Matt in NY

I'm planning on making a rack for these types of tools by drilling holes in a board with another board below for them to rest on.

Gald you had a good Christmas with him. Hope you have many more.

Best wishes, kind thoughts and sincere prayers for both of you.

My thoughts (and these are just thoughts not experience) are if you are going to be using it often a handle will help with vibrations. I have been thinking about this because I walk my dog in the morning in a spot were there is some Hazel growing. That is said to be quite supple and made good handles for such tools when some poor guy had to hold that tool all day.

Reminds me of a favorite prayer: Thank you Lord for what you have given me Thank you for what you have taken from me. And, thank you for what you have left me. I need to remember; His will not mine. Glad to hear the good news, or the Good News if you will.

Sorry for your loss. Take the help he gave you and give it to someone else. That way you can help his good will to live on.

Mike, You expressed my initial thought in your post; one door closes and another opens. I pray that you may gain strength from this adversity. Matt

Frosty, My sincere condolences. Matt

Thank you all. The 3 prior posts fit with what I have thought should be my priorities. The books that I seemed to understand best were those that emphasized lessons. One lesson led to the next. I hope to avoid jumping into some creative project way beyond my ability. I'm thinking that I should make nails, lots of nails. Also, since that is a small project, I may have to work my way down. I really want to get a handle on one concept before jumping into another. What about item #4? I have a ton of decent junk around here and don't plan on buying stock. I plan on beginning with known mild steel, but I have a boat load of other stuff to work with. Including an old car frame. How old I don't know, but it does have leaf springs in the front! I have a lot of wrought iron to work on after I start getting a bit of hammer time together. This includes some 4 foot long heavy hinges and some iron tires that appear to be wrought.

OK, some may have glossed over some things that they think everybody already knows. I have read this forum at least everyday for the past 3 months and most days more than once. I got an anvil in the beginning of september, but have been too busy to get even a small schance to use it. I have my great granfathers champion forge, a small post vise, a bag of coal and a couple hammers. I have been rearrangeing buildings here to set up a shop. My biggest fear is developing bad habits that I will have to break. I know they take longer to break than to develop. This is why I'm reading this forum and every book I can get a hold of. After this I will then know how little I know once I pick up a hammer. I'm going to number the items in the original post and I hope that my instructors (yes you) can touch on as many points as possible. I thank all here for the many things that have caused me to start thinking.

Anybody else?

Sounds like you have the stuff to go ahead and make some nails. I bet if a fella started cranking them out for a few hours a day they would get pretty fast and have a pretty consistent product. I hear a buck a nail isn't unheard of. I also read that apprentices of old have been known to be expected to make a thousand a day. I'm not too good with math, but that seems like a lot of money even if you take Sundays off. I'm not against giving to those in need, just the opposite. One of the main themes that I pick up on in this forum is developing your mind to find ways to get done what needs to get done. Also, check the wish list. A common wish is for more time: you have that in spades my young friend. Use that gift wisely. Good Luck.

Ditto on the Sears return. If you just decided that you didn't want it that is one thing; a new machine that doesn't work properly falls under the Sears gaurantee. The air compressor in my garage has been like this for as long as I can remember. I'm in my early 50's now and it was my Grandfathers garage. I remember clearly how I thought it was odd to start a motor by pulling the belt, even as a toddler. So it may last 50 years!

This post stayed on my mind and I came up with how fortunate you are to be able to do something for your wife, something that she has asked for, something to help her. These situations leave us so frustrated because we often feel a strong sense of powerlessness. I pray that it helps to ease the pain of a terrible loss. The more I look at that cross, the more I see that it is perfect.

Very nice. I hope that it brings your wife a bit of comfort.

I really have everything I need and most everything I want. So I'm just wishing for a bit more frosting on my life that is all cake. I'm also wishing all that see this a Happy Christmas with a double helping of peace and contentment.

Start all wooden handles out right and oil em up early and often. I think the old saying goes like this: oil once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year and then once every year. I don't know what the best oil might be though.

Hope all had a wonderful day. I have so much to be thnkful for. One of my go to prayers: Thank you Lord for what you have given me, what you have taken from me and for what you have left me. Thank you to all here for all the information and inspiration. Not many posts from me, but I read here a couple times a day.

Welcome neighbor

I heard that the work area should be a triangle, hearth, anvil and vise. I'm thinking I want the anvil and the vise as close to the hearth as possible since I doubt I'll be going from anvil to vise much (will I?). So, I'm thinking more of a right triangle with the hearth at the apex and the back open. Is this a common set up? If different why? Am I missing anything? I'm working on setting up and don't want to redo things too much due to simple things that I missed. I have had my anvil for 2 months and have yet to work with it. Some may find that hard to comprehend, but I have been working toward this for 40 years so I can wait. I'm trying to get all my other jobs done before winter. I've got a few animals to get in the freezer and some downed trees to cut to managaeble size and drag home. Just built a new sheep shack from all free stuff. I figured if I was taking over their former quarters it was the least I could do.

Thanks all and thanks for the link.

Which way do you point your horn? I thought it was to the left for a right handed person, but I just read a book that say's the opposite. So which way and why?

I've been reading a bunch of stuff and one place (don't know which place) did mention leaving the piece in the cooling fire as a way of annealing.

No, this is a busy time of year for me. I'm trying to get stuff squared away for winter. I haven't even got all my potatoes dug! Then there's butchering to do. I told myself I have to get things in order before I get to putting a shop together and really start to do some blacksmith exercises. I have a lot of learning to do. And, a lot of setting up to do. Thanks though, Matt