Rob Browne

Just back from getting hammered. We had a brilliant time great company, great food and great information. It was just a "bit" of culture shock to go from my little rivet forge to Moony's. I could not even find a set of tongs to hold anything below 1/2"!! At home I reckon 1/2" is getting rather large....... Of course thanks and comments are in order: Moony - for hosting the event and for the tips on hammer technique. Boy, it feels strange but I'm sure it will become more natural with practice. Dale - for helping organise the event and working toward its success all weekend. "Little" Jeremy - great to put a face to a name. Strange to think I have virtually chatted with him many times but could walk past him in the street and not know. Strange world we live in. If nothing else, I think I would recognise a Aspen tree now. This great big bloke was punching out some of the most delicate work, aspen leaves, at the event and it was a real pleasure to watch. I really learnt lots from him by just watching. Other faces for names include Longstrider, he still didn't leave that chopper for my kitchen set, even after all my hints. Monstermetal, Ian R and Ratel. One of my mates came down and had never done any forging. One of the blokes there took him under his wing and he proudly displayed a wall hook and gum leaf to his wife and kids yesterday. He may be hooked...... The industrial boys are in a world of their own. I did lots of watching and learnt a lot but they don't play with small stuff like I do. Still the techniques are the same, just need applying in a slightly different way. They really love their power hammers. The others all contributed to my blacksmithing knowledge and I thank them. Not by name but just as important. We all learn something from everyone we meet in life and I learnt lots this weekend. Reckon I will be changing from coal to coke now with an electric blower. The lack of white smoke/fumes was a pleasure and the constant fire with the blower made things MUCH easier to use. The coupla furnace was an interesting display. Sure shows why steel was so precious in earlier times. The Rich Hale knife that was raffled was a thing of great beauty. It certainly displayed the combination of forging, finishing and art. It went to one of the apprentices who will really appreciate it for the skill needed to produce an item like that and be suitably proud to be the owner. Just a bit stoked at present and wishing I could push on at home tomorrow but work calls. Included a couple of pictures for of the 10 station forging table that Moony had set up for us. Fantastic communal feeling when working like that. I'll be there again in a flash next year.

Impressive effort to make your first set of tongs like that. Well done! I agree with the others. Keep those as they are and make some others with grooves, the collection never ends.

Certainly a decent sized nail!!

Enjoy the dad/son time. My boys are starting to look outside the family circle now for activities and already I miss them at times.

Tough gig :P

To me being a "blacksmith" means that I can make all those odd tools/bits'n pieces I need from time to time. Doesn't matter what you call me - mainly a backyard thumper.

If you are handy with a few tools and some plywood then here is an answer.

Never! I forge for enjoyment and occasionally to make something I really need. Hammering till your hands bleed is not fun.....

You are right Thomas, when the cone is made it is really hard to get the great big lump on the end at forging temperature without burning the thin cone even if I don't crank very much. If you don't crank enough you never really heat it, if you crank too much you risk buring it. One solution I tried was to draw a taper on some mild that fitted into the socket which worked fairly well till the b****y things fell off the rod and were lost in the fire. If I was going to do lots of these I would be really serious about a small gasser. Guess what the next project is??

Yep, a set of tongs with one conical jaw and the other to match it really helps holding the job.

Frosty, it really depends on your version of english.............. Seriously though, that bloke really does make it look easy. I find that I often tend to burn my thin socket when trying to forge the actual point. Maybe its time for me to make a gasser.

Sorry about that but it will be worth it to see this bloke knock up a bodkin. Makes it look positively easy...............

Have a look at this site. Hector will show you more in one youtube session than I could in a month.

Your list looks OK but if one comes up I use a 28kg London pattern anvil to make bodkins so keep looking. Another accessory that is really handy is a hardy tool that looks like a small bick. If its about the size and shape of your arrow taper its really great to make the cone on, saves lots of work. Some cone tongs we call them are handy. They have one jaw the shape of the cone and slip inside the cone when you are forging the point. The other jaw is shaped to go round the cone. Both the hardy bick and tongs are good projects in their own right. Other than that, get in and have a go :)

How do you use the induction heater on odd shaped bits? I am loving this view into a completely different type of blacksmithing. Mine is very hands on and physical but yours is just so organised and thought out.

One of the problems of this world where everyone has a DVD burner in even the cheapest computer. Nothing is safe from pirates. I have his DVD and still enjoy it and I think I pick up something each time I watch it. As for his anvil, it is the basis for the standard answer I give to a nooby when they want a "real" anvil to start. Lump of steel in a bucket of concrete. Not much more to say on that one, Tim proved it.

Sounds like you lot over The Ditch had a really rough weekend. Hope you get it sorted quickly and are not kept in limbo by the insurance companies. Good luck

Yep, keepin the rhytymn. Its one of the hardest parts of striking like that and once started its easier to keep the rhythmn than re-establish it in another run.

Under 12s. They made it to the semi-finals but got knocked out in the first round. Very well done my little team :)

After the intensity of coaching footy for a season where I virtually had no weekend time to myself I had a wonderful spring afternoon at the forge. Only had a couple of hours but made a new punch and started work on a new, to me, candle holder design. Now its beer o'clock :)

While you have it apart consider making the holes MUCH bigger. A 2 1/2" diameter hole is nowhere near the size of a 5" hole.