civilwarblacksmith

wd&mlteach, Once the iron is pulled from the bloomery it is cut into managable pieces and then put onto the anvil and refined by shaping and folding.

The meeting for September is also the Guilds annual crab feed for the guild membership. The trade item paper towel holder is also a table-top paper towel holder so it can be used during the crab feast. Remember items for Iron-in the-hat.

I agree with UC above. When you get set in a routine of making the same items over and over, it is not so much of a burn out as it is reptitous boredom. My main smithing is for re-enactors as that is where my passion lies since I started out as one. I get in that rut some times, and think of what new items can I create for them. I also tend to mix things up in order to get a variety of smithing unrelated items with differrent ventures. I have the CW re-enacting circuit which I just finished for the year. I still sell from my website and make thing for it. I also have events that I do with the Union Mills Homestead. And lastly I ave Blacksmithing Guild events that I do. So by keeping a mix, you can also keep it fresh. Keep pushing to learn new things will also keep it new and excitingly frustastrating at times. 'nuff said. Laid off this week, I'm headed to the forge.

Rob, I didn't get to watch, since I was running the Iron in the Hat, but did you happened to see if the rub the tongs along the edge of the anvil. This is another way to remove scale from the piece. It was something Ken showed us in the colonial shovel kit.

Mike, Your right on the tool steel issue, I guess I over catagorized tool steels to generally as all having plenty of carbon to do the job. Thanks for the catch.

The best thing that i have used for char so far, has been 100% cotton string. The thing that differs from flat cloth, is that you pull off what you need and since it is string there are alot of pockets to catch the spark when you bunch it up to strike. Alot of people have mentioned the obvious metals to make striker; files, coil spring, etc. Any type of tool or spring steel will work.

Phil, Do you have any pictures of the ladle. Sounds interesting.

All the blacksmithing classes have been put on to the calendar that you have listed in your post Albin. As you get more classes let me know to post on the calendar.

Thanks, It gives me a few places to get started. Reb

Dave, One reason for the change was for the ability to have exposure and promote our guild activities through the use of this forum. Also it may drive more of our membership to use iforgeiron as a resource for information that they did not know existed as well as any interguild information. This is not to say that it will get used by a lot of our membership. Some will, some won't. When you built your forum it was more of a BGCM forum and limited interaction. I do hope that this didn't offend you, Dave.

I going to make some tools for blackpowder firearms such as screw turns, combo tools, ect. I was wondering if anyone new what size and type of wire to use for nipple picks. I have plenty of small antler tines for handle but not sure of wire size or type that would be flexible enough and still retain shape.

Not sure who the manufacturer was. It didn't have a name on it. I recently sold it to Longhunter. I have another forge that I is a little more lighter as well as easier to take to events. Reb

Beautiful work. I never thought of a bowl as being art.

This is the basic scenario. The cabin is dated 1820 and is in a rural area. The cabin has been restored and they will be building a duplicate of the barn. This is located in central Maryland. They have different events, March was the Maple Sugaring Festival. I'm figuring this scenario would be more of a worker/labourer/farm type . Would a wide brim slouch hat be appropriate?

Bill, Give me a hollar if you get up this way. If I have an event, your more than welcome in my camp and bang some metal.

Bill, I live 10 miles from Gettysburg and Regimental QM. I have been CW re-enacting since 2000 and have more CW EQ than I probably need. But the hats I'm looking for are early 1812-1820 (civilian tradesman-blacksmith) eastern US. The store you mentioned are mainly CW era stores. You are right that re-enactors don't want to pay a bundle for your work and alot of time I get a rash of crap from other blacksmiths because my prices are fairly low. I don't do the re-enactor blacksmith to make a ton of money. I blacksmith for the re-enacting community as an act of love for them. I know what we pay for our EQ and most of the time they have us over a barrell because they are a specialty shop. So bascically made it my mission for the CW community. Thanks.

I have looked at some of these sites but not sure what type of hat is appropriate. The rest of the clothing is being provided.

I'm helping out with an 1820 cabin restoration. When they have events I demo blacksmithing, but am in need of suppliers for that time period of clothing. Does anyone know of any web-sites that supply early 1800's clothing? Mainly looking for hats and coats or frocks. The pants and shirt is being provided by the cabin. Thanks, Reb

Horseshoes can be turned into hearts, spoons, letter openers, eating knives, and forks.. Use Horseshoe nails to make key rings, small ladle key rings, hearts, crosses.

If I get the chance today and can find the how-to, I will put it up here. Might have to set it up in the gallery. It was made by Bill Clemens from our guild and put in the newsletter. Bill is an incredible smith.

I tried them and they wouldn't insure me due to other volunteer smiths being in the work place. I wanted insurance for the public demos and re-enactments. Gobae, How long ago did you get your insurance and with whom did you speak to? Maybe I went about the insurance wrong. Did you apply as a non-profit or a volunteer? I could use some help in this, please.

I generally as a rule do not forge with gloves. I do on occasions wear high heat welding gloves if in situations of punching close to metal, working with small parts in the forge that I'm holding with tongs in order to weld to something. Always make sure gloves are loose fitting so that they can be taken off really quickly.

ABANA offers insurance through the Hartford insurance company. It is Industrial Coverage Corp. It is supposed to be for Hobbyists; part-time smith and full-time smiths. Ok here is the rub. It is commercial insurance coverage. I am a part-time smith and also have a non-profit foundation that does the re-enactments. I have qualified smiths that help me or are embers of the foundation and participate in the event. The underwriter saw my web page photos and that these members were helping in the work area, which is where they belong. They would write the policy because they were not my employees. Premiums are supposed to be as low as $250.00. You can give it a try. Industrial Coverage Corporation - Nomma & Abana Insurance Programms, Wholesale Division or call Michael J. Romeo at 800-242-9872 ext.115 Good luck let me know how it works for you. I'm still looking for insurance also.

We got a rebuilt CNC punch press machine at work with a crate of tooling. Was able to bring home the tooling we were not going to use. The crate is 30"x 48"x30". The tooling covers about 8" depth of the floor of the crate. All the tooling are S7. I take these to our meetings for iron in the hat and the members use them to make fly press tooling. Also pick up 2 overhead crane cables.