Wroughton

Two sellers on Ebay usually reach the $2.50 to $3.00 range. Here's one going for more than $3lb. http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-Lbs-Old-WROUGHT-IRON-SQUARE-FLAT-STOCK-Anvil-Forge-Blacksmith-q-/221203211297?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3380bd2421 um, do you still want $1LB? :D

In my opinion Karl, if your craft has reached the stage that you're at now it becomes art .... by it's own virtue.

ROFL! That will slow down production.

It depends what you're sinking the axe into. I'm sure it would take on some bone quite handily. It might even be fun to throw.

There is a lot of great blacksmith porn out there on the tubes but this one gets me all warm and fuzzy every time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7bnffUHYUI

Very nice.

mamma mia! Now that's an italian vacation i can get behind.

Hello Cleetis, You should preheat, and if you have a mig welder you might prefer that. Tig will work but it will be slow unless your anvil isn't in too bad of shape to start. Some would suggest hard facing rod, but for simplicity I use standard mig wire equivalent to 7018 stick. I use the anvils I have repaired and built and they hold up fine, don't crack away from the fix and aren't hard on my hammers when I or someone else in the shop doesn't quite make the connection on their swing. Hard facing, by nature, can be a nightmare to grind flush also. You can use large pieces of copper busbar to hold or clamp to the anvil edges to build them up. The weld won't weld to the copper so it acts like a dam to make a great, tight corner. How bad is it anyway?

$7000 -$10,000 Mixed metals, mixed metal discipline. A bronze sculpture that size would be more by a known artist.

Not all rocks are created equal.

I struck and assisted Tom Clark in forging hardie hot cuts and bending forks at a NRBA conference in western MT. His answer for "unique" hardies was like WayneCoe's, with a groove or chisel cut that always faces the horn for best fit. It obviously is anvil specific and not as portable as Brian's hot cut but works well in the anvil it was intended for. On that note, I've always put a rounded edge on my hot cuts. I think the impetus for that was to get some of the cutting edge away from my hammer that I always seemed to crush when the cutting edge was perfectly flat. Not much of a problem any more but I still use a hot cut with a rounded edge.

Like Sam, my 55lb Stryker @240 bpm doesn't allow much room for error while doing the "boogie". The hammer on the video is running around 170. I might have to try the double tap. Go schmieden sumpthin!

Missed the boat? They don't even know where the water is.

We have an identity crisis? It's twofold? blacksmith vs. blacksmith perception, blacksmiths vs. the public. Can the moniker Metalsmith invoke an idea to the public lexicon of a modern blacksmith without all the expectations of the fixing of a buggy tire and looking the part? And also, without all the "personality problems" of the affected artist? Maillemaker, I disagree with your first 2 paragraphs. The third one is ok. ;) Your neighbor is most likely not your customer. Your neighbor shops at Walmart and Target. Your neighbor's boss's banker doesn't, and better yet, he want's you to forge him a set of giant golf clubs to go on the wall of his den. I agree with a lot of what you said and have felt the same way but expecting the general hordes to understand what you're putting in front of them is an exercise in futility. Therefore, they can't be held responsible for pushing your sweet forging to the side for a talking stuffed fish or rhinestone encrusted smart phone cover. Let them drone/drool on. Architects, interior designers/decorators and builders and their clients know what you're putting in front of them. They understand that this kind of work, on any scale, takes skill, time and resources so they're not uninitiated to the costs. Present your work to people that understand it and the commissions will follow.

Well, you can polish it but you'll have shiny copper, not gold. If you want the gold look you can go for silicon bronze which has a nice golden color. The wood will work great, as will Cowboy charcoal with no blast. An old school round Weber BBQ grill would work just a well. The best copper stock to work with is the copper you find at the scrappers yard. @ roughly $3 lb for "bright n shiny" copper scrap you don't want to be buying new copper stock to forge. Try to find any larger stock. Old large drain pipe can be cut and unrolled to give you thicker plate. Large ground rods can be cut into cylinders and upset to make nice stock for heavy and large bowls. Large bus bars can be broke down and forged into dimensional stock. Industrial electricians are your friend. With a good furnace and a little research you shouldn't have any problem melting down scrap copper smalls to create larger forging stock.

You can work it cold or hot. Hot meaning barely any incandescent color to black. As you work it you will feel it begin to stiffen and resist and then you know it's time to anneal. Quenching doesn't need to occur to soften the metal it just allows you to get back to work faster if you're cold working as in repousse. Nancy Megan Corwin has a great book called Chasing And Repousse. Go figure. A little advanced for if you're just starting out but definitely a good primer.

I try to make a trinket every time I fire up the forge.....my way of crossing off the cost of propane even if it's already paid for by the job. And, it helps me keep the touch. Go Judson!

Blacksmith bolt probably buys from JC, like my local fastener place does and has to mark them up. They're buying them at close to what you pay for them. Maybe not even bringing them in until you make the order. Bulk up. Hardware has certainly gotten harder to find the last 5 years and it's not getting any cheaper.....even in Alaska. ;)

Have a cutting torch? Turn your rail and your frown (towards your anvil) upside down and blow a drift, pritchel, or hardie hole through the bottom. Plenty of room on the bottom flange to clear the top of the rail and still have some holding material. A couple of parallel flats of metal or other even stock on harder ground or hardwood log (drill a clearance hole either with a complete pass through for the drift or window under) will also work for backing up your drift. The hardwood job is best outside and might or might not benefit from a good soaking in water depending on wood. Steam can hinder more than smoke sometimes.

Silicon bronze runs about $12 to $15 per lb. depending on what stock you buy, and in what quantity. Atlas metals for good help and service or Alaskan if you prefer crappy and unhelpful service. Seems like a big investment but it's a long way from silver. Not something you want to make a $45 trinket out of.

I would say that the exposure can do nothing more than raise the value of metal forged by a blacksmith in the non metal working consumers eye. And as John Neeman can't be everywhere at once that leaves a lot people wanting and needing....lot's of room for other smiths. I guess I'm trying to say that it's a good thing for all of us. It raises the bar for consumer quality and I'm sure it raises the bar for many a smith.

OK Thermit, It is an interesting topic so don't throw the torch on it just yet. How many S. panels and batteries would we need to have an off the grid fab shop to be proud of? Maybe a bank of spuds hooked up in series? Hmmmm.

Ahhh, The power of cheese. Looks good from here. Welcome Jaspar.

Imho, Etsy is a crap fest. I don't know what they have for categories now but my short stint there (circa 2008) was over run with poorly made metal objects. I tried to get a new category made for blacksmithing or forged work ,to step away from welded and cold worked items, but you get lumped in with everyone providing whatever your selling as long as its metal. I received zero traction on a new category so I took my hammer and left. I think it was a good thought, I still think it could be something special for the hand crafted community. But at the moment it's more crap oriented and I'm not so sure that a good part of it isn't STRAIGHT from China.

Looks like it was underwater. Hate to naysay but I'm going to guess that's a cast iron piece and not forged. You'll have to bust that rusty mud off so we can see what's going on.