brianbrazealblacksmith

Dick,
He is but you'll never get him to admit it...haha
He is having the time of his life, we all are. Brian, Lyle and I are proud to know them and their families who are so supportive.

They are coming along nicely, working out their demonstration for ABANA.
We are just waiting for the 4th smith now.

This is the first day for the Young Smiths- Daniel, Kainon and Alec, to be working together! Hammer time!...Karen

Exactly, Francis! I have been talking about this for years, and that is why I have been stressing the "forge welded bundle" and the "blob weld" especially when forging A36. Most "traditional scarfs" do not allow for enough forging to secure the weld and if tested they would come apart. It is just like clay, if you cannot smash it together enough to make it one piece, it can and will peel away if put under stress.

I got to see Daniel strike back in Feb. at the Lee Bros shindig, very impressive. Also got to see some of his handy work all of which was very impressive. I wish that I could make this conf. but alas, my day job has me bound. I encourage all that can make it to attend and support the young men!
Karen, I will try to send you a little something to help with the boys while ya'll have them....if I can still find your mailing addy! Finally got out to the forge this past weekend, first time since I got back for ya'll place, and started using my brite-n-shiny new hammer!! enjoy the 4th!!

Thank you Dick L and Thomas Dean for helping us help these deserving young men. I know they will not only make us all proud to have helped them along but will have pride in themselves too.
Supporting these Young Smiths who have worked so hard in such a short time is supporting the future of the craft and honoring those who came before them....Karen

Nice!

Am article about Alec Steele working with the Young Smiths at ABANA!.....Karen

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/from_norfolk_to_rapid_city_america_for_young_man_of_steel_1_1432899

I wish you well! It is nice to do what you love foe your life.

Hey Tommy,
Thanks so much! 537 Trickham Bridge Road, Brandon MS 39042.
I won't be shy about it, help is always appreciated especially having 3 teenage boys to feed for a week. You are a dear!...Karen

Grind the edges of your hammer faces instead.

MOblacksmith530, there are only a few videos out there on YouTube and Lyle's Picaso albums that I know of, and yes I do many other forging on it besides tools. The main thing about the stand is backing and height. The height should be under 30 inches so you can get the full throw of the sledge. You will be using top and bottom tools a lot, so those add to the target heigth. The angle of the legs is for backing not tipping. Legs angled for tipping like most would do will only break with heavy use, shear your anchors off, or both.

ptree, That is a big Friedrich's cross, and I saw it the first time you started a thread on it, but I posted this thread to help people out on building an inexpensive anvil for striking and making tools. That anvil would not be of any help for that purpose. It has no hardy hole or pritchel hole and would be near impossible to put them in, so it's not an option for making tools.

Brian, I wouldn't hard face it for what I've been using it for. One of the most important things about this anvil is that is safer to use because it does not have the rebound or brittleness of a hardened face. We have made hundreds of hammers, top tools, and hardy tools on the first anvil with people from all over the world from ages 12 to 88, male and female, and there have been no injuries. Most of those people have never struck before, and some had never forged before, and we usually start them off making a hot cut hardy and a hammer the first day before noon. Now, I have seen a lady farrier knock herself out at a shoeing contest missing on a normal anvil and heard of this happening to others when they miss and hit the anvil. People will and do miss, so the mild steel is a lot safer. I don't let many people strike on my Henry Wright anvil. We have also traveled and done a lot of group classes where they furnish there own anvils. Most of those anvils get a little damaged and I've seen some brand new ones get some pretty good chips taken out more than once on the same anvil in the same day.

Thanks, Lyle.
No, we did not really heat treat it per se, but we did cool it off as quickly as we could with a garden hose.
Ironsmith, I have not had a chance to use it yet. We still need to get the hammer drill and mount it, but the sand does make a lot of difference. My other striking anvil and Henry Wright also have sand and oil in the legs.

Nice job, Tubbe!

I do harden and temper tools that I do cold work with. This includes anvils, hammers, set hammers that I shear with cold, flatters, and the tools I've already mentioned.

That was only the second time I've done that and probably the last time I'll ever need to do it, so I don't think I'll experiment or research into the matter of what would be best. I used what I had at the moment. I made that drift at the last moment the day before I went on the road trip from a piece of unknown tool steel I got from a knife maker in California. The angle of that drift is not at all like the hammer drifts. I would assume a longer taper more like the hammer drifts might be better for opening up the round hole.

We made a new striking anvil the other day from a piece of mild steel we got from Jody, Ironsmith. I was going to have a hole put in with a water jet, but David suggested that people would like to see it drifted like my other one. So, that is what we did. David drilled a 7/8 inch hole in this one because it was so big. We spent 2 hours from start to finish, and most of that time was spent heating the piece. I probably could have drifted all the way in one heat, but i didn't want to force it so I took a second heat to finish. Lyle and David helped turn and carry it and also got some pictures of the process. I went ahead and started a new thread on this because alot of people have been making these striking anvils, and it would be nice if Lyle and David could repost on this thread to keep it together.

David made the stand. The legs are set at 8 degrees for backing.

Here are some pictures of the finished anvil and stand. It weghs 120 pounds now. It stands 24 inches tall. The legs are filled with sand and a little oil to add weight, slow oxidation, and quiet the hollow sound of the tubing.

Brian, There are some pictures of the drift in Lyle's link in post number 20 on the first page of this thread. That drift is not what I would have made for that striking anvil if I had more stock to make another drift. I made that drift for my first anvil, and it only has 3 inches of true one inch in the middle and just a little over three inches of taper on the bottom side and a little over 2 1/2 inches on the struck side. That is a bit short for drifting three inch stock on the struck side , so I had to use a smaller piece of stock to drive it all the way through.

That spiral portion is what made me think mission era. The CCC did some restoration work in the 30's in California especially at the La Parisima mission in Lompoc, but I didn't see latches like that there. I've only seen those at the mission in San Juan Capistrano along with some other original work. There are archives at the mission in La Parisima that contain blue prints of the original work that remained .

The very first thing that I start people on is a hot cut hardy and a hammer. I wish I would have had that opportunity when I started. I am mainly self taught, also. I have spent alot of hours banging at steel with no real good clues of how to do things better. If I had some information back then, I'd be alot further now. I try and encourage people to come by and forge or watch. I am usually here in the shop working unless I'm gone on the road working. I don't charge anything for visiting my shop and if I have time I'll make time to show anything you may have questions about. Now, if you want my day, I charge for that.

Jason is correct. I start with 1 1/2" round stock 3" long, and he is right about the 3" fuller as well. Yes, Tubbe, I do make a billet before I punch the hole. As for drilling a hole to start with, that could be done, but I cannot justify taking that extra step when it is not necessary. You would have to anneal the piece after making the billet. I've forged alot of these tools and so have alot of others that have come here for classes. They get easier and quicker the more you do. The top tools usually take about 30 muinutes to forge, if I missed the hole badly, I'd just start over. If it is not too bad, I accept it and go on. I rarely get a bad hole when punching the round stock for the hammers, but if I did I would make it into a top tool instead.

I agree with KYBOY on the hardened punches. As long as you don't leave them in the heat too long they will retain their temper. My eye punch that I sign my tools with is hardened and tempered and is made from coil spring. I use it after I have finished the cheeks of hammmers and top tools and after I've finished bottom tools. I am usually using it at dull red and black heats. I also use it on hot work and cold work. It has been used on thousands of pieces and never has it needed dressing. I don't leave it on any thing long enough to lose its temper. Now with the hammer punches, I wouldn't even think of hardening and tempering them because they would lose it the first time I use it to punch a hole in something big. When the punch goes so deep it will get red hot. I do harden and temper my hand held punches for smaller work because I use them to lay out marks cold, and I keep them cooled.

Tubbe, It is fine to use a mid steel backing plate as long as you chisel properly and not use it like a plow. The thin edge cools quickly in air as long as you move it after every blow and there is no need to waste time with cooling it in water. I will cool it in water after I am finished with it before I return it to my rack so no one grabs a hot tool.

One of the main things I try to emphasize to people is not to belive everything you hear or read and do not believe me. You can understand all you need through your own eyes and observations. No one can teach anyone anything. Each person to know something must teach themselves. This is all reasonable. That means you have the ability to reason it out.

I don't harden hot cuts, and I don't know why others do. I used to because I assummed it was necessary, but that was a totally incorrect assumption. I can cut 2" and under 4140 in one heat with a hand hammer with a hot cut made out of the same material and so can anyone else if they have the right tools. I will harden and temper hand chisels, fullers, and punches that I use to lay out cold material like you would with a center punch, but there is no reason or need for haredening and tempering punches and chisels that you do hot work with, and you would only lose the temper when doing large work. If you are going to cut cold then you need to heat treat. I would like to hear some reasons why others would harden such a tool and not just the same old excuse that I had of doing what I thought I had to do or what I was told to do.