Gobae

It was originally set at knuckle height. However, since I have a dirt floor in my shop a divot has worn away where I typically stand and it's now almost wrist height.

Basically, the goal with anvil height is to have it tall enough that you're not hurting your back and low enough that you're not wasting swing energy nor having the hammer head end at an odd/uncomfortable angle at the end of the swing arc.

Finding used editions is often next to impossible, and the original publisher rarely (if ever) does a reprint. So, quite frankly, with books like these (out of print archaeological reports/texts), I request them through Inter-Library Loan and then photocopy them.

Gobae do you drop the price per student for multiple students as they take the same amount of time?

Exactly. Whether I'm forging a candelabra or forging a student's mind, I treat it as all the same.

and a big first aid kit.

Charging is a different matter. As this will cut into production, I will need at least $350 USD a week to cover my expenses.Opinions?

Well done! What a fortuitous event!

This particular "Ringgriffmesser" (ring gripped knife) is from the Manching Oppidum (or Hillfort) in Bavaria. This Celtic hillfort was occupied from roughly 450BCE - 100CE.

The cropped archaeological sketch is from a scan I made out of "Werkzeug und Ger

That's very similar to the forge they have at the Lock 3 "yard" on the Erie canal. That particular forge was not only gas but was aspirated with compressed air that was regulated with a valve.

Professionals are often elitists

Excellent post. I have long considered making one myself from a steel 55 gal drum.

Couple of questions:

My wife's silversmithing tumbler has an octagon interior to help scoop up the medium (and items) so that they are impacted by the medium more effectively. Is the interior smooth or did you include small paddles or other fixtures to do something similar?

What medium are you using? (Black beauty, steel shot, ceramic shot, etc)

Another thing I've done with her tumbler when I use it on small steel items (such as horseshoe nail rings) is to have a tumbler drum loaded with lightly oiled sawdust for a final high polish that lightly coats the items so they don't rust while awaiting sale.

Are you implying we delete the list, as its too much trouble to read when we need the information?

Of course given that, that list is 11 pages of unsorted listings combined with chit chat it's probably more effective to ask.

Here's one that I made. It's based off of LaTene era Celtic metalworking styles.

You need to know the context of the term where it's being used because it has changed.

Wrought iron has a "grain like wood" caused by linear slag inclusions. Modern steels have "grain like sand" caused from their crystalline structure.

I'm not going to answer the whole "compressed by forging" and "directional forging" questions. The compression issue (aka "edge packing") is a huge debate and I don't know enough metallurgy to give an definitive answer on the other.

"Cheating" is based on what rules you set for yourself. The rules I have for myself when making historical reproductions is much stricter than those I have when I'm making something for home use or for sale to the general public.

In general the "rules" blacksmiths give themselves can vary from one extreme to the other. All the way from using only iron that you mine yourself, smelt yourself, using historic techniques/tools all the way to using so many modern techniques, tools and materials that you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between what they're doing from that of a machinist or welder.

Where on the tenon? The shoulder or the shaft proper, or the end? Each area can have different causes and cures.

But regardless of the specifics, I would definitely suggest making yourself a "monkey tool" to help with the shouldering. A monkey tool is essentially a chunk of metal with a hole drilled in it (the size of the tenon shaft) that can be hammered down the shaft. This will square up the shoulder and the shaft.

After a little research and a phone call to them:

Garnsey Paul & Son
Schuylerville, NY 12871
(518) 695-3346

They're not very far from you at all. They're located on Rte.4. They told me you can't miss them.

You got it!

Five minutes. Did you really think you'd get a full half hour for free you ****************! Oh, you wanted an argument? That's down the hall; this is abuse.

Opps better add a smiley in case someone isn't familiar with Python. :)

Not scolding really. It just seemed like a silly statement given the questions he was asking.

But if you want to be scolded, I can do that for free. :)

oh ok...what is the diffence between soft and hard coal?

i can buy coal but i'm not sure if i can get it in any specific form. (soft or hard)

If you would follow the advise of giving your location, click "User CP in the green bar and update, it sure would be easier to help you!

"coal would be the easiest to buy in my area but whic proves to be the least expensive?"

1st off you get coke from burning coal,

Hear! Hear! Well said! I couldn't agree more on all your points.

Bealer's view of history is... suppositional in many places and downright wrong in others.

If you can find a copy, the book Iron for the Eagles by David Sims and Isabella Routledge (1994 I think) is very interesting, as it combines studies of extant artefacts, iconography, documental evidence and experiments by Sims to try and reconstruct a particular aspect of blacksmithing (i.e. iron production, manufacture and maintenance in/for the Roman Army). It's out of print unfortunately and changes hands for a small fortune but it's available through better-stocked libraries, especially academic ones. I'd like to see more of these sorts of books, not just on blacksmithing but on all aspects of ancient material culture.

I've found that there is little in the way of a proper book on the general history of blacksmithing. Sure there are a few web-pages (often un-referenced). There are chapters and asides in books on blacksmithing or archaeometallurgy or other subjects but these are often imprecise and authored by those not very familiar with both blacksmithing and historical and/or archaeological technique. Basically there is little middle-ground between the 'they used use charcoal and bellows but it's better to use coal and a blower' and 'a study on 9th-century seaxes from Wessex' or 'a series of smelting experiments using a replica late British iron-age furnace'. I think it's quite a gap, and something I'd like to fill or help to fill at some point.