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Run over to 'Home page' and follow 'Metalworking Lessons' Lessons | articles LB0013.0003 Heat Treating Steel Annealing | Lessons in Blacksmithing

Mason's clay (fire clay) and clean hardwood ash mixed maybe 50-50. Trick is to work it stiff - adding as little water as possible. For last liner, I actually used a hammer to pound the mix into place - it was that stiff! No sand. Still, making it as dry as possible, I let it dry throughly for a week, then built a small wood fire to harden the clay. I experienced a little bit of spalling, but no cracks. Much better than my first one many years ago that looked like a Triple A road map.

My forge has a nice clay liner. I have been parking it outside in the elements for over two decades. A simple cover (tarp, tin sheet, or plywood) keeps most rain off. High humidity is all you can expect, and that has never been a problem. Oh, I am on my third clay liner and expect it to last at least another eight years.

A tow-behind air compressor, which I assume is a rotary compressor should produce enough air to run that hammer if they used a bigger hose. You can only push so much air through a small hose and that hammer needs volume. You know what I mean, Vern?

I assume the guards are armed with an ironwood billy clubs

According to a 1932 wholesale hardware catalog, your model doesn't have a smoke shroud that vents directly into flu works, but rather just a vertical tin back that coal can be banked against. With what you have now just screams for a side draft to vent the smoke. The side draft vent has proven to be more efficent than the overhead hood arrangement. Do a IFI search and you will find many ideas and clever plans.

Champion No.42. Manufactured through the thirties in Lancaster, Pa. Medium size forge advertised as suitable for agricultural blacksmithing.

Wood mandrels and a light deadblow mallet? Practice and experiment to discover how much memory the strip has and compensate that amount in your wood shapes. Stainless steel is odd in that you can easily bend it once, but you will have a dickens of a time bending it a second time. Experiment. 20 gauge seems doable without presses and dies.

I find no references to a Buckworth anvil anywhere. It might be possible that is was made by Vulcan for another company. I understand they did make anvils under different brand names for different outfits like, say, Sears and Roebuck.

Mark, I'm only guessing and I know I'll be corrected. A bolster plate is inclusive; it can be used for heading material and shaping material along it's length. A heading plate exclusively addresses the end, the head, of the stock.

Quick direct link to Uri Hofi Blueprint BP1032 Hand Forged Rivet

I visited both links on my dumpster diver deluxe Apple OS X computer with no problems. Woody, what the heck are they trying to tell us over there? :confused:

A croze cutter is made of wood. You'll still need to form a couple of cutters for it, but that is mostly work done in a vice followed by heat treating it. Set screws can can be fashioned in the vice, too. Buy hardware off the shelf and adapt to what you need. Tongs? pliers or vice grips can be used. Hammer? If nobody is looking or critiquing your work, a carpenters claw hammer will work in a pinch. Maple or beech would be appropriate woods to use unless you have access to ironwood.

Smith and Hawkins carried a line of English hand forged spades and forks. I inherited a Smith and Hawkins turning fork and park it next to my compost pile. It had earned it's keep in spades. I just checked their catalog and find they still carry them. They used to be pricey but high quality, now they are plain expensive, especially the hand Trovel that sells for $29 and trowel selling for $26. Smith & Hawken ptree I can only find American labeled shovels. The shovels are mostly made in Mexico but some are Asian or Chinese origin. Same goes for hammers, sledge hammers, splitting mauls, and digging bars. In any event, I would never buy new digging tools as I prefer to re-handle old, high quality tools from the past. PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric) are the prized ones as they are fully forged and have no stamped or rolled edges.

Looks like a clay liner would be the fix. Mason's clay (fire clay) and ash mixed together. A strip of sheetmetal tacked over the crack to bridge the canyon and a couple of nice layers of fire clay built up over the entire bottom, and you'll be ready to go. Let the layers dry slowly and throughly before adding another layer. You'll have plenty of time to work on the tue between coats. Is your Tue water cooled, or dry?

Here's a youtube video of a group of industrial blacksmiths forge welding a large ring for Westinghouse in 1904. The ring is suspended by chain and four men are whacking it with all their might. Two of the men even climb on the ring to whack it better. I doubt there was one errant blow that entire shift YouTube - Forge Welding - 1904

Don't use that stone, its for ferrous materials, NOT aluminum. It will load up, stop cutting, start producing heat and run the risk of violently breaking apart. Use sanding discs. or 3M type abrasive deburring wheels. deburring wheels - Google Image Search

Yes, my Fisher anvil doesn't have them, nor does it have the weight embossed on the front foot or the date cast on the heel, although it does have patent dates 1877 and 1884.

Bentiron1946 gave you very sound advice on another thread but I suspect you didn't see or neglected to read it because you would not be asking this question. I'll repost his words so you can read them: The engraving of letters, designs and other such things is routinely done by gunsmiths on cold steel for guns, knives and swords. They use a set of tools called gravers. These are not your every day ordinary chisels. You can make your own by buying tool steel but it is usually easier to buy your own as the price ranges between $7 to $16 for each graver plus you need to buy a handle and a chasing hammer. It does take some practice to do a decent job of engraving so don't expect to get it done right the first time. But before you do that, I might suggest you make a study what you want are attempting to do. Find a book on the subject at your local library. If they don't have one you can request something through an inter-library loan. The research librarians are your friend. Google

LDW, I was actually thinking industrial supply houses like Rutland Tool and Supply. Harbor Freight has disappointed me more times than I care to count. Rutland has the really GOOD stuff. Rutland Tool - Abrasive Products - Category

Try actually using the Scotch-Brite

Dr. Rick Vinci has you answers: Despite its ubiquity in our lives, most of us know little about metal. Why does it bend when other hard materials like ceramic or stone don't? What is the difference

Your anvil looks great but that anvil base is absolutely grand. Did you bore the hole then burn it square? Do I see the burning iron on the ground to the left of the anvil?

Frosty, that sure looks like the one that walked away from my hearth years ago. Actually yours, with that ninety degree break looks smarter that mine with just a simple goose neck curve.

These hold downs look great for woodworking and might work well on the anvil. My hold down uses the same mechanics but is crudely made from a sugar beet digger conveyor belt iron that I strike into pritchel. Simple ugly design that has served me for over twenty years. Any spring steel will work well. Make two because the beautiful one will grow legs and disappear while the ugly one will serve you well.