GNJC

That is great piece of work Doug, it looks 'alive'! But, it is the chisel-worked type I'm aspiring to. I'd not come across that book before your post, I'll see if I can borrow a copy to see how I get on with it. Thanks for the post. G.

Well P., those look good but they look twisted - am I right? - the ones I want to do are all forged and chisel-cut. When (if... ) I finish one to my satisfaction I'll post a pic' and you'll see the difference. Thanks for trying though. G.

Thanks for the link Francis, its the cut-wheat rather than the twisted that I want to do - although both look good. I'll e-mail John B for an explanation.

Hello all, I want to forge some realistic-looking wheat from ½” square stock and am having problems. I’ve looked for tutorials here and elsewhere, to no avail, so now I’m asking for help. I start by putting a blunt pyramid on the end and then slightly flatten the stock for three inches back from there – this will be the 'head'. I then fuller it at the point where my flattened area meets the square stock and draw it down to a bit under a 1/4“ for a couple of inches. Next I use a chisel to put a deep cut down the centre of each face of the head. So far so good. My attempts to give the appearance of grains in the head have all been poor, I’ve used a butcher like cutter and a straight edged one, no luck. The ‘grains’ are not pronounced enough and work on one side flattens the opposite too much. Help. Thanks in advance for advice. G.

Firstly, apologies to those still awaiting a block; please do bear with me. For a number of reasons there is no chance that the foundry I have been using will be able to do another casting run soon. Therefore, in the hope of having some blocks to send out, I have brought the pattern home and shall try to find another foundry that can cast to the same standard at as competitive a price - I suspect that this will take some doing. Should my search prove unsuccessful I’ll go back to the original foundry and resign myself to waiting, and waiting… If anyone wants to ask questions or have more detailed information, please PM me. If anyone is tired of waiting, fair enough, apologies again and please let me know. Beth’s ‘home foundry’ sometimes appeals to me, but I really don’t think it is viable for a big lump like this.

Should be good. Frosty and Ric, you may be able to download the programme (or at least watch it online) via the BBC website and its iPlayer function.

Thanks for that, I'll follow your lead and see how far back they go. Aside from that, I've been digging here and there and it really does seem (so far) that there were no treadle hammers before the last quarter of the nineteenth century. On the subject of labour and costs, hmm... I think it is very hard for us in the modern First World to realise just how little (sometimes nothing but food & lodging) people were paid in the lower rungs of society in the past. Even though Britain was a global military and economic superpower before and throughout the Victorian age, there was still great poverty too. The only modern analogy is the Third World. I lived for some years in Eastern & Southern Africa and can tell you that the small, rural craftsmen there (be it in wood, metal or stone) wouldn't dream of 'wasting' money on major infrastructure - such as a treadle hammer - when they have any number of young fellows begging to be taken on as an apprentice or just a sweeper-upper. It isn't economic, and that is what it all boils down to. (I would also note that there is a certain social value in being an 'employer.' Not only the employee, but his family and friends too are beholden to you.)

Join the Blacksmiths’ Guild and, maybe, BABA. Find a smith near you, explain your situation and offer your services – free of charge – for the Summer holidays. If he says no, try another one. Be sure he is a blacksmith, not a fabricator. Fabricators are great and we need them, but they’re not blacksmiths despite what some of them claim, and you won’t learn what you need to from them. Regarding career… ha! Do what will make you happy! I’ve been in the army, farming and - latterly - law; I’m not a professional smith and have no presumption to pretend I am (only received my first commissions last week!), I just make things that I can’t buy elsewhere, and I make them authentically. Money etc.? How long is a piece of string. Money is important, very much so; but so is happiness. You’re a lucky fellow to find blacksmithing so young. Regardless of what you decide to do, do get some A Levels, you can always go to a university as a mature student if you feel like it later. (I went at a geriatric 26 years of age & benefited from it far more than the vast majority of 18 year olds who turned up fresh from school.) Where are you in the UK? Post your location and someone on here may make you an offer of help if they are nearby.

Hello all, I stopped at the foundry today (on my return from buying a pretty good set of great bellows). They managed to get the coolant system up and running at the start of this week, but there is a back log of work to be done. It is possible that some will be cast late next week, but the following week is more likely. I will keep you informed. Beth, the show was an interesting experience. Hatfield Show is next, bigger and better known. Walsh is the firm I used to buy jewelling kit from and they were not as expensive as you might think. That said, the number of tools needed to replicate my block's functions would stretch to well over £1000, nearer £2000 in fact; but it would take many hours to get a block to the level of finish required for silver working. With luck, silver smiths may buy a few blocks in the future.

The Blacksmiths' Guild, Exeter, UK. A range of courses or even a course especially for you, forge-in too. Have a look at the website (http://www.blacksmithsguild.com/index.html). John B, here on IFI, is top dog and will be able to answer any questions about the Guild and put you in touch with smiths who specialise in things that may interest you.

Interesting topic. My father lost his left leg and, oddly, had a friend who had lost his left hand. One of the best bits of my childhood was when this chap visited and I got to play with his prosthetics. When I saw this thread I had a quick look through some old photo's, but he has an artificial hand in all visible shots. Nonetheless, two relevant attachments are pretty clear in my memory. One was like a big drill chuck - no recall of a key, so presumably just hand tightened - with, at a right angle to it, a clamp similar to those you used to get in school science lab's for holding test tubes etc. Anything cylindrical, not necesarily round, could be held in the chuck and, if it needed a bit of support the clamp would swivel and give it or stop the object moving in an unwanted direction. The other fitting was a bit like a jeweller's ring clamp; it had two gripping jaws at the front and wedge that he could move back and forth at the rear, thus tightening the jaws. He used that a lot because it was by far the quickest way of adjusting / tightening grip. Having given this some thought, I'd say that he has to stay using a hammer in his right hand - crazy to effectively disable himself by using his less dominant hand to hammer. I think that whatever is chosen has to have a rapid release / tightening method; two ways come to mind, a lever with a cam or a wedge similar to the above. Attaching to the arm? Whatever is secure and comfortable. Please keep us informed of what happens.

I contacted the Curator at Old Sturbridge and received a very full reply regarding their treadle hammer. It has a 'probable date' of early nineteenth century, BUT... it may be later; nobody knows where it came from or if it was made there more recently as a copy of an earlier one, or as a guess as to what one may have been like. Looking at the photograph I was sent - and reading the detailed description - there is nothing to preclude it from being 200 years old. BUT... there is nothing that proves it, or even makes it seem more likely than not. My gut feeling is that the Old Sturbridge treadle hammer is a later (early 20th century) production of what someone thought a much earlier treadle hammer should be like. However, I have not made an on-the-spot examination so could be completely wrong.

Owen, that does look a lot more recent to me; obviously the fixings could be modern replacements, six sided being pretty rare back then, but the whole appearance just seems later to me. Thanks Doc, I'll follow that lead. I've just had a quick look at their hammer, some notes to it read 'Made from simple materials available to a village smith of that era' . This could be interpreted in two ways, it being real or a repro'.

For some reason a bracketed letter b results in the sunglassed icon thing above!

Hello Owen, thanks for that; I've seen your courses on there and often wondered how successful a place it would be. Yes, ebay has been considered and I think I'll give it a go once the first orders have all been completed. Do you think I would have to do any finishing / dressing on them for ebay? I'm reluctant to because (a) it would mean bumping the price up & (B) I don't enjoy it and have better things to do. Interestingly - well, interesting for me anyway - I took one to the the Thame show today (& for tomorrow) and had interest from a silversmith in a block. Compared to what he would have to pay for the equivalent silverworking kit he thinks it a bargain to get one and then sand / polish it to mirror finish himself. I started out with silver myself... but it would take a lot to persuade me to put a mirror finish on one of these blocks! Beautiful though, if he does it I shall ask for photo's. Apologies to those awaiting blocks, I didn't hear from the foundry last week and was in no state or mood to chase the them up having been knocked flat on my back by a stomach bug from my little boy... I'll contact them toward the end of this week and post the result of my enquiry. I do know that they were growing a back-log due to a coolant failure and, as always, we will be at the back of any queue... but it saves money!

Thanks Wayne, interesting site, sadly they are all trip hammers of one type or another. Timothy, any idea where you heard that?

I should have written 'much' before the 20th Century, 1898 is the earliest definite date I've found so far. Olivers are the oldest general design I've found. Clearly there would have been two common reasons for the need of a treadle hammer, lack of a striker or the cost of one. Perhaps these factors simply did not apply before the Late Victorian period. That written, general human ingenuity must have looked at the problem of a single smith needing a 'third hand' or a heavier hit. Wouldn't it?

I'd be grateful for any references for early use / designs of treadle hammers. I'm yet to find anything from before the 20th Century, which is surprising. Obviously trip-hammers have been around for a huge period, when was the first treadle? Thanks in advance for any help.

Good jobs well done & the Guild doing a good job too.

Interesting lock-plate and hinges; the name 'snipe' is perfectly descriptive. The fireplace looks well done too; the heart motif was very popular until the end of the Eitheenth Century here in the UK, a bit later in North America. I think it is good to see it being used more often nowadays, it is a very natural decoration for a smith to use.

Yes, a very good stand John. Although I favour wood myself, I suspect that something very close to your design will be what most people opt for. For those awaiting a block... the foundry's melting equipment has a coolant problem, therefore no blocks this week. Assuming it has been fixed in time, I should have the next batch of blocks at the end of next week. Apologies for this, it is not something I can do anyhting about. Obviously, the foundry is every bit as keen to have things up and running again as I am; I shall inform you as I am updated. Some time ago I mentioned that I had heard of a possible pattern for a floor mandrel. Well, I have located the pattern in question and it is for a large bollard. It is conical, but with a a very small angle, about three feet high, starting at a seven inch base and finishing at about four inches. There is a small band around the centre. So, no easy-to-make cone mandrel.

Hello Tom, That's a big vice to take to a show, I'll email you a pic'of my small 'leg vice style' vice that attaches like a heavy duty G-clamp. For home / forge use a stand attached to the ground or a strong post is ideal. That said, if you can really load the stand with heavy weights - to minimise movement - you could be on to a good thing. ('Knock it up' also means impregnate to me and I'm only a county away from you, 'knock it together' is what we say in Hertfordshire when we mean fabricate / construct.)

I agree with f_b, this has taken some reading... but interesting. A lot earlier I mentioned that the Industrial Revolution relied upon free movement of ideas; this was rebutted by mentioning patents and commercial secrecy, fair points. However, there were also a number of lecure venues and fora for the advancement / sharing of ideas in the major industrial cities such as Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and London. Because they had the protection of patents, engineers felt free to publicise their ideas and call upon (challenge!) others to improve upon them. All to the common good. Difficult to summarise a concensus on the thead - if there has been one. Perhaps it is fair to say that nobody has an absolute right to another person's knowledge; but, there is a strong moral obligation on those with knowledge to share it with others who could benefit from it. All to the common good!

Hello all, The first show will be Thame (April 8th & 9th). Anyone wishing to attend, whether for giving demo's or sales, please let me know in the next few days. As John has written above, anyone at any skill level is welcome, the only requirement is Guild membership (so you are insured at the show). Thanks, Giles

'The Artist Blacksmith' and 'Forged Architectural Metalwork' by Peter Parkinson, the first gives a very good intro. to the craft. If you want stuff to make look at 'Iron and Brass Implemements of the English House' (has a colonial American section too) by John Seymour Lindsay, a classic book. 'Colonial Wrought Iron: The Sorber Collection' by Don Plummer is worth a look to, lots of things to make.