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Hello all, I think that Frosty is correct about something still being handmade if a longer handle, trip-hammer or power-hammer is used: hand-eye and hands-on are the key factors… providing we are talking about a contemporary piece of work. Having said that, I think it is very important that if something is described as being made ‘authentically’ for a given period, that it should be. For example, something copied from an eighteenth century original could well be made using a trip-hammer, but only welded using fire-welding; or something from the fifth century made with a striker but no mechanical hammer. G.

Hello Colleen, I'll be moving back to my family origins next year, a fair bit North and West of you. I hope to be up there introducing my wife to the Highlands later this year, while we look for an area / place to settle in. Smithing is something I do for pleasure not a career, but it would be good to know the best places to order from and who is reliable. If I give you some notice any chance of a chat and some advice about suppliers etc.? And to have a nose around your workshop too... every time I look in someone else's workshop I see a blindingly obvious good idea that I should have thought of ages ago. G.

Hello Winston, I trained / worked as a lawyer in the UK - but registered as non-practising years ago; however, UK & US law are on the whole pretty similar so... as long as you have a unique design and and can prove that it was created by you (perhaps by just getting a reputable person or two to sign and date over a copy of it) you have copyright. Should this not work in the US you could be sneaky, send a letter to a decent law firm asking them what it would cost to copyright your design (asking, in passing, if they thought the design was suitable for copyrighting). Their reply, regardless of content, should be pretty good evidence of your having created the design by a given date. G.

Here, I hope, are the scans of Moxon's plan. G.

Hello all, I have finally tracked down and bought a fairly ropey copy of Moxon's book (the prices most sellers were asking were crazy!). The good news is that the title is well and truly out of copyright. The book does indeed contain a basic plan and quite detailed instructions for the construction of a spit jack ('clock jack' to brother Jonathan). Given time - and some luck with my techno-skills - I shall add the scanned-in chapter. Hope this will be of help to some. Please keep me posted if you have a go at making this according to the instructions. Any tips learnt along the way will be most welcome. G.

Hello all, There

Hello, I saw this anvil on the auction site too. I have worked on another exactly like it and that had a welded face and was superb; I'm pretty sure this is NOT cast iron and taht the body is cast steel with a forge welded face. This one looks ('looks') to be in very good condition. I don't know what it will go for, but if you don't get it and you find another one of interest within in my area - Herts / Bucks / Beds - I'll be happy to check it out for you. PM me if you need that help. Good luck. G.

Hello Sam, Thanks for the offer, but I have a copy of that excellent book (and reviewed it on the forum some time ago). A scan of the plans and text in Moxon's book would be most welcome if you have a copy! I have many, many illustrations and photo's of spit engines and some video of the mechanisms working - courtesy of another posting on IFI. But... I am very keen to find plans/blueprints from the correct period. The reason for this is that I am pretty sure that there is a certain ratio that experience has proved to work best in the gearing; comments from local horologists give strength to this thought. It would be soul destroying to hand cut all the cogs etc. just to find I had discovered a poorly functioning ratio! I have been in touch with Ivan Day (food historan), he built a copy of the spit engine in the kitchen at the castle museum in York. He is abroad for a couple of weeks but I'll have a chat with him on his return and will pass on any good advice to all who are interested. Regards, G.

Hello Steve, Did you have any luck in getting plans for the ideal mechanism? I'm planning something similar and any advice would be welcome. Thanks, G.

Hello Chainsaw, Hope you are still active and reading posts. I am planning to make a 'Clock Jack' too, we call it a 'Spit Engine' here in the UK. Did you have any luck getting plans and do you have any advice to pass on? Thanks. G.

Hello again, Something came to mind while I was looking at this thread again. The common way to stop the spit going 'heavy side down' over here (UK) is to forge four, six or - most common - eight sides onto the stock near the cranking handle. As long as a) the meat is skewered on to the main stock well, & the support near the cranking end has a flat surface, the meat won't turn unless you want it too. Just rotate it onto the next face every few minutes or so... thirsty work. Hope this may be of help. G.

Hello, Providing you don't want to roast anything larger than, say, a piglet / ham / goose or turkey, why not consider a dangle spit? I have recently finished making a copy of one I found illustrated in an old book ('Iron and Brass Implements', look in book reviews). It works really well and the meat comes off very tender. As always, the old-timers knew what they were doing. Some modern copies have the three hooks on the same level - mistake! With the hooks as shown in the illustration, the main joint of meat on the lower hook can be 'self-basted' by fat hooked on to the two upper hooks, it really works a treat. The only advice I think worth passing on with regard to the forging is this, draw down the long part of the hook arm BEFORE you split and work on the three hooks; first try, I did the small hooks first and lost them with all the heat needed to do the main drawing down. Oh yes, for ease of transport my top weighted-arm comes off (square hole goes on to squared neck of trammel) allows secure fit and good turning. The weights are lead, can be cast onto the end of the arms or forged to fit. Best thing I have found to suspend the spit and allow good turning from minimal twists is a leather thong (maybe 1/8" diameter), other twines really suffer from fire heat and cause panic when the spit falls into the fire. Put a tray underneath to allow you to baste the meat with its own juices. I hope I have successfully attached a scan of the illustration I copied and aa couple of pic's of my dangle spit. G.

Hello, When I was looking to buy my current anvil I came across several that had their heels missing, can you guess where the shear had happened? All were on the line of the hardy's bick-end edge. Lesson learned = never have anything tight in a hardy. I have recently finished making a couple of hardy tools - small bicks - and have made the shafts for the hole long enough to emerge from its bottom, about 5". This length - the added weight it gives the tool + the extra surface that can contact the hardy's walls - combined with a VERY close fit on all sides (as close as will allow easy fitting & removal in any of the four rotations) means very little movement and easy removal. It took quite a time to get the fit but no problems so far, only improved working characteristics. Conclusion = close fit good, tight fit bad.

Thanks Mike, a wedge is definitely one to make; if I can find the right size of metal I'll maybe adopt Frosty's idea of a four-sided wedge. Divermike... I know what you mean, but I'll just have to make them as I need them, not enough time to do otherwise. G.

Hello all, Many good ideas so far (more welcome). Mike, from your new description I now have a pretty fair idea of what the wedge should look like, but a photo’ would be very welcome. Such a wedge is a very good option for me since my main interest is making old-style cooking equipment and associated stuff. As is often the case with good ideas, now you have suggested it, it seems irritatingly obvious. Peacock, I’m no metal expert but have already tested a small off-cut by sparks, quench and break, and tempering; it seems to have a fair carbon content and it tempers in oil to make a pretty tough edge. I think it will be fine for my relatively undemanding needs. Frosty, as always, good advice and well received… but it IS nice to have a good lump of metal that allows me to make a few ‘long-time-wants’! Nonetheless, the greater part will be saved for future needs. Charlotte, I could not find anvil devils for sale here (UK), so made my own from large old worn-down triangular files. I bought them at boot sales, annealed them and then ground the cutting ridges off. They work pretty well. Bigfootnampa, a butcher is also a good idea; I have a straight side hardy that is now coming to the end of its working life (many times refurbished) and that will soon be a butcher; I think this metal will be good for making its replacement. Thanks all. G.

Thanks for the quick replies. Good idea Jimmy, I have a dire memory too! Sorry Mike, I should have noted that I have already made the basic hardy tools (bending fork / horns, hot and cold hardy). Please explain a bit more more about your 'wedge' suggestion, the image I have in mind from it doesn't fit with the use you suggest. I like the fuller idea. Thanks, G.

Hello all, I have been given a free power take off arm by a friend who is upgrading to a newer tractor; the diameter is 1.75 inches. I have already cut off the splined ends, each will be used to make different length / diameter small hardy bicks; I have wanted to make a mini bick for a long time, so I am very happy about this. The question is

Title: 'The Old Devon Farmhouse' Author: Peter Brears ISBN: 1 85522 626 X Publisher: Devon Books Pages: 160 Format: Hardback or Paperback, 12

Hello, I know just how you feel, I ripped some ligaments around my elbow early last year, I wasn't back to normal for about six or seven months. YOU MUST NOT TRY WORKING AGAIN TOO SOON! I did and had to rest for another six weeks because of my stupidity. However, you now have plenty of time to get all of your tools in perfect order, to re-arrange things and to do all of the small jobs you didn't have time for when blacksmithing was the main thing. If you have access to a grinder and some old / secondhand hammers and chisels, you can re-shape these to make butchers or different hot chisels. I started with an old 4lb (2kg) lump hammer and ended up with a superb 3lb cross pein hammer (now my favourite and most used hammer). If you keep the hammer head in your hands you won't ruin the temper because it will get too hot to hold before any damage is done, but this is slow. I also bought an old anvil, the face was good but the bick had flattened on the top to anodd shape, so I re-rounded it accurately; again, this was a slow job, but it kept me working with metal and gave me a good anvil at the end. I also researched for a lot of future projects, made diagrams etc. This has ben a good thing; before I used to rush into a project, now I plan well and work better. When you do start again, use a much lighter hammer than you usually would! I know its frustrating but its worth it in the long run. Hope you get better sooner rather than later, G.

Is cold worked 'matal' the blacksmithing equivalent of 'musak'?

Hello, I used to do a bit of jewelling and found that emery paper was going through my hands too fast. I fixed this by sticking clear plastic film to the back of it. I use the same thing now with iron and steel; at a guess I would say the paper lasts at least three times longer this way, so it is economical. Here in the UK the trade name for the plastic is Fablon, but we can also get the same sort of thing at a much lower price from hardware shops, supermarkets and places that deal with students' supplies (they use it for covering books); I hope its as easy to get in North America. G.

My Welsh is a bit rusty, but aren't you a 'Little Englander' by name?!

Hello, I agree that a hammer, or any equipment for that matter, should be the best quality one can afford; but the point here is that if you can't afford the best brand new kit, you can 'make do' with an alternative for the time being. We have all had times when we had to save every penny in every way. Vaughans' hammers are very expensive in the UK, and it is not too hard to get a good secondhand hammer for a very reasonable price. The two hammers I use most were bought secondhand; one I use as it came (but re-hafted) the other is a reground & forged 4lb sledge, now a good 3lb cross pein, total price for the two...about

Hello, I had the same problem when starting. For a new hammer at a very cheap price go to Homebase and get a 'flooring' hammer; they are 1.75lbs / 800g and cost about

Hello, Thanks for raising this matter. The sense of humour in various countries