arkie

I made a cut-off hardie from an old mason's brick chisel. Found one at a junk shop for $1. The original edge was badly chipped and dented. I carefully ground the edge to a curve, put an edge on it and had a neat cut-off for cheap. The handle is hex and perfectly fit my 1" hardie hole.

Would a wall-mounted, vent-free propane heater be feasible? That would of course require installation of a small propane tank and piping for that purpose and may not be cost effective for your needs. Lots of houses and cabins in my neck of the woods have wood-fired heaters for the main rooms, but in REALLY cold weather, the wall-mount units get the bedrooms warm when needed.

rhornback, When I first started, I had no tongs. Needed to begin making some, but alas, visegrips were a bit short. In a lurch, I grabbed a set of old pliers with bent handles that I no longer used. I straightened them out and welded some 1/2" rod to them. Now, I had something to use as temporary tongs while making others. They are in the "museum" now. :)

Be selective on the drum you buy, regarding the content. Once, I bought a couple of drums that had been used for fiberglass resin. BAADD CHOICE!!! Anything with petrochemical or petroleum products will smoke like a locomotive for a long time while you burn out the remaining contents, not to mention the toxic effects. Stick with food products barrels if you can find them.

Good score! Looks to be in good shape. You'll like your "new" Hay-Budden! Forge on.

Bluegrass, Cajun, George Jones, Wille, Waylon, Merle H., Rolling Stones, ZZ Top, Like Robin Williams said in "Good Morning Vietnam"...just play it loud!!!!! My blower does make a bit of noise.

My "coal bins" are some plastic trash cans outside where I forge. For the bin I'm working out of, I just drop in a metal-caged shop light with a 40 watt bulb like you work on cars with and then put the lid on. Keeps wet coal from freezing.

Another good suggestion. Thomas and Rich, you guys are gonna make things so easy for me.... :D

L. M., These are oilfield slips like Frosty is referring to. You can get an idea of the workings and the angles for the slips. They just drop down the hole with the pipe inside and wedge it tight. You don't need as many, just a couple like Frosty said. http://www.jereh-oilfield.com/english/products/Rotary-Slip.shtm

Rich, That's a great idea to heat the oil!! No need for a heater, hotplate, fire or any other heat source. Since one is already at the forge, the hot iron "heater" is a neat and SAFE way to heat oil. Thanks for the suggestion. :)

Thomas, Most of my heat treating would be for chisels, hot cut-offs, hardies, punches, etc. No blade work for now. Don't know if those would be considered usable with a "poorer quench".

Well, being new to blacksmithing I decided today to experiment with heat treating; simple hardening and tempering. I bought some peanut oil since some fellow smiths are using it and like it a lot. Problem: Went out to the shop today, temp about 32 deg. F and opened my quench tank (a steel ammo box). The peanut oil was white and about the consistency of a thick white gravy!! Not good for quenching. Aside from heating it, which probably is a pain within itself, what other inexpensive quench oil would be liquid and usable at cold temps, say freezing or below freezing a bit. Canola, antifreeze, etc. ???

I found my handles at my local True Value, or Do-It-Best I guess they go by now. The handles, if Lowe's or Home Depot carried them, would probably be made in China...ARGGGHHH.

Plant, If you go the black pipe route, any regular plumbing supply house, not a big box store will have the black pipe. It's a common item. The advantage of threaded black pipe is that assembly can be done without a welder. I have a welder, but went the threaded route. That way, any changes I might want to make are simple. Hammer handles are also common at regular hardware stores, not the big box ones. If you have any hickory, ash or oak trees in your area, you can split them up and make your own. I hate to bring up the Moore tornado, but dead trees may be abundant in your area.

For slack tubs that freeze solid, try a heater for livestock water tanks. They come in all sizes. I think I'm gonna get one for mine. Might be in short supply this time of the year.

Plant, At my beginning at smithing, I needed a bottom fuller and a hot cut hardie. I found an old log splitting wedge at a junk place for a dollar. The edge was chipped quite a bit. I dressed the edge to a new, fairly sharp edge, then I used an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel and cut off about 2" of the tip. I welded the tip to a 1/4" plate then welded that to some 1" bar stock for my hardie hole...quickly made hot cut off hardie. On the remaining piece, I ground the blunt cut to a nicely rounded tip and....had a nice bottom fuller tool. Two smithing tools from one discard. All for a buck! Easy to make your own tools out of scrap. With all the chicom cheap tools out there these days, you can find old chipped, discarded chisels for a buck or two, redress and grind the edge, harden and temper and you probably have a much better quality tool! Chances are, that if the tools are old, the steel will be of a better quality than most of the new stuff. I have some new cold chisels that after a few licks, the edges are already beginning to crater.

I stand corrected on the block heater... :wacko: I never thought about the slack tub, though! Might be a problem if you needed to quench something in a hurry and jambed it onto a slab of ice!!!!!!! I'll concentrate on the slack tub more than the anvil now that you brought it to my attention.

Well, I'm in Arkansas so I don't think we'll see -40 here (HOPE NOT!!!). Like Oklahoma, teens, maybe zero are the norm lows. I don't think those temps would present a problem. A hot slab of steel from the forge laying on the anvil should be about right. Hey!!! I just had a brain storm...drill a hole in the base of the anvil, screw in an engine block heater like for diesels!!! Problem solved!!! :wacko:

As a novice, I did not know that cold weather might present a problem with our anvils. Is there a reason why the anvils should be heated in the first place? Is it because chipping might be a problem or is it just that it cools off the work faster than normal? My anvil stays outside under a cover, not in a shop where it (and me!) can be heated.

My old 4" post vise is mounted on a wooden workbench outside. The leg was prone to swinging so I rigged up a brace from 1/2" rebar and 1" black pipe. I fitted up the rebar to the vise leg and workbench legs, hammered the rebar ends flat and drilled holes for lag screws to the bench posts. I then split a 3" long piece of 1" black pipe lengthwise. One half was welded to the rebar where it curves around the front side of the vise leg. The other half was held in place on the back side of the vise leg and both halves were secured with hose clamps. Holds firm and steady plus if I need to move the vise, the split pipe comes apart and off comes the vise.

Well, I started out as a hobby welder. I needed to bend some heavy steel to weld and had no means to do so (no O/A torch, etc. only a MAPP torch). Decided to build a brake drum forge only for the purpose of bending/shaping the steel...but needed coal...hmmm, no source for coal. I did an internet search for coal and blacksmiths, since they might be a good source for coal. As it turned out, a local blacksmith club indicated it might sell to the public, so I arranged to meet one of the members to see about buying a small amount of coal. He took some time to fire up his forge, show me how things are made, gave me a pretty in-depth explanation of blacksmithing and invited me to join the group and come to a meeting at one of the member's smithy. That "pulled my cork under"!!!! I was hooked on blacksmithing!! I've gotten into it with my forge, anvil, hammers, tongs, homemade tools, etc. and have never had so much fun in my life. I'm retired and after breakfast, I'm outside at the shop firing up the forge and going at it, usually all day. My thanks for the consideration of a fellow smith who took the time to explain his trade and make another convert.

I was fullering notches in 3/8" x 3/4" hot rolled mild steel bar to draw out my reins on some tongs. Hammered the work too cold (colder than dark red) and had cracks on every fuller notch. :(

Pardon my barging in, but in the interest of safety here's a recommendation for a face shield. I use this one when using an angle grinder and cutoff wheels as well as my bench grinder. The Uvex models are pricey, but the face coverage and comfort is well worth it, plus the safety aspects. It covers so well and is so comfortable that sometimes I have to touch the face plate to make sure it's down. Google this model; I got mine from Amazon; "Uvex S8510 Bionic Shield, Black Matte Face Shield, Clear Polycarbonate Anti-Fog/Hardcoat Lens"

Sebastian, I don't know how a coal forge and associated smoke would go over with the neighbors in a surburban neighborhood, but if you decide on a coal forge and don't have a ready source, there is a coal mine over at Venita, OK about 2 1/2 hrs. NE from you that sells to the public. Welcome to IFI, good luck and have fun!

I recorded the show and played it back later. After the leadoff silversmithing, I just fast forwarded looking for traditional blacksmithing...never saw any, so at least I didn't have to watch the whole thing. :)