arkie

For my work area, I use crushed limestone w/fines like Kozzy mentioned. Works great.

NoName, have you looked in a copy of Postman's Anvils in America for info on your anvil?

Beatsy, I recommend you heed Frosty's suggestions. After reading the above posts I have come to the conclusion that you should jump in and build a large brick forge as you have drawn, thereby satisfying your impulsiveness and use it to determine, by the experience gained using that forge, if that is what you really need to smith. If not, tear it down or modify it to suit your needs as you progress. If it suits your needs continue to use it as-is and enjoy smithing as long as you desire. Probably, the majority of blacksmiths have built their first forge thinking that "this is all I'll ever need" and soon find themselves realizing that they are better suited to a different size or design. That is a valuable lesson and great experience...tweaking or fine-tuning the smithing experience. I have been using my first forge for about 3 years and now find what I "really" desire for forging is somewhat larger and different. I just fabbed my second hood, as the first was insufficient. Work your way into smithing and gain from the experience.

Nice job on both. They should work well for you.

It should work just fine. Square up the small end to fit your hardy hole. Forge the round end to a fan shape, grind an edge and you're good to go. Not much need to heat treat since the hot cut will be harder than the hot metal you are cutting. Just don't be whacking on the edge with your hammer.

As some above have mentioned, make a scrolling jig for fast, repeatable work. Here are two I use a lot. Search around, you can find myriads of jig designs to use. I made mine from 3/8" x 1" bar stock and angle iron for clamping in the post vise. In the picture with two scroll jigs, the one on the left is a "normal" (for lack of a better word) jig, the one on the right is patterned after the Golden Mean or Golden Ratio.

Along with your shop construction, have you considered the risk of any tree fires from the flue pipe? Looks like you have a lot of overhanging pine tree limbs over the shop. Pines in dry weather can go up in flames pretty quickly.

UPDATE: River Valley (Ft. Smith area) meeting July 9th, Greenwood, AR.

BOA meetings scheduled for July as of 06-24-2016: NW Chapter: Springdale, AR NE Chapter: Paragould, AR Central Chapter: Sheridan, AR River Valley Chapter (Ft. Smith area): TBD. Will try to get meeting location posted soon. PM me for details if interested.

I got lucky there, ours is a convection oven to boot, so the circulation is better than none. Yes, I do put the thermometer where I place the work.

This has probably been mentioned a bazillion times before, but warrants mentioning again...conventional home ovens usually aren't accurate on temperature. I use our electric oven and put an oven thermometer in it. Our oven is actually about 25-30 degrees hotter than the temp setting.

Robert, I would most likely use 1/4" or 3/8" machine screws (or bolts). The tubing is 12 ga, 2 1/4" square galv. tubing. Length probably no more than 1" to 1 1/2". I hit your website sig and now I know how you are so well versed on the Rivnuts!

Those are cool. I had never seen a Rivnut before. Thanks for posting. You showed setting the nut in a open piece of steel (angle iron, maybe) with a bolt and backup nut on the backside. How do you expand and set it in square tubing like you had pictured? I have one of those metal carports with the square tubing posts and the rivnuts would be perfect for hanging stuff.

I used my old manual battery charger on 2 amps and it took over a day to de-rust some small pieces. Went to a 6 amp and it improved quite a lot. I noticed you only had 2 or 20 amps on the low end...the 20 might be a bit too much current. More bubbles also means faster de-rusting. See if you can find an old manual charger in the 6-10 amp range. Should work better for you. Automatic chargers won't work for de-rusting, have to be manual or an auto with a manual setting.

Since finding a way to weigh it involves moving it somewhere, would it be possible to haul it to a feed store? They would have a forklift or pallet jack to help get it on the scales.

Of the three, the anvil height is probably the most important. A smith doesn't hammer on the forge or bench (I hope), therefore those have some height latitude. Hammer blows should be level and square to help prevent hammer marks and dents as much as possible. I think it was Glenn who suggested taking a board of appropriate thickness, similar to most of your work pieces, placing it on the anvil face and striking with your hammer. Find his post. It shows whether your work is too low, too high or just right by the shape of the hammer indentations. Very applicable and a great tip.

Awwwwww, spoil sport. This would (could) be a good "hoof in mouth" thread.

PB Blaster is great stuff. Sometimes if you have a nut or bolt that won't give, heat it with a propane torch (not red, but just black heat). While hot, quickly spray the threaded area with the PB. Let it set. It'll smoke and stink, but the liquid will get sucked into the threads and help with the breaking apart task. Done it many times.

I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I'm getting a "kick" out of these shoeing stories....(cue, Frosty on the puns...)

Kimchi...fermented or pickled cabbage and spices. Garlicy, spicy, sometimes hot to taste, absolutely delicious. Find an oriental food store and get some mild stuff. Some major grocery stores may carry it as well.

Charles, you crack me up!!!! You have definitely made a loop around the corral a couple of times.....

I was watching some guys lay fiber optic cable in (soon-to-be) underground conduit along a county road. They had a BIG Ingersoll Rand compressor and were blowing the "pig" nearly 1000 feet along at a time. Amazing!

Man! That etank did a fantastic job on cleaning it up! I've got a vise that's pretty badly rusted; might try that approach. Just need to find a large tank.

Nice looking knife Elijah. Hope to see you Saturday at the NE meeting. Coming over with Ron.

Would it help if the two hinges were each longer? That might spread the load some to quieten your architect. Or, do they have to fit a prescribed architectural plan?