Charles R. Stevens

Sounds like old electrical cross arm supports, but I've never encounters HC ones.

Bit late to heat treat it if you have rehandled it. If its a hammer of moddern make it will be a bit softer than ideal (note the "mushrooming") but serviceable. You might consider profiling one end. You could radius it either in line with the handle or acros from the handle or both. Makes for a more versatile hammer.

Lots of ways to go with that hunk of pipe. You could slice it in to 2,6" rings, slice one in to 2 "c"s. ad your end plates to make a 5" deap 10" long fire pot.

The tuyer doesn't need to be particularly thick, automotive exast tubing, thin wall square tubing etc are sufficient. Often Peaple use 2" black pipe or medium wall square tubing. Square being by far the easiest to fabricate, wile pipe is a mater of buying a "T" a flore flange and one short nipple, a slightly longer nipple and a longer still nipple. If you use exhaust or pipe a exhaust cap from an automotive supply with the addition of a counter weight makes a fine ash dump. Myself, with your set up I'd fab one out of medium 2" square, fab up an ash dump and then what ever you need to adapt your air supply. Less expensive than pipe, looks good and easy to fab.

Harris; If you have the wear with all, pound out the axle. If you decide to change to mild, you have a start on a good handled punch in that piece of axle. Thommas; ah, but to watch that pony, bite, kick, buck run down the fence and under low branches and clothes lines... Not to mention the fit your brother has when you unlode the hairy little monster... (By know you will have figured out that you only by a Shetland pony if you need to haul coal out of the mines or you hate kids ;-)

There's a tremendous satisfaction in working and living with tools and hardware of my own manufacture.

Thommas, you and DSW are no fun, helpings him beat that axle shaft in to shape is like buying your brothers kids a Shetland pony.

I have torched off half a coil, and flattened the coil end for hotrods. Used to be standard practice to get a slightly stiffer spring and induce rake in a car. If you can flatten the first loop, a simple bare with two fullers groves will clamp across the spring gripping both sides of the coil. Frosty has a cool forged idea, but I like KISS.

You want to start with a steep taper, if you try to gradually taper it you will "fish mouth" the end of the bar. After you have beveled the end work back to lengthen the tapper. Remember, you draw a round by making it a square, then a octagon, then a round, then a square.... It's about the surface area your striking. Also, with medium carbon, take at least a brite orange heat, but not much in to yellow as the more carbon the Easter to burn. Don't bother hitting it after it dropped in to red, to much work, and you can form cracks if you work it in to dull read) And make sure the steel has time to soak, so it gets hot all the way trew. Lastly chose a big hammer, you want to move the mass of hot steel all the way to the core, not just the outside. It's kind of like trying to adjust a wall with a framing hammer, all you do is beat the heck out of the wood, wile a few judicious taps with a 8# slege and the whole wall moves with about hardly a dent to the wood. I use a 4# hammer for such things (If I can't rope Dad into striking with the 8 or 14#)

To continue my rant, as to the hardship of not having your beloved synthetic fibers, God forbid you have to wear cotton, linnen, wool, silk or hemp. Most of you are wearing cotton BVD's, socks, jeans and t-shirts. Linnen, silk and hemp are the bomb, as is rayon (a senthetic made from cellulose, obtained from wood, cotton or bamboo). And for wool, I know a bit about wool, as my better half and I raise a few sheep. Linda spins, and I dabble in weaving. Wool is the FIBER! It comes in grades so fine that the best underwear is made from it, tests have shone that performance athlete are actually cooler and sweat less wearing it, and with out chemical treatments it is anti bacterial, meaning your feet don't stink, and after showing horses all day in 106 degree heat I don't stink (as much) and I don't get heat rash. Athletes and threw hikers are wearing Marino wool underwear, the best socks are made from Coradale wool (don't need elastic to stay up). Yes army blankets are tough and scratchy, they use up to a 1/3 resycled wool, and are built for durability, sweaters were never ment to be worn against your skin, unless its an argile or Marino turtleneck. All that, and wool actually produces heat wen wet.

I used to live in Arizona, there is a town west of Phoenix named Goodyear. This is important to this conversation because during two world wars they grew cotton to make tires for the military. The second bit of the story is the fact that the US Marine corps seized rubber plantations to secure rubber for making said tires (and inner tubes) the assumption that tires have always been made from fossils fuels is false, as would be the assumption that you need petrochemicals to form composits, adhesives or even plastics. So if we ran out of all fossils fuels tomarrow could you still manufacture a bicycle? Yes. We all know that coal, patrolium and natural gas fueled out industrial and technological advances, but we have advanced to the point if we had to do with out we could. We can praduce electricity with out facile fuels, we can fuel transportation with out it, and can praduce plastics with out petroleum. That said, despite the fact that Mother Nature spent billions of years sequestering carbon, and we have been buisely freeing it. Focile fuels are still relitivly inexpensive and efficient.

Sounds like a chalange. What kind of scrounging can you do? What's in your neck of the woods? Any good junk shops? Harbor freight? Dose that include building a forge, or just an anvil and basic tools?

There is an Australian selling plans to a rolling mill. Might google him, I know he's on IFI some times. BTW check the price of an air over hydrolic press I know some have used them.

Lol, I hope you had him sight a liability waver ;-) Looks better in the flesh than your sketch up.

I use a wooden pad on top of my stand. I laminated 2x lumber and screwed that in an agle iron frame for my field anvil. The silicon goes between the wood and the anvil. I would think a rubber mat or a silpad baking wheat would work to. Some of the threads on stands recommend filling the legs with sand and oil to further reduce noise. Sound is vibration, anything you can do to absorb and prevent vibration will deaden the ring.

Sorry Dodge, that was said with a bit of tounge and cheek. I'm by no means a pro like Dodge and DSW, but from a ammitures point of view don't forget weld prep, especially on the thicker stock. If you find your self at the far end of the welders capability preheat will improve penetration as well. I also find that a bit of daylight between the parts (not much over 2x wire D) helps too. Destructive testing is your friend when first learning. Some of my ugglyest welds were far stronger than my prettiest. I also find that a good strong work light aimed at the work zone helps, as dose covering the back of your helmet, I also resort to chalking the edges of the material so I can see what I'm doing.

Breast plates and greaves are certainly goin to need an oven, kiln or fernace to heat treat. 3/8" will hold up, it's just a case of how long. Use google search for fabricated fire pots on IFI, there was a descusion a few years ago about what burned part of the pot burned out first.

Magnets and chains don't seem to redden the ring, but to change the harmonics. A wooden pad, and bedding in silicon works well for me. I've seen 2x4 walls, using 2x6 top and botom plates, staggering the 2x4's to limit the sound transition threw the structure. Adobe and earth bags work well (2 foot thick earthen walls). To be honest, of you don't get a big power hammer, and you respect your neighbors sleep time, you'll be les offensive than the kids with the base liked up in their cars.

I rasp a small flat on one side of my handles. Usually the side opisit the lat face. It alows me to index the face with out looking. Not such an issue with most hammers, but it can be with my rounding hammers.

Nice thing about clay based material, water evaperates. So having to much isn't a huge setback. You prajna oh want to put on a coat of just clay and sand, it will protect the sand and perolite mix, as it insulates but is fragile.

Anvil stand, treadle hammer, solid fuel forge.... Just wait, when your better half gets the idea, "you a blacksmith right?" All kinds of cool and chalanging honey does.

Just fallowing your leed Frosty!

You really don't need stove cement, but if you get some grab - bag a vermiculite ( the puffed mica) thin down the cement and mix in the vermiculite, pack it in he forge then give it a tin coat of unthined. The slag likes to stick to cement so be warned. Pick up a 20# sledge wile your there and a 2x12 and you have a stump and anvil.

3-5 gallon bucket, made into a side blast forge, hair dryer, a second bucket to hold tools and act as slack tub. 20# sledge head, 40# stump and a stool. Hmm, didn't I just say this befor?

Then you'll love if you like criticism you'll get that, and prase and encouragement as needed. Any time you don't feel like your getting enugh criticism, just post about how you want to make a sword as your first project, Rich and Steve will hook you up :-D