Sam Thompson

I made a load of these a few weeks ago for some re-enactors. I knocked the flux off some damp 3.2mm welding rods.

Spot facing is better. It's also a good idea to anneal the work before any kind of machining operation, this avoids hard spots etc. If you can avoid it never tap into a blind hole. Plug taps are just more expense. You can usually get away just using an inter.

Don't buy cheap taps/dies they will just snap.

Potters use ground borax glass. They call it 'frit'.

It's a special concoction for putting children off fizzy drinks for ever.

Dat's dat, zen.

Yes... But we drink them!

A few years ago, at the closing down sale of a very old ironmonger's, I saw a box of hammer heads. They were all the same (about 3lb) and the faces were left 'as sheared'. I got the impression that they were sold to smiths to reshape as they wanted. Was this common?

I'm talking about a tool to help us all understand each other's information. Some of the differences in the use of words can be confusing. For example: An English man would be in far more danger than an American if his pants were on fire!

If no-one hears have you really shouted?

I bet you don't have dandelion and burdock!

Does anyone else think that a glossary of the different terms that people around the world use would be helpful? I mean things like: monkey wrench/stillsons, hood/bonnet, drilling/lump(?) hammer etc.

Could they have gripped the top edge of a cooking pot? Or a crucible?

I have never heard of these in the UK... But I could easily be wrong. As Eyrian says most of the mass is in the base, If the blows on the central part are commensurate (!) with an anvil weighing nearly half a ton, surely there is a danger of cracking or bending the unsupported face.

This may be of interest: ANVIL, VERY RARE, 995 LBS, Bridge Anvil, (end time 05-Jun-09 04:23:56 BST)

Does anyone remeber David Townsend's review of those gates in British Blacksmith?

I just cut the curved part off the top of an old gas bottle (one of the 3' high one) and welded on two rings to take a bucket style handle, it works fine and cost nothing.

I didn't mean to suggest that there is no place for cold bent ornament or bought in forged components. The genuine article can look a bit silly on the side of a modern semi. What I was trying to say is that this should not be confused with 'traditional' work and using a former like this is no substitute for knowing how to do the job properly. Many customers, as John B says, are quite happy with the cheap and nasty alternative; I've always found that if I need to explain the difference between hand and machine made, it's not worth the bother. The customer , in these straightened times, is (nearly) always right. The mere presence of a forge and an anvil adds kudos in the minds of some people. They can always tell their friends:'We had that made for us by a real blacksmith.'... Even if he wasn't being a blacksmith at the time.

Using a machine like this is an insult to the very concept of blacksmithing. Cold bent steel is not, in any sense 'wrought ironwork', Anyone can knock out that kind of rubbish.

Make a mandrel the same size as the parts you want to join and form the collar around it, leaving the join on the long side (one of those without the joint). Leave enough length to upset the corners square. You may need to experiment to get this right. Use a pair of pliers to open the collar up and slip it over the joint and tap it closed.

If you have never done any blacksmithing it's unlikely that you'll need a flux for a few months. Welcome to the site, by the way. Where are you?

No, I gave them away... I thought they were something to do with drains! Bottom blast forges are rare in this country.

I'm with JohnB and SGropp.; clinkers etc make excellent flooring material.

So that's what they were! I bought a job lot of tools etc. about 20 years ago and there were 5 or 6 of those included; no-one knew what they were and eventually the scrap bloke took them.

Be careful that you don't get a brick through the window!