Mr Smith

Usually, soccer is soccer, Footy is *always* Australian Rules football, and is sometimes also referred to as "the AFL" or "Aussie rules". Rugby is divided into "league" and "union". Good luck getting an explanation of the difference between the two. In Perth, the soccer is making headway, so it is possible that occasionally football can refer to the soccer. Perth Glory seems to be getting more popular every season. For more info, I recommend either afl.com, or go to triple j radio and look for the HG and Roy podcast. Those two are pretty funny, but you'll prolly learn a whole lot about us "down under" and our rugby, AFL etc...

Yup! That's the one! Thanks Hillbilly! That's pretty well exactly what I was looking for! I had a similar how-to I copied from one of the blacksmithing newsletters, but (temporarily) lost it. Although, it's good to see a different way of doing the same thing. Many thanks!!

Hi all! Does anyone have details on making a tomahawk from flat bar? The one where you forge weld the entire blade and add in some HC at the end. I had the complete plan written down somewhere, but when you're as organised as I am, things go walking. Thanks in advance!

Here's a table made by Martin, our club treasurer. He's been an active member of the association pretty much from its beginning, and turns out this sort of work on a regular basis. When I got to talking about this piece, it turns out he knocked out the scrolls on the top of the table as "something to do" at last year's Royal Show, then built the table around them so as to use them up. He said to make sure I told you it was a work in progress, though!

Here's a bit of Australian culture for you all (Taken from Wikipedia) It'll explain a bit betterer what we mean. Not that I'm suffering from this - I got loads of photos of our stuff, and will be posting in the BAWA area at regular intervals! Cultural cringe, in cultural studies and social anthropology, is the controversial idea that some national cultures suffer from an internalized inferiority complex which causes people in those countries to dismiss their own culture as inferior to the cultures of other countries. It is related, although not identical, to the concept of a colonial mentality. The term is most commonly used in Australia due to its roots as a penal colony, where it is widely (although not universally) accepted as a fact of Australian cultural life. Its national day, Australia Day, is not as venerated as other nations' national days. Many cultural commentators in Canada have also suggested that a similar process operates in that country as well, although the specific phrase "cultural cringe" is not widely used to label the phenomenon in Canada. Another example is the claimed New Zealand and Scottish cringe. In many cases, "cultural cringe" is an accusation made by a fellow-national, who decries the inferiority complex and asserts the merits of the national culture. An example is the epithet "West Brit" applied by one Irish person to another who is felt to adopt excessively the mannerisms of the British (specifically, the English). The term "cultural cringe" was coined in the Australian context by the writer and critic A. A. Phillips. His 1950 essay was republished in 2006, attesting to the potency of the term. The idea of cultural cringe was defined by Australian sociologists Brian Head and James Walter as the belief that one's own country occupies a "subordinate cultural place on the periphery", and that "intellectual standards are set and innovations occur elsewhere". As a consequence, a person who holds this belief is inclined to devalue their own country's cultural, academic and artistic life, and to venerate the "superior" culture of another country. (Such persons may, on occasion, come to respect or appreciate certain specific examples of their own national culture, but generally only after that example has already been deemed worthy by an international audience.) In Australia it is linked to the way an audience would "cringe" when it saw films and acting that featured an array of Australian animals, like the kangaroo and koala, in everyday suburbia. It also refers to the use of events that other countries may find to be humorous and/or stupid. In Another Look at the Cultural Cringe, Australian academic Leonard John Hume critiqued the idea of cultural cringe as an oversimplification of the complexities of Australian history and culture.

Might be a little OT, but here's *our* Bradley power hammer. At 100lbs, she's a bit smaller than yours, but still does the job. On another note, if anyone has any further info on this old lady, please let me know!

Actually, it's already been done.. A tomahawk made from a dog (RR) spike, in the BAWA section, under "dog spikes /railroad spikes". Not much, but its a start!

Welcome aboard, Job!

Here's a couple more ideas.. Tyler, I think you'll like these :)

Hear hear!!

According to the blurb attached to auction, he was Abraham Lincoln's father. Apparently, his old man wanted him to be a blacksmith, but he went off and became a lawyer, instead. No accounting for tastes. On another note, it's good to see you back and posting. Welcome back, mate!

One thing I came across is the effect of pressure - defined as force / area. A chisel will place more pressure on the face of the anvil than *any* hammer will ever be able to, therefore, more deformation or damage. Also, when you double the size of any one face of a square-faced hammer, if the hammer is kept in proportion, the weight increases by a factor of eight. eg 1x1x1 = 1, but 2x2x2 = 8. There is also a non-linear increase in weight with cylindrical hammers, but it is not as pronounced. What does this mean for the anvil? Well, most times the hammer strikes the anvil, it will be at an angle - giving the familiar "hammer mark". Because the length of the hammer mark caused does not have a linear relationship with the mass of the hammer, it follows that a larger hammer exerts a greater pressure on the face of the anvil when you miss the workpiece. Therefore chisel = very bad - sledge = bad - hammer = less bad Not sure if there's any reason why a small anvil should be any more / less resistant, other than the post made by Rantalin, but like I say, all of the info keeps coming back to "be careful and take care of your anvil"

I wonder if they let me test it for rebound?? http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270003781640&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com.au%3A80%2Fws%2Fsearch%2FSaleSearch%3Fsofocus%3Dbs%26satitle%3D270003781640%26sacat%3D-1%2526catref%253DC5%26amp%253Bsspagename%3Dh%253Ah%253Aadvsearch%253AAU%26from%3DR7%26nojspr%3Dy%26pfid%3D0%26fsop%3D1%2526fsoo%253D1%26fcl%3D3%26frpp%3D50%26fvi%3D1

For the record, I agree wholeheartedly with Irnsrgn. The majority of the damage is done when the anvil is struck, rather than the workpiece. The larger hammers cause greater anvil damage, I think, pound for pound than smaller hammers when you miss the work, but that's a different story IMHO, it seems altogether plausible that cooling 200+ lbs of tool steel using 19th or even 18th century tech could be problematic. All it would take would be a few batches of anvils to fail, and, well you know how misinformation gets spread, particularly in the field of 'smithing. I'm not trying to support or promote any size of anvil over another, or indeed, any one website over another - just trying to look at factors that could give a reason why one always finds this hammer:anvil weight ratio popping up all over. It just keeps coming back to not missing your workpiece and damaging your most valuable tool. I just thought this might be another angle on what seems to be a perennial topic.

Hi all.. I know this topic is just kinda winding down, but I just ran across this, and it might prove interesting Link removed at the request of anvilfire Just read over in the Guru's den that if you have an older anvil, smaller is often better, as it was apparently harder to quench a bigger anvil properly, as a bigger anvil cannot be cooled as quickly as a smaller anvil. Slower quenching, as you all know results in a softer anvil.

I think we're reasonably close to a definitive answer. I would say (after some thought) that the ratio is not as close as I would have previously thought, and does not necessarily increase in a linear fashion. Also - like Irnsrgn says, the majority of the damage is done when you *miss* the work piece. I think the answer is in inertia, and the pressure exerted on the face of the anvil, due to force acting through that hammer over a very small contact area. This area is not going to increase proportionally with any increase in mass, so a larger hammer will have a greater pressure. I think Rantalin was correct in saying the only part of the anvil moving is directly under the anvil. Short answer - I think it depends on the anvil, largely, but I would say the relationship between hammer and anvil weight would follow a curve. Smaller anvils would, IMHO be able to handle a larger hammer better, pound for pound than a larger anvil would be able to handle a proportionally larger hammer. Just my $0.02, but stay tuned for more after a good night's sleep. :)

Here's some letter openers made by Crackers. He made this as a gift for a bloke who gave us a whole bunch of dog spikes (otherwise known as RR spikes)

Here we go.. by way of introduction - a photo. This is our workshop at the Claremont Showgrounds. Points of interest - Just behind the drill press, you can just see our power hammer, "Jezebel". She's a 100lb Bradley hammer, and at a century old is still in use. Any info on her would be gratefully accepted. We have seven forges set up - you can see our two "big" forges set up against the brick wall. They are powered by an electric blower round the back, under our welding bench. We're in every Sunday, 8am, till the last bloke leaves (usually around 3pm)

Vinegar. Dissolves rust, forge scale, and probably dirt, too The only drawback is finding a large enough container, and getting enough vinegar to fill it. Failing that, connect it up to a battery charger - that'll shift any rust you might have

Please let us know.. I used to work in a place that threw them away by the bucketload. They were all thrown away in a cleanup.. love to know what I threw out... maybe not :)

G'day Brian! (you'd probably know me better as Michael) - welcome aboard! :)

Probably a Kohlswa.. A friend of mine has one.. a big 'un. A good anvil. I believe they're still making them, and even have a website (shock, horror) Enjoy it!

Guys, In all honesty, I think the best we can do is offer our advice. I don't see anything wrong with offering suggestions, whether they are solicited or not, if it might be that a few words will save some hours of frustration, perhaps even injury. It seems to me, on the subject of cast iron, he's using what materials he has. "Scrounging" is not always as easy for our younger smiths, who don't have their own transportation. I can imagine how my folks would have reacted, back in the day, if I asked for a lift home with what appears to be someone else's junk! Remember the old saying "When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail!" If I have told him I don't recommend it, and told him how *I* would go about it, that's where my involvement stops, unless he chooses to listen. I say best of luck to him. He'll either learn the hard way, or not at all, but he'll be learning something . There's still plenty time for him to take up basketweaving. That's my $0.02 (AUD)

I think apprenticeman has a point - Would you pay a plumber or an electrician the same hourly rate as the guy out front raking your lawn? If you've invested the time to learn something as difficult as repousee, by all means charge a few extra bucks.

All too true. To be honest, I feel comfortable with either, weight measurements excepted. Let's call off the fussin and a feudin! :-)