billyO

If you have room for it and can afford it, then buy it. There'll be a time when you are glad you have multiple post vices.

I'm a big fan of the Nimba Centurion (260#). I'm pretty sure Jim was planning on doing at least one more run even though the net says he is temporarily closed.

my thoughts exactly....

We are all both the blacksmith and iron in the fire.

A little late to the conversation, I realize, but I would caution everyone about claiming what another person can or cannot sense. Don't forget that just because most of us call a fire engine "red" there is absolutely no way to know for sure that we are all seeing the same thing. We should all keep in mind that: nobody will ever know as much as you know about what you know.

Good morning, all. I hope life is being gentle with everyone. I run the metal shop of a makerspace and a member has purchased/installed a CNC plasma cutting table. We need to come up with a way to shield the flash from the rest of the shop, and I'd like to make something like this that someone came up for a CNC laser cutter. Any reason why this wouldn't work on a plasma cutter? Thanks

No offense taken here either, but I do tend to prefer accurate and useful descriptions. Don't forget that everything is relative. An automobile that was made in the 1970s could/should be considered an old, if not very old vehicle (especially if the engine was originally run on leaded fuel): a gallon of milk made at the same time would be ancient; whereas an anvil made at the same time would be considered a quite new model when compared to the numerous functional examples that were born in the late 1800s-early 1900s or earlier.

Ummm...it was only 5 hours since your original post. If this is considered ghosting, then I'm the biggest ass on the net. I often only check the net once a day and sometimes will go 2 days before responding.

I'd wager that it was also used as a torch cutting table and it was filled with coolant.

That looks like a barely used (if ever) anvil, and it's the little brother to mine. I think you got a screaming deal on that. There are varying opinions on this, but I (and most) smiths would recommend rounding the edges and I like a varying radius from about 1/16" at the heel to about 1/4-3/8" at the horn.

I think this is cadmium plating

Not sure what wearing a mask to prevent getting or spreading infectious diseases had to do with kitchen knife making knowledge. Like Neil said, if you don't like the answers don't ask the question and don't criticize the folks giving you the opinions that you asked for.

I'm not sure I agree 100%....I've had some pretty lousy days in the forge and some pretty good days when I was a physical therapist. And I was making 5-6x as much as a PT...

Thanks Frosty! Would you prefer I transfer these to my computer and shrink them first?

Good afternoon all. Had to replace a hook in our bathroom, so did another Gordon Williams inspired hook.

Don't count on this, being wrong could cost you and others their lives. If building a ribbon burner forge, make sure you install an NC (normally closed) valve in the propane line. This valve only opens when there is power and will close when power is lost.

Good morning all. One last thought I have that I don't see mentioned on how to improve forging ability: we've all been told to not let perfect be the enemy of good, but at some point in our journey, we shouldn't let good be the enemy of perfect either. When doing multiples, try to make each one exactly like the others (in as few heats as possible) so that you can swap the pieces around without noticing any difference (ie, when making 2" tapers, make each one exactly 2", not 2"+/-.). When I find myself stagnating regarding creative inspiration, I find myself forging the same types of things, but instead of doing them the easy way, I try to do them a harder way. We've all heard some variation of the saying: ask 2 blacksmiths how to do something and you'll get 5 different answers, try doing that something in one of the other ways than your normal. Have fun and keep striving for perfection. We'll all get there eventually.

As I think about these questions, I have another thought. New things are different for everyone. If you haven't already, look around your house/shop and see what things you can make better (or at least different) from what you have bought in the past. Customize your life with hand forged objects. For example, forge a chair or stool; forge legs for a coffee table; make a pot rack for your kitchen, forge some brackets to hold your handrail up the stairs, forge a shoe tree, forge soap dishes, towel racks, silverware, flatware, etc. Forge frames for pictures and mirrors. Forge some candlesticks. wall sconces or lamps/lanterns, etc. Forge house numbers and signage. And to improve your skills, don't take any short cuts and make multiples of each. It's easy to forge one example of something and make it look good, it's a lot harder to make the second one look like the first one.

I'm not sure this is possible after thousands of years of blacksmithing....but what do I know? But to answer your question, one does new things by doing something you have never done before. There's a line in a John Prine song that gives homage to the "1000s of poets who failed because they tried"... My practical suggestion is to: a) join and participate in your regional blacksmithing organization and b) pick up and look at as many copies of Metall Design International as you can.

Thanks for the edit, Frosty, I noticed this too late to edit the information (one of my main complaints about this site).

Here's a video of an 15th(?) century smithy in Spain: Digital Demonstration #21 - Fritz Bramsteidl forging with a water-powered trip hammer.

I'll suggest investing in an induction forge. Since I purchased mine over 2 years ago, I use it for at least 90% of my forging now. I can't tell you how many times I've fired it up for one or two heats. I wish I had pulled the trigger a few years ago when I first started thinking about one. Definitely a "buy once, cry once" purchase, however.

I've learned to never trust a round rivet to stay fixed over time, so for added security on these round rivets I use a hot cut to chisel in a locking wedge on the back side where you set the rivet (I hope that makes sense to others).

FYI (and yes, I'm being very technical here), as Frosty insinuated above, this is impossible. You can minimize the radiant heat, but you cannot eliminate it. This is radiant heat (stepping off the soapbox now)

Good morning, LeStan, welcome to IFI. One major piece of information we'd need to answer the question properly. What was the alloy of steel? Every tool steel has a specific 'recipe' one needs to follow for a successful heat treat. Specifically, how hot the steel should be when quenching and what quench medium to use. There are air hardening steels. oil hardening steels and water hardening steels. To complicate matters even further, there are fast oils and slow oils. Without this information, knife makers are making a guess as to the proper heat treating procedure. What you can do next time is repeat your attempt but use a slower quenching medium. Most bladesmiths would say use a known steel (not a mystery steel) to prevent this very thing. There are other smiths who would take a small piece of the unknown steel, and heat treat it using a variety of quench mediums to see which one performs best. You can start with the most aggressive (water) and work your way back until the sample hardens without cracking, or you can start with the least aggressive (air) and quench in progressively faster mediums until the blank hardens.