Oak Hill Forge

I'm not sure about Las Vegas, but here in Va. you can purchase real wood charcoal at Lowes and Home Depot. It forges fine , but it burns really fast. I would guess fuel costs would equal propane gas forging. I'm shocked that people in Las Vegas don't heat their homes with coal ? Just kidding...... We enjoy NV and AZ. have inlaws in Bullhead City

Nice sign Gaylan, but you HAVE to turn your horseshoe over ...... you are dumping out all your good luck !

Where's the sign up sheet for everybody to reface their anvils now that we know these guys can do it ? hehehehe

The saw buck had no value as a blacksmithing tool. The venue is a restored mountain farm with an original log house, barn, spring house, chicken coupe etc. The barn actually came from the homestead of Joe Clark, yep the one from the Old Joe Clark bluegrass tune, moved there from the Irish Creek area. They always have different mountain crafts demoed each weekend, along with free bluegrass bands on 2 to 4 Sundays. It's a pretty nice place. Glad our tax dollars do some good !

Well I have my first demo under my belt. I did a fall craft event on the Blue Ridge Parkway at the Humpback Rocks visitor's center Near Waynesboro Va. Everything went pretty smooth. The forge was constructed from a farm disc harrow blade 24" in diameter with a 6" to 3" pipe reducer as the firepot. It has a circular type clinker breaker. This was the first time I had fired that forge so I was a little nervous. I actually got paid and was invited back again.

It would certinly be a hard trade to do till you reach 65 !

I'm demoing next weekend and was thinking the same thoughts. The unbleached canvas drop cloth looks pretty period, but I was wondering how easy it would be to set on fire ? Is there any easy way to make them flame retardent ? There was a blacksmith at an event we visted this weekend that was using such a set up and it looked pretty nice.

We went to Field Day of the Past near Richmond Va., an absolutely awsome event. There was a 3 generation blacksmith shop on the grounds, and 3 other practicing smiths demoing. Steam powered everything, a whole small town moved to the grounds and frozen in time, wooden water towers, fire tower, Post Office, General store auto shop with Model A on the lift, tractor pulls and car show. Rosco, That's funny ! I made a bracket to mount my Champion 400 on a 4 X 6 post. Mine wasn't forged though ... fabricated and TIG welded, but it turned out real nice. I am finishing up all my equipment to do my fist demo next weekend at a National Park. Hope to post pictures.

Same here in Virginia...... the lawyers strike again ! They got sued when somebody got hurt in the yard, now nobody buys. Maybe when scrap metal prices tank again they will be ready to sell again !!!

If you have access to "Never seize" I would apply some to the new bolt before installing. Might make disassembly easier if ever necessary. It's a metalic compound to help prevent gaulding. I would also replace both bolts while you are at it. You may have to grind off the other bolt head / nut off to remove it. I always replace all bolts in the small rivet forges when i restore them.

The big reason to use a larger diameter pipe is velocity. The blower is going to generate a fixed volumn of air. If your pipe is 1" diameter, the velocity will be high which is not what you are trying to achieve. You want the air to "puff" into the firepot, not blow thru like a whirlwind (blowtorch). The slower the velocity the less hot spots you will have and the "softer" the fire. When using my rivet forge I have found toward the end of a forging session is when I always burn up a project. The reason turned out to be that as ash / clinker began to clog the air outlet to the forge (smaller pipe) the velocity increased to the point it became more like a blowtorch, making it more difficut to achieve an even heat.

I agree that you rarely get clinker deep enough in the tuyere to "break" them up, but what I have experienced is that ash / fines sometimes obstruct the air flow causing a high velocity situation that will burn up your project like right now. Rotating the clinker breaker and opening the ash dump resolve this situation quickly. There seem to be lots of different designs for clinker breakers and I'm sure they alter air flow, and bust up ash differently. I'll try to get some pictures of the one I just built for my new forge as it's different than most.

I have my first demo scheduled for the 26th and 27th at a National Park venue. I finished up a stand for my post vice today. Have a few finishing touches on the portable forge yet to do. I want to make a stand for my Champion 400 blower if I have time. Looks like you had fun. What type event was it ?

The grate is welded to the bottom of the firepot. I ended up adding 2 more "ears" to attach the ash dump and blower inlet. I have the forge almost completed now. I'll try to get some pictures up tomorrow.

Michael, A "Mouse hole" anvil is an actual brand name believe it or not! Here's a picture (not mine) I found on the web someplace. M&H Armitage Mouse Hole Forge, Sheffield England.

KUTO's to Mark from me as well ! I did get to spend most of my time at the hammer in event watching the demos. I particularly liked the fact that most of the tools used were "created" during the Friday evening session and early in the Saturday demo. I believe your tools are your calling card. People are shocked when you can show them the "tools you made" to create their wares. As a beginning smith I have spent most of my time so far making most of my tools, some with fabrication skills others with smithing skills. My wife and 13 year old daughter smith with me and Mark sure helped me this past weekend showing my daughter the importance of Math applications in your everyday life (blacksmithing). It's hard to convince a 13 year old that they will ever use Algebra or Geometry ever again once they leave school, but what's the first thing I saw Mark diligently scratching across the chalk board ? Formulas for the circumference of a circle and on and on. She was shocked ! I'm sure all of the blacksmiths of yore didn't go into such great detail, but I bet they wasted stock from time to time, and made more than a few "test pieces" before they arrived at the exact formula. Watching a Master Smith work is sometimes frustrating because they flow through each piece, making it look effortless almost, but then you realize they too had to practice each function of blacksmithing over and over again. It didn't happen magically overnight as we would all like it too. Thanks Mark and Thanks Peyton for another super event!

Do you know if the price list is current ? Do you have contact information for purchasing ? Thanks Sam

makes nice snakes !

There is hope. I saw a similar bick made from an Amish buggy axle this past month.

EWCTool = where are you located ? I'm in Waynesboro, Va. I got some hex shaped shafting at an auction in McDowell Virginia. It's about 1 1/4" and it does have a 1/4" hole in the center, anybody have an idea of it's origin ?

Good one Thomas !!!

GLENNNNNN !!!! Tisk tisk - now why would any of these skilled smiths BUY a sculpture of Skull and Cross bones when they could create it ?

They smelled dinner cooking !

I had a similar problem, but escaped health issues by fast ventilation after TIG welding on an old Freon container. The high temps release Hydrogen fluoride which is highly toxic at only 3 PPM. Freon containers by shape might be likely candidates for a gas forge, so keep this in mind.

I have a cheap "Harbor Freight " type horizonal band saw. I think a large water cooled one would be a good investment as well. We have one at work that I can use on some things, but they are fussy about what comes and goes. I do have one of those old recperacating power hacksaws a guy gave me, but it needs a motor. It was built in the early 1900's and it's atank. The problem I always have with the little band saw is keeping it cutting straight. I think the 3/4" or 1" band on the larger saws helps alot, along with some real beef in the blade guide area. Being a fabricator first and a blacsmith second sure helps out in the tool making arena !