Aeneas61

I would prefer bar stock,flat or round,  anywhere from 1/2" up to 2" would be useful.

I really hoped someone on the forum was sitting on a large bridge salvage or a large stack of wagon tires or something...guess everyone is just piecemealing it out like me, find a piece here or there... i would love to find an amount to have at least a consistant stock or quantity to work with.

George,

I want all I can afford, at least a few hundred pounds. I dont need the best grade ever rolled, but it would be nice if its workable.

Irondragon,

I have not, I will try to look that up on the forum.

Josh

Anyone interested in selling wrought iron or know someone who is? Id really like to find larger quantities than the one bar for one knife type sales Ive seen around from time to time.

Im in KY but will consider freight shipping if practical.

Thanks

Josh

OK sounds like the votes are in and no issues to the anvil, just better not on a hardy hole. Ive seen old anvils with big saddle going on, but perhaps this was just due to HEAVY striking over 100 years or more?

Have a small shop and was considering a treadle hammer that would attach to a wall post and be used on my working anvil (300lb) rather than having its own anvil separately.

I was considering a treadle hammer design which could swing up out of the way when not in use to free up the anvil for hand work.

I would love to hear ideas and comments from people if this is a good idea, or is it may actually damage the anvil if used in this way, or really if there would be some other downside to this set up Im not seeing.

I feel it might be tough to make an anvil base from scrap that would be as large or solid as my current anvil anyway, so it made sense to me in that regard.

Ive been given an old sandstone chimney and would like to put it up as a blacksmith forge  (continuous masonry forge and chimney all the way up)

I would like to hear from any one having experience with UNLINED forge chimneys, especially masonry types. Id like to put this chimney up in a traditional way, and use it, with care in that facility.

Ive also considered also running a shop woodstove in the same chimney, but have heard the two are not the same in how hot they make a chimney. It may be necessary to have an insulated flue for a woodstove and forge sharing type chimney.

Ive tried to attach a picture of what this chimney looked like standing, they were all built in this way in my area, large blocks laid on edge.

Under 100 bucks!? wow most I'm seeing online are at least 15 times that...

Sure thing! Mostly intend to do die work such as making wood chisel tang/bolsters, drawing out fullering of stock up to 1". Id like to punch hand saw teeth as well, but not sure if I will need a smaller press dedicated to this. Basically want to make many traditional woodworking tools, chisels, handsaws, perhaps a few axe or adzes in the future, and am leaning more toward the fly press rather than a power hammer for joint saving. What size would you get for all that jazz?

I would like opinions for those who have used flypresses for general forging work what sizes they prefered and why. Are you all happy with your press? If not, what size would you prefer?

Thanks

Josh

http://www.oldworldheirlooms.com/assets/images/Web_TAX-01-010_Image_03.jpg

basher this is the type Im trying to figure out... hope that helps!

yes, well i was thinking perhaps they started with a bar, drew it out and drew it out thinner in one direction, maybe used a flatter to help, and maybe cut the sides straight off with a hot chisel before grinding, some appear to have no grinding, with flat hammer marks the length, which was apparently what made bedding an iron so difficult "n the day". Perhaps I'm over thinking the process, and it was just a very skilled smith drawing out by eye with years of practice....

as to the thickness, most plane with no chip breaker were as thick at the cutting edge as possible and cost effective, and of course bigger and thicker for the rougher bench planes than the molders, Ive seen a few nearly 1/2 thick!

Does anyone have a good idea of the best/most efficient way of how traditional wooden single iron plane blades were forged? They were tapered from roughly 1/4 inch on the cutting side down to 1/8 or less on the top pretty evenly and the sides were parallel, Ive been scratching my head as to how the smiths of yore did this!

All ideas welcome!

Josh

So anyone know how the goosewing style broad axe was made? Or ideas? Have yet to see a book with step by step or anything, only a few obscure references to "difficult multiple forge welds"

any ideas are welcome!

Josh

thanks dan, thats good info!

Thanks all for the advice!

Jason, since you have a lot of experience forge welding HC to HC steel, have you ever tried leaf spring to leaf spring? Such as a froe eye or axe wraparound eye?

thanks

Josh

nice video, it shows a lot of the process, but i did not see a few things, such as actually flicking and forge welding the socket closed after the bend, it also appears to be one chunck of HC steel, but many seem to feel thats close to impossible to forge weld, only low to high or wrought to high will do...but def a great video

yes I was thinking of trying to make the entire tool from a piece of HC, draw out one end in a fishtail, roll it up and forge weld it, similar to a arrowhead long bodkin? Maybe starting with some straightened coil spring for a chisel or leaf spring for something larger like slick? Is this possible? Is HC too difficult to forge weld into a socket? I also saw some examples of 18th cent chisels where they apparently forged a socket of wrought iron, then reheated and formed it into a hexagonal shape over a special mandrel  then forge welded a HC piece on the base of the cutting edge. Im not sure why they would bother with the hexagon shape, seems more work for no reason? and the handle would be even harder to fit, round socket seems easier, but must have been a reason as normally they were all about efficiency in the past, not frivolous overworking......but also saw that hex shape in the old axes, like goosewing, so maybe there is something to it after all? perhaps not permitting the wood handle to spin? reconstructing the past can suck, and reconstructing it with metals at hand can be impossible, but thats the fun right? haha

has anyone forged socket chisels, gouges, slicks or anything? anyone can please explain the process well for beginner? 

wow thanks, I'm still learning this site, i see many references to plans and other pages...where is all this stuff, under what tab i guess I should ask?

thanks for the hints! now where would one get rail road tracks and spikes?

thanks for the hints, I updated my profile, Im located in north TX in the case I failed at that attempt. I will try to find some scrap yards who have axles and leaf springs.

Im located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of TX. Yeah, I didn't know where to begin, Im familiar with some of the online steel suppliers, but seems like even the mild steel they sell would cost 50 bucks per axe, which makes me want to scrounge junk yards honestly even if the metal isn't guaranteed to be anything exact. I know leaf springs and coil springs are commonly but not always HC steel, and Ive read axles are often MED carbon, seems the low carbon in chunks for axe billets minus the steel cutting edge are diff to find from auto parts, perhaps structural grade like A36 for just the body of an axe or adze type tool with leaf spring insert would work?
Any ideas are awesome!

Thanks for the insight gents. I understand the whole hand forging point too, one question is where to obtain good low to med carbon scrap steel. Seems most auto parts are fairly high such as 5160 or 1080 1095 for the usual parts, is axe steel low carbon or any other things commonly found in scrap yards? Or maybe just forge welding a bunch of rebar into a billet? Seems like a waste to buy clean bright perfect low carbon steel (expensive too) from some broker online. Or maybe Im not searching the proper steel dealers?
Thanks again for the help
Josh

basically 90 percent of Youtube videos making axes or adzes start with a chunk of steel stock roughly 1-2"X3-4" in size, so I am searching for the best source of steel billets/stock/chuncks/squares/bars or whatever they are officially called, in the most common too steels such as O1 1080 1095 and mild steel.
I hope that is more clear.

Thanks
Josh

Im wandering what a good source of steel billets for forging axes, adzes and large knives would be? Ive seen McMaster carr are they the best option?

Thanks
Josh