Nick

I got it into my head today to make replicas of all the hammers recovered at Mastermyr. I've got a pretty good sized bar of indeterminite composition that I think might work. Here's a couple thoughts I had. I've got a copy of "The Mastermyr Find" by Arwidsson and Berg, and the only description of the material on most of the hammers is "iron." According to the metalurgical analysis of sledgehammer No. 69, the peen was a higher carbon content than material further back, and was forge welded on. There's no information given about the carbon content of any of the other hammers. All the faces are mushroomed, though that could have happened even if the face was badly heat treated steel. If I were to make these out of high carbon steel, then I'd try a heat treat. I'm curious about other Viking era hammers, though. If I were to make these as reproductions of the historical originals, would it be better to actually anneal or at least normalize a head made of high carbon or mild steel to get closer to the softness of the original wrought iron? Or, I could make them functioning hammers in the modern sense, fully heat treated out of high carbon steel. Does anyone know anywhere I can get information on the mettalurgical makeup of Viking tools?

I pounded this out today. I normally mark with soapstone or a Sharpie, but I wanted a scribe to mark out some precise measurements on an upcoming project. Made out of a piece of a coil spring. About 4" long. The finial is meant to resemble an anglo-saxon writing impliment, though a monk would be writing with the flared end. Hardened and tempered, I think I tempered it a bit to far, but so far it seems to work quite well.

Kenny, I've got three anvils in my shop of a good size for most forging work. Two are older and have a bit of a curve in the center of the face and rounded edges. The other has a perfectly flat face and sharp edges. Guess which one is the anvil I use 95% of the time? Not the one with the flat face. That one I use as a flattening plate or when I need a sharp corner or a small pritchel hole, but that's about it. Other than that, my anvil has that dip. The trick is to not only be aware of it, but to work around it and with it as the case may be. Learning your anvil is, in my opinion, almost as important as hammer control, because if you disregard the quirks of an anvil's shape, etc, it can make life...difficult.

Those are some darn fine axes, but that double-bit is a thing of pure beauty.

Thank you, it does. I'd be out getting the pipe right now, except it seems my uncle has made off with my car's battery. Long story, don't know exactly what he did, hope he's back soon. What kind of fumes are released during this process? I'll be ventilating, but it'd be nice to know what I'm ventilating for, which might change the whitertos and the whyfors.

Spent some quality time with the search function, but didn't turn up anything. I've got a project in mind for an early style barrel padlock, and I want to use some pipe for the barrel. The only problem is the only pipe of the right size readily avaliable to me is galvanized. I know all about the health risks of galvy, I knew about that long before I even thought about picking up the hammer. But though I've used galvanized wire a lot in the past for making chainmaille, I've never had cause to remove the galvanization before. I've got some Muriatic acid, and I thought that might do the trick, but I wanted some input first. Will it remove the galvanization, and should I dillute it or use it straight up? Nick

$800?! I got mine off eBay for $40, and the guy threw in a decent firepot with it. I did have to take the fan off to get the whole thing apart, which was a chore because a couple of the bolts holding the fan casing together had rusted shut. I ended up replacing them all. Mine's got the original crank, but the counterweight has been cut off and the crank welded into the piece that attaches to the arbor. I've been thinking about forging a new counterweight and welding it on, but it's not high on my to-do list.

My main forge has a Cannedy Otto blower. When I got it I could barely turn the crank, I opened up the gearbox and found that the previous owner had packed it with grease. I cleaned it all out, and chipped out the dried rubber seal that had petrified in the groove. I then reassembled it with a liquid gasket. It now works like a charm. It doesn't spin quite as easily as some blowers I've used, but it's powerful and really moves the air if I want it to. I'm not sure if we have the same model (there's some pics of my forge in my member gallery), but the gears in my blower are pretty substantial, definitly not "paper."

I keep my bags of good smithing coal inside, but I've got a few hundred pounds of low quality coal sitting outside I use when I don't want to waste my good coal.

I use shotgunner's glasses from Gander Mountain Sports. They have good, close coverage, and are comfortable.

Hey, that's a good idea! I do a lot of small projects, and that would be great in my shop. By the by, what are you making the devorative rivet heads for? Do you have a special rivet set for them? Nick

Thanks I got that particular nib from the local Michael's craft store, but Speedball brand calligraphy nibs are widely avaliable at art supply stores. I find they take a bit of practice to get a crisp line, more than Leonardt nibs, but they do work pretty well. I've been using Higgins calligraphy ink lately, it's a bit better than the Calli ink I was using before. I did the calligraphy that the pen is resting on, with a nib size down from the one in the pen holder, a few months ago. It's from the opening of "The Hobbit," I was doing some practice pages in preparation for a larger project.

I did this pen holder the first time I went into the forge after I was having the problems I posted about earlier. I forged it from a piece of 3/4" round I found next to my vice table. It must have fallen off at some point and gotten covered (dirt floor). Either way, it didn't come from the same stock that was cold shunting on my before. A simple taper, twisted. I then drilled it out for the nib. It's only 5" long, I made one that was normal length, but that makes the balance off. I also made a hook on commission, one of a pair for a piece of antique farm equipment that's hanging in the customer's home. I'm making both out of an old wheel rim from a piece of farm equipment I found on my property (I thought it was fitting). No problems with that, either.

I guess I'll be the first to say, I don't wear an apron when forging. I have a knee length canvas one, and a long leather one I wear when I do heavy grinding, but other than that I don't wear one. I might make a period apron to wear at faires to protect my greatkilt.

Hi Kj, Good list. I never thought about my fire tools having different handles, they just did when I got them (both out of an old forge), and the ends are certainly covered in coal from time to time. I do the "tap" hit when chiseling or punching. It's not so much of a tap as a quick, underpower strike to set the tool. I find this works for me to get consistent results. But as with many things, it won't work for everyone.

Thanks all, Alan, my wife says she definitly not ready to deliver a baby. Thomas, believe me, there's probably nothing that can actually make me give up blacksmithing, no matter how frustrated I get. But I am a perfectionist. The really bothersome thing is that I've done many complicated projects before. I've made armour, tied knots, made tiny little pendants, and big campfire cook sets. I know I'm rusty at forge welding, but I would like to be able to draw a taper without the steel cracking! I'll be getting steel from Centaur Forge instead of Marquette Machining next time, hopefully that'll remove that particular problem. I'll admit I was in a hurry to get the tongs done, Christmas and all. But I'm not giving it up.

I've never been more frustrated than I am right now with metalwork. I've been working on a pair of tongs for a friend. I'm making the jaws and forge welding the reins on, harder but I need to practice forge welding. The first one worked the first time. The second? Two days and it hasn't welded. The last time the jaw part not only flew off the anvil, but landed on my oil bucket, melted through the cover, and by time I found it with the tongs had fused with the bottom of the bucket. So I've given up. Then I realized, nothing I've done since late September has worked. I blew a hole in the helmet I was working on, the hammer adz I made looks nice, but it's got a couple cracks, and everything I've tried to make with bar stock has cracked, both scrap bar I have and brand new stock. I know I'm not forging to cold, and even if I did a couple times by accident, how is that going to account for a 100% failure rate?! And it's not like I'm brand new at this. I've not been doing it as long as many here, but I didn't start last week! I know my way around a hammer and anvil, I know how to work hot steel. I've done a lot of things I've been happy with. And now I can't seem to get anything right. I don't see how stepping away and taking a break will help, because I can only get into the forge once or twice a week right now. Anyway, I'll stop venting now. Nick

:o :o All of a sudden I'm much less proud of every forge weld I've ever done.

What an xxx. My teeth would work as a bottle opener. But should I? My knife would work as a screwdriver. But should I? My hand could grab a red hot bar and bend it. But should I? The difference between stupidity and wisdom is knowing the difference between what you can do and what you should do.

I wonder if anything could be found on Project Gutenburg...?

Hi Don, It's cupped the right way. I think it's just the light making it look like it's backwards. Cheers