Doug C

A really big iron age BBQ fork?

As the guy who I take lessons from says. Make it look like you meant it look that way. Mistakes can be turned into design elements as long as it in the end it looks like you meant to do it. Good work, keep practicing.

Good first piece. When drawing out the taper * make sure you put a point on the end of the piece first then * hit the piece on the flat part of the horn just where the curve starts. * as you are drawing the taper over the horn pull the piece towards you * use overlapping blows and * Clean it up on the anvil face.

I set up a 10 foot square rope line around me and I did not do any welding. Folks were generally pretty good about not pushing in on the rope line. Are there general guide lines that a recommended?

A friend of mine has one like you describe. It has a leather belt.

Have to admit, the new Hofi 3 pounder is getting more use than the others. Just feels right when I use it.

Just a guess but the bubbling of the borax on the hot steel may prevent it from giving the same coverage as the anhydrous-borax.

Here is on interesting link to a page at the British Museum showing iron age smithing tools. A selection of iron age blacksmiths tools

Nice work, on the knife and the bellows.

Archiphile, Nice looking anvil. Where did you get it? Are you in Boston or in the burbs? What have you got for tools? You should think of joining New England Blacksmiths. They have one more open forge in Brentwood, NH this year and start up again in MArch. Also if you join there is supposed to be some sort of 2 day event in Portland Maine with lots of demoing going on.

Terry, Just checked out your gallery. Nice work. Lot's of ideas to try out. All welding I do is forge welding. I don't have access or experience with modern welding tools or techniques. I also do not do this for a living so I can afford to try out the old ways and not feel like I am losing time or money.

Not enough hands......won't a spring fuller mounted in the hardy solve most of that issue?

I just made 6 plant hangers and 6 S hooks for 60 dollars. Took me 2 hours to do it all and I have enough money to buy more steel and coal. I'm happy with that. I was at a forge in last week and the guy judging and doing the demo does decorative iron work, all hand forged, welded etc. His rate: a flat $150 an hour. He has no lack of customers. I think the rate depends on how fast you work as well. That guy moves 10 times faster then I do so my rate should be lower. My lack of experience should not cause the customer to pay more. If you want to sell forks. Start making a lot of them. See how many you can make in an hour. Can you recoup your costs and some. No...either stop making forks or get better at it. Apply this to any item you forge. As Glenn said lots of other threads on this topic.

Bentiron, Good advice. Deb and I will be downsizing in a few years as all 4 kids are now in college. Guess I need to move a little further from civilization so I can do what I want with fewer prying eyes. Know anyone nearby with a big lot, no HOA and a willingness to let you use 100 sq feet of their back yard?

James, I spent about 5 hours with my new Hofi Hammer on Sunday. I really liked the feel of the handle, especially when I maintained a loose grip. It was pretty uncomfortable when I used the Grip-O-Death. Also found that by using the looser grip I was moving metal much faster. I also found that the balance of the hammer made it easier to control. I know that everyone has their favorite style of hammer but I would imagine that a well balanced one, regardless of style, with a handle that is comfortable for the user and used with good form will help prevent or reduce hand pain.

Others here know better than me but my rule of thumb is to not touch any plated metal. I don't know enough to handle it safely so I do not chance it.

I use a full apron about 40 inches long. Never burnt my clothing yet.

Was at the Fitchburg Forge-in today and the demonstrator (Carl Close of Hammersmith Studios in Concord,Ma) said the same thing. Use h13 for hot cut chisels and punches. Wouldn't other Chromium or Moly steels work as well? Mark Aspery mentions 4140 and 4130 in his book. What is the difference between these steels?

That is a great design. Nice that no welding is required. I will be copying this one.

Mike, Eyes were closed but I was hitting wood not the anvil. I am crazy but not that crazy!!!:o

Bentiron, Check out your zoning laws. In my town any 10 X 10 structure needs no permit. It just has to be 15 feet off the property line. You may be able to build something without permit at all if you can deal with a smaller building. Also you could just tell them your putting in a wood burning stove and let them inspect away. Now using coal is another thing. Not allowed in close to the center of town where I am, But no one asks and I don't tell.:rolleyes:

I have one of these on the back porch. Came off the family farm. I would like to use it but don't want to try until I figure out how to use it right. Do you use it wet or dry? How fast / how hard do you pedal? Anyone got any tips?

So I finally got a chance to use the new 3# Hofi hammer today. It really moves metal and so far seems as comfortable as my normal 2# hammer, maybe more, so comfortable in fact I pretty much wiped a perfectly good taper on a piece of 1/2 inch stock. You might ask how in the good lords name I managed to do that. Well I got distracted by the neighbor, a very sweet person, and after she was done talking to me I pulled the stock from the fire picked up the hammer and went to town. After a few good solid hits I noticed that it looked like I had beat it repeatedly with a fuller along the length of the taper. Well it turns out that the hammer is so well balanced that I did not notice that I was using the peen instead of the face. After some reconstructive surgery to the taper I went and tried to see if with eyes closed I could tell which face was pointing down. I tried each hammer in my collection and with the exception of the rounding hammers and small ball peens I was able to tell when the peen was facing down. All I can say is this is one of the most well balanced hammers I have had the pleasure to use. Can't wait to play some more later this weekend.

I use one of those plastic tool racks that sits in the corner. There is a top and bottom shelf with matching holes I can group the stock together by size and when it get too short to reach between the two shelves I put it on the floor.

mark, should I scarf the ends of the 'staples' before bending or after?