Ian

If you can't get hold of a proper vacuum pump then raid the local dumps for old refridgerators. The pumps on them draw a decent vaccum, especially if you link two together. I use such a set up for vacuum assisted casting of metals. I'd also go with the idea of a seperate tank to draw down. You can build up a large vacuum and then when your ready hit it all at once.

I use Brooks (or Brooks Vaughn) cast steel anvils and of the four I have they all ring like bells. Magnets and chain help, but I'd still say wear ear defenders. I love my Brooks dearly, especially the 1 3/4 cwt. They bounce my 'workhorse' hammer back (4 1/2lber) like a ping pong ball. I agree that the shape of the London pattern anvils is most likely to do with bending and curving, I often tip my anvils over to take advantage of those lovely flowing curves. Scarcety/value of iron had far more impact in very early anvil designs, before the middle ages say. Look at the viking era stuff for instance. What we would consider a stake anvil was pretty much all they had to work with. A block 4 inches wide by 6 inches long by 4 inches deep with a spike under it that was hammered into a solid oak stump is what I saw at the Ribes viking museum in Sweden. I was told that granite anvils were also used at that time too. When you look at the quality of work produced then on such 'anvils' it makes me smile at how much time and effort is put into finding a 'proper' anvil by modern would be Smiths. Most of us spend 90% of the time hitting on a spot no larger than 6 inches square anyway, often less. Mass under the hammer is the most important thing to consider, thats why a peice of RR track about a foot long on it's edge is as good as a 12 inch tall anvil. Only difference is there's a lot more to aim at on an anvil, the RR track is a smaller target

Seems like your in no mans land between my old stomping grounds of Yorkshire (West Yorkshire, Pontefract) and John N in Lancashire who still fails to see he was born on the wrong side of the Penines I'm living and working down in the 'big smoke' but there are some very clever blokes still up North. John is one (even if he is Lancastrian) and there are others too like Pete Oberon and Brian Russell, who are both world class. Contact BABA or look them up and see if there are any members near you. It would be well worth your time. Ian

Hello Andrew, would you be the same Australian chap I met a few years ago before my trip oversea's who worked in the Armoury at Leeds? If so really glad to see you found this place, and thanks for helping inspire me to carry on with my plans to pound Iron. Good to have you aboard. I've got my own little forge down in London now and am slowly getting it sorted into a bigger and better one. Ian

Feathering means to decrease to power of your blows successively, from hard to soft if you will.

That hook portion of the halberd had another function as well, albeit a very grim one. Once you'd knocked your Knight off his horse you still then had the job of getting at him underneath his armour. Ever seen an old style tin opener? Nuff said :D

Thanks John

John, I sent your man a postal order (I don't have a cheque book)for the asking price about a day or two after I spoke to him on the phone, to the adress he gave me. We agreed he'd call me when it arrived, but I've heard nothing and its been a while. I've been just too busy to chase him up to see whats happening but from the above my only guess is he hasn't got it. I'm going to go nuts with Royal Mail if thats gone walkabout with one of their Posties,

I mounted three four gang extention leads into the forge at the Farm. One is screwed to the joist above the main workbench, another above where the moveable bench usually sits and one at waist hieght next to the forge. All the power tools are plugged in above head height with their cords hanging down. Left on the benches nothing trails along the floor or is a trip hazard. All the wiring runs along the ceiling and through the joists.

Chalk that one up to experience Brian When I worked with Willem Jonkers in holland I saw a miss hit with a sledge produce similar results in a friend of Willems. In his case I thought he'd got away with it (he jerked his head back pretty quick) until I saw a trickle of blood appear from where the nose bridge of his glasses appeared to be. Poor sod had to actually pull the bridge out of his nose, it had been driven in to the bone. Bled like a tap as soon as he pulled it out. Cue paper towels and pressure, closely followed by a pair of black eyes and a trip to A & E. Blacksmiths Purple Hearts are the scars he carries that he can still remember the cause of We don't have an English equivalent to the Purple Heart, seems getting hurt in the line of duty is an accepted risk for a soldier not worthy of a medal here. It's that whole stiff upper lip thing dontcha know. Madness. Pine Tar? Have to try and find some of that here, as I prefer natural remedies. BTW Frosty, forget stitching yourself up mate (been there, done that) SUPERGLUE is the answer. A brand new tube is usually sterile, (if you can't blag some of the medical grade stuff) and I always keep one in my first aid kit at the Forge. Better to 'possibly' deal with a secondary infection than have someone bleed out on you, IMHO. We both know what a 9 1/2 inch grinder 'could' do to someone if it turned nasty. People forget superglue was created for triage.

I'd say you should go with a lighter hammer first and keep that one for using on tools (punches, chisels etc etc) certainly until you know your swing is okay. You need a swing that feels loose but has the speed and control and power needed. Look at the Hofi technique for instance. People tear themselves up going at it hell for leather, ask around. A lighter hammer is faster and has a smaller face which means it will still hit pretty hard, you won't lose too much in the way of what you can move compared to the other benefits. An engineers ball pein hammer of 2 1/2lbs is a good starter. They have a pretty sharp face so a flap disc to soften the edges is a good idea for a begginner, less likely to put big dents in something with a missed blow. Failing that then a straight peen hammer of same weight is just as good. My favourite is a left handed diagonal cross pein that I made with Glenn Moon in Oz.

Take some round bar, say 1'', fuller into the bar about 1/2'' from the end and reduce the bar to 1/2'' to make the shaft of the piece, then fuller in the appropriate head. The rook for example would need the hofi style round bar clamp so you could upset the castles tower, you could then use a round punch to go into that say 1/4'' creating the towers wall and use a flat headed punch to put the turrets in around it. The bishop has that cross slit you could hacksaw in, it's easy once you just look at a simple chess set. Want to do quick multiples? Say pawns for instance, then clapper dies are the easy way to go, or if you've a press then a set for that. Simple shape.

Frosty is right when he says between wrist and knuckle height for the face of the anvil. Stand next to your anvil with your feet shoulder width apart. Let your arms hang loosely by your sides and make a fist. That fist should be at the same height or perhaps an inch or two lower than the face of the anvil. I've been shown that rough benchmark by at least a dozen professional Smiths.

Have you looked at the bloke on ebay Dave? He sells by the half tonne and tonne. Me and Sean took a half tonne off him a couple of weeks ago. Only hassle was the communications. He uses a courier so there was a gap where we didn't know if it had been dispatched. Walnut sized ( 'pea' grade I guess?) stuff. Not bad at all, I'm getting a good two or three hours of heat at least before I need to clear it out. Wasn't too dusty either, certainly of a similar quality to the lot another Smith I know is using. Came stacked on a pallet so was easy to put in place next to the forge building. Biggest difference was the price. Ebay Item number: 350189825458,

It's a bit of a 'how longs a piece of string question' mate but if you've already got a rust finish on it then that rust will act as some protection from further rusting. You might look into painting it with a 'rust' coloured finish. (red oxide base for instance with a speckling of a few different brighter reds and oranges). If you put a gun to my head I'd say a year at least, but it might last two or three or even more. Experimentation's the only way to get a definate answer but I doubt your client will want to wait till you've found out for sure :D

John, I'd be very interested in the Saw and the Vice, I've already got a Denbeigh no 6 flypress. One question about the saw though, are the blades still available for it? If getting replacment blades isn't going to be a bind I'll definately take it off your hands. If you or the bod selling it is willing to stick them both onto a pallet I can arrange for a courier to ship them over to London. I might be able to 'lend' a van but it'll probably be cheaper to freight them. PM me and we'll try to sort out some dates for pick up etc.

I was taught to cut all the way round the piece on the hardy tool then either break off or hit the piece just to one side of the cutting edge until your through. If you have worries about hitting too hard you can make a hot cut hardie with a 'shoulder' and a cutting edge in the middle thats slightly lower. That way you'll strike the shoulders rather than the cutting edge if you keep hitting it square on (this is only guaranteed to work if your hammer head is wider than the cutting edge and you're happy to use the 'break off' method). If your cutting edge is wider than the hammer or at the same height as your 'shoulders' then position the stock to be cut right next to the shoulder closest to you and hit with angled half faced blows (so that the face of the hammer is lower at the 'shoulder' and higher than the cutting edge) you 'should' hit the shoulder closest to you before the cutting surface. I prefer to cut nearly all the way through and then break off, and I agree also that a hot cut hardie with a vertical edge on one side is very handy.

took 30 seconds to find Tools for Rehandling, Handtools for Trail Work, MTDC Pubs

Hope you mend as good as new Jerry, glad it was not your family too. My thoughts are with you for a FULL recovery. Have to say that while it's a shame someone died at the end of the day if they were drink driving they only have themselves to blame. We all know its WRONG and after losing a close friend several years ago to a D.U.I. my sympathy for anyone caught drink driving evaporated. I hope the lesson is learned by the other two.

If you want an alernative method of making centre lines in square stock you can use a 4 1/2'' grinder with one of the really thin cutting discs (over here they go down to around 1mm) Find a long shafted bolt that has the same size thread as the bolt hole in the grinder for the hand grip. Grinders have two and the bolt will go into the opposite one from the grip. Cut off the head and forge it to a point, about half an inch up from the threads put in a bend of about 45 degrees. Screw it into the bolt hole, from there you adjust the point to touch the side of the bar while the blade sits on the face, use a locking nut to secure the distance and the run the grinder down the bar. A bit of practice will sort the depth of the cut but you can end up doing it in one pass, then use a chisel to get rid of the slope at the ends of the cut. You can save a lot of time on a job this way.

Very nice Bully Good to put a face to a name too, even one as ugly as mine (what is it about Uncy Chop Chop and students who look like axe murderers? LOL) Just ragging youse bloke. Nice set up and I'm sure Dale will be able to tweak it a bit more for youse too. Agree with Frosty though, my fire fighting gear is all near the exits. I'd rather be fighting to get in than fighting to get out. Have you 'got' that sense of contentment yet you get from being next to the fire waiting for your steel to get to temp? Or put a 'face of the day' on the anvil yet? (the face of the day is the person or persons who've got right on your nips, you simply imagine the anvil is their mug and whale away. GREAT relaxation therapy, especially in your line of work. Try it LOL :D

If it was me I'd add a 'wedge' of material to fill the void. Do the wrap around and then insert the wedge, get it all up to a forgewelding heat and weld it up. Kind of like how axes were made many many moons ago. I saw a few examples in Sweden, made by a specialist in archeaological reproductions and based upon original viking finds. The wedge was discovered when the finds were X rayed.

Olly, are you referring to the contents of the book or the book itself? If you mean the book itself then you can bind it with metal. Some ancient books had elaborate lockable bindings, examples of which I'm sure you could track down. I'd do a bit of repousse work for the covers with some (very) thin ornate strap hinges llike you see on church doors. If you use thin ply to back up the metal covers then you can sit the 'book' inside that. I'm afraid book binding isn't an area of expertise but I'm sure others can advise you as well. Most people know about using cardboard for a books cover but there's no reason you couldn't do it in steel, copper, brass etc etc.

that and surrounding yourself with fellow addicts Good on youse Bully, it's great ta see someone getting off their... backside and actually doing it instead of just rattling around spouting about how they're forging a great longsword out of coathangers etc etc etc. Wish more folks were like that. I was paid a compliment (to my mind at least) by the local council man Hugh, who came to look at the progress we've made on the Farm today. He said '' There are Do'ers and Talkers, you're obviously Do'ers, keep it up'' No fear on that LOL. Same applies to you, keep it up mate.

The core skills of Blacksmithing are not difficult to grasp, you draw and taper, you slit and punch, you bend and twist, an so on. Refining your ability to use the techniques to produce beautiful work is where the real skill comes in. Most people can write but not everyone is Shakespeare. Enjoy your hobby as just that if thats what you want to achieve. If you really want to do this for a living then the time you invest in gaining skill will be repaid by the work you can do down the line. Less than five years ago I wouldn't have known one end of an anvil from the other. Thanks to the guys here (you know who you are) and a lot of others I'm running my own shop in the guts of London and producing work that people respond positively to. It took PRACTICE, some more practice and just so we're clear a bit more practice after that. I still reckon at being at about 30% of where I want to be skills wise, and your welcome to check my gallery to see where I'm at. my 2p