CTBlacksmith

I like the surplus military can idea. It's a little off topic but last summer i heard that ammo cans wont be released to the public anymore because the government has them cut up. I was told that they are doing this to prevent people from stock piling ammo and in fear of a militia being formed. Back on subject i think i am going to build a nice oak box about 25x6x8. That was i can make all of the hinges and nails for it and it will be period correct for colonial reenactments. I will have to put up some pictures when i start it.

Looks like a Guinness Book of World records candidate to me! I think it's time they added a world record held by a blacksmith.

Has anyone made a toolbox to carry their gear in when you want to bring it somewhere outside your shop? I do colonial reenactments and i want to make a box to carry my basic tools in. I know not everyone would make one for reenactments so if you have made any toolbox for your tools, colonial or not, i would like to hear about it or even see pictures if you have them.

I recently built my shop and i put in a hood instead of a side draft. I had aluminum coil stock for siding that i pop riveted together to make a 3x2x15 hood. I only had 6 inch stove pipe at the time so i put it in and it didn't work at all. The other day i was at the scrap yard and i found a 6 or 7 foot piece of 10 inch SS pipe that was cheap enough. I bought it and it was installed in less than 2 hours. I have absolutely no smoke in my shop at all with the hood and chimney. I like the hood because i can but large pieces in the forge and not have a side draft right next to the fire. I think i have the hood about 18 inches above the forge and it gives me plenty of space to see the work and keeps the hood out of the way. I guess i just contradicted what everyone else said but the hood works for me and i like it.

I went to the scrap yard the other day to pick up some 1/2 inch round for a job and i found a 6 foot section of 10 inch welded SS pipe. it followed me home for 50 dollars and was set up and installed within an hour or two. Two days ago i went to my uncles to pick up a steel bench for my shop and his son had a portable forge that he used a few times. He told me it would look better in a working shop and gave it to me along with 100 lbs of coal and a fisher anvil. My uncle also gave me a post vice with six inch jaws. Now the shop is almost complete.

Your right ThomasPowers. I should have raised the price if i was going to make multiples of same item.But boy did my brain shut down when i heard 100 dollars. I never expected to make 100 dollars for my first forging commission. The job wasn't as bad as i thought it would have been when i accepted. I still made money on it but just not as much as i should have.

My worst job was my first one. A horse barn wanted large staples that you hammer into a tree and slide a board into to make a gate. The staples were to fit a rough sawn 1 by 8 board. The guy wanted eight of them and i told him 60 dollars. He wasn't happy with the price and started talking to me about the economics and supply and demand. He started pulling out all xxxx about when you order in bulk the price goes down and stuff like that. Then he told me he wanted 24 of them for 100 dollars and without thinking over it enough i accepted and he handed me the money. To save the guy and myself some money i gave him 3/4 of an inch of play for both dimensions and i tapered the spike as much as i could to save stock. After they were all done i brought them to him and he said they they weren't big enough for the boards he had. Then he gave me an original staple that he had to base the models after and he wanted 4 of the correct size. I went home and measured the original and they are even narrower than the ones i made. And i looked at the boards he had and they were smaller than a one by eight. So he lied to me and told me they didn't fit because he didn't like the finished product. I even went over dimensions with him before i started the project and he said that they would be fine. I think i just jumped the gun with accepting the job for 24 of them because it was my first job. The worst part of it is that my girlfriend has her horse at the barn and i see the guy all the time. I found out the other day that the guy is an actuary for a big insurance company.

Making your own forge is the best way to do it. I didn't even have a "forge" when i started out. I just had a shallow hole in a pile of dirt with a coffee can that had holes punched into the top of it. A copper pipe ran out the side of the dirt pile to a compressor with a tip that you could twist open to regulate the flow. it worked out pretty well until i decided i needed something better. leveled out a spot in the same dirt pile and made a small "oven" of sorts with the air flow coming in from the side and a firebrick lining. It was a pretty nice setup and it was fuel efficient too. I had to move the forge because my parents needed the dirt so i was out of a forge for a bit until my cousin helped me weld up a brake drum one. Long story short i had that one for a while until i bought myself a welder and made a nice table one with a firepot. Now i have my own shop in my backyard and i sell stuff at colonial reenactments. The journal idea is a really good thing to do. I have been keeping one since i built my shop and i often look back on projects and just basic shop duties that i did that day. It sounds like you have a bunch of good opportunities to learn some stuff and acquire some good tools. Best of luck to you Matt

My cousin got one for me from a farrier supply store. It's a heavy duty one with the handle and flat bristles.

Great hammer. Im thinking about casting one a little bit smaller out of silver and then twisting the end after it is cast so i can make a key chain out of it.

Thanks for the replies. I think i will try just seasoning the pan like you would with a cast iron one. Seems to make sense that it would work the same way.

What kind of food safe finish do people put on forged cooking utensils like a frying pan or meat forks? i have seen pictures of things with a "food safe bake on finish" but i'm not sure what i should use to get such a finish.

I pay .38 cents a pound for scrap in CT. The guys at the yard are great and keep the good stuff aside for when i stop by. Its a flat rate for any steel they have, mild or high carbon. The yard is more of a resale place that gets the cut offs and lengths from the steel yards. I have all the parts for a power hammer picked out and stashed away in different places just waiting for me to get them when i get the chance. :D

I work with my dad framing houses in the summer so maybe i can find some then. thanks

Where do you guys get your chimney pipe for your forges? i recently built a hood for my forge and i need to get a larger pipe to vent it. i was thinking about getting 10 or 12 inch pipe but i cant find any. And would it be better to just build a side draft chimney instead of having a hood? Thanks in advance for any response.

i have been thinking of getting an anvil and hammer on my shoulder. then my uncle brought up the branding iron idea. i think it would fit with the trade. a branding iron with an anvil and hammer. you could make it yourself and have someone stamp it on you. a big one would really hurt so it would have to be smaller. just an idea

i hadn't thought about that yet. but i have some truck axle that i could use for it. i have a mig welder and a torch. so welding and cutting are no problem. as for a power hammer..... i plan on using my right arm and a four pound hammer. and i just build a forge shed so i have a nice place to work.

high carbon steel. if i use mild steel it could leave dents and maks in the stake which would show up in the work.

ok thanks. i will have to try that

nice rose. a half dozen roses in a hand turned wood vase would look nice

you can get the pre mixed tin and flux right at home depot and lowes. it isnt too expensive and i have used it on a raised copper pot with great success

i made a raised copper pot in school and tried to tin it with a block of tin and using beeswax for a flux. but the tin didnt want to stick to the sides of it. then my dad mentioned plumbers tinning flux. you can get it at home depot for ten dollars i think. it is lead free and isn't harmful. all you have to do is clean the inside really well with some steel wool and brush the flux on. then you slowly heat the copper up and the flux will bubble. once you see the tin spreading move the flame around to melt the remaining flux. the first time i tried this method it worked great and i ahve used the pot several times with no problems. just make sure you clean out the inside after you tin it

I want to make my own t stakes for raising and different cold shaping of metal. has anyone made their own? should i make it out of two pieces and weld it together or should i just forge it out of one piece? any information would be helpful. thanks

here is the link to the video for the copper roses. it should be pretty easy to modify one to make a ring. Or you could go for a bracelet and have the band look like a stem and with leaves that wraps around the wrist. YouTube - Museum of America: Blacksmith pt 2 Making a Copper Rose

i think that there is a video on youtube of a blacksmith doing what i just describen but using a nail instead of wire. i will have to find that