Sam Thompson

A couple of years ago some stoners were killed when the truck tyre that they were stabbing 'for fun' exploded. Ho Hum

Yeah... I needed the spell check for that one!

Am I risking even more opprobrium by suggesting that there's unlikely to be much that hasn't been thought of in the last three thousand odd years?

I wouldn't deliberately feel for callouses but I find men with soft hands a bit creepy, especially when combined with a limp handshake.

I tried a cutting plate for a while and hated the clattering sound that it made. The only time that I don't chisel on the face is if the tool is likeley to slip off the work. I'd never want an anvil without a table; the step is very useful to brace the pieceand even after years, the surface (although soft)is still presentable.
I've never heard of a soft faced 'cutting hammer' for use over a hardie.

Instructions?, for a hammer?, grab the wood part , swing the heavy part so it contacts the intended target , repeat motion in quick succession until desired effect is accomplished, no charge

I wouldn't deliberately feel for callouses but I find men with soft hands a bit creepy, especially when combined with a limp handshake.

It's nice but are you sure that's not a kiln?

Just scale up an ordinary gin (and put a spring at both ends). Just be careful not to catch any very large moles.

Whatever you do, use something with jaws that close parallel to the steel you want to hold. A point or line of contact will not give sufficient control. Never use Mole grips or any kind of locking device for normal forging; loosening the grip and changing position should be second nature.

I've never seen water used, some people gauge temps by charring a bit of stick on the work.

I've never seen a vice with the jaws extended like that, as far as I'm concerned that's odd. You're right about the price, it's ludicrous. Complete leg vices in fair condition are worth about £15-£20 ($23.78-$31.73).

I agree entirely about Lillico, the specific nature of the work is unimportant... He uses examples to show an entire way of thinking.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Large-Antique-Blacksmith-Leg-Anvil-Vice-GWO-Rare-/140436260686?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Collectable_ToolsHasdware_RL&hash=item20b2a7474e

This is the best 'no-nonsense' how-to book I've come across. It doesn't go in for all the romantic, mythologising bull of many of the publications aimed at amateurs.

http://www.hct.ac.uk/Downloads/cp_blacksmith.html

I don't know why I'm getting all this stick! I only mentioned what I was told as a lad (mind you I'm pretty gullible; for years I believed my mother when she told me that 'ladies can't f**t')
If any one else posts a H&S concern everyone nods sagely. :P

It's so we all know how to make reversing levers and knock-offs,; the industrial equivalents of coracles and morris-dancing.

That would be a bit rum for a book thats pretty much all about power techniques and tooling.

Well, if no steam hammer was available to make them then then perhaps we can assume that there still won't be one when it comes to using them!
I've had electrically welded tongs break up under a PH, but never a forge weld (at least not catastrophically).

That's nothing; they've pinched our entire language!

For hot cutting, you need a much more acute angled edge or you will deform the bar while trying to force a cold hardy through.

Very nice, It looks better for the edges than a springy one. Here in the Old World we find plates work best when horizontal.

I just haven't had time to fix my camera yet. I've been extending my range of skills by painting a neighbour's house.

I was going to try them on the dog but he ran away and hid when he saw that "Let's try this" look on my face.

I suppose, in America you could grip a vice with them but in the UK, I bet they'd make a mess of a mole.