PCornett

So to extend the Cheapskate idea, the next time I get to the forge I am going to make myself a stump bick using a Railroad spike hammer I bought for $5, and a Jack Hammer chisel I bought for $2 as a neck/spike. I will post pics as I work on it.

KY is there anyway you ( or anyone on here whonhas one mounted) couldvtake a pic either off of the anvil or mounted. I have never seen one of these and would love to know what to look for. Good, clear pics but hard for me to tell where vice and anvi separate. Thanks for sharing.

No it seems to begin with Early English Colonial. It starts about 1622 and moves up through mid 19th century. The illustrations are pretty good for B&W and I am looking forward as well to trying some of the items shown.

I converted the pic into negative form and it seems to say HATFIELD AND SANDERS?? or something close. Does that sound like any makers?

Colton: Good work, thats better than I do. no joke.
Thomas: It is good to see investment in a young man. Proud to know you and all the men on here who share knowledge, wisdom, and time.

Early American Ironware: Cast and Wrought
by Henry J. Kauffman
copyright 1966 LofC # 65-16743
166 pages
210 Illus.

Mr Kauffman has created a nice history in this book. He has included a overview of most facets of the industry from the Furnace to the Forge to the Farrier, the Toolmaker, the Cutler, Locksmith, Gunsmith, etc. This book is not a instruction of how to but rather a more wide overview of the business and creations that arose from the industry.

I dont know that it will help anyone be a better blacksmith but does give an appreciation of the craftsmen of the era.

Well not trying to be rude but I can't say thanks. I am on this site to learn. Not just to be told this is what you can and can't do. I ask questions hoping someone will be kind enough to share their experience and their learning but also explain why it didn't work out. An explanation of why might have helped me learn more about oxydizing fires or how much carbon is pulled out of cable if I am trying to weld it into cable damascus. If you dont have the time to fully answer my question, I understand but I would problably learn more by going ahead and doing it even if my results will be a charred spot on the ground and a piece of cast that is half the size it was before.

Again I am not trying to be rude. I appreciate the guys who share and keep me from injuring myself but thanks anyway... I guess.

Brush/bonfire wouldn't work and I doubt you would get much luck trying to fine with your forge fire---probably spend more in time and money than it would cost....

Why noy bonfires? I believe the temp would be there and here on the border of Mo and Ks, we get plenty of wind to increase the oxygen content. The book didn't have a detailed description of the process so I really am in the dark.

Also is the hammering required in the decarburization process? I was thinking of just making a pile of irons in the center of the fire and letting it go and retrieving the iron afterwards

Thanks for he feedback!

In the book EARLY AMERICAN IRONWARE by Kauffman c1966 the author describes smiths taking pigs of cast iron and sticking the in the forge while they work. As the cast achieves semi-plasticity it oozes down to the bed of the forge to relump but with a much lower lower carbon content. Just wondering if anyone had worked this way?
When I think how many cast iron window weights I can get my hands on for free, I get slightly giddy. Also, I realize this would not be a terribly efficient process but if it increased our supply of wrought it might be worth it.
Also, if this were to work, would it also work just to throw a heap of cast around the edge of a large brush/bonfire and let it do the same thing?

Backwoodsman Magazine had an article about this sort of forge a while back. I will find the exact issue for that this evening.

If I go longer than a 4 hr session I do have to worry about those. So far, I have just realized I am starting to lose efficiency about the time I am ready to (or my wife is ready for me to) start wrapping it up. Strange thing though, is that when using the lump charcoal, the clinkers come out more the consistency and look of melted glass. It shocked me the first time I cleaned it up and realized that. Anyone know the reason for that? I am not using fabricated charcoal so it isnt the impurities in briquets.

I will be the first to amdit that it may very well be a user error, ;)

I found out this last weekend the importance of humidity or lack of. I used my forge and where this winter with water everywhere I was only getting workable temps, with dry fuel and air lines, I burned the edge off a tool I was making. Maybe I should start collecting silica packets from vitamin bottles.
Also, my dad just traded a tiny little bench vice for a neighbor's post vice, keeping my investment in heavy equipment to $75. When you figure tongs, hammers and fuel it becomes more but not by a whole lot. Probably about $200 for whole setup so far.

My Dad traded a neighbor a small bench vice he could sharpen mower blades with for this. Straight across. I havent got it yet but as often as they have been coming to see their new grandson, it shouldnt be long. Would like to know if it has all the parts.

http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/36414-phils-post-vice/

Going to have to steal that idea myself. Once I get all the other stuff I promised my wife I would make her done.....:(

Several months ago I was at an auction where I saw a post hole digger/bar with an eight inch long and a 4-5 inch diameter base on the end of a 6ft long heavy bar. I have been kicking myself ever since that I didnt buy that think. I could have cut off all but 3 inches of the bar and made a hardy mandrel out of it. Just a thought for you if you got to auctions and such rather than going whole hog on that piece you got....

OK, so I am going to take votes at philipcornett@hotmail.com for BEST and WORST Movie/TV Blacksmith. 1 week from tonight on May 8, at 9pm CST (or the same time as the BP Night starts) I will announce the results of the voting. 1 email per smith please, vote for Best and Worst at same time.

Considering how close I am to you, I wont ask where you hunt but we should get a hammer in together in in this area sometime. Nice find, little jealous.

To Wayne, I cant find the western you mentioned but it did just make me remember that in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Oliver Reed played Hepheastus the Greek God of Blacksmithing. Uma Thurman was his Aphrodite. Wierd combo but then very appropriate given the mythology.

Well I for one am proud of the impression you made. Thanks for being a good rep for the rest of us.

Amen to that.

LOL, ok i had never noticed the post vice in the backround of LOTR! That is hilarious, and I had forgotten Robert Lee. He was a good man. I think I will compile a list of these here in a few days or so (perhaps more if people keep adding) and have a vote of the best and worst.

PS> Highlander movies should have followed their own mantra. THEIR CAN BE ONLY ONE!

Again, I cant believe I forgot HIGHLANDER!! Really? Who didnt love seeing that movie, from the smithing scene to two grown men with car batteries attached to their swords!?!?!?!?

I will have to go back and watch How to Tame Your Dragon again..

Can't believe I forgot Knights Tale!

OK, so its just general chit chat but who is your fav blacksmith from the movies and I will give you a list of a few to start out with. I hope to see more added to the list as time goes on.

Army of Darkness - The Blacksmith
Kingdom of Heaven - Balion
Iron Man - Tony Stark
Pirates of the Carribean - Will Turner (Also played by Orlando Bloom, see Kingdom of Heaven)

I havent decided my fav yet either so look forward to see what people suggest.