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I Forge Iron

urnesBeast

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Everything posted by urnesBeast

  1. You attended a red, one room school house. One teacher, Kindergarten - 6th grade. But I am not that old, just lucky!
  2. 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.
  3. 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...
  4. For the right price, I will take a well preserved, painted anvil. For a better price, I will leave the butterflies on.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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?"
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. Here is the link: http://www.blacksmithing.org/CB-Archive/WebForm1.aspx
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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)
  14. 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!
  15. 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.
  16. Thank you. It seems like you could do one hand and one foot before insertion and closing so that you have less awkward work to do. Will have to try one of these soon! thanks, Doug
  17. How were the limbs attached? Hole punched and then insert limb and forge the second hand/foot or two pieces heat shrunk into same hole?
  18. You should talk with Brian Brazeal about the road trip he went on. There is a thread about it on here. Brian is an incredibly skilled instructor, demonstrator and blacksmith. I think it would be difficult to be more successful in an endeavor like this than he was.
  19. I once bought a novelty item, there were three separate listing for the same items ending at the same time. Oddly enough, the one I bid on was bidded up in a similar manner, by a similar shill. I pointed this out to the eBay police. Those two accounts were closed within a few days. They police this IFF you point it out and it is gratuitous.
  20. I had full replacement insurance on my hobby shop. I felt I came out very well after a 100% loss fire. I had nothing but hand tools. I still would rather I did not have the fire, but it set me on a path that got me to move out to the country where the neighbors appreciate having a blacksmith, a shop four times the size and generally a better lifestyle. Most of the money went into rebuilding a shop that got closed down by a spurious zoning board decision. I felt the full replacement value made the whole thing more pleasant. I had ZERO problems with the claim from Liberty Mutual. Full replacement cost insurance was so worth it.
  21. To close out this thread, I just buried the stump. I cut it to size and leveled it. Silconed the anvil in place. It should be dry by now. Even with the silcon drying last night, it was clear to me that this anvil is VERY solid. I cut the stump a few inches lower than I would have liked because I did not cut it level with the chainsaw. Rather than marking a line around it with a level, next time, I would nail guide boards around, they were easier to follow when I was leveling the top. I ended up stripping all the bark with an old chisel and hammer. I used linseed oil on the trunk and chared the buried end. I used large rocks and gravel all around the tree trunk. The part visible above ground was burned a bit with propane to help kill anything that might think of attacking. I will be banding it soon. Because the stump got cut a little shorter than I would have liked, I simply 'raised the anvil' with a shovel (I dug around the anvil a bit). This has the added advantage that my frequent forging partner can have the anvil at his height by approaching from the other side! With a dirt floor, I can easily 'raise or lower' the anvil by altering the floor. Overall, this thing is not going anywhere. It is buried four foot deep, with a foot of stone underneath it and 6-12 inches of rocks around the sides. Soil for the last 6 inches or so. Also, part of the challenge was removing the anvil from the old stand. Since it was on 9 4x8's nailed together, once the nails were cut, they could be easily pried off from the silcon. Thanks everyone!
  22. Brian might not have made me a believer, but I became a believer using his anvil in his shop! The metal will teach you! :)After reading this article Lyle pointed to, I can see ash is not the best choice here, however: The wood is freeThe wood is mostly preparedThe wood is about a foot from the holeI am not sure where I would find a replacement right nowI will not regret this decision for at least five years! Be sure to look here for an older version of me complaining about the poor decision I am about to make! :)I just remembered that I have five gallons of driveway resurfacing/sealant goop (it was in the stable when I bought it). As I understand it, the goal is to make the wood stay away from water and make the wood taste bad to insects. I wonder if this will do that. http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fpltn/fpltn-108.pdf This claims charring does not help. By the logic given here, not much would work because as it checks, unpreserved material will be exposed anyways.
  23. She has an upsetting block. I don't have any used engine oil. I found a angle grinder blade that does not work very well for stripping the bark. I got a chisel and that kinda works good enough, almost, for debarking. I am stripping as much as I can, then charing and linseeding. Now to find gravel. I suspect there must be a pile of rock somewhere around this old farm house...
  24. I am in Boston. Frost line is about 4 feet. This inside a well insulated building.
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