Nick

After I saw the BP for a hammer adz by Bill Epps, I went and gave it a shot. This is the result. I decided to scroll the claws towards the eye rather than cut them off, to maintain the mass while still moving the center of gravity further forward. I'll post how it works when I get a handle on it. The head was forged down mostly with my "Thor's Hammer", a 9 or 10 pound head on a short handle. It's the first time I've ever used it on a project. I mentioned in chat a couple weeks ago that I've been having some issues with cracking, and I did get a couple cracks on this. On the "seam" (don't know what else to call it) left over from making the head, just behind the head, it cracked above the seam on one side, and below on the other. Maybe it was a weak spot on the head? A preexisting crack (it's an old head)? I do think I was working it at an appropriate temperature, I don't think it's from me, but it's very, very frustrating. But I decided to keep working, and I'm happy with the results, though I wouldn't sell or give this one due to the cracks. I had fun with this, I'd like to make more. My dad works with wood, maybe he'll get one for Christmas. Nick

Make sure you've got the teeth gound off completely, or it could very well cold shunt on you.

I've been making maille armour for a while, and have started making plate armour. Check out my gallery for pics of some of my work. As for a Norman helm, check out Eric Thing's excellent article on anvilfire. Most everything you need to know about raising a helm that you can learn by reading. As for Ti, it would be interesting as a novelty, but I really think steel or iron would be the best materials to use.

I've been lucky, never got crap off eBay, and always got what I paid for. I've gotten a leg vise and blower off eBay, both in very good condition at a very good price, so there are deals there, but it takes persistence to wade through the garbage!

Not a chance it's worth that much, unless it comes with a set of solid gold hary tools.

Hats, I usually wear a Navy ball cap from the USS Carney (no, I was never in the Navy). Sleeves, I normally wear a t-shirt when I'm in the forge, and if I'm wearing long sleeves I roll them up. The only exceptions are when it's winter and my shop is still cold, or when I'm hot raising steel. It's not nice when the sheet pops off the stake and connects. That, and my tong arm is close enough that I get burned after a couple hours from the radiated heat.

Well, the seller is right about one thing for certain, it is more detailed than most you see. I'd want it more for the horn than anything else, personally. Since you're interested in knife making, the horn will probably be of less use to you.

2# cross-peen. I have two, both of which have different head and handle designs and are very different hammers, but both still cross peen. I have a 4# too, when I need to move more metal faster, but I don't use it often.

Irnsrgn already mentioned what we call a "Finnish Mousetrap" (though I've heard it called other things.) Something I do to make them more effective, don't use water, use antifreeze. They die faster, and it doesn't have that annoying habit of freezing. The mousetrap in my garage didn't have antifreeze in it, no ramp, and there wasn't anything on the can, but I still had 5 mice and a mole in there!

Here's the sketches I've been working on. I think I've got everything worked out in rough form, now I need to get some graph paper and start making a more precise blueprint. (Large picture!)

Neat story I know what "Shave and a hair cut, two bits" sounds like, but how does that translate onto the anvil?

I sometimes hammer to the beat of the anvil chorus, either in time or double time, depending on what I'm doing. I sometimes do it to other tunes, too.

Mine's at knuckle height, I like to be able to comfortably stand over my work when I'm doing detail work.

Well, I did manage to figure out the escapement. Thanks for the book title, Thomas, I'll have to try and find it. My biggest problem now is making the gears.

I've thought about making simple mechanical clocks for a while, and have spent a lot of time (no pun intended) researching late medieval and Renaissance clocks. I've got most of it figured out, but I've got two questions, one concerning the making, and one concerning the works. My biggest problem in making a clock is the gears. How should I go about making the gears? I've got a couple ideas, but I'd like any input. I don't have easy access to a welder or a torch. Second, to anyone with knowledge of old clocks, where would be a good place to look for information on the verge and foliot escapement? I've looked online, but not really found what I'm looking for. Are there any good books on the subject? I've attached a couple pictures of the kind of clock I'm interested in making. Most clocks of this type are made of wood nowadays, but I really want to do it out of metal.

Nothing. You can do absolutly nothing with it. Since I'm a nice guy, I'll take it off your hands so it's not cluttering up your shop.

My senior seminar paper was on the Wars of the Roses, and in several of the books I read, the historians made similar mistakes about armour, and these were not all old books! That's one of the reasons I want to specialize in the history of arms and armour, to help dispell some of these myths.

One of the reasons I prefer Coke over Pepsi is that Pepsi is so sweet. I also prefer Coke in cans, rather than plastic bottles. Glass bottled Coke is good, and also the only one with a true Coke taste, but it's more expensive so I buy glass bottles very rarely.

I think we're missing the point here. The real question is, what are the comparative quenching properties of water and Coke?

I'll have a Coke, thanks.

Are schematics acceptable, or does it have to be a physical stand? I've got a good stand for my Budden, but I wouldn't mind taking a shot at designing an adjustable height stand.

A guy I know bought some Ti tongs at Tipp City last month, no word yet on how well they work as forging tools. Two things come to mind: Shiny and LIGHT!

This is probably my worst experiance with galvy. A few months ago I was taking the advanced raising/metals class at NMU. Another girl in the class was making a chair for one of the projects. The welding and forging areas are adjacent in the same open area, and I was using one of the forges, perhaps 30 feet from the welding deck. The girl in question was torch cutting about a dozen curved pipes which were clearly galvanized. The only safety precuations she took were to put the vent hose over the cutting area, and put a hankercheif around her face. The vent was about as useful as the hankercheif, since it was over the cutting area, and white smoke was pouring out the other end of the pipes. She was told by several people that what she was doing was a Bad Idea, but plowed on anyway. I left after a while because I didn't want to breath what she was spewing into the air. She finished the chair, and no one got the galvy shakes, but I wasn't very pleased with what happened. If she wants to cut galvy pipe, that's her business, but when there's 10 other people in close proximity, that's just irresponsible.