steveh

lately I have been making bells out of pipe and they sure have a nice ring to them.they give you a good hammer work out and forge welding practice putting the clapper inside the handle that has been drawn out.I made one out out of a piece of 2.5in,1/4in wall,it started out 5in. long.When finished the bell part is 4in. and the handle is 4in.I will try to get some pics posted.

HI Finnr.When you melt your pewter do you add any flux to it.I have a pewter vase that I was going to use for the same thing,are there different grades of pewter?Thanks.

hi Barnaby.Your anvil was made in 1907 towards the end of the year.I hope it serves you well,they are great anvils that ring like crazy.

when you are making sparklers it is being left in too long no matter if it is 10 seconds.i always end up burning more stuff when i use an electric blower,that is why i prefer my hand crank blower.lots of time when the stock is thin i will let it soak in the fire with little or no air.

it sounds like you are leaving the steel in the fire too long and burning it.less air will definitely slow the heating prcess down.welcome to IFI,good to have you aboard,steve.

thanks for the tip Mark,i find those bits really useful,steve.

hi woowee,i sent you an e-mail,steve

when they see the SCAB from the slam it will help the scam...

my wife dug up a real old garden trowel and i use it a lot to maintain my fire.like chainsaw says it is very handy.

those topics should fill a half hour easily,especially when you get started answering the questions you will get.good luck,have fun,steve.

when i was a lot younger i was staying at ma and pa's.one night i was sharpening a Gerber lock blade i had and my youngest brother with his friends came in.one guy started razzing me about what i was doing.i warned him if he didn't stop i would shave his mustache off.to make a long story short he went a home little later with half a mustache.funny thing was when i had him in a head lock and said if he moved he'd get cut,the guy never twitched a muscle.that was over 30yrs now that i think about it.

i went over to Kasper's forge to do some work and help with the making of a rock hammer for his nephew.i took over a piece of 1.5in axle to use for it.he has his 33lber set up on some old growth timber and it is a great base.that hammer handled the piece of steel like nothing,these hammers hit real hard.when you see one these hammers in action it is quite amazing because of their size and minimal space they take up in your shop.i will definitely have one in my shop when i get to keep one,the first two i imported are gone,we will see what happens when my next order comes in Feb.

sing a song and i'll ring that GONG!

welcome aboard Bill.funny that is my best side too.is that anvil you are using from your Grandpa?it is one of the more unique ones i have yet to see.thanks for the pics,steve.

my dad,''POPS'',will be 81 in february and i am 54 in april.we both would like to hit the 100yr mark,he's told me he is going to show me how it is done.i think the real reason is he wants to collect his gov't pension for as long as he contributed into it.as i started forging late(50) i need the time to get to where i would like to be with this craft.i figure i have around 1200hrs forging time in so far,which is nothing,so you see why i am looking forward to longevity.more time to do what i love doing.

check out Elmer Roush's website,it shows a couple of hammers with carved faces in them that are available for sale.

hope you don't get the BOOT

nice set of doors.i hope my first set looks as good.

i don't usually make them but i am going to try and get more forging done than i did this year.

make sure to pay the lawyer's BILL...

a fist would make my eyes MIST...

i just light a piece of paper that is in the forge and then turn on the gas.

you might end up with a CAST!

time goes by quicker as we get older,the way it was explained to me seems to make sense.when you are 5yr old a year is 1/5 of your life,when you are 50 it is 1/50 of your life.so it goes by faster and faster never slowing down.

take time to have a REST...