Ian

Like I said before, my compliments on an excellent design solution. Very clean, simple and effective.

I like it, especially the little 'keyways' you made for the cross bar, VERY nice design solution. Only thing to watch for, maybe, is the points of those 'fleur de lys'. You might find that the roll catches on them as it turns. Tweaking them out a bit further would fix the issue should it arise.

If it is spring steel (and it sounds like it) then you should forge it at a slightly lower temperature than mild steel. Orange yellow and down from there to cherry red. Some of the really old books say cherry red as a starting point for spring and tool steel but one things for sure. Quenching spring steel in water from non magnetic will make it hard and brittle. You'd need to temper it to take out the brittleness, if it hasn't already cracked. You'll find how to do that by searching the site. BTW some carbon steels are air hardening so even if you dont quench at all they will still harden. What you need to do is forge it then anneal it. Find either a bucket or vessell big enough to hold all of the piece and fill it with wood ash (or you can use vermiculite and pearlite, often used in kitty litter). Heat the steel to non magnetic and then cover it with the wood ash. It acts as an insulator and lets the piece cool very slowly, without all the science what this means is that it doesn't get hard or brittle. There's a whole raft of detailed info about what happens to steels as they are heated and the chemistry involved right here on this site. Dig around.

You might find this link handy mate, take a good look at the photo's, blow them up if needs be. There's another one on the tour of a forge i made entirely out of a stack of housebricks and the rose it produced. Good luck http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f19/new-breakdown-forge-6602/

Ragnarok, I first met John at last years BABA meeting with Moony (the Oz Anyang rep) and afterwards went up to see his 'shed' in Manchester. As a Yorkshireman I'm bound by several hundred years of history to have a peg at him because he's a Lancastrian, but I can't He's a completely genuine bloke, hospitable to a fault (beer AND pizza, nice work John) and he knows his stuff backwards, forwards and sideways. If you just want to look and play then he won't hold it against you, John knows the quality of his stock. He makes all the mods needed so that HE is happy to sell them. I not saying that it's the cheapest option, but John is your BEST option if your serious, his aftermarket care is second to none. I know for a fact he's spent hours on the phone with clients talking them through any problems when he'd make a lot more cash out on the shop floor. If and when my ship comes in I wouldn't consider using anyone else in the UK to buy an air hammer from.

As David points out trying to weld cast iron is a bit of a 'Yoda' job (Do or do not, there is no try ) Preheating is important, the right welding rods are crucial, and letting it cool evenly and slowly is paramount. I welded a piece of cast iron on the arms of an old drill press that went brilliantly right up to letting it stand and cool, at which point it went 'plink' and cracked. Second time I left the arm in the fire on a bed of yellow/orange coals (without any air) and welded it, then let the lot slowly die down until the fire was cold. No 'plink' and the drill press is now in daily use. Oh, by the way, I did say weld IN the fire, coke, coal, and charcoal are excellent conductors. (Another gem from Dale Russell)

I'd recommend it........ LMAO

Many happy returns Richard :D

Funny I stumbled across this post three days after getting hold of a 6ft tall copper water tank for free. Intend to use the copper for some repousse work, dishes being a probable project too. I've seen bowls spun in copper, and brass and even steel, none of them had holes in the middle, the machine clamped from either side of the plate. By the way, that Dalek looks the dogs mate, top bombing

Not to sound like a nuggget but I'm curious about the 'turbine' that slips onto the end of the burner. It it meant to spin or is it fixed? I don't see anything about it from the various photo's that makes me sure it actually moves. I'm guessing it is fixed and the air running over and through it is what imparts spin to the air? Are those nozzles available in the UK?

I'm with Avadon. Learn and UNDERSTAND the fundamentals, it's paramount. Regardless of the skill or trade or craft or art unless you do so you will either never reach your true potential or waste a lot of time getting there. One of the great things about Smithing and metal working is the variety of branches you can explore, but you'll find it far more rewarding doing so when you have a solid foundation to work from. Just my tuppence

Propane or butane tanks are designed to contain a liquified flammable gas. They're pressure vessels and are built as such The fact that they are often of a shape and size that makes them potentially useable for other purposes is mint imperial (immaterial). They are meant to hold liquid gas, end of story. Cutting into an empty tank is potentially very dangerous, and is not something to just 'go and do'. John N offered up advise similar to what I would have done, firstly make sure ALL the liquid gas has emptied out and crack the valve wide open with the tank upside down. Leave it for at least 24hrs then VERY carefully remove the valve. Fill the tank with water till it overflows. Water doesn't want to burn anywhere near as much as Propane or Butane in my experience and if the tank is full of water it CANNOT be full of anything else. Empty out the water and then begin cutting the tank. Abrasives or saws are better than gas axes. I would NEVER, EVER, EVER cut into any gas tank than hadn't been FULLY purged first.

That is a very nice piece of work Dief, every right to be happy with that one

I stand corrected on the venturi effect, I said it based on the literature that came on an old vacuum pump I had that worked by blowing very high pressure air through one pipe and across the top of another, it sucked the air out of the pipe making a vacuum. They said it was a venturi, so we were both wrong Live and learn

I made my own hammer's with Glenn Moon from Autralia. I prefer them to any other My swing I've tried to develope using the principles of bio mechanics as a guide. Depending on the power I need my swing could involve up to five of the bodies major joints as well as many of the minor joints (the fingers on my hand for example). Most of the time it's four; my back, shoulder,elbow and wrist, the fifth being my hips. I did a lot of watching and then a lot of experimentation with one inch pine boarding. More back, less shoulder, more snap to the wrist etc etc etc. For a given sequence of movements and amount of exertion the depth of the dent gave me a bench mark to work from. From that I found something that works very well for me, I can hammer without overstressing any one link in the chain that forms my swing and get the most out from the least in. Added to that through other teaching I learned about getting my hammer back by using the rebound, a further save on energy so I can forge for longer. The quality of the hammer is a moot point if you cant swing it for toffee, find a good technique first, then you can actually guage what makes a decent hammer to begin with and buy the right one.

I like them a lot. Very clean work. I'd not be unhappy if they were mine ;D

An alternative is to find an electric blower (a junk automotive unit for example) and plumb it into your chimney so that the air flow enters from the side at around a 45 degree angle pointing UP. Mount it at above head hieght to keep it out of the way and to avoid heat issues and it'll act as an extractor (by venturi) sucking up air without the need for draw. Essentially a variation on forced extraction, but by doing it this way you dont have to worry about an inline blower on a Forge flue.

Combo dies (a fuller and flatter) are really usefull provided that they're of a decent size. You need each working face to be wider than the parent stock you intend to work through them though so with these dies : Bam Bams ram and guide assembly - Blacksmith Photo Gallery for example, anything wider than an inch and a half is too big for the dies (and the hammer as well of course) This 'tyre' hammer had a tup weight of 25lb on the nose and ran at about 3 hits a second flat out. It was fairly accurate too (in spite of that sloppy looking ram guide) so setting tenons and such was easy with it. Biggest stock it worked was 50mm square. It was certainly ugly but did a suprisingly good job. It also gave me a chance to figure out how to make the next even better.

Very nice looking pieces, the framed works in particular interest me. I'd experiment with lighting those or making them so they'll accept lighting. With coloured perspex and flourescent tubing you could back and side light. Imagine all those bubbles on the frame glowing an aqua green say with the turtles back lit in a really vibrant blue, whatever colours work really. Create something striking and up the price significantly.

Terry, it's my opinion that one of the key values of a site like this is it's ability to allow folks who are interested in the craft the chance to 'meet' and 'talk' to time served gents like yourself. One of my best mates in Oz went through a very similar education and it's a joy to sit and listen to him talk about what he did (and indeed still does). At the end of the day IMHO you will find NO greater source of USEFUL information on Smithing than a chance to sit and talk with a time served man. If he is willing to actually show you some things then you are looking at a 24 carat gold education. I still consider myself incredibly fortunate to have met and worked alongside such people. Please post whatever stories or tales you see fit, the simple fact is most of us here will NEVER have the experience that you did and unless you share it then it gathers dust and may be lost. That would be tragic. Here at least you can leave a trail of breadcrumbs that those with the gumption can follow and benefit from.

Where I come from we called it the "Sunshine Bus". So whats your favourite flavour window Finn? ;)

The whole issue of doing any repair to a wonderful and original antique is a thorny one. Sympathetic and expert restoration shouldn't always be frowned upon, but when this is justified is the real issue that requires careful deliberation. That stands true regardless of the item being considered. I'd personally advocate doing whatever you need to in order to make the anvil you have fulfil the function you wish to use it for. That said I would never repair an anvil unless it wasn't fulfilling the above criteria. If you really look at every surface it's suprising how many 'ruined' anvils are actually capable of doing everything you need. If you want to spend money on an anvil as an antique merely to look at and cherish for what it is then that is your privelidge, but I believe an anvil is a tool, and should be viewed as such. I certainly bought mine as tools and I use them as such.

Michael, you can find several interesting video's on youtube if you type in ''Kinyon Air Hammer''. The one's with the bearded chap show a run through of the hammer and you can see the control system. Amazing tool the internet, but that being said you will not beat actually getting up close and personal to one and crawling all over it.

Have you hardened and tempered these knives? I just wondered with you saying the original wallhanger was made from stainless steel, I know some stainless is hardenable but I'm certainly not sure if ALL stainless is hardenable. If you want working knives then it'd be a shame to spend a lot of time getting them looking right if you can't harden them. For a first and second effort they look very good, and will only look better the more you do, keep at it.

Theres a real sense of pride when you first succeed in making a working tool. After you've made a few that work it's then becomes a case of how much pride you want to put into making them. When someone says ''where did you buy them''? and your reply is ''I didn't'' then you know your on the right track.