SJS

Had a chance to play in the forge and reforged a ballpein... Still need to wire brush and polish it up.

Ms or hc I have a few odd sized smaller older spikes but don't know if I have seen any wrought ones. Might be temped to cut off the head and the point and do a split cross then forge out the head for a base... Humm that sounds pretty cool then etch the whole thing in ferric chloride:-)

Snuck out in the fog and took pics of what I got done Sunday

Got a chance to play in the forge a while back, just getting around to posting:-)

Its basicly a portable yard barn designed to look like a old west/pioneer village blacksmiths shop. I designed it to load up on my father in law's 8" wide flat bed trailer, which has a flat deck that rides above the tires... We also have some bolt on axils that my father in law used to use to deliever yard barns. But basicly it will be 8x8, the 4x6 runners are 7'6" wide so it will fit on the flatbed. The front wall will hinge and form a porch roof in front of the shop.

Started work on an 8x8 portable shop. I am hoping that I can make it look old timely:-) I need something to stash my blacksmith kit so I don't have to haul tools around every weekend in October, and maybe it won't try and blow away like my easy up does... Will post pics when I have time and day light, just finished up working on it at 11:30pm in the dark with a trouble light. Was pretty pleased with how it was coming together.

Looks like it was forged under a power hammer. Look at the transition to the round boss, that was done on a swage die. I figure they forged a ball on one end, then drew out the taper. Then they forged the boss flat on the swage die, then squared the short square section to match. Then they bent the hook, and finished the end. Still a lovely hook, but not a free handed piece;-) I do like the way they finished the hook end.

My sister is a designer, and my brother in law a general contractor, originally doing homes and apartment buildings... Lately some remodels and maintenance, though they just punched out one house and working on another. But she said the recession hit in September of 2006. They sold 2 houses on spec, and the 3rd spec house didn't get done till September and didn't sell for a year and they had to put 15-20k in upgrades and lower the price to move it before the real crash in 08...

DM where are you from, lots of people like to see where people are from, and sometimes are surprised to see hey your just north of me... You can list your location in your profile. Have you looked to see if there is a local state chapter of ABANA active in your area. I am in Indiana and there are about 12 satellite groups that I could go to if I had the time. Not to mention Rural Smiths and SOFA which aren't too long of a drive... I really like to tell newbies that there aren't any short cuts in life, but having someone who can guide you well can help get you where you want to go faster, and more importantly avoid some of the pitfalls. Learning proper hammer technique and control makes everything easier, and a lot less painful;-)

for some comic relief here is a joke... What's the difference between a farrier and a blacksmith??? Cash flow, people like art and horses, but they don't need art, but they do need their horses trimmed and or shod... I have been smithing for 30 years, and been a full time farrier for 20. I would love to be able to make enough to support my family with smithing, and 15 years ago the 10 year plan was for me to be out from under horses and in the shop:-) oh well, maybe as a retirement business, when I cant get under a horse anymore. But I am going to still try to develop a product line, that I can make profitably, and maybe I can make a go of it... I will pray for you Larry, you are really good at what you do, and surely there is a way to turn things around even without the economy roaring back to life...

I have been thinking of all the different ways I could use one, and different dies to make specific pieces. But I think about like its a miniature power hammer, with specialized dies. I also like designs and processes with big changes in cross section, and isolating bosses, and other tricks where a tool like this can be very handy

I used to wear Kevlar sleeves and a Kevlar off hand glove while running the power hammer or punching, drifting, chisel work on dragons and animal heads. Haven't worn them much in the last few years... I will also wear them if the stock is large enough to burn me, just holding it and hitting it, but I don't work stock that big very often, unfortunately;-) I hate wearing a glove on my hammer hand, and I prefer to use handled tools, or tools held in tongs for most things. Don't like steam burns, but a Kevlar sleeves and gloves are very handy. Most of the time I don't stop or even curse when I get scale burns, and I generally wait till I am done with a heat to put myself out, unless skin is burning, then I stop right away;-) Your not really working hard enough unless you set your self on fire at least once a year;-) If I remember the numbers ptree quotes about, you need to grip 60% harder to feel like you have the same control with a glove on... that's hard on your hands. You have to protect anything you want to keep, sometimes that means wearing gloves, and sometimes that means NOT wearing gloves...

Good call on the anvil height Gote... I am very particular about anvil height, and am embarrassed I neglected that in my post;-)

Hofi's ergonomic hammer method works well for lots of people, I use it some when I can remember to... Body position is important you should be close enough to the anvil that you aren't flapping away at your work way out in front of you. Don't flap your elbow like a chicken wing. If you need more umph, raise the hammer higher, accelerate it over a longer distance, and let the hammer do ALL the work. Your hand accelerates the hammer head, and you are guiding it to the point of impact, then catch it on the rebound and get it up and start to accelerate again, DONT drive the hammer into the work and keep pushing, it doesn't get you more work done it gets you hurt... don't grip too hard, Don't Grip TOO Hard, DONT GRIP TOO HARD... Go to Hammer-ins, and conferences observe guys who can move metal effectively, and ask for help from someone close enough to see what you are doing wrong. Don't push past your endurance, when you are tired stop. Fatigue often creates bad habits and bad technique. WHILE YOU ARE LEARNING IT IS CRUTIAL, to practice ONLY GOOD Technique. If you program good technique into your brain, that's what you will get out of your body... Get sloppy, get hurt... Think, THINK, THINK. Most of the time the hammer should oscillate within a plain parallel to your body, with your shoulder and hand in the plain. Use the whip action of your wrist and handle to get the most out of the hammer. Let the hammer do the work, pull it faster, don't push it harder. That's all just the technique advice... Hammers Try for a little while to use the lightest hammer you can use to get the job done effectively. It is easier to get a RSI from a heavier hammer. Try some of the handle modifications suggested... Slightly flattened oval, or a rounded flattened hexagon. Experiment with long handles on light hammers, and shorter handles on your heavier handles. You will still need to use the handle as a lever arm to get the most out of your hammer, but that lever works both ways... Holding a hammer at the end of a long handle with a heavier head is going to put tremendous strain on those tendons that are giving you such pain. I lamed myself one June 15-20 years ago shoeing too many horses and working on a project with a 4# rounding hammer and I would work to failure, didn't do ANY fun forging for 4 months or better, and wore bands on my arms for a couple of years. You don't want osteo arthritis, and you definitely don't want rheumatoid arthritis Remember Wisdom is the ability to learn from someone else's mistakes WITHOUT having to make them yourself...

Some people have an enviable courage and perseverance. They are willing to try, and they are unwilling to give up until they have succeeded. It sounds like the guy did a good job with the tools and the skill level he had available to him at the time. In a consumer society, it is nice to see some one who is creative;-) I had been blacksmithing for over 20years when I made my first sword, I've done 3. A test piece, and two for wedding presents. They aren't easy;-) if the kid didn't embarrass himself, kudos to him. Some people just don't stop when it isn't easy, they preserver. We generally call those people successful.... "Impossible is not a word, its just a reason for someone not to try..."

C clips, chain links, slices of round and square tubing, plasma cut clips all help a ton to reduce hand fatigue... Keeps you smarter and able to work longer, in the short and the long run;-). Some people like heavy tongs, and don't give them the death grip that they do light tongs... I love light springy tongs personally, endless I need more mass to handle the stock in the fire like a good sized chunk of steel for a hammer or some such. Personally don't care for ball end tongs, you have to use c clips then. But thin reins out of spring steel you can use all kinds of rings and clips, just got to keep an eye on them while working on the power hammer;-)

Are you going to use coke? Cause unless your companies refractory is pretty shock resistant, watering the green coal could be a spalling experience. Be a shame to engineer this lovely forge and crack it up first time you use it or worse have it explode. But this isn't my area of expertise, and clayed forges hold up so maybe I'm all wett? ;-) and the other comments about wider and deep with the tueyer coming in higher so the clinker doesn't clog you air all sound right, on my phone so can't look at the drawing directly;-)

Ausfire God apparently loves you and your living right;-) what a blessing

Really depends on where you are, if your happy its an OK deal;-). Thomas powers would of course be able to find the same thing for 8$ and buy an anvil from the same guy for a $ a #, but Thomas has a sick sense about that sort of thing that I know is truly rare.;-)

On Streeter's book I like Almost everything in it, Except his description of his suggested hammer technique. He advocates a thumb on top of the haft of the hammer, which will trash most peoples hands way too quickly. He apparently had a very light grip on the hammer and very durable joints... I have to agree with Gerald, be selective in the books you invest in. I try to be humble enough to try and learn from all kinds of sources, but I try to focus my learning and my stylistic influences on books and artists that I respect and agree with. I like Streeter, I like Yellin, and I like a lot of the German kuntschmidts. I like Hofi, Habermann, and Brazeal. I read and learned something's from Bealer and Wenger, but after growing and learning more I have disregarded most of those. After you have reached a certain level of knowledge you plateau and the pearls of wisdom that help you become better are fewer and farther between normally. You have to work at getting better, and you have to have the humility to look for those pearls in unexpected places. Or try to find opportunities to learn from guys who are further down the path, or who just took a different path and have a different skill set. Books are like friends you want really good ones.

I try most of the time to only use the off hand glove, reduces the hand strain on your hammer hand, and if you use a big wire brush block to scrape most of the scale off before you start whaling away on the steel you don't get that many scale burns on your hands;-) power hammer work you can use glove on both hands..

A bottom fuller increases the size of stock you can start with... Probably pretty useful to a new smith. A hot cut can be made with the bottom fuller, or you can just use a hot cut chisel. Not as easy to cut to the center in larger stock, but still quite handy. And if the steel didn't hold up to being a hot cut Hardie the first time why would it work any better this time...

Landscaping for sound deadening, tall ornamental grasses, and such can muffle the sounds. Be upfront and freindly most people are decent people. I would be tempted to "interview" the prospective neighbors before moving in to a 'neighborhood' having lived out in the country far from any neighbors for so long;-) better safe than moving in next to someone who will be a thorn in your side... I would be very tempted to pass on a nice property if I had a gut feeling one of the neighbors was going to be 'problematic' who knows that person might be the reason the seller was selling.

Jim I love you. You prove yourself yet again a man without a box, so you have make those ideas that wouldnt fit into that box you don't have anyway;-)

Nuge brought something up: ideas being sacred. In a way they can be, if you are an artist! If you are a craftsman they are mearly the vocabulary you work in. Design elements are the vocabulary we work with. If I use a finial from a medieval hinge off of a cathedral, and use it as the backplate of a coat hook, am I a plaguristic slob devoid of my own creativity? Or am I taking a design element and using it in a different application? I make things, I like to make things. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I liked a design, I wanted to do something like it. If I worried about being utterly unique I would get even less done. I figure if you show off your designs you can expect that to show up in other peoples work, if not seeing cheap knockoffs. There are a few patterns that I consider mine, variations on other patternsthat I applied to a different theme. I haven't shown those here on ifi I want to profit from my ingenuity, before I show it to someone energetic who can do it faster and cheaper than I can;-) I figure you do a BP or utube video on how to make something, you have given much of your intellectual property rights away... Sometimes you get paid in something other than money, and that's cool too. I like teaching, and sharing. I like to use other peoples ideas/images to build my vocabulary, to add tools to my toolbox. I am not being malicious, I am hopefully growing and getting better. Hopefully I can make some money doing this;-)