Phil Dwyer

If you have enough of the iron stock, you might want to put a slight taper on a piece to make a forming mandrel. You could then form your brass to a slightly smaller dimension than the intended size. Then braze the ends together while off of the iron. You should then be able to hammer it down on your mandrel to shape and size it. (Knock the sharp corners off the tapered stock just a bit.) The trick here is to not make your brass too small as it will not hold up to a lot of stretching down the mandrel. If you end up slightly over sized you can hack saw out a saw blade kerf, or two, from your collar and re-braze the ends together to size it a bit smaller. Flip the collar over a few times as your working it on the mandrel, otherwise you'll end up with a tapered collar. I often used silver solder (the stuff for sterling jewelry, not the low temp stuff) to join brass together. If the fit of your end seam is tight the finished solder line color won't show that much. Silver solder seems to flow a lot better than brazing rod, but you have to have a perfectly tight joint, it doesn't fill gaps like brazing can. Let us know how it goes and post a few pix.

Welcome Kot, There are many different brass alloys. Sounds like you might have one that is better for machining than fabrication techniques. How are you annealing it? We just heated fabrication stock up to a dull red (under low light) on soft fire bricks. We quenched it hot (not glowing hot) in a heated pickling pot (which took off the oxidation nearly immediately). We worked the metal cold. To make bands we bent the two ends around to braze or solder them together, then forced the joined shape down on a "cone" mandrel (we were working with jewelry ring and bracelet mandrels) typically with "soft" mallets. How thick is your stock? What size bands are you trying to make? If your stock's thick enough maybe you could cut and pierce your band out of it? Or, could melting it and casting it into your shapes be an option? Wishing you luck and looking forward to hearing more. Phil

Hello Friends, This is a fantastic site! It's monitored with a dedication and commitment that is without equal. I completely support its rules, needs and expectations. It's just I'm not sure I'm always aware of all of them. I do not, in any way, question the site's guidelines. I just question whether I can live up to them when a fellow member I respect immensely had a lapse in being able to. I'm glad to hear he's coming back and that he understands the situation (even if I don't completely). I do completely support, admire and appreciate Glen and his unwavering commitment to making this world-class site available for, well, the world! Mahalo nui loa (thank you very much), Phil

Geesh, if that's so, I can't imagine what the guy could have done to get the boot. His posts are always so much in the spirit of the forum: to share and learn. In my book you couldn't ask for a much more earnest participant. If he can "screw up," as forthright as he is, than I better keep my head down for sure.

In my never ending search for anvils the most depressing stories were from two different people. They each threw away an anvil. Aaaaugh!!!! I actually did run into an anvil collector. He didn't want one just to make his wet bar more interesting. He nearly has a dozen of them stacked up. Has some real beauts too. Won't part with one for love nor money though. Says he buys them, doesn't sell them. On the other hand, sometimes these folks will loan them. A friend has loan me one for my high school blacksmithing classes. It's not just anvils either. Any old school technology is fair game for collectors and house/yard decorators. I run into the same problem trying to find draft animal stuff.

These aren't exactly superstitions, but seemed like they might fit here. Strike while the iron is hot, but don't put too many irons in the fire. Have nerves of steel and an iron will, but don't have a lead bottom or lead in your feet! Have a heart of gold, but don't be a silver tongued devil. A chain is as strong as its weakest link.

Looking forward to seeing the pix.

Welcome! Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you at (you should put that in your profile under the "User CP")? What are your blacksmithing interests? What kind of smithy/shop do you have or are going to put together? Etc? All the best with your metal work...and be safe!

Bummer John, sorry to hear about it. How long do you think before the motor's in? I wonder how much the extended warranty would have cost and what kind of turn around time the warranty repair would have been? I guess as they say, it could have been worse. Glad it wasn't!

Mark I'm jealous you lucky guy! I hope you remember the rest of us and share pix of your work with Mike. We could call it the Mark and Mike Show.

Wonderful! Good sequence of photos. Your forging seems perfect. I look forward to seeing more. Thanks for sharing.

Mark, at this point I suspect when you're forging you're moving in slow mo due to your earnest efforts at getting things right. That would probably account for a lot of the time. I bet once you pound out a few dozen more of those things your heating, hammering and moving techniques will have become a beautiful and effective dance and your knives will be exceptional. Your present striving with the craft is impressive in its dedication, commitment and progress. Thanks for being so forthright in sharing your journey with us. -Phil

Absolutely astounding! I can't stop looking at it. Just amazing! And the photos too...you even put them in "rosewood" sheaths/frames! Top notch. Thanks for sharing and taking the time to post such an array of spectacular pix!

Hey Y'all, I "found" an old grinder/polisher the other day. Think it might have been used for lapidary work, or some such, as it has a hook up for a water drip. It also has a large leather buffing wheel on the side. It's all pretty decrepit, but salvage-able. The drive wheel is 3" wide and 7.75" diameter. It is also a contact wheel, but the rubber is missing. The tension/tracking wheel is 4" across. So, anyone know where I can get 3"x42" belts (not Sears, Ace, Home Depot or Wood Crafters) and contact rubber for the 3" by 8" (almost) wheel? If you have any other thoughts, after seeing the pix, please share them. Thanks, Phil .

Hillbilly, How did your rail anvil project go? Got any pix or further tips? -Phil

That's a good looker for sure. I wonder what kind of edge it'll hold. What do you mean by, one final weld down the length of the blade? Don't mind finger nails, its a badge of an honest knife maker! I especially like photos of hand held knives for two reasons. It shows an excellent sense of scale and "hold-abililty". What I really like, though, is that I feel like I'm meeting the maker more when I see his or her hands. -Phil

It's nice to meet you. Make sure you follow Glenn's instructions to add your location so we know where you're at. There might be some blacksmith near you. By the way, don't worry about not being taken seriously, a lot of people don't even take full grown adults who play with fire and pound the snot out of metal seriously either. Ha, ha!!! For instance old Uncle Frosty from Alaska can be a real character. He gets me laughing pretty good some times! Having fun is more important to me than being accomplished. Never the less, there are truly a lot of folks on this forum (often referred to as IFI, short for I Forge Iron) that are super super super accomplished. So tell us, what kind of equipment do you have? How did you get started? What kind of stuff are you interested in making? Looking forward to hearing more about your blacksmithing adventures. BE SAFE (remember everything is hot!) and have fun! Phil (in Hawaii)

Yep, I spotted it too. Looks like the pulley is belted to a flywheel.

Sounds good. Please take lots of pictures as you go along to share with us. Good luck!

Hi Phil (in China), You never know what you're going to come across next on this website. I'm not sure of the specifics of your request. I'm guessing you've posted it on IFI because you want to blacksmith a steel trap? Do you really mean the nasty steel teethed menaces that savagely grab the animal by its paw/leg? Or do you mean something else? What are you trying to do? Relocate an animal(s) or harvest it/them? I've trapped wild boar both with heavy snares and large steel and chain-link box traps. Both methods are also suitable for bear, if done to the right scale. The biggest risk with trapping is having your traps pose a danger to people, pets and livestock. Looking forward to hearing more specifics about your bear venture. Phil (in Hawaii)

Here's a post from him a couple of months ago in another thread on tire hammers: http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f57/new-tire-hammer-4704/#post41604

Yup, looks like blacksmith scat for sure. They're known to frequent areas with railroad tracks. Some of them have been known to like to pig hunt too!

Ya your right, they were invented many many moons ago. I used a pair just last night at dinner. They were called chop sticks. I'm going to remember these. I just love the KISS (keep it super simple) principle in action. You know when KISS is at work, because beauty and function wed so awesomely that you know you're beholding an expression of perfection. Thanks!

Was that a Pringles chip or a Ruffles? Keep it up, you give some of the rest of us blunderers the will to go on!

Not only have I not seen a tire hammer, I've never seen any mechanical, treadle or air hammer. I don't want that to dissuade me though. If that kind of thing put me off I'd not have a forge or much of anything. Never-the-less, I'd jump at the chance to see (and/or work with) any power hammers (foot, electric, air, hydraulic, tire, spring, stream, or steam!) It's unlikely I'll make it to a tire hammer workshop either, even if I did transport back to Hawaii would be a killer. For those of you who have worked with the tire hammer plans how would you rate them? Are the plans comprehensive and clear enough? Are they comparable to Tracy Mickley's in their organization and presentation? Thanks, Phil