Max Mulholland - Tetnum

I will be there for some part of the event.

i would encourage you to go up a bit in size to 12x16 but build what you want. here is a link to an instructable i made while building my shop http://www.instructables.com/id/Backyard-Blacksmith-Shop-Shed/ a video tour of my shop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYnNYClF8Cs&feature=plcp and the full size pictures of my shop https://picasaweb.google.com/107762353672146371378/January32012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLW03bDdtOrhFQ&feat=directlink

I have a 4" Sheffield vice which looks identical to yours and it has no 4 stamped where your no 5 is stamped. it has Sheffield stamped into the front leg twice.

the blower is easily workable i usually soak them in kerosene than wire brush off the buildup. for the pan if you can cut and weld plate make something like this as the pan and chimney. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A2eJtP7gz8&feature=g-all-u . for the firepot i do not really like his design so let others comment and see if we can find a better design that will last.

I plan to be there on Friday and Saturday.

That is a real Vulcan Pete.

CO detector! you are in a closed building it is often forgotten but in a small space it is requirement, also some type of fire extinguisher is needed. A 5 gallon bucket of water works better than a commercial extinguisher in many forging related problems but you should have a ABC extinguisher around t deal with unexpected.

isnt this your website? http://www.twinoaksforge.com/

while cars, trucks, loaders, and such are built to last when something is being replaced there is a reason for it all of the tool steel parts are subject to cyclic fatigue keep in mind many parts coming off machinery have been put through millions of cycles over their lifetime. many pieces like this will will have cracks open up when you start forging it down to shape. resulting in a dangerous tool which is likely to break chip or crack. as a word of warning while the tools can be great and functional only use new steel for tools for others to use or for tools to be used in public. remember people have lawyers and use them irresponsibly this is why many scrap yards are shut down to the public.

anvil http://urbanremainschicago.com/item.aspx?itemID=5426 little beat up may be an understatement

campfire old muffler pipe moms shopvac some 1/2" rebar a claw hammer and a rock and it was a really good excuse to play with fire 5 years ago

i run blooms often and find the process fun but tedious with one person if any one is interested at my hammerin next year i will run a huge bloom on the order of 200#+ because the resources take time to accumelate if there is enough interest i will start tracking them down

so how was WI produced on an industrial scale the small bloomery furnace's we run are too small to make tons of the stuff it it a scaled up bloomery or something entirely different

you can forge cast at a dull red but it is slow and prone to failure i have done this but the end result is not worth while very little work can be done in a heat cast iron can be forged when laminated in an iron or steel billet like low layer Damascus old safes were made this way out of many alternating layers of CI and Wrought additionally Wootz steel is an insanely high carbon content metal that is forged (it has to be homogenized first)

might be some type of tensioner or sheer but i am not sure some else may know

you have a ducks nest fire pot they are fun to work with

on objects like blades the drop it in the pipe and forget it method is required for a differential heat treat so the thin edges cool faster and the center more slowly and it prevents warping the pipe also forces the piece to go in straight limiting warping

i have seen american anvils which look like the one pictured its a simple anvil to make from a trade ingot

hate to say anything but the item of refence in that picture is a staple gun in the back left corner that mousehole is not a small anvil compared to some (markings are X.0.15 so assuming X=1 127#) however $7~8 a # in Toronto is insane due to the location in the heart of anvil country north centered between Buffalo NY Detroit MI Columbus OH Cleavland OH that is not a small anvil and i love to have it in my shop for the right price

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/tls/1698548045.html http://stlouis.craigslist.org/tls/1698115638.html im just trying to get a feel for what the 100# anvils in good shape are worth

just some names i've thought of shop mate, the most versatile tool in the shop Ditto block, clone river anvil, flows effortlessly from task to task and this is clearly a tool that should be marketed to more than just blacksmiths based on its adaptibility to just about any task a metal worker would run across i have invisioned an anvil like this for sheet metal work. i built a system like this out of a hickory stump for adding mass to pitch pots to keep them from bouncing around and for ease of working copper and it works great to this day. if i had a spare 2grand i buy one of these but i will have to wait till sales pickup

i am a blacksmith in saintcharles county and a member of bam if you pm me i will try and get you some forge time when it gets a little warmer or a little less snowy

i just stick with the dollar a minute approach its easy and if a job requires a special piece of tooling that i have to make that time is added ad $.50 a minute and if the price seams too high dont charge that much

thats what the little dovetail does it lest you convert any tool in to tooling for this anvil