graynomad

Yes I like cordless drills, here's some I bought recently I've been doing some research on post drills and think I finally "get" how they work and I like it. I can see that manually winding up the feed after every drill could be a bit annoying, maybe one with a lever feed like the Champion #200 would be a good choice.

Great drill Eddie and Jim, that's a fantastic setup. Can you advise me as to what benefits (if any) these have over a modern drill press. I know where I can get a post drill and I tend to prefer older manual tools, but I'm struggling to justify the post drill.

I've been thinking of getting a post drill but apart from the fact that I just love old tools and they don't require power I cannot see the benefits over a modern drill press. I have neither now so could do either way. Can someone enlighten me?

Hi guys, Rob from (near) Bundaberg. Done a little smithing before but decided recently to get into it for real so just bought some gear and will start building a smithy in a few weeks. I see a lot of people in SEQ and some in FNQ but nobody in the middle so if anyone is heading from one to the other we live on 25 acres just a few k off the Bruce Hwy and I'd love to chat around a campfire with a beer or two. Of course if there is anyone near Bundy the same applies :)

The vice has a raised "C" in an inset triangle on top of the mounting plate. I can feel another mark underneath the plate but it's packed away now and too hard to flip it over. WRT the paint, I tend to like the natural look of steel as found on an old tool, although I guess the blower is cast so that is different. But mostly in this case I don't like it because the picking out of the text has been done really badly. I don't have a steel ball but tried a light hammer tap all over the surface with mixed results. It rings better in some places than others and rebounds better in some places than others. In general the places it rings don't rebound as well as the places that don't ring so well, and vice versa. I also retired pre 50 Dale, (45 in fact), electronics/computing was good to me and I still enjoy tinkering in that field (having some boards made in the UK and China as we speak) but a more manual hobby is required. I'd love it if there were other smiths in this area but that doesn't appear to be the case, the only one I know of is an old guy in Bundy but he got cleaned out by the floods last year and doesn't want to restart the business. I pass the Bundy rum distillery most days I go into town, some people would consider that a real plus to living in this area but apart from a home-brew beer most evenings (maybe 2 or 3 when I have visitors :) ) I don't drink much and can't stand rum at all. ______ Rob

Thanks for the forge link, been looking at that and many other threads about forge building and smithy layouts etc. There's probably a few days/weeks work reading up on things I reckon. The 55 Forge seems like a good start, although I would have to call it a 44 Forge because those barrels are only 44 (imperial) gallons in Oz. :) Not sure yet if I can get coal locally, but I own 25 acres of trees so maybe making charcoal is an option. ______ Rob

Hi everyone, Rob here from central Queensland in Oz. I have done a little smithing before, made the obligitory tent pegs, BBQ tools etc and various things as required in the building of my RVs. But I've not done much and know 2/5ths of 5/8ths of naff all about the craft really. It's something I've always been interested in though (grew up on a farm and my Dad used to do a bit) and in a fit of rage with computers recently I decided I needed a hobby that does not involved them or if possible even electricity (we live off-grid on solar so things that don't need power are preferred). So I'm going to get back into blacksmithing and have just bought the makings of a reasonable kit. Rather than rewriting the story of buying the items here's an excerpt from my blog For some time now (years actually, on and off) I've been thinking about taking up a hobby that doesn't need a computer. Trouble is just about everything I like to do does involve a computer at some point. The only thing I could think of was charcoal drawing, but I would probably suck at that. There is bushwalking of course, and I do plan to go back to doing daily walks but that's not a hobby in the sense of creating something. Then there's making models from match sticks, I used to do that but I'm not sure I'm ready for it yet, model making would get me away from computers but not out of my chair. I need something to get me off my XXXX. Then it hit me...blacksmithing. I've done some blacksmithing over the years and I really enjoy it, so a couple of weeks ago I started trawling eBay et al for the tools of the trade. No luck, firstly there is XXXXX all around and secondly what is available is down south and marked as "Local pickup only". I guess that makes sense as we are talking about items that weigh in the 100kgs realm. And that might have been the end of it. Then a week or so back I had reason to go to a local car wrecker, and blow me down if they don't have a huge display of blacksmithing tools, there are things there that I can't find at all on the web, and they have several of them. There must be at least 20 anvils, three swage blocks, three leg vices etc etc. What a bonanza. I mulled it over for days, even after getting the nod from SHMBO I still wasn't sure, what if this is a fad and I lose interest after making my first cold chisel. Still it's not a whim, I've done it before, have thought about it many times over the years, and really want to reduce my addictive dependence on computers. So yesterday I went back to the wreckers fully intending to buy some gear, but the guy that owns it wasn't there. What an anti-climax. Today I return with the same intent, and he is here. I leave $2000 poorer but with about 300kgs of heavy metal. I know everyone likes pics so here are some photos of the items in question. No name or branding at all, about 200#, rings well to my uneducated ear. He had three swage blocks, this was the cleanest. The blower seems to work well but I hate that it has been painted and the lettering picked out in gold, it may see some paint stripper before long. All in all I'm pretty happy with the purchases. No actual forge yet as you can see but that should be easy to make. No shed either and I will have to build that as well, so it will be a few months before I can fire this lot up but best to grab these things when you get the chance I think, they aren't getting more common. So I'm looking forward to trawling (not trolling :)) this forum to learn more. I've been giving Youtube a caning of late and found out how to make baskets and all sorts of stuff, can't wait to put it all into practice. ______ Rob

Thanks, I'll do an intro soon.

Another Aussie here, just joined. In central QLD now but lived in Perth twice and spend several years in various parts of WA, mostly parts north. Ausfire, where in QLD are you? Gordon, you're lucky to get that gear, I just got a heap of nice tools but they are hard to find. ______ Rob