jeremy k

Peyton - Please forgive me I thought you were talking about old oxy/acetelyne torches that you wanted to re-use. Also - like Glenn said "they have moved on to better equipement for a reason". As a polished up piece of history - I think that it would look great!. sorry for the misconception. -Jeremy K

Peyton - This is strickly my honest opinion... old torches - leave them on the shelf as antiques. The only reason I say that is many years ago I took an old set in to have completely refurbished so it would work (it was given to me). The dealer wouldn't even touch it cause it was so old. The reason being is the liability of touching them they said. I understand that - eventhough a new torch set will set one back a couple to a few hundred dollars. Although you have to remember that a torch can be a very dangerous and possibly a deadly item if something goes amuck. I myself would rather wait and save some money and spend the money on a new set so as to eliminate any possibility of failure due to the previous owner. Expecially after looking at the box of old sets the dealer had in the corner that were jury rigged in some of the worst ways to try to get to work because the people didn't want to buy new - but eventually did. I may not have the best life but it's the only one I have and I'd like to stay topside for a little longer if it's up to me. I'm not saying they are all bad but keep your own safety in mind. - Jeremy K

There has been some good points brought up in this discusion. Although in my thinking - don't forget there is an equal reaction for every action. So for a bit heavyer anvil during use there will be less amount of energy transfered through the "hot" metal (which most of the energy is absorbed by) and into the stand. Therefore the stand I would say really only needs to support at most 1-1/2 times the anvil weight - I'm not an engineer though. The anvil acts as a backstop for the hammer blows against hot metal. Although like everything - people use what is available at the time to get the job done. There is nothing wrong with that and I don't forsee an absolute answer for the anvil to hammer ratio due to the fact that everyone has different working methods, styles, resources and tools (whether boughten or home made). Just something to think about. I think the key to most of it regardless of the size of anvil is that it will be easier to move metal when it's "HOT" and with a subtantial weight of mass below it. Point or no point take it for what it's worth - Jeremy K

Without the right preparations and precautions your taking the express lane to a dirt nap 6 feet under. IT"S NO JOKE !!!!!! grind all galvanizing off before welding and make sure you have an overabundance of ventalation of clean air while grinding and welding - - no-one wants to read about you in the paper in the recent deaths column.

Remember on smaller scrolls the length of stock used for "same type scrolls" is more critical - I try to forge to an exact length before scrolling (like within a 1/16"). An extra heat to get the right lenght will save a lot of trouble getting the forging to look the same as another one. By doing this you end up with pieces that look almost exactly the same, like the 2 side elements in the detail picture. This detail is about 8" x 8". Also writing these dimensions down in a notebook is a great idea - I seem to forget easily the different lengths I started out with. Have fun - Jeremy Don't forget to texture the stock before making measurements because that also will change the length :-)

Hello to all, I'm jeremy knippel - yes you pronounce the K. :-) I started welding in high school and I have a backround in auto body work. Blacksmithing caught my intrest after spending some time at the ABANA conference in LaCrosse Wisconsin. Since then Iv'e been triing to acumulate goodies for doing blacksmithing. Also I've been through the scouting program finishing with the honor of getting my eagle scout rank. At 40 yrs old I still enjoy bicycling, inline skating, and being outdoors - of course all these after playing with metal.