Swamp Fox

When making multiple scrolls, find the length of stock as discribed above. Make a couple of practice scroll pieces. Then forge the ENDS only (both ends) for the group of work. You can handle straight stock better than stock that is bent and the ends are now much more consistant. Next bend the group into scrolls and the bends will be more consistant also.

* Spread the word about Iforgeiron. * Try to keep the path free of trip hazards. * Keep better notes so you don't have to reinvent the wheel each time. * Work smarter, make the jig, make the tool, make things easier. * Thank the person that made the blueprint that you used to make things easier for you in your shop.

Weld plates to the sides of the I beam making it a twin box construction.

Thanks for the ideas

Leave it soft. Mechanics sometimes misuse tools by adding extensions for leverage. A hardened bar can chip or break under stress and throw small pieces of metal or the mechanic across the room. A soft bar can bend or deform.

I saw something like that on iforgeiron blueprints in the forges section of the index. If you can not find it there, try the general blueprints index and look for something that looks like a blower in the photo.

How do you go about demagantizing a sewing needle that was placed on a magnet and then became magnatized?

Why not think bending forks here. Weld a piece of 1/4 x 1 flatbar to the end of a 1" pipe, making a T. Weld 2 pieces of 1/2 round (gorilla proof) about 1 to 1-1/4" long to the flat bar. They could be as close as 1/2" apart. Loop the hose over either pin and start rotating. It will make it a bit oval instead of perfectly round, but the idea is to get the cat skinned and the hose rolled. If your worried about the hose not tracking, put a BIG washer say 6-8" dia of 1/8" plate on the 1" pipe and slide it up to the backside of the flat bar and weld. Then insert the assembly into a 1-1/4 inch pipe. (The 1" will fit inside a piece of 1-1/4" pipe that can be held stationary) A 90 degree pipe fitting will give you the throw you need to wind and another 90 degree pipe fitting for the handle. Tack weld the fittings in place to make it gorilla proof.

It goes without saying that the electricity is off when the shop is closed. Water or condensation in the tank should be kept to a minimum by regular checks and removal, and is maintance. My question was in reference to leaving the tank pressurized or bleeding the pressure down to zero on a daily basis.

Is it better to leave air in the receiver (pressure tank) or to drain the pressure to zero nightly as a part of shutting down the shop?

There are always folks that either want to fight, or are never satified. You turned the situation to your advantage in the eyes of others.

What are you making as Christmas gifts this year?

Stuart Look at the blueprint BP0121 Vise Bending Forks - Dick Sargent for an idea then enlarge it to your fit your size problem. Bending 3/4 inch square cold can be a chore, but if you just put the metal in a campfire, you can get it hot and make it work much easier. It is ready to bend when it is red on toward orange in colour. Practice on smaller steel first.

Just like one of those No, I want the whole display!

the water must have been cold, cause before we could get there, she was standing straight up in that slack tub, all wet and wide eyed, and her mouth half open like she wanted to scream but couldn't. James was helping her out of the tub when ....

Please post a picture of the tooling stand.

You said COLD cut at the beginning. Why not make this tool and just use it as a hot cut? Doesn't take much to cut a piece of HOT metal.

Dave Mudge from Louisana is ok and has a photo of his shop attached to a letter from ABANA. The photo shows that a tree fell across the shop.

Do the man a favor and take all the coke. Then use a broom to clean up the area. He may know other people that need to get rid of things. :wink:

Don't fly off the handle or loose your temper mate (temper-mate = temperment?), someone will chime in (ring the anvil for a striker).

Carry a book on blacksmithing with you. When you are put on hold on the phone, waiting in an office etc, read the book. It is time that would have otherwise been waisted.

Most blacksmiths you see with all the tools and toys have spent a lifetime of looking, collecting, and making thier owntools and toys. Many have had good paying jobs all their lives and are now retired with plenty of time and some amount of disposable income from the retirement package and investments they have made over their lifetime. Others have taken an interest in blacksmithing and use it as a part time job. To make money you MUST have the tools. This justifies the expendature of part of the disposable income. When they sell 20 Tennessee Trools to a gift shop down the street, or put on a demo somewhere, they make a little more money. May as well get the big ticket tool now that they have the extra money, and the collection grows. Make one pair of tongs a week. At the end of the year you have 52 pairs of tongs and many people will be envious of your collection of tongs. At the end of 10 years you have over 520 pair of tongs most of which will not be used, but you saw a different way to make tongs and tried it. Do the same with hammers, make one a week. Make each a little different and you have 52 different hammers in a year. Point is in one years time, you too can have a collection of tools and toys that is very impressive, and you made them all. Just takes making one tool each week. Go to the auction and bid $10 on that post vise, you may win. Answer that ad in the paper and maybe find a 300 pound anvil for $100. You may already have a post vise and an anvil but are you going to pass up the deal? No, it will set in the garage gathering dust. As soon as you open the garage door, someone is bound to ask why do you have extra anvils if you don't use them. :wink:

You may want ot check to see if the Festival has insurance and if you are specifically covered under that policy. If not, ask to be included. This is in addition to any insurance that you may have. Also look into the business and tax situation. Some festivals have a blanket business tax account that covers all vendors, others have each vendor take out a business license to operate legally. Taxes can either be collected and turned over the the festival for payment to the Feds, State, County, City, and who ever else wants to share in your wealth and the fruits of your labors, or you may have to pay the taxes directly to the appropraite agency. Agencys do exchange information so if you pay to the county, be sure to also pay to the city etc, if applicable. Money is a lot easier to take in $5's, $10's, $20's than any amount of loose change, or making change. Just take your price, add the tax, then round to the nearest bill size. Just be sure that you gain more than you loose in rounding. DO NOT take checks. Instead, give the stuff away for free, it will be less of a hassel, and the end result is the same - your out the money. Mark each and every item with a price. Usually a paper tag on a string or masking tape folded around the item. Use manilla (natural color) for some things, but also use bright yellow, red, and bright green. They WILL draw attention. Just don't over do the colors. Colors can also be used to indicate your ability (margin) to haggle. Green for instance is buy 3 and get a 4th at $5 off or whatever.

When you get to the demo, have plenty of rope to put up a fence to keep people at a safe distance. Usually two strands, one for adults and one lower for the kids.

Appalachian Center for Craft Tennessee Technological University 1560 Craft Center Drive Smithville, TN 37166 (615) 597-6801 (615) 372-3051 Website:www.tntech.edu/craftcenter The Craft Center, in addition to offering workshops, is affiliated with the Tennessee Technical University and as such offers a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts, as well as non-degree certificate enrollment. Robert Coogan is the full-time metals and blacksmithing instructor. Occasionally excellent visiting instructors are brought in specifically for the blacksmithing courses. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mark Aspery School of Blacksmithing Springville, CA P.O. Box 523 Springville, CA 93265-0523 (559) 539-3351 Email: blacksmith@ocsnet.net Mark Aspery, journeyman-blacksmith with the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths U.K., is offering a variety of five day courses in blacksmithing. 1) Basic Blacksmithing 2)Scrolls and Leafwork 3) Elements of a Traditionally Forged Gate. Maximum of 4 students each with their own work station. Students acquire skills as they complete progressively harder projects. Please contact Mark for specific times and dates for classes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Austin Community College Riverside Campus 1020 Grove Boulevard Austin, Texas 78741 William J. Bastas, Associate Professor (512) 223-6088 Austin Community College offers blacksmithing classes as part of our Art Metals A.A.S. Degree. Both Metalsmithing/Blacksmithing and power hammer classes are offered as an integral part of the degree. Taught within the Welding Technology Department, our students benefit from the inter-disciplinary environment of welding processes and certification, as well as traditional training from the metal-artist's perspective. Our classes are taught year-round in a typical semester or short semester format. We also offer sculpture, silversmithing and a complete jewelry program. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brookfield Craft Center Dee Wasner, Registrar PO Box 122, Route 25 Brookfield, CT 06804 (203) 775-4526 Fax: (203) 740-7815 Email: brkfldcrft@aol. com Website: www.brookfieldcraftcenter.org The Brookfield Craft Center is a non-profit school for professional craft education, founded 1954. Courses for beginners, intermediate and professional craftsmen are scheduled on weekends and evenings so working people can take full advantage of them. The Center's colonial vintage campus provides a relaxed atmosphere and limited enrollment of an average 6 to 12 students allow for a high degree of individualized attention. Call or write for a free 32 page Brookfield Quarterly which contains complete course descriptions and travel information. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cape Cod School of Blacksmithing 13 Captain Doane Way Orleans, MA 02653 The Cape Cod School of Blacksmithing is a 4 forge facility offering beginning, intermediate, and advanced 2-day workshops. Instruction is given by Robert Jordan. Call or write for a complete and current schedule of classes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carroll County Farm Museum Academy of Traditional Arts 500 S. Center St. Westminster, MD 21157 (410) 848-7775 The 15 year partnership of the Carroll County Farm museum and the Blacksmith Guild of Central Maryland (BGCM) has provided mutual support, education and training, and a venue to spread the knowledge of blacksmithing to the local community. The Guild, while primarily providing demonstrators for the museum's historic forge and local events, also provides new and restoration ironwork for the museum and was instrumental in developing the Academy of Traditional Arts. The Academy was started to preserve and teach the arts of our past so that they are not lost to future generations. Classes include tinsmithing, basketry, cooking, quilting, and blacksmithing. The 16 Hour Beginning Blacksmithing classes are taught on a continuing basis and specialty classes, such as tong making, forge welding, repousse, etc. are offered throughout the year. Our instructors are drawn from a large pool of local and outside talent, bringing a fresh and sometimes unique approach to projects. Beginning classes teach history, safety, tool usage, fire maintenance, hammer control, basic forge welding, and demonstration techniques. The classes are open to anyone 16 years and older. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cedar Lakes Craft Center HC 88 Box 21 Ripley, WV 25271 (304) 372-7873 Fax: (304) 372-7881 Email: info@cedarlakes.com Website: www.cedarlakes.com Surround yourself with a rural, quiet atmosphere; outstanding master artists and crafts instructors; peers absorbed in their craft; and time away from the commitments of life in the fast lane --this is what the Cedar Lakes Crafts Center offers you. Call or write for more information. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Center for Metal Arts PO Box 30 Chester, NY 10918 Street Address: 44 Jayne Street Florida, NY 10921 (845) 651-7550 Fax: 845 651-7857 Email: ed@iceforge.com Website: www.iceforge.com The Center for Metal Arts holds workshops and courses for beginning and advanced metalsmiths, with a tradition of exploring the innovative edges of design, material, and work practice. The Center for Metal Arts has 10 fully equipped working sanctions for hand hammer work at the anvil, power hammer stations, gas and coal forges, and a classroom area. Adjacent to the classroom area is the working studio of Fine Architectural Metalsmiths in the large 1890’s Icehouse built for Borden’s Creamery. The Center for Metal Arts is in the scenic farming village of Florida, NY, just 70 miles northwest of New York City. It is within 30 minutes of Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, NY, 50 minutes from Westchester Airport, 60 minutes from Newark International Airport, and easy driving access via Interstate Rte 84, NYS Rte 87, or NYS Rte 17. The Center for Metal Arts holds two biennial workshop series with Uri Hofi, presenting the intensive “Comprehensive Fundamentals of Blacksmithing