petere76

Avadon, A lot of Iron worker jobs that require welding are job specific. You would be tested on site for that particular job requirement. the test usually includes a supervised weldign area and a subsequent ribbon test and or, an x-ray exam of the weld. Perhaps certain factory jobs require some sort of general issued issued cert, not sure on that one. You can call the Iron Workers local in your are and I am sure they have the details. Peter

Dave, Most of the smiths I know, have other day jobs, myself included. The new home Iron market is deprerssed because folks are not building houses. However, the retrofit market is going strong. High end renovations on existing homes is a viable market. I operate close to a large ski area so the "fireplace" accessories and tourist knick-knacks sell well. Other smiths I know have gone with craft style cooperatives in order to display product and market smaller fair type items (bottle openers, key fobs, desk deco, coat racks, hooks etc). The income is less on the small items as opposed to the large commisions but it does keep some income flowing. There are more smiths in the mix of late. Imports from China and Mexico are prevelant in the marketplace but they do not have the look or feel of hand forged iron. Its stamped, welded and it looks that way. The foreign made products only strong suite is it's price point. Home cheapo sells 5 piece firplace tool sets for 150 USD. I can't touch that price but the quality look and feel of my Iron speaks for itself and there still is a market for quality. As a suggestion, hook up with the stone masons and the building contractors. These trades look for quality iron products to offer their customers. In our case this is a natural fit and the contractors are a great outlet for our products because they are building for the folks that have the money to spend. In the mean time we will all keep on keeping on. All the best, Peter Carrabassett Valley Forge

Bill, As a suggestion for product exposure. Seek out local organizations that have auctions to raise funding. Offer to donate an item such as a fireplace poker or a coat rack. Any item that is usable in your area of the country and would be well recieved as a gift. Make sure you offer only the finest HQ work for the auction. The quality of the product will speak for itself and the folks that buy at silent auctions will become your advertising. This technique has worked well for several up and coming smiths that I have known. Additioanlly, this technique gets you next to the clients that are interested in and can afford commision work. Good luck my friend. Peter

Michael, Thanks for the infomation. I am in the process of mounting a (Christmas present) 144 PW on a stump and the router trick is just waht I was looking for to solve the rocking problem. Did you route out a inner circle on the bottom of the stump? Peter

Bill P, Enacting is very much a hobby, blacksmithing is a profession. The demand for custom iron work will support a properly aligned shop. However, the market for enacting is rather small and seasonal. Addtitionally, I see that the (enactor) fair goers are for the most part are spectators and they are reluctant to pay market value for hand forged iron. This is just my own opinion in regard the enactors, this might be a thriving market but I have not seen it that way. Custom iron products for home, garden and outdoor cooking events (BBQ etc) are not suffering a turndown in demand. These areas remain strong in regard both price point and product demand. As an example I noted that a small shop in Portland OR located along a tourist walk-way was selling a lot of fireplace too sets. Portalnd OR is not exactly in the snow belt. The demand for the fireplace sets was apparently driven by new (retirement) condo construction in the area. Mostly all the new building has gas fireplaces but the tool sets were selling well nonetheless. The tool sets were all noticably short (<24 in) because gas fireplaces are small in scale and mostly decorative as opposed to functional. Whatever smith was suppling the sets had studied the market and made a product that matched demand and was acceptable s far as price point. A winning formula. As we travel around, I always try to study what works and what does not. Keep the winners. Peter

Gents, This Christmas my wife surprised me with a 144 Lb Peter Wright she had found through a friend. Although the edges were heavily worn, the anvil rings ture. My wife volunteered she paid 100 USD for anvil and I told her it was a good buy, (right answer). However, aside from a very over priced e-bay site, I have no real reference matrix on what the anvil market reflects. I have attemptes to include a few photos but this new site and the photo option is not going that well. Happy New Year to all you honorable iron banging folks. Peter Carrabassett Valley Forge

Buel508, The chimney system is a mass flow device. You want gas velocity and you need to minimize reistance to flow in the piping. The heat of the gas and the configuration of the hood structure and the the smoke shelf start the velocity. Research the smoke shelf venturi concept so you understand the principle, this is important. The number of directional changes (elbows) and the structure at the top (cap) of the chimney add to the loss of the velocity and hence the effectiveness of the system in exhausting the gasses. Use the largest diameter pipe as is practical, 10 inch seems to be the most popular and reasonable price wise. In regard the height of the stack above the nearest peak. 10 feet is an acceptable lateral distance from the closest peak where you do not have to worry about going above the peak line. Anything less than an 8 pitch roof is more forgiving in regard proxmity to the peak. Shed style roof systems, popular in warmer areas, almost have no effect on the draft. Conversely, the steep pitches (> 8-12) typically found in new England have a more pronounced effect on draft. Be guided accordingly. Spend some time doing the research on the stack and the hood configuration, these are the parts you have control over, it will serve you well.

Glen and Co, Thank you for your efforts to improve and update the site. It looks great so far. Good things do take time and effort as most of us fully understand. Ignore those slings and arrows launched from the arm chair gallery. If you need donations, I'm confident that the members that post here will help out as best we can. All the best, P. M. Elliott Carrabassett Valley Forge

Thanks for thinking about us Sam and a Very Merry Christmas to you and our extended community. Peter M. Elliott Carrabassett Valley Forge

Gents, Made this fireplace tool holder for my wife this Christmas. 36 inch H, 10 in x 10 in base, .875 tapered upright and yard arm. Yard is about 8.5 inches wide. Tennon base connection and riveted joinery on the upright. Interior oil finish. Merry Christmas to all. Peter

Gents, As a supplier of a product we need to evaluate the needs of that client and balance that against our ability to fill the need. Many times the client has an idea and nothing specific that we can work with. In developing the "plan" it is important to make certain the client is involved in the process. This assures the clinet gets what they need and clearly defines our end of the agreement. Sometimes the client is well intentioned but technically misguided, happens all the time. Our repsonsibility would be to educate them to the reality of the situation. Failure to undertake this simple process will both fail the client and at the end of the day, it will make your product look bad. Remember that perception and reality although not the same, are often viewed as the same. A happy client is our best advertising. Merry Christmas to all, Peter

Nice looking job. Should serve you well. If you can get some fork pieces save them as they make excellent hammer stock. happy Holidays to you and yours, Peter

Mark, looks good and will it work, what else can they ask for. hang tough and keep up the pursuit of quality. Peter

Gents, Christmas 09. Upon request we forged-fabricated a 40 inch outdoor fire pit poker for an old camp. .5 in square shank, .375 basket twist handle, .625 in hole for hanging. The business end has a chisel pointed dog and it pulls as well as pushes. Oil finished for outdoor use. Included is a period hook. The piece balanced well in the hand and the client liked it.

This is the smaller of the two vices in the shop. This vice can be moved around the layout table. The configuration fits into the under-surface welded sockets. This set up is very handy and stable as the weight of the table keeps the vice rock steady. Peter

John, Excellent work .

Glen, I work with lifting devices. The paper trail on everything connected to the load side is tremendous. We can't use slings that don't have cert tags attached. Lifting wires are calendar timed for replacement, not hours. Overloaded or even bad looking hooks get canned. That being said and I understand this a personal use (risk) item, work the hook hot and heat treat it the same as you would for proof chain. I would not attempt to re-bend the hook cold. As a safety recomendation, when you are done, de-rate the lifting load by 25percent of capacity. That should give you more than enough of an operational safety margin. Be safe and best regards, Peter

Odd Duck, Chrome vanadium. Manufacturer specific. None of the engine guys are going to tell you the exact make up. Did some jobs that had colt pielsticks, PC series Marine Engines. Terrible engines for sure. However, in one operational failure I wittnesed the engine consumed 3 cylinders after a piston crown seperated. The wrist pin was the hammer in the event. When we examined the wreckage, the wrist pin was virtualy untouched, not a scratch nick or dent. Very tough stuff.

Ventilation, ventilation, ventilation. Whichever forge you choose to use the vent system is critical. In Maine with cold winters and heavily insulated buildings, many smith have to induce the draft via in line exhausters. Coal forges and gassers both require air in and air out. In the case of coal fired forge I would recomend at least a 10 in pipe for the uptake and sky pipe. Plain or fancy- depending on how much you want to spend, either tact will keep the natuarl draw working for you forge. Gassers will deplete the O2 in a closed space and therefore they require the shop has an adequate inlet air supply. Additionally, the forging process liberates other gasses and these gasses will collect in a closed space. The less contaminated air ones breaths, the better. Not withstanding your sons medical staus be very careful to adequalty address both supply (fresh) ventilation and the exhaust sides of this equation. Peter

marc, Because of the time the tooling will be in contact with hot metal, consider A33 for the tooling. The A33 is air hardend and seems to hold up longer when used under these conditions. In regards lay out, I usually pre drill large pieces of stock to get a good course line for the tooling. Off center alignment is very time consuming and has led me on more than one occasion to re-do that particular piece. Peter

E-bay has a few advantages. As a buyer and not being regional, one gets a better selection of whatever it is you are seeking. Economicaly, if you see a set of tools you can buy for less the cost of manufacture, then buy it. Your cost of manufacture vs the purchase price; The savings are obvious. As a seller of a hand forged product it (e-bay)has a few decided disadvantages. Shipping costs and the e-bay perecentage share reduce the limited profit margin. Prep time and web site interaction both take man hours. Economy of scale, while applicable in most manufacturing enviroments does not work well for the one-man shop with short product runs. Also one should consider the market in which we sell our goods. Plant hangers and garden speciality items sell better at the consumer point of purchase. As an example, plant hangers sell good at outdoor centers featuring plants, Christmas themed items sell well at Christmas and other seasonal centric fairs. I'm confident you get the general idea. Every place where we live has a need for iron work. some decorative and others purely functional. One has to survey ther market and identify the opportunity (need) then produce what the clients are interested in purchasing. Sometimes the best advertisement for our work is the good word of folks that already purchased an item. Peter

In my humble analysis, I believe the overall cost of these events and the small percentage of the membership that can or do attend will be cause for change in the thinking that supports national conventions. Regional get togethers could better serve those interested in attending such events. As the US slides further into this very obvious recessionary period we should be focusing on more financially realistic events as opposed to the annual national event. The blacksmith has always survived the tough times and will continue to. However, it is in our best interest to regionalize these gatherings if we are to include a larger portion of the membership. Peter

Hank, As a safe operating practice, consider not using fittings pipes and fasteners that are galvanized anywhere where they will be exposed to high temps. The thermal break down of the zinc poses a fume posioning hazard and the results can be deadly or debilitative. Always keep in mind that we are the last safety check in our shops. Peter

Perhaps a set of plant hangers for the yard or terrace. I made this set last year for a couple from Texas who were married on the coast of Maine. The design is traditional, forged and riveted construction. It's visually easy, in that it will work with most deco schemes. Stamp the date and the initials of the happy couple on the piece to personalize the creation. Peter