Marc1

I never seem to get the meaning, innuendo or hidden message when this links are posted. What is it? Stop winging that your anvil is too small? Feel guilty that my work is not up to their standards? Wonder at what they would be able to do (that I do not) if they had my workshop? Political content deleted.

Oh my ... ... leather is not a uniform medium much less when it is split leather. It looks well weathered now.

What a disappointment ... and here I was thinking there was new technology to run a forge on grass.

Yes, Charcold, two things, my point exactly. I could talk about bad content until the cows come home, I can not talk about how to make a video of any description nor it's market, saturation of said market, DIY instructions, or anything related to the topic of YT until I have at least done something on that line, something you have stated you have never done. But it is never too late.

Lots of youtube videos are funny because of the content or the way they are delivered. Some can be even dangerous. The renovation instructions, "how to" even those from big hardware chain can be plain wrong. It is what it is. However if you know a bit about the youtube business, you would know that in order to get high number of views and get paid accordingly , you don't have to be "right", nor informative or educational, not even entertaining. You can be plain rude and obnoxious and get high number of hits. That is my only point and why I find the OP post out of place. You can start telling others how to do their business when you actually have done it and are good and better than them. Someone who has never made a video of any description let alone post it on the internet, can hardly give advice on how to do it. Knowing the content of a video to be wrong, misleading, dangerous, or using poor grammar is an observation from the armchair on the public side. How to do it better can only be told by one that actually knows how to do it better having it done many times over. In most cases the hypothetical expert in question will have little motivation to tell others how to.

When you decide to make a video and publish it on YouTube ... and then when you have done say 20 or 30 of this videos ... then maybe you will start to have an idea of what it is to do this, why people do it, what is the market like, potential payments, how to get the numbers etc. and when you are at your 100 video, then I may be interested in hearing from you what is the best way to make a video.

The cross under the anvil is the same as the cross under the left heel made with two nails bent over each other to stop the devil following you. There Is an easy transition from the symbol of christianity, to use said symbol to fend of evil spirits or the devil.

Well ... better a mezzaluna than a snickersnee in the hands of a lollygag. I know I can be a bit of a flibbertigibbet sometimes but at least I tell gardyloo every time before I say my taradiddle. Anyway, I better stop this before I start a donnybrook for sending the thread in widdershins so I absquatulate now. Hooroo M

Very nice tool to look at but likely awkward to use. To chop herbs you need a "mezzaluna" ... similar blade, a bit longer with two handles one at each end. You could forge each end of the blade up, to take the two handles rather than having to rivet the support for the handle. Just saging, could be a chilli idea for the next herb chopper ...

Templates or patterns are used when you want to do the same thing over and over and it has to be exactly the same, like a window grill or a gate with lots of scrolls. The problem is that the jig has to be done by hand, so unless you have a template to make the template, you are not gaining much Once you get the hang of it , you will be making hooks or scrolls free hand without any template. meantime to get started, this is what I do if I get a complicated design for the first time. I first make the design on a paper that has a grid printed on it. I then trace a grid on my welding table with a marker. If the real life object is larger than your drawing work out how much larger, double, triple, whatever, you have your real life grid on the table. Then it is just a matter of identifying the points in your drawing that intersect the grid; transfer the points on the table and trace the larger design on the table. My table is metal so I can sit hot iron on the drawing without burning anything. Once I finish I can wipe the table with a rag and methol. May be overkill for a hook, but you have to start somewhere.

Am I seeing things or are both eyes in those hammers too small? Oh ... I see ... didn't read the answer above. Short of forging the hammer again, (bad idea) an air driven die grinder would take good care of opening that eye up.

Hand shears. This is just a baby one but you get the idea. You fingers are safe if you keep them away from the business end. When I was 15, this is all we had, conceded much larger version with a rotating blade that would cut 10mm flat bar or angle, T section or round rather easily. Each had an appropriate hole in the blade. It was that or the hacksaw or the oxy cutter.

Ellis bandsaw is the way to go for you guys up north

All good answers but I think you are comparing apples with nectarines ... First consideration Mr Danjmath, assuming you have done your maths, is the obvious: What do you need cutting? I use my 5" grinder with a 1mm cut off wheel a lot. I can cut perfectly straight cuts even on 10" I beams. no problem and I am not particularly virtuous. Very little sparks because it removes very little material. The wheels are $60 per box of 100 (Pferd brand made in Germany) and I am sure you guys pay less than that. So your grinder is not a bad choice. 5" yes, 4" no good. 9" good if you have good strong and steady arms and some experience otherwise forget it. Bandsaw ... I love them too. You have the vertical bandsaw like the butchers or carpenter's bandsaw, for me, it's the best choice if you have the room. Then you have the cut off bandsaw. Pivoting on a frame, the best thing after sliced bread, to cut off large stock, repeat cuts etc. I don't have the room for it so I use a Brobo cold saw. Second best chop saw. Then you have the portable bandsaw ... be it Milwaukee or Dewalt, the best two brands, the yellow one is the best. personally don't see the advantage of the portable bandsaw with all it's little quirks compared to a good quality 5" grinder with a good quality wheel, but each to his own. if you buy a portable band saw, don't fool yourself, you don't have a bandsaw. You have a power tool to chop stock by hand without any precision at all. Advantage over a 5" grinder ... none the way I see things. Sure you can buy a stand to mount the little bandsaw vertical and make little cuts with it. All depends what you do. I would have little use for such contraption that in my mind rates a bit above hobby/toy ... but that is me. If you can afford the room and the cash for a proper vertical bandsaw, that one is an actual metal working machine, that allows you to cut off stock, but also to make precision cuts at any angle, and even shape material. A horizontal chop off bandsaw that can be raised vertical, if it has a table in a position that allows to work at it, (they usually have the base in the way and are awkward to work at it) , is an interesting consideration. Curious how no one mentions Hand Shears ... must have gone out of fashion

Most sources cite the following contaminants: lead, cadmium, chromium, arsenic, dioxins, benzene and polycyclic aromatics. No one mentions water, I suppose because it is assumed to be harmless, however since motor oil is higroscopic, the water content would play a role in the quenching properties, that is, the more water the faster the quenching if compared to proper quenching oil ... or French Wine Metallic contaminants will stay in the oil when used for quenching but organic contamination can become volatile when hot steel is submerged in it making it a hazard. Ships use expensive centrifuges to clean fuel and oil but home made centrifuge can be put together with little money and process a lot of oil if built for continuous use. Check YouTube for ideas, or see "simplecentrifuge.com" If it is worth your while doing it or just buy new motor oil when it is cheap, is your choice. The centrifuge can also be used to clean vegetable oil to make biodiesel, or to clean contaminated diesel.

$1600 for 100 kg anvil is atrocious even for Australia. Half that price is still expensive. Pass and keep on looking. 235 pound is not even big. I bought a 240 lb Peter Wright that was advertised at $1400 for $700. Waited that he relisted the thing without any takers and asked him if he actually wanted to sell. When he said he did want to sell, I added that at such a price he will never sell. He was happy to take my offer. People ask silly prices in the hope that someone will bait. Unfortunately someone sometimes does bait, and so prices go up and up.

Interesting observation that one about light. Never thought of it living in sunny Sydney, but I must say that when the local nincompoop government decides to change the time and turns it one hour back, with the result that we have sunlight 5 in the morning and it is pitch dark 5 in the afternoon, I tend to get grumpy for no apparent reason. And it happens every year. "Daylight saving" they call it. I want daylight abundance not saving! What are we saving it for? Tomorrow? Anyway, seriously now, on the topic of being grumpy, I also notice that my dog changes my mood instantly every time i talk to him. He has the gift of making me happy like a kid can, yet is unable to get in trouble or anger me whatever he does. No wonder they have "dog therapy" in hospitals, and they use all sorts of animals not only dogs, but a good dog is an absolute blessing. Mine is a Spoodle. I took this last Friday afternoon. We went for the best burger around after running out of coal. 50 minutes at 3000 rpm and hardly any boats around.

Soup. I give you Das, it sounds ridiculous ... However ... it is rather simple ... L-tryptophan. An amino acid the body can not make on it's own that is used to make vitamin B and Serotonin No one explains it better than Elizabeth Sommers in her book "Eat your way to happiness", and yes, pea soup has some of this Tryptowonder but nowhere near as much as chicken soup has. Nothing is further removed from me than wanting to give advice. I can only say that chicken soup is scientifically proven to work. Surprisingly or not surprisingly, St John's Wort acts by making serotonin more available to the brain ... may be an oversimplification and if you are interested, more here. http://www.chiro.org/nutrition/FULL/St_Johns_Wort_Effective_with_Caveats.shtml . and the way they know it does that is by measuring the amount of L-tryptophane present that reduces with St. John's Wort. So I say ... pea and chicken soup in combination with St John's Wort should be the ticket PS Keep an eye on the side effects of St John's Wort, if you are taking blood thinners and other caveats in that link.

i don't know how your side blast cooling system is designed, but if it is a closed circuit that reuses the same water over and over, the oxygen that is in solution in said water, will eventually go and the water will no longer rust the steel. But if you are worried why not making it stainless? All you need is stainless 400 series.

i don't make knifes, but an angle grinder to shape knifes seems like a poor choice. Get yourself a Belt grinder from the many suppliers you have over there. Look for a 2"x 72" belt grinder. Also, bench grinders have belt attachments. Not the same but close to start with. Oh ... and before you do, find a knife maker that is willing to teach you the basics. You can not learn much online. Or from "forged in fire"

If you don't want your work to be copied, don't put it on display or post it on the internet. You can attempt protecting it with copyrights if you have the money to go to court each time to protect the intellectual property. Worth while with things like music that sell millions. Hardly the case with a trinket that is only valuable in your own mind. The ethics of "inspiration" vs "copying" can be debated and the obligation of giving credit thrown in for good measure, but the reality is that if I make a gate and post it, I know I have given away my right to the design if I ever had one.

Explanation given to me by an engineer: Looking at the specs for that motor, It appears that when driven with 60 Hz, the fan load increases and limits the speed to not much more than the 50 Hz speed. eg: 50 Hz speed: 2700 slip = 300 RPM 60 Hz speed: 2880 slip = 720 RPM. So it appears that they are running the motor near the motor torque limit and letting the fan load limit the speed. With an integral HP motor this would be wasteful and inefficient. To use an integral motor in this fashion, The current may be 200% of normal running current. This can be done if the wire gauge is increased to carry the greater current without overheating. But that means a larger core, which means more wire again. In practice you could design the motor for about 340 or 350 Volts and then run it on 230 Volts. Same result. Possible but prohibitively wasteful. But this is a 1/30 HP motor. In a motor this small, it is not costly to allow the load torque to limit the speed and use very high slip frequencies. Consider: A 1760 RPM motor has about 2.2% slip. This motor has 10% slip at 50 Hz and 20% slip at 60 Hz. You can use such a design easily at 1/30 HP, but not at higher HPs.

I remember watching some pictures of chinese chefs holding knifes the size of cricket bats more useful for a prop in a horror movie than to actually work with them. I don't remember any of the butchers working in the abattoir I used to do maintenance for, using anything bigger than 8". Sure, a kitchen is not an abattoir, but to the original question ... I think 10" blade is plenty for any kitchen duty.

Actually, when all of that 110/220 and 50/60 is all correct, for all practical purposes, there is a manufacturer in the US called Dayton that makes a string of different blowers very reasonably priced that work on 220/240V and 50 or 60 HZ irrespectively, making it the choice for anyone wanting to build a solid fuel forge either in the US, Europe or Australia. Using a 220V 60 Hz motor on 220-240V 50 Hz would normally mean losing power and overheating, this light motors work irrespective of that variation in frequency because being so small they rely on the load to regulate the speed and can take it no problem. Dayton actually specifies this on their technical data. They are also way quieter than those monstrous jumping castle blowers. Of course a 3 phase motor or 3 phase + neutral motor works on different principles and is better suited to speed variations by electronic means.

Some motors can take speed variation others don't. The main concern is usually overheating. Best way to change the airflow is with a gate. if you don't, not only you will go through tons of coal, you will burn the edge of the firepot very quickly However for the OP, the problem you will have with that forge is not the blower, that is easily fixed or altered, but with the way you built your firepot. It will get blocked with clinker all the time. Been there done that. Build a proper clinker breaker with a rotating triangular block of steel or similar.