Blacksmith Jim

Hey Nomad! Welcome from the Pacific Northwest! It seems like there are a fair amount of smiths around these parts. I bet you can find someone near you to bs with about stuff. Did you go up to Seattle for the ABANA conference that was held recently? I saw some pics and it looked pretty amazing.

Its an optical delusion!

That's a great looking forge. I was thinking about using a small utility bucket for a firepot the other day. The forge here is encouraging. I'm gonna bug my brit friend for a good way to build a side blast and them maybe use a bucket w/ adobe.

I can't find the blue print for Tim Lively's 'washtub forge'. Do you happen to have a number for it?

Congrats Mr. Hofi!

This year doctor megavolt is going again. I'm excited to see one of his shows! He brings a huge #$% tesla coil out with him. Also, good idea about the sound box.

I was out looking for some stuff in the back shed, and I found a blower! It's meant to be used with those inflatable kid bouncing play structures. I totally forgot about it. We used to have a play deal for the kids and their friends, but the dog chewed through the plastic and we eventually got rid of it. It puts out a really large force, I'll have to try and find the specs for it. This is great If anything it will be too strong and too loud. I'll have to make a choke plate to control the airflow. I might try placing the blower 10+ feet away from the forge, and just run the air hose over. Also there is a Saturday welding class next quarter at the local community college. My goal is to have a forge built by the new year! Also after tomorrow I leave for burning man. Always a good time ;)

Hey Joken! I'm in Oregon and in need of a blower! I haven't really decided if I want to use a hand crank or electric, but I'll be building a forge soon and need something! Where abouts in Oregon are you? Send me private message if you want :)

There is a 25# LG in the shop I frequent. There is usually an initial warning that comes the first time someone uses it. The warning is basically "Use at your own risk. That spring might explode one day and it sits about a foot and a half away from your face." I like the looks of the LG style better then the helve, but I agree that the helve style might be safer.

I recently saw a few different pictures of what people called a Tire-Hammer. Here's one of the images.

Thanks for the blue print link Glenn. I'll check it out. Now that I know side blast is more common, maybe my google searches will be more productive now Thanks again.

Hey all, I'm now starting to think about how I want to build a small backyard forge. A few people have mentioned advantages of a more european style side draft forge. (Things like clinker not blocking your air intake, etc..) I've done a fair amount of searching online, but all I find is side draft forge chimneys. Does anyone have any good resources for actual side draft forges? I know that I have seen some before, but I haven't been able to find them recently.. Does anyone have any opinions about side draft forges that they would care to share?

I was wrong! My anvil doesn't have a circular line marking with the Solid Wrought mark, and the center weight stamp is in the middle of if. Oh well, still leaves me in the 1910-1930 window. Last night I took the book into the local shop. I had a hard time taking it back home with me! Everyone wanted to look at it :)

Truely Beautiful!

I picked up a copy of this book through Inter Library Loan. Seems like good fun reading! I wanted to try and ID the year my PW was made, but I haven't had much luck. I think it must be between 1910 and 1930, but its hard to get any closer then that. There are a few differences on the marks on my anvil then the ones outlined in the book. My "Solid Wrought" marking actually has circular lines around it, and my weight markings don't have the central number in the Solid Wrought circle.... Postman doesn't mention either of those types of markings..... Anyway, cool book, I recommend it. I might have to purchase a copy now.

Yeah, that was the web page I had seen about it.

That LAMA twister guy has a web site set up about his twister... I remember browsing across it a few weeks back... I looked for a few minutes tonight, but couldn't find it... I thought it was Dave Mudge, but I found his site and don't see the twister bit.

Nolano: Pretty much. I had to take a week off though. I'm not sure if I'll be out this week or not. The fiancee wants to go dancing in Portland... ( A man can only take hearing "We never go dancing anymore" for so long.. )

Was that out by brooks? The guy I just bought an anvil from this last weekend was telling me about it I think. Sounded pretty interesting. He recommended that I check it out.

Someone brought in a bucket of spikes to the shop I hang out in. The guy who runs the place told anyone to take any that they want I don't think he has a use for 40+ railroad spikes.. It seems like railroad spikes would make good pieces to start with for making hardie tools...

The title pretty much says it all. I've seen the term used a lot, and I think I understand visually what part it is, but what's it from? What's it for? What's the propper definition?

Hey! Someone from my neck of the woods! Welcome Gary :)

Welcome Mike Three cheers for the pacific northwest! This site seems great. Have you spent much time checking out the blueprints section?

It was a little under 3$ a pound, and it's sitting in my car still :)

My understanding is that modern anvils are being made with cast steel. So it's just being poured into an anvil shaped mold.