gote

I agree, also I would prefer a south German with upsetting block and shelf. I have the second best, a north Swedish. One sqare horn and one conical. The hardy hole is on the square side. This is better since I have the cone to the right. Thus there is no risk of hitting a cut off with the hammer hand. The hardy hole is also in a place where there is a substantial mass below and not out on a cantilever as the London pattern. Weight, I have 250 pounds and I am happy with that. I see 200-300 pounds as a good weight. (for shop use not for lugging around)

Thank you for the pics. The method looks so attractive that even if my stumps are good, I have put it on my list of things to make for the next stump or whatever needs levelling/planing. A plane is a good tool but not really across grain.

I have never had a hammer rebound anytwhere near my head but #!: I have the anvil at wrist height so I do not bend over it. #2: To me it is natural to have the elbow a little out from the body so a rebound goes more to the right. #3: I keep strictly to the rule of not working tired.

I made a hot cut out of a surplus cross pein hammer by grinding the pein into an edge but I do not use it much. A hardy tool saves me the third arm and I get less heat loss into the anvil.

I want the hardy to rest on the face of the anvil so the force is transmitted directly, not by wedging. Thus I make sure there is a good horizontal contact surface. I take a piece of square tubing, heat it and hammer it into the hardy hole. Compared to a solid shank, there is less heat to transfer and shorter time to transfer it. There is also less risk of popping off the heel of a London pattern anvil. I mark the tube at anvil face height and cut the tube about 1/16 below that. I now have a well fitting piece with much less work and much less risk to the anvil than a solid shank has. The tube can be welded to a hardy and if the hardy has an ill fitting shank, it can be fitted over the shank. Of course this assumes that you can find a square tube that is a wee bit larger than the hardy hole and that there is a very slight taper in the hole. If I had a London pattern anvil I would weld the tube to a piece of plate and the bottom tool to the plate so the tool is over the sweet spot.

#4,5 angle grinder, #3 cross pein, Wolf jaw.

I agree with Glenn. I hold the hammer as a tennis racket except when doing finicky things. I hold the elbow out from the body and I keep the anvil higher. I do not do it that way because someone told me to. I do it that way because it is easier. I was told at a fairly tender age to concentrate on the nail not on the hammer and that works for me. Until today I have never thought about where I hold my elbow. One thingless to worry about. Of course the grip should be loose. That holds for any tool, lever, crank or wheel. To grip harder than is necessary to guide the thingummibob in question is not only tiring it decreases control. My back told me a few years ago that anvil height is wrist not knuckle.

It so happens that I (or rather my wife) has a Plumbago plant in the window sill. Nice fragrance when it is in flower. The connection between Lead (Plumbum) and graphite eludes me - Colour?. Aah now I found it The amount of knowledge that this site inspires is amazing - even if some is useless. "The confusion began with the English, who started using a new mineral called plumbago to write and draw with. In the late 16th century, the residents of Seathwaite in Barrowdale, Cumbria, had stumbled upon a deposit of an intriguing new mineral. The mineral had interesting physical properties – it shimmered, it was solid and black, had a greasy feel and left a mark upon your hands when rubbed. The mineral was so much like the lead ores found at the time that the residents called it plumbago – which is Latin for lead ore, or colloquially, black lead. The locals soon began using the material to mark their sheep, which they had in plenty. Before long, someone found that plumbago also made excellent marks on paper." Thus lead pencil.

Yes beeswax is "that stuff will never solidify" meaning it will remain sticky covering itself with dust. My daughter bought a piece of old furniture treated this way and eventually had an annoying job of getting it off. The linseed oil treatment is referred to as schwarzbrennen or svartbränning in Germany and Sweden respectively and is the traditional surface coating of blacksmithh work. I only know plumbago as house plants. ????

Most blacksmith use average size tools. Of course they do If not. they would not be average. Is this a joke??

I have slowly found out that the more ignorant people are, the more opinionated they are and the more likely they are to interfere with my work.

Beautiful

How you do it depends upon what tools you have available. I used an electric wood plane to flatten the surface of the stump. I thought about using Steve's method but I felt that it was unnecessarily complicated for a single stump. Then I put the anvil on and traced the footprint. Anvil off again and, using a router, I cut a 3/8 recess to prevent the anvil from walking. I use no chain and the anvil just stands in the recess. This works because it is heavy enough. (250 pounds). What is important is that I made the recess slightly dished (about 1/16) so the anvil stands on the rim. That helps dampening the sound and also gives stability. (here I disagree with Thomas. I do not want contact in the central parts of the anvil bottom surface.) A smaller anvil will need some kind of tying down, both for stability and silencing. An anvil is usually not machined to high precision on the underside so you will have to make sure it makes good contact with the stand in the corners of the footprint. Even if the stand surface is dished you might need to shim a little. Caulking will take care of it but if used all over the surface, it will not support the rim only and that is my hobby horse. I started from a solid piece cut from a tree trunk. I wedged it up, future upside down, to a good vertical and then cut it horizontal, too tall and slightly dished, using a chain saw and spirit level. Since it was intended for a dirt floor the chain saw precision was enough. For a hard floor i would have finished with the plane. Next step was to turn the stump and measure the intended height (+3/8) from floor level, cut with chain saw, plane and router. On a solid floor I expect to need wedging around part of the edges, even if the bottom is dished but this is easily done. Thin slivers of wood cut with a knife work well. Rock and push until the rocking stops.

Well said Frosty

I still have to make a froe. I have never seen any for sale here. I use a knife as froe for the small kindling I use in the forge. Otherwise I use an axe. Strangely enough I have never had any pieces jump up but I hate the picking up so I will try your idea Frosty.

If I look at the picture I get the impression that you cook your squirrels in aluminium pots. Is that correct? And how do you pour them out?

Frosty Do you know that you can get the cork out by banging the bottom of the bottle into a tree or similar. The cork will slowly slowly creep out. A geta way to make sure the 'depot' will be thoroughly blended in again Oh I forgot. The round horn must point to the nearest place for worship of pagan gods. (for forge welding, the bottle can point any direction - --I hope

Could not agree more Vaughn well said

I have met a gentlman in suit and city shoes on a Swedish mountain trail above tree limit. We used to call these misplaced nature lovers 'pelicans' I do not know why.

Proably because they have heard that one should normalize before hardening and tempering.

You do not need tongs to make tongs. Get yourself sufficiently long stock so you can hold it in your hand.

The melting temperature is not that relevant. You are not casting the stuff.

When i want to make something, I usually buy new stock since mystery steel is mystery and rarely is in the right dimension. I then usually buy more than needed At least twice what I believe I need. Quite often a whole stick which for transport reasons has to be cut into two. Pieces shorter than 5-6 feet are stored standing in a box full of cardboard tubes and longer ones on racks on the backside of the shop.

Yes of course, My remark was intended to be general since Thomas' question was of a general nature. You are right it is more pertinent to coal but coal has been mentioned in this thread.