urnesBeast

You attended a red, one room school house. One teacher, Kindergarten - 6th grade. But I am not that old, just lucky!

I am doing a demo in a few weeks, I will likely do this. For me, it is not about the cash. It is about knowing that people value what they see. It is the same reason I sell my stuff on Etsy. When people start laying out non-trivial amounts of cash I know I am getting better.

I asked my aluminum casting instructor about casting copper. He told me what I assume is an urban legend. The company that makes strike anywhere matches asked Edison for an innovation to save money in manufacturing. He pointed out there were two strike panels on each box. One was more than enough. They asked how he would like to be paid for this huge money saving idea. He said he would like a 2"x2"x2" perfectly cast cube of copper AND all the failed attempts. Casting copper well is so difficult that the scrap value of all the failures compensated him very well...

For the right price, I will take a well preserved, painted anvil. For a better price, I will leave the butterflies on.

It *may* have gone a little soft. House fires may not have been that hot. I have a hard time believing that it went orange. Still anvil shaped and plenty good for striker anvil, kids, people with poor aim.

I recommend Brian Brazeal for private lessons. He can be found on here. They are individual lessons from an excellent blacksmith at a *very* reasonable price. I spent two weeks with Brian last summer, and am already thinking about when my next session will be.

Do you already have the equipment and skill to cast iron? There are two possible questions here: "How do I cast iron?" "How do I specifically cast iron into the shape of a skillet?"

I just let it go sometimes, without air not much happens anyways. You get a nice big klinker that way. When I am feeling more conservative, I will pull out the coals to just above the clinker out. Then I get out the "water mop" (I learned this tool from Brian B.). It is a towel cut into strips and attached to a metal bar. I can mop down the coals and put them out quickly without danger to my fire pot.

After troubles with the neighbors, I was called on Zoning (not building) violations. (After building the shop) The lawyer I consulted with said it would cost $5000 to fight, and we might not even win. Buy a house out in the country. I did. Best decision ever.

Here is the link: http://www.blacksmithing.org/CB-Archive/WebForm1.aspx

I missed his talk in Memphis. Is there a tutorial/video on this? I have his book, and I spoke for like 5 minutes with him about it, but I don't know that I know enough to get decent results yet.

From Outliers by Malcom Gladwell, I understand it takes about 10,000 hours of dedicated practice to become world class at something. I heat up a fire poker and tally up the hours on a piece of wood, and make a poke for every time I have fired up the forge. Gives me a nice growing, visual reminder of the time I spend. I suppose a stump full of nails would be similar. A friend who took aikido at the university for 13 years (slow to graduate) had the oldest index card in the box, with one tally mark per session attended. It was impressive to see both sides of a large index card with the smallest tally marks possible.

Were the straps put around the wood hot or cold? Seems like it would be too lose if done cold, but you would burn the handle if hot (even if pre-soaked)

When I do fold forming in copper, I have noticed that the speed I put it in the water changes the finish. However, I think it mostly has to do with how much of the residue washes away from the copper and how much sticks. At least for thin sheet fold forming, it cools so quickly the only real difference I would expect is one would be oily afterwards!

This looks like a totally functional anvil. I have a few design questions though. Why the posts to raise the anvil? I think you would be better off just having the main block welded to a plate for mounting. It is easier to manufacture, I suspect it would be quieter, more stable, and less likely to break. Why is the hardy at an angle? I suspect that is for ease of manufacturing and stability so you are welding on two edges. I think it would be awkward to work with that way though.