Ratel10mm

Andrew you lucky man! Where's the green with envy smiley? lol. I've seen a fly press with coffee cans full of lead used as weights. The owner cut a hole in the base of the cans & brazed in a bit of pipe to leave the hole for threading the weight onto the spigot. It worked very well. As for the size, I'd guess bigger than 3 since it has 2 weights. Comparing them in terms of physical size I'd hazard a guess at a no. 6.

Guilty Dave. I told him about get hammered at Moony's, which happens to coincide with his honeymoon. Guess who got his intended tipply so she agreed to let him come play? As Ian says he's more a grinder than forger, but don't let him fool you into thinking he's a 'wanna make a big sword NOW!' kind of guy. Ian's one of 2 (afaik) Bladesports International instructors in the U.K. So he knows a thing or 2 about wielding large knives. He also likes his rum, so we'll be introducing him to Queensland's finest. :D

I was taught to peen rivets with the ball side of a ball pein hammer. Use the hammer to work around the outer edge of the rivet, mushrooming the rivet down to create a dome as far as possible matching the pre formed dome head (we were using bought rivets). The important thing was to hammer the edge of the rivet & work it down, not the centre of the rivet.

Sorry mate, my mistake. I forgot your hammer's fed from the air compressor. Oops. Mind you, I still think it may be possible to apply the design of the hammer piston part of yours to a self comtained PH design as from the conversation it seems the valving is the hardest bit?

I'd ask Double_edge2 for information. I know his power hammer is made using off the shelf pneumatic components.

I was wondering who'd be first! lol. Amanda, welcome to IFI. Personally I forge outside & use the garage for cold work at present, so I don't qualify. However I know at least one member here in Oz has a shed along the lines you ask for. Double_edge_2's is pretty clever for example. Are you interested in overseas sheds, or does your article require specifically Conus area? Not that you'll have any difficulty getting more than enough material for your article in Conus anyway! May I ask if it's possible to get a copy of the article when it comes out? I haven't seen your magazine over here unfortunately.

Bob mate, sometimes I hate you! Lol!! I have noticed that with the financial situation in the U.K, many more businesses are selling off fly presses on flea bay, but as they're businesses the prices are considerably higher.

Junker, if no-one canbhelp, head over to Bladeforums.com. Go to the Traditional Folders & Fixed Blades Forum. Ask there, I'm sure several people will be able to give you the info. :)

Adam, welcome to IFI. Where are you? Also, please add yourself to the Oz roll call thread, Dale would appreciate it. And, if you're free at the end of October there's Get Hammered at Moony's forge south of Sydney - there's a thread titled Get Hammered for that. :)

Yeah, Moony without a doubt. The first time Dale & I were at Moony's new place, we counted 25 power hammers & suspected that we'd missed a few! He's a member here so easy to PM or email him. He's also the host of Get Hammered at the end of October - would love to meet you both there. And there's a PH on fleabay Oz at the moment, a 2 part that looks like it needs some work, but the price may be right? Edit: Funny you should ask this today Ric, as Mick started a thread over on British Blades about their visit & I'd been having a look at the videos you'd posted on your site. I see you had Owen, Mick & the lovely Doctor Grace there. Owen's mechanical hammer that you were 'touting' was the first one I ever used. Owen had a very smart idea for teaching us newbies - we had to learn to control the hammer using a bit of 2x4 wood as the work before we were let loose. Later I was one of (if not the first) paying student when he started doing classes & got to play with it some more that weekend. It was a lovely hammer and if I were in the U.K. still I'd be straight onto him if he's really going to sell it. Small world, smaller web eh? :)

I've been eyeing those up for a while now. Please let us know how it holds up under use - should be good I think. I have a feeling Forgemaster has one too. By the way, where in Oz are you?

Richard: You coming?

Please excuse the fuzzy photos. Here's mine, based on the 55 Forge blueprint. I'd like to first mention that I owe Double_Edge2 big thanks for all his assistance with the build. I suspect JReed's is closer to what was intended, but currently the gap around the brake drum acts as a fuel bin - just got to make a coke shovel that's a better fit in there. I found the 55 top already cut to the upper edge (the nice clean one) & decided to just go with what was there. I flame cut the lower edge to about the same height as the top of the fire pot so that irons could rest horizontally in the fire instead of finding their way into the molten clinker. The upper legs are bolted to the base, and come off an extract fan that I had to replace at work. The fan (not shown) is a 12V car ventilation fan, so it's pretty quiet. The duct tape you can see in the photos seals the fan reducer cone to the tuyer pipe. I still need to obtain a permanent 230V AC to 12V DC power supply of some description. The pipe is welded to the brake drum fire pot, which in turn simply rests on the base of the hearth body. The lower legs are not fixed either. This way it all comes apart for transport in a car & is easy to clean off beforehand. If I ever get a trailer or a ute I probably wouldn't bother dismantling it. The tuyer pipe was left long so as to enable extended use with charcoal before ash must be dumped. However I have to admit I probably overdid that. Although it looks spindly & certainly not a nice professional job, it has proved to be pretty sturdy & stable so far. One idea for improvement I'm toying with is a tool rack. Another is to cut it almost right down similar to JReed's, except for the back & a small lip all round, and inletting (sp?) the fire pot so that the whole thing ends up a bit more like an old portable or rivet forge. However I want to retain the idea of having coke on the table ready to be pulled into the fire. Comments on those ideas or any others for improvement are most welcome - this is most definitely a work in progress!

Here's mine. Sold on fleabay as a Hay Budden, but there's no markings I can find, using any of the usual methods. 70kg, sounds flat under the main working face so there's a void or de-lamination there, and the far edge is chipped quite badly. But she does for me at the moment & will continue to do so.

Wow, just.... wow!

Hi Adrian. Those are very nice indeed. :)

Hi Andrew Thanks for the offer mate, but I'm flying into Canberra this time. I re-arranged my flight after Hofi had to cancel his trip. No, no ute yet, RR or otherwise. Still temping @ work, and until that is resolved one way or the other there's no point buying a vehicle.

My flight is already booked. :D

I hope the bottle was completely empty when you opened it up. If not, better lay in a supply of high factor sunscreen.

$6/kg!!! I know anvils seem relatively few & far between here, but that's ridiculous! Seems to me there's far too many collectors, or maybe naieve(sp?) collectors around.

Take a look at this: Hand crafted mirror Appalling spelling, downright lying to try & market his(?) product. Apt user name I think. :rolleyes:

Go to your local camping or barbie shop. Purchase a single ring kettle hob, or if they sell them separately, the burner valve / nozzle for one. Grab a bit of pipe, probably around 25mm I.D. and ideally threaded on one end. Fit a cap to the end. Drill and tap the cap to suit your (reclaimed) burner valve. Drill some holes in the pipe at the cap end, enough to get you good induced air. Screw in the valve, attach it to a regulator & bottle, & fire her up! (No, I haven't done this yet myself, I'm still getting the bits together but this is how Double_Edge_2 built his). Tip: My local barbie shop said not to use a burner valve / nozzle from a barbie as they are a much lower rating. Make sure you get one from a single burner ring. Hope that helps Matt

I expect if anyone can offer a definitive answer, it's the staff here: http://www.maison-de-l-outil.com/index.php?page=accueil_anglais

Fingers crossed then. Sadly BBC iplayer isn't accessible from overseas. Will just have to hope they release the series on DVD.

Mike, Mick's main garden forge is a plough disk, and I think another of his is too. Need another forge mate? :D