Marc1

Wow, that is some installation you have going. We used to pour the concrete for the footings of diesel generators in a 5' deep pit and had 4" cork under it and a foot of clearance all around tapering up to 1.5' or so. Conceded those were a bit larger than a hammer, usually Ingersoll Rand 7 cyl or Alco. Lots of fun and not much vibration came through. Those bolts are nice. How do you secure the nut?

I thought that tempering is at 200C or 400F ... ?

Hi Daswulf. I was listening to the flight attendant not long ago doing her instruction routine. She came to the oxygen mask and said that if you have a kid, you first put the oxygen mask on yourself, then on your kid. The lady besides me was incensed. "How can she say that!" she mumbled ... I would first put it on my child then on myself. Well, no, that is not how it works. If you don't look after yourself, if you don't love yourself, you can not help others. Those who depend on you need you strong and well. If you go you can not help a single soul. Don't hate to ask, don't hate at all. Love the fact that you can ask for others to help, the fact that you have faith in a reply from others and overall from God, and know that no one is "a lost cause", there is no such thing. We make different choices, some better than others, we forge our path one step at the time just like we do on the anvil one blow at the time. You hold the hammer the fire heats the steel. Think in the outcome you want, the shape you want to achieve and strike the iron, one blow at the time. When it gets cold, heat it up again. May God guide your arm. Marc

Mm ... you have a point there ... and the edges at the top are chipped. Mm ... the holes at the top should be the giveaway, if they are round for bolting or square for a tool. It could be a bollard but not a mooring one, a bollard to stop vehicles from driving into a pedestrian area ... (?)

That is a mooring Bollard. A cleat is smaller and has horns and goes on the boat. That bollard is concreted to the pier or bolted to it if it is a wooden pier. They make bollards of all shapes with and without horns, square cylindrical, that is definitely a bollard. It may actually double up as an anvil of sort, but they are cast and usually not the best sort.

Yes, traditional work vs "modern" ... a fine line. Does it matter if you make a Damascus blade by hand or use a press? I suppose your Chiropractor will miss out if you use a press. The blade will be just as good if not better.

I don't read his comment like you do. I read ...Powerhammer, short cut, not Vikinglike, only used for the initial menial task. Very nice job mate.

Ha ha, reminds me when in another life I worked as an electrician and the owner of a nightclub who blew the fuses regularly due to overloading his very basic wiring, asked me to replace the fuses with thicker ones "so that the short goes out to the street" ... loved it ever since.

60 to 100 fpm. 60 for hard stuff, 100 for mild steel. faster for aluminium and brass. Set for 80 and cut anything.

That is a better picture. Probably grinded out of a 3/8 shaft. it would be a challenge to make it hot with a fuller. The flat version is easier.

I wouldn't dismiss that design as non functional. There are plenty of commercial corkscrews that are not a wire spiral but a helix. I think that it depends from the way the point is made and sharpened and the edges of the helix if they are flat/thin enough. I would make it a tad narrower so to cut less into the cork but to me it look feasible. Surely better looking than a wire. Sure it looks like an auger but the business end of an auger is a flat sharp chisel, a corkscrew needs a pointy end https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTS_JiMZ9OFDQSQuvVONWjqwiiFQ2JdHEjtJCauGPHm_rW6FQTI

I found this interesting, sort of sad for me anyway. Reminds me when my master passed away and his smithy was sold to a developer and all his gear sold for scrap.

Mm ... a very aseptic story, says almost nothing. So a few people took a couple of classes and started manufacturing his hammer? There is no claim of patent infringement so probably no patent. . I have seen old hammers from Austria and eastern europe that look very similar to that one. How close? Who knows. I am sure he makes a better one. but if people knocked off his design without permission he is not telling. There is an old thread in this very forum about someone making that or very similar hammer. titled "Sorry Hofi" or something on that line... and as far as the blu hammer, I spoke to the owner and he told me he had a commercial arrangement to make the hammers and the anvil but then had a dissagreement. Anyway ... now you made me feel guilty, I will buy a cast hammer from Hofi just to even the score.

I someone would advertise for blacksmith apprentice in Sydney, he would be wasting his time. We are in such a boom in building that you are hard pressed to find any trade related to building. The larger building companies work with tradesman brought in from easter europe, UK, and anywhere else they can find them. No trade qualification required since the builder signs the job off. Quality? well ... don't get me started. I needed to get the roof repointed, and had to call the grey army, a group of semi retired tradesman over 55 that do small jobs. No roofer would even quote.

I would like to know your version of the story since there are a few around and there is no way to know which version is correct. I understand that Hofi commissioned Blue to make them but then had some fall out for reasons unknown to me. Blue is not the only one making this hammers, there was another guy allegedly a student of Hofi making them? Not sure, not terribly interested. others claim that hammer shape has been around for centuries? As far as testing the hammer side by side with one made by Hofi, to do that I would need to buy a Hofi hammer of the same weight then one of mine and possess the skills to be able to tell the difference. I first bought two of Blue hammers and when they arrived the head was not aligned with the handle. To their credit they sent me two more this time in perfect shape and I bought a third one to take advantage of the free shipping. So I now have 5. The misaligned hammers do work ok and you adjust after a few hammer strikes. Not acceptable to pay for it but ok if it is free. I would gladly give one to our Canadian friend but the fright would be a killer. I must say that having used an unknown brand cross peen hammer for a long time, this feels way better. If Hofi's is even better, I have no way to know yet I take your word for it. May be I need to buy one of the masters production? Possible, I am a sucker for tools, in fact I like new projects just to have an excuse to buy more tools. Anyway the OP asked about the blue hammer and the Robertson. I have the Blue and I like it, that is all I can say

I like the Big Blue cross peen hammers. Have 3 of them and they all feel very well balanced.

Interesting topic. What makes one generation different from the previous. The reply in the job interview is a classic, probably learned in a self help book, and used thinking it may impress the interviewer. However the impatience, the need for instant satisfaction is more complex and starts very early at school and even earlier. The classic sentence repeated at nauseam by the politically correct is "you can be anything you want". Hello? There is a fallacy if there ever was one. No, you can not be anything you want despite what the Amway rep tells you. It does not work that way. I use to have competitions at school, and we had first place, second third. Today such is politically incorrect, "everybody wins". No first no second no last person in a race... just in case we discourage someone .... Oh my... I can go on all day.

There is a chap that emails me from time to time, I believe based in Singapore that is a consultant for customer service mainly larger firms. Has a website aptly named "upyourservice.com" His stories and advise are always interesting and remind anyone reading it what not to do as well as what to do. He also does well for himself. It is a fascinating market and a neglected one where many think they know better at their own peril. It was nice having this exchange and we must do it again sometime ...

Sure, and interesting how the word for left in Latin (and Italian) become synonym for evil/bad/scary. Just like in politics ... ha ha Back to gloves, I hope no one associates the use of gloves with weakness and no gloves with being tough. No shoes? No comment ...

Not particularly weird, but I had the local diamond python wandering in looking for a snack, tame as a pet pushed it outside. I get swallows nesting inside every year and have a family of geckos living among the steel.

That would be ambiclumsy ...

Man you are keen

Yes, some words vary slightly in their meaning from one country to the next, but I think that for practical purposes, a discussion that involves price setting and understanding your customers can be very useful. I don't presume to be an expert even when I have about 40 years of business experience as a fabricator, service provider and manufacturer in different stages of my life. However all that would be zip, without the opportunity I had to listen to business people vent their different points of view in a personal development course we run for some 10 years. It was an eye opener and I would have done it for free if need be, since I took home way more than I could possible give. I found among other things that the business that did best were those who tried to understand their customers without any value judgement, no contempt towards the "stupid" one, no fear about the powerful ones. Small business is a fascinating journey and should be a source of personal enrichment and not only a job. From the little I have read on this pages, it is abundantly clear that the vast majority seems to enjoy what they do. Hooroo Marc

I use fingerless leather gloves for everything. Don't even know I have them on. For forging or welding I buy lefties. Any welding supplies sells only left handed gloves. For forging, welding gloves on the left. Leather gloves tend to go rather quick. The best fingerless I had were MMA leather gloves, but they now make them from some synthetic rubbish. This last batch I bought from the UK on ebay, are sold as wheelchair gloves. Not bad. The one sold for bikies are only for show and tear up as soon as you try to take them off in a rush.