Ian

Speaking of late...... Should have put a note in me diary. Well, actually should have bought a diary first, THEN put a note in it. HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCY CHOP CHOP!!!!! Another year fettled, another one to challenge with a grin. Hope you had a great day bloke, best wishes for the next year. Here's to keeping what hair we have left on our heads Ian

Six words: Orlando Bloom: Pirates of the Caribean. Nuff said :(

Have you made your own yet? :D

Try getting normal custard powder and adding just enough water to get it all mixed up into a paste that will just run like a liquid then try punching it in the mixing bowl. Very strange. Also try to remember not to do any of this near a lit flame, ie the cooker. Custard powder in the air as dust burns VERY well, with a rather funny colour :)

What Thomas said. Those are world class, truly world class. I've met a few internationally reknowned Knife makers on my travels if that makes my opinion any more valid. If I try knife making I would almost certainly be prevelidged to see how you do it first hand Ed, seeing those puts you right alongside Jim in the 'Must pop in for a cuppa and a natter' list on the USA. :D

As a British citizen this move by our neighbours in the North just saddens me. I agree completely that a gun, sword, knife, rolled up magazine, whatever, is NOT dangerous in the least untill you chuck a human being into the mix. INTENT to use said item for nefarious purposes is what people need to sort out. I've been stabbed (didn't enjoy it much, but it could have been worse) and I've been on the wrong end of a gun too and speaking from a purely personal point of view the Gun scared me a lot more. Hard to disarm a bullet mid flight .

Not somthing you'd make 20 of perhaps but this WAS going to be a Christmas gift till it went walkabout after an open day. May whoever took it enjoy it till the day they die. Coincidentaly that would be the same day I meet them in a dark alley.

looks good Dale, does the bar that actually pulls the mechanism down move or is it fixed? I ask because the guide system obviously makes the head go straight up and down. The usual slight lateral movement on the top tup you get with a normal oliver type treadle hammer has been eliminated on this design (good idea) so the linkages must take up this movement but it's not clear where on the photo. Care to fill us in? All I can see is a link from the top beam of the hammer down to the bottom of the bar that pulls down the ram, does that move?

Baseball? How about good old English cricket? You don't pitch the ball you BOWL it....

A few more bits I put together recently. Forge time for myself is great :)

There's plenty wrong with Oscar, he's German for a start............. :P

You need three things to make Smithing work: Passion, Time and Patience. Passion will keep you pounding on steel even when your bellies empty and you don't know where the rent money's coming from. Time will reward your passion with the skills that make it much less likely you'll go hungry or wind up homeless. Patience will keep you sane between the two.

Ah'm not suprised you're chuffed mate, thats a grand bit of work for a first try, seriously. I've only ever done a bit of 'cable' damascus meself for a knife, makes me want to try and make a few billets Might well do if I ever get chance to build a decent linisher (after tinkering with uprating the JY power hammer) they make seeing that lovely pattern a lot less elbow work.

'Sometimes I do this for the MONEY, sometimes I do it for the GLAMOUR, sometimes when I get real ****** off I just grab a BIGGER hammer'. Thats framed and hung up in the forge I work at now, usually raises a smile. We also have 'PLEASE don't ask for credit, we're running out of room to hide the bodies'. My boss has a great sense of humour.

400? Surely you put an extra '0' in there by mistake mate. 40 Rockwell is fairly tough, but not tougher than your hammer, fortunately :)

Chuffin eck John! Thats a lovely bit of lathe and mill work, my only worry is it's a bit piddly sized for you though mate surely? Looks a lot like a T-Rex burner, if you've ever looked those up online. BTW I'm not 100% sure but I think that you only need the flare so the burner will work in a free air environment. In the forge I don't think it's needed, but it looks so nice it'd be a shame not to use the little fella. One other thing to remember is that there's a ratio between the size of burner and cubic feet of forge it'll heat, can't remember what it is but I think it'll be buried in the posts here or over the road. If your forge is too big for the burner you'll need two to really get cooking. Really nice burner though bud, champion!

How about 'jumped up'? I know it's another way of saying upset (in the Smithing sense of the word) but it also means upstart or arrogant.

If I were you I'd PM a gent called JPH who posts on here with your question, he's also known as Jim Hrisoulas, author of a few books on making sharp pointy things. As to my own two cents it 'may' be possible that the coil spring was full of microscopic cracks to begin with, especially if it was a used spring. Thats one of the pitfalls of using junkyard steel, no way to really tell unless you have a big microscope or a friendly metallurgist with a lab on hand. As to the first blade I really don't know, others with more know how will have to offer up their own two cents for you mate.

I've had my own 'moments' with the wire wheel, we use them a lot, usually the cupped brushes that go into the 4" Angle grinder. First time was a pearler, was a 'tad' interesting trying to switch off the grinder while not allowing it to strangle me and remove my nipple at the same time. Loose T shirts are a BIG no no. Also had to pull out a few wires from myself as well as they do eventually leave home at a rate of knots that would make any parent blush with shame. Now I use a nice thick leather apron that the wheel cant grab and a face shield and gauntlets. Picking out wires that are embedded into your knuckle bones isn't tremendous fun, nor is looking like Ghandi because one hit you right between the eyes where your glasses dont cover. Excellent tool, due serious respect.

depends on the kind of steel Pete, some steels air harden some don't, if it's mystery tool steel then try air hardening first then work your way down quenchants from softest (or rather slowest) to (hardest) fastest. Do it that way and you'll eventually find the right one without risking the steel. It could crack for example if its an oil (slow) quenching steel, and you try water quenching it (faster). Others can explain this better and more technically than me, this is just a rough and ready explanation.

Long story..........looooooooooong story Might even get it finished one day. Very first time my interest was grabbed was at a craft fair somewhere in North Yorkshire (Richmond or Yalm, anyways...) I was selling my silverwork and there was a Smith a few stalls down banging out hooks and candlesticks etc. All day long all I could hear was 'Ting-Ting-Ting-TaTing' from this stall so during my own dinner break I went and watched this bloke work. Didn't get back to my stall till it was packing up time Wished I'd got the chaps name, he's a lot to answer for now....

They still produce wrought iron over here in England, look up Ironbridge Gorge and the Museum. A smith here has a deal and sells what the living museum makes for them, but it is a LOT more expensive than mild steel

Strip out an old tumble dryer for the fan, they're quiet, shift a lot of air too and you can hook up the fan to any motor you've got handy if the one it's got is broken. To control air blast either a light dimmer switch or a butterfly valve, slide gate etc etc.

If your forearms like a brick then chances are you're gripping the hammer too tightly mate, the idea is to grip the hammer just tight enough so you can steer it when you throw it at the steel. Some guys I know (myself included) make a ring with their thumb and fore finger and grip the hammer shaft with that alone, the other fingers curling round the haft just enough to 'snug' it into their palm. Also I'd reccommend not putting your thumb on top of the shaft when striking as this 'may' (opinions differ) lead to a condition like tennis elbow which can effectively end your hand hammering days. Hofi's hammer technique is absolutely worth looking at, but ultimately you'll probably find your own way of swinging a hammer. I swing with my back, shoulder, elbow, wrist, and to some extent my hand. It's a funny technique but it works for ME. Because I just grip with my thumb and forefinger when I raise the hammer behind my head it tilts back, pivoting off my thumb and forefinger so that my hand is slightly stretched open with my fingers hooked around the shaft (think divers OK signal). I swing forward and at the last second my hand closes around the shaft, (as my wrist snaps forward) adding just a bit more snap than I'd get from my wrist alone. As I've closed my hand around the shaft I've not kept a deathgrip as the hammer hits because the hammer will bounce back up slightly and I can use the upward motion to help lift the hammer for the next swing so long as my hand and wrist are loose.

I bought a flare from Larry a long time ago for my furnace and I also got his version of ITC100 at the same time. Don't know if he still sells it but I remember it being a heck of a lot cheaper than Jock at Anvilfire's ITC100