Jump to content
I Forge Iron

brian.pierson

Members
  • Posts

    339
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by brian.pierson

  1. ndnchf,

     

      Not necessarily. If you add another collar to take that space up then you are decreasing the distance between the jaw that the vise can open. The gap that was showing in your first picture was the reason, why I believe, people were saying you were missing a part. The front leg should be tight against the ball and collar. The spring is not keeping the leg against the collar. I would look at the spring and see if it can be replaced or reshaped. It will also deform the spring more as you. Do a search on here and you will find advise on replacing the spring.

     

    all,

     

       This thought makes me wonder if everyone tightens down their vise while not in use. I have broken springs in my flint lock by leaving them compressed. I usually leave mine open when not in use. Just curious.

     

    Brian P.

  2. Frank,

     

       I have done some silver castings in the past. I used 20 mule for the flux. You can use a carbon rod or a simple branch for skimming dross. Make sure it is dried out. The silver had a bright shiney look to it. Almost like mercury but with a red tint to it after the dross was skimmed. I have never poured into tufa so I can't offer much advice. I have poured into soapstone and I preheated the mold to make sure there was no moisture. I don't know what a Navajo silversmith would have used for a crucible. Good luck with your project.

     

    Brian Pierson

  3. I found the reference for the wood twisted in the cold set. This is out of the blacksmith's craft. It is one of the Cosira books and I found it on the same website that had the Lilico book. I think the picture below is like the one I pointed out in my earlier posting. I do think cable would be a great substitute for either the hazel or iron handle twist. I wonder how stiff the Hazel would be in use. Would cable the size of the iron rod be stiff enough?  I would assume that would be based on the weight of the top tool. Sorry for the ramble on but this made me curious but wanted to share. Brian Pierson

     

     

    post-6208-0-95565400-1358565981_thumb.pn

  4. Judson,

     

    I'm not sure if this is where I originally saw it, but in Lillico's book (Blacksmith's Manual Illustrated) there are a couple of pictures which appear to have this type of handle.   I can't find any mention in the text, but from the picture it looks to be cable looped around with a ring to tighten it up (see page 35, figure 10 and page 39 fig 3).  

     

    Don,

     

        If you read the description of figure 5 on page 26 and look on that plate and you see the two grooves. The other figures are thin metal rod (like 1/4 inch) although I have seen it written about using willow saplings wrapped around the heads also. I am trying to find that reference. I would think that cable could be used in place of the willow sapling.

     

    Brian Pierson

  5. Frank,

     

      The man at matchlessantiques had something like this tuyere for sale about a week ago. It is close to what you have but marked to a company in Indiana. it is missing the pan that this one has. Here is the url for the sale item.

     

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/UNIQUE-COAL-FORGE-TUYERE-IRON-Blacksmith-Anvil-/121034896197?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c2e3df345&nma=true&si=VSzPlAnSvqjSFBkgbaujqX8SK5U%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

     

    Might be worth a second to look at.

     

    Brian Pierson

  6. All,

     

      Matchlessantiques has a very unusual tuyere for sale on ebay. I have been looking at it trying to figure out how it would work. The forge with the slots in its tuyere may be related in purpose. What does the bottom look like where the blower attaches? Also does the forge have an opening at the end? I could see the lid down and stock is fed in from the end. That would force the gases out the top. It looks like there is a hole for a chimney. Well enough useless speculation from me. here is the url for ebay.   

     

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/UNIQUE-COAL-FORGE-TUYERE-IRON-Blacksmith-Anvil-/121034896197?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c2e3df345

     

    Brian Pierson

  7. I suspect that you will just need to dig a trench the size you want the building to be and pour concrete for the foundation. You will need to be deep enough to avoid the freeze heave. The concrete people can probably answer how deep that is quickly or search for that on-line. You then can put a row of block on top of the footer. This anchors the building to the earth and keeps it from sinking into to ground during the wet seasons or blowing away in a storm. Some towns require a slab to keep the property values up. I suspect you don't need a slab but I would double check. Then you use gravel for the floor or crush rock powder fill for the floor.

    Brian Pierson

  8. Thomas,

    There was an exhibit that started in England at the British Museum. The following dates are from the BM site where an Axe head found in the Thames was part of this exhibit.

    1980 19 Feb-20 July, London, BM, The Vikings
    1980 4 Oct-1981 4 Jan, USA, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Vikings
    1981 USA, Minneapolis, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Vikings

    It is also pictured in the book by Graham-Campbell, J. A. and Kidd, D. (1980): 'The Vikings', London, pl. 63. The cover looks like this.
    51VrnI%2BGpDL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

    They were selling this book by Bertil Almgren also at the exhibit. This is the book I think we are talking about. I was mistaken in thinking it was written for the exhibit. but I haven't had a copy in longer than 25 years.

    41H7r39E8XL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
    Adam,

    If you can search the internet for ideas then museum websites can be a good place to find ideas.

    Brian Pierson



  9. Early medieval, lots of viking finds out there; I like the "prune people" viking book. (problem is that I have at least 6 books out there called "The Vikings" all by different authors...)
    .


    Thomas,

    Is the "prune people" book, the one that was released to go with the Viking museum show tour in or around 1981? That is an excellent reference book for the tour. I no longer have my copy from the Minneapolis museum stop. Could you tell me the author?


    Brian Pierson

  10. The reason for the search engine not cooperating is gun is a 3 letter word. Actually there are several discussions on the site about guns.


    Glenn

    Is there a software limitation on the web software and that is why there has to be 4 or more letters to a word for the search to work? One other search word that won't work, would be axe. Sorry for the hijack

    Brian Pierson

  11. It is a tailgate shear, a guy with a mill could make one easy
    post-10376-0-38963800-1349954841_thumb.j
    It just has some slots to hold bar stock 1/4'', 5/16'',& 3/8''
    I would also look at the extend-able arm to support a long piece that Brian uses


    All,

    Take a look at this thread Entry #34 shows Brian's setup using his shear. I believe that Centaur Forge sells these still, I saw them about 5 years ago when i was there.



    Brian P

  12. Brian, I wouldn't hard face it for what I've been using it for. One of the most important things about this anvil is that is safer to use because it does not have the rebound or brittleness of a hardened face. We have made hundreds of hammers, top tools, and hardy tools on the first anvil with people from all over the world from ages 12 to 88, male and female, and there have been no injuries. Most of those people have never struck before, and some had never forged before, and we usually start them off making a hot cut hardy and a hammer the first day before noon. Now, I have seen a lady farrier knock herself out at a shoeing contest missing on a normal anvil and heard of this happening to others when they miss and hit the anvil. People will and do miss, so the mild steel is a lot safer. I don't let many people strike on my Henry Wright anvil. We have also traveled and done a lot of group classes where they furnish there own anvils. Most of those anvils get a little damaged and I've seen some brand new ones get some pretty good chips taken out more than once on the same anvil in the same day.



    Brian,

    Thanks for the reply. I have seen the results on a regular anvil, and the results on your anvil for that matter. I was curious about the hard facing on and off since I saw your first one.

    Brian Pierson
  13. The spear points remind of Greek bronze points I saw in a museum catalog. I want to say it was an Italian museum but don't remember this early. If they were bronze then they probably were cast originally and hammered to harden. You might want to do a search on here for spear or spear points. There have been a lot of articles on them and construction.


    Brian Pierson

×
×
  • Create New...