Rob Browne

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.

If it will get your iron up to yellow with a dirty great clinker blocking your air flow why not try bringing the air in sideways (making a side draft) which is easy for a test with some black pipe. The clinker will sink below the tyuere for the test but make sure your pipe is buried in some ashes for the test or you will lose it quickly.

Working your way around problems is a major pleasure of hobbies for me.

After saying that, I can forge for half a day before I have to worry about clinkers with my coal. Cleaner coal would certainly be a good choice but if you have this stuff then work out how to use it would be my advice.

Mark,

Have a look at this thread for some great ideas.

Now you are on your way we want to see the end product. Will it beat this one?

Apart from making the fire deeper and using less air its also a good idea to have a couple of fire bricks to limit the width of the fire. Unlike coal, a charcoal fire will spread and burn your fuel without an air blast which is just a waste of fuel. If you limit the shape of the fire to match your work you will preserve fuel.

Beautiful job on the restoration.

Armoursmith is just a specialist blacksmith so you are one, sort of :)

Nice work

Now, how did you do it?