Dabbsterinn

after reading through this, I've never been happier to live in Iceland, only annoying insects we have here are gnats and hen fleas i think from starlings

those are some really nice tools you got there, the twists are amazing, how'd you attach the shovel blade to the handle though, did you forge weld it on? I also notice that the handles are a bit bent, not sure if that's a part of the design, but if you'd want to straighten them out without marring the twists, you can use a rawhide, wooden or brass hammer i think to straighten them, just be sure to do it on a wooden surface, i find it nice just to have a small piece of those pallet boards, just roughly 20 cm long near my anvil for straightening purposes, and if you don't have a soft hammer yet, you could also saw down pallet boards if you can get them, it should be rather easy, they're everywhere, screw 4-5 of them together and cut a small slot in the center for an handle, it won't last you for years, but it's very easy to replace and make (and if it's pine it should also smell a whole lot better than rawhide hammers)

many thanks, bikecop, never been called a sir before, it's a nice feeling. interesting fact about the knob handle, it's naturally like that, it's just a branch that i chopped off a fallen mystery tree, bark stripped and lightly sanded, also oiled with linseed oil, it feels great in my hand

the perfect hammer for wrapping up a nice day at the forge also nice for getting hammered :D

the moment when your friends and family step in to watch you is also the same moment when everything stops working properly

A few days ago I came across an old bag of coal that i had forgotten in the garage, so of course i dug up my hammers and other tools, fired up the forge and made this neat lil' fella here's the almost finished product, just a few minor things to do. The handle is mystery wood, I've used something similar before as a handle and it still holds up pretty nice, sanded it with 360 grit sandpaper and applied linseed oil, it feels really nice and smooth in my hand and the in-progress photo, 4,4 lb hammer for scale

nope, happens in every coal forge(not entirely sure about charcoal though), another term for it is clinker i think, if you have a firepot with the air pipe coming up through the bottom, you should be able to shut the forge off, scrape most of the coal away to expose some of the slag, it's that sticky stuff that becomes glassy when it cools down, make sure you scrape the coals into a pile though, keeps the heat in and stuff in. seeing how the hole would probably be in the middle, there would also be a hole there for reasons i don't know, something to do with the air or something, but you could hook it up with that scraper i hope i got my point across, im not the best at explaining things with words

I agree with steve here, it also seems like a perfect tool for fishing out those slag donuts that can be a bit of a pain with just tongs also would work as a nice back scratcher (just be sure to cool it first) :P

good idea, but the smithy, which actually is a part of the museum here as far as I know, supplies us with stocks of all sizes and lengths, if you're willing enough to dig through the heap off things, abandoned projects and scrap there seeing how we're not really that many smiths here, we all know each other somewhat, so if we'd need a striker, we'd just ask someone who doesn't seem like he's doing anything and in need of something to do, and I'm also very active in seeking advice there, and all of the smiths I've met have gladly shared plenty of information, thanks for the ideas though I've already stated a few times earlier that this is my 3rd or 4th hammer-in there, thanks for the concern though, i'll take a notebook and my phone seeing how my camera is almost prehistoric (digitally seen) and a notebook already is in the kit, I have a hard time putting my thoughts into words so it helps to be able to scribble something up, drawing is also really relaxing for me if things don't go as they should good idea with the money though, still having problems with getting my Thorshammer looking as good as i want it to, so i might resort to buying one, also nice supporting the smithing community, I know first hand that nothing empties one's wallet faster than a good looking tool

Happy birthday yesterday, I hope I'll still be heatin' & beatin' at that age and I'd be happy if I'd only be half as good as you are, your posts and comments here have taught me many things, I wish you a happy birthday and many more to come

unfortunately no, i don't have a soft hammer yet, good idea with the lead one, i have access a big supply of lead and tools to melt and cast it, will make one as soon as i can. I also recently found a place that sells rawhide hammers but i really dislike the smell of them so i'll try a wooden one first, can't be that hard to make one

yea, I was once tasked with organizing all of his tools at some point, has well over 20 hammers of a similar style for exactly that i had exactly that in mind, i also have a really nice sheet metal cross/straight peen hammer, too sharp to be used on hot metal, would just leave cuts in it, but would be a nice texturing tool for flower petals, genko leaves for example, clovers would be a fun thing to try yea, that's a good idea, but I don't exactly have the biggest smithy, I'll be using a large ring made of thick round stock, I've seen them being used to make shield bosses, pots and helmets, I'll be making one of those soon enough when I get more coal that's a really good idea, nice creative thinking there, problem is I intend to use it as a hammer and if I were to use it as a counter sinking tool I'd have to anneal the flat surface for striking if I don't want to have a pretty nasty accident, my uncle once almost accidentally slit his throat by hitting hammer on hammer, the face chipped and landed just a few millimeters left of a major artery

Yesterday I was helping my brother in law remove the right hand something driveshaft of his car and he gave me those two hammerheads as a thank you for helping, those are hammers for fixing dents in cars and guessing by the line that runs along the head and the tiny dents on the head that they're cast, which I find rather odd for a hammer to be cast, I'll give them a go over a wire wheel to hopefully find out more. seeing their size I'll probably not use them that much except for finishing up small work and the left hammer pointy end to sink spoons and other stuff like that when i get something to sink it in has anyone here used this kind of hammers or seen someone use them?

would if I had a car, that's the problem with being a 16 year old blacksmith, fortunately, it's a local hammer-in, so i'll just be dropped off there and picked up when im done, I will keep this in mind though when I get a car

3rd hammer in actually, and i labelled them just so i don't accidentally take someone else's tools and accidents do happen, and I actually know most of the smiths there and they all know that im relatively new to this, so that doesn't bother me, and i've worked with them a few times in other events

ah, we're probably having a small misunderstanding, this isn't exactly a demo, it's just a few blacksmiths meeting up at the smithy, a hammer-in i think it's called, but i'll take a camera with me, notebook and pencils are a good idea either way, it helps sometimes when explaining to someone else what you're doing or asking for advice if you can draw it up

going as a visitor, they have pretty much the same tools i have, it's not exactly a tool rich shop, i think all they have that i don't is a swage block and top and bottom tools i've burned my initals into the handles of my hammers and written then on other things they have aloe gel at the spot, but you're right, i should have some with me, i always make sure i have enough of drinkable water and something to chew, and the smithy supplies us with water thank you for your contribution, and reminding me of the aloe gel

so, tomorrow (hopefully) i'll go to another hammer-in at the local smithy, and yesterday i put together a neat travelling kit, thought i might start a thread here where you can show us your travel kit, learn from others or be the spark of an idea for someone anyways, here's mine hammers, more detail on them you can find in the hammer section of the gallery tongs chisels, drifts and punches files misc. things safety equipment the entire set, for size referances and the bag it surprisingly fits in this entire thing weighs 14kg/30 lbs

keep all limbs whole(-ish) and attached to my body, wear hearing protection more, learn more, make good enough jewelry to sell

I put together my travelling tool kit, bought some handles(I seem to always break them), uploaded some pics to the gallery and browsed the forum