Mulciber

I haven't been commisioned yet but I've seen a few different ways. I have access to recycled 42" by 36" sheets of paper. I use that to draw 1 to 1 scale on. Been tempted to draw designs in autocad and plot them out but that would incur more cost and I haven't run into anything I couldn't draw with a pencil yet. I know a couple guys that have huge welding tables (1" thick 4' wide and 8' long) who use soapstone to draw and fabricate on. I've seen a very talented blacksmith artist use sharpies and plywood "Backyard Blacksmith" author says she uses concrete shop floor and chalk

My anvil is in similar shape. I figure I won't make any repairs because I'm not done damaging it yet and also because I don't know things like which radius I would prefer. I don't have the welding skill needed to feel comfortable welding my anvil so for the time being I took a belt sander to the top to get the rust off and am working on it. I have alot to learn before the small dings or cracked edges will cause my work to be any uglier than my hammer does Congrats and have fun! Be safe, everything in a blacksmith shop is hot, heavy and/or dangerous. I don't go in without eyeglasses, hearing protection and my apron. I have a pair of kevlar gloves that have saved my hands numerous times.

Wulfgar, they're used once you've been blacksmithing long enough that the metal is in your veins and you just choose to drink molten metal rather than coffee. Nothin like a good cup'o'tool steel to get the morning started. PS; thanks for asking because I didn't know either.

Mulciber; an alternative name of the Roman god Vulcan Mulciber is also the architect of the demon city of Pandemonium (hell's capital).

I'm already a member of RMS. I attended one conference three months ago. It was their annual conference. I didn't meet anyone close enough to visit. The people I did meet there were a bit on the unfriendly side (other than the drunk ones). I may not go back to their annual conference again next year due to the lack of locals and the general atmostphere. So far I haven't had any interaction with them since. They're supposed to mail out a quarterly pamphlet but I haven't seen anything. Beginning to wonder if they took my 100$ and ran. They seem to be a fairly dead group, no contacts, galleries, forum. They have a couple events from time to time but it seems that they are more supplimental to other people's events than putting on their own. Overall, I'm unimpressed enough that I've thought of creating my own chapter within ABANA but I feel that would be a bit premature with my hulking three months experience. To grind them to just a bit finer dust, I've had more luck putting out random ads on Craigslist.com finding blacksmiths. I did find someone offering classes that I would like to take(through craigslist). Feel free to send me an email if you are within an hour or two of Denver. I would ideally like to go over to, or have someone come over to my shop for a visit and/or forging session. Anyhow, off to the shop for me! Thanks for the replies.

**Takes off blacksmith boots and puts on track shoes** I'll talk to the guy about buying it today. If I do I will post pics. Thanks for all the feedback guys

Yeah, my granpa. He's lazy and won't buy anything with a handle whether it's a good tool or a bad tool. :rolleyes:

So give us some more info. Post a pic of what items you made or your general agenda. How'd you get the museums attention? What are some things that you took into consideration other than the 10 ft border. What sort of equipment/setup did you have available? **eagerly awaits**

Rough meaning of the quote was this: Slow down, you can't afford to make a mistake. Fixing the mistake will take you 10x longer than doing it right. You need to take a good long (slow and free of haste) look at that concept. ;)

I'm still about as green as they come. Save your work! It's just simply amazing how much progress you will make. I've been making lots of J hooks. I found a bag of about 6 of them the other day when I was cleaning off a table. They were some of my first work. It's entertaining looking back at how I thought they were so great at the time. Now I make the same style hook and it blows my mind how much different they look.

Nah the big vice is in great shape. The smaller vices for 100-150 are the ones in beat up shape. I was saying that a certain fellow was trying to sell me a cracked anvil. It was in sorry shape. Definently a doorstop.

Most I've seen have been pretty roughly used. They tend to be a little on the dinged and abused side but not totally wrecked. Except for this Hay Budden this guy was trying to sell me. Top half was cracked and the face plate was literally half missing. I don't know how you can abuse an anvil to that point and not completely break it. I think the guy is asking 400 for it. It's alot of money in my opinion. What do you guys think about spending the extra cash for the extra 2 inches of jaw and a stand? I have seen numerous 5 inch vice in usable shape for 100-150. I figure the stand is probably worth 50-100 just because 2 1/2' diameter of 1/2" steel plate isn't cheap along with the welding, cutting and fab time involved.

I don't have a picture but there's a local guy selling a beauty. The vice is a monster and is nearly flawless. Spring and jaws look original and in very good condition. Vice is on it's own welded stand. Base is probably 30 inches of half inch plate steel. What should I offer him for it? I know the smaller ones around 5 inch would go for 100-150 and maybe even a bit more in great condition with a nice stand.

I envisioned something very similar to this except with (grr can never remember the name of the flower) a tube like flower I would swage out of a piece of stainless tubing. Would use a small submersible pump instead of the type you are using with latex or rubber tubing inside the copper. Great job! How does it sound? Does it splash everywhere? I was afraid of that when considering the cascading leaves.

I've got a Trenton too and would appreciate it if someone looked this up. I took a look at the numbers. There was a 60 at the bottom left if the horn is pointed right at you. At the bottom right was 19709 Can't really read anything on the side except the "enton" because it looks like someone chiseled the side extensively.

I live in Denver Colorado and I'm always looking for fellow smiths to hammer with. Any way to search the 5000 members we have and see who's close?

Yeah this happens, but people get hit by busses and other stupid things too. I think the story here is don't be a moron. You can't blow up if you don't have any gas in the thing. So! fill with warm soapy water and drain, leave it for a day upright where it's above 60 degrees. Any remaining liquid or vapor will be gone. Saw away! The fools that get hurt doing this probably don't understand that there's explosive gas in the tank before they start cutting. Personally I would take a sniff to see if there's gas still in the tank. If there is then flush with something non explosive. It's nearly impossible to fill with warm water and still have gas remains due to the nature of propane being a gas at room temperature. I'm going to cut mine open. I have an old 30lb'er that has an unusable valve on it. Definently my next forge.

I bought a book purely on gas burners for forges and kilns. Go to your local book store and see if they have it in stock. Authors name is Michael Porter. Seems to me that the entire collection by Skipjack press is worth owning. I especially like the new edge of the anvil. Gas Burners for Forges, Furnaces & Kilns by Michael Porter ...Skipjack Press Also, I try to balance my time for things that I enjoy doing. I probably wouldn't spend the time building a burner since they are fairly cheap to begin with. My opinion I don't want to save pennies when I can be making dollars. Although when I last looked he was selling for 30 and now they are 42$. Anyhow! Zoeller Forge Home Page Gas Forge parts, Atmospheric Burners, and Blacksmithing I admire your tenacity and hope you get your forge done soon!

I have noticed that when I was making hooks out of mild steel if you heat it to an orange and dunk it till cool it hardens enough you can kill a drill bit with it. As for guillotine material the hammered end always mushrooms but that's not a big deal if you make the guillotine "blade" long enough that the mushroomed part doesn't bind the sliding action. I've considered taking some tool steel and plating the ends with it. Shape the plate and weld it to the mild steel in the wear areas. Haven't had enough problems with the mild steel to go that far though. Best of luck to you

My sentiments excactly. I've been caught smokin my apron a few times. Every time I do I'm thanking the cow that took the hit so that I didn't have to. If price concerns you go down to the local leather supplier and buy a hide. Cut a strip off. Poke a hole in the leather and feed the strip through. Tie a knot in both ends of the strip. This is quick and dirty. Eventually you will want something nicer so either spend the time or the money to add features such as pockets, grommets and buckles. I've saved myself at least as much money as the hide cost in bandaids and burn ointment :)

People love the organic metalwork. Great work!

Hello everyone, I have been looking for a good anvil for a bit now and have had no luck turning up a decent piece for a decent price. This leaves me to either ebay or purchasing new. I mainly have a question or two about hardness. I saw a 250# Fisher Norris which was marked to high xxxx by either a terrible smith or the fact that the face was just too soft. The question ---> at what Rockwell hardness do anvils resist marks by an errant blow. I usually use a 2# hammer and when I miss I leave a mark on my section of railroad I use now. I plan on having some good times with smithing and working on pieces up to 1" thick. I want to get an anvil between 200# and 300#. I can sleep knowing I spent 2000$ on an anvil if I can at least be assured that I'm getting decent quality. I have found two potential anvils I would like to buy. Either a Nimba Centurion for 1650$ + tax and shipping or a much cheaper alternative from Old World Anvils - model named "Bulgar 205#" for 950$ plus tax and shipping. However, the Nimba is 50-52 Rockwell and the Bulgar is 45. Anyone's opinion is appreciated. As of this moment I've only made some trinkets and a coat hanger. I plan on pounding out larger items such as furniture and sculpture in the future.