius or so is good.

I usually do little circles - my welds usually are similar to a 7014 stick bead. Straight line will produce a flatter bead if you move along at a good clip but with the wire constantly advancing, staying in one place too long will pile up the metal.

Manufacturing takes all forms and typically pays well. It has been my career for over 30 years in plastic molding and production machining - I started on the floor and eventually worked my way up to running three plants. It was stressful and I'm glad it's in the past, but it did pay quite well - in the 6 figures. In your area, there are still many toolmaking shops and those folks make very good money, so it's a prime choice if you want to work with your head and your hands. It takes many years to make a good toolmaker but the career will pay well and you can do it your whole life, well into your 70's if you choose - while welding and some of the more physically demanding jobs will break you down by middle age. I can count at least six welders I knew (past tense) who all died in their 50's from lung disease and only three of them smoked cigarettes - so the environment probably contributed in a major way. I'm not knocking any trade but the pro welders here can probably comment on the strain of working in the field or in structural work. The military also offers some excellent training in a variety of vocations. I'm not sure if the classifications still exist but the Navy used to have several machinist grades that guaranteed you would know the trade when you were discharged. You might want to check that out if you have an interest - there are also many other benefits to joining the military.

I have a piece of stainless round bar 6 feet long and 1-1/2" diameter - weighs about 36 lbs. I carry that when I walk in the evenings and swing it for a workout but it is way too slow to be a weapon. When I am concerned about the neighbor dogs, I carry "me wee shillelagh", which is a 5-1/2 foot piece of bois d'arc. I can swing it plenty fast after a few days of carrying the steel shaft. A piece of pipe works too - years ago when we lived in town and I ran for exercise, I carried a 3 foot mace, which was simply a 3 foot piece of 3/4" pipe welded to a 2" ball bearing. It was easy to carry while running and I actually had to thump a big Airedale that came after me one day - he left crying.

Terry, What you are describing is very close to what I saw but was not that large - maybe 125 amps at max. I'll talk to the local welding shop and see what they recommend.

Yah, I know most of us are "stud welders" but seriously...has anyone had any experience with these units? I saw one some years ago in a shop where a fellow was making cabinet knobs by welding a short threaded stud to a small round plate. Made for a quick and clean weld with no excess material to clean up. The stud had an energy director which was placed against the other piece under some amount of pressure. When the unit was energized, it shorted between the pieces and welded as the pressure forced the pieces together. It was a fairly simple unit but was not home made - I think he said it went for $1200 to $1500 or thereabouts - although I cannot remember anything else about it. I can think of a bunch of uses for something like this in my shop so was wondering if anyone has seen one.

I see this one as causing potential problems with flat spots. It looks like a good patent on a difficult method - although I have seen large hydraulic benders set up on similar principles.

Exquisite.

A set hammer against the edge of the anvil with a striker assisting would allow starting with a thicker blank and beveling each edge while leaving a rib in the middle. Would also be correct technique for the period - although I have to admit never making one so am simply speculating...

My shop is built expressly for metal work so the building is entirely metal and no flammables around. Still, an unplanned fire starts somewhere every few years. Usually it's a glove or rag with just enough stuff in it to catch a spark. Both scale and grinder sparks are sufficient to start blazes. I once had a grinder spark go through an open window that was not screened and start a grass fire in the yard. Not to discourage anyone, but you really need to be very careful about working in an area like a garage where a spark can fly, smolder for a few minutes and then flare up while you are in the house taking a break. Plain water extinguishers are good for the usual fires in a shop and any of the foam or dry chemicals are also fine so it's whatever you are comfortable using during a crisis.

There is a book called "Tool Steels" by George Roberts, which anyone who makes tools or knives should read. It does a good job explaining the reasons why steel behaves the way it does and gives you a good basis for what alloy to use for a particular purpose with guidelines for heat treating. In general, you should always temper on the soft side so the tool bends rather than breaks. That sounds like common sense but is not always considered when someone is aiming for edge holding or impact performance. I have found that a file test works better when tempering rather than colors. Gives a better feeling for how hard the steel is at a particular temperature rather than guessing at what the color means.

That is a real pretty beast...and stout to boot. The bronze box was likely shop made after initial production so unless you can find a letter or name stamped somewhere, you might be out of luck. In addition, the bigger shops sometimes forged their own vises so it may have been made anywhere. In any case, I'd mount it and put her to work.

If marked 109, it is actually 121 lbs (1 hundredweight, which is 112 plus 9 lbs). It is a very good anvil and in decent enough shape to use as is without much cleanup. The square holes were put there to allow handling it more easily in the factory.

If it was a bunch, I'd broach them as Wayne suggested. One or two, just drill a hole and file to shape.

Fill a 5 gallon plastic bucket about half full with your coal and pour about a quart of water on it. Mix this up with your shovel and let it sit while you start your fire. Start the fire with a ball of paper and put some dry coke/coal on top to get it going then pack the wet coal on the left and right sides of the pot using the shovel. Don't cover the fresh fire or you may extinguish it. The wet coal will act as an insulator, coke up nicely and keep the fire contained. You may also have some coal with a lot of volatiles, which is why you have large flames. I bought 1000 lbs from Alabama many years ago with the same issue - it was good clean fuel and got very hot but made alot of excess flames that were a beast to work around in the middle of August. On the other hand, you need some amount of volatiles when using a hand blower or the fire will go out pretty quickly after a heat. With electric, you can leave it idling with only a breath to keep the fire lit.

I like the knives but I LOVE the sheaths. Very nice work...

I think you will always have trouble with hot clinker sticking to concrete, which is why the fire carrying area of bottom blast forges is typically cast iron. A 12" pot is about right for general work. If excess fuel consumption is a concern, build your fires with wet coal - that will concentrate the blast and cut down on the fire size. Might be a good plan for you to buy a factory pot and fit it to your hearth. You could then reline the area around the pot to whatever unbroken refractory is left.