Stephen Jones

Would this massive drum make a good forge base? I dont know the exact size as i dont get it till tomorrow. But I do know its a brake drum from a bus so should be a pretty big diameter and quite deep

Got a call this morning. Guys changed his mind and isnt selling it now

I was thinking of offering him £40-50 (60-75 usd) its not worth more I dont think in the state its in

I recently bought a restored one on ebay and had it shipped to my parents as it was cheaper than getting it to here. So I really dont know what i bought yet. This one looks usable but Ive never tried to restore one before and im waiting on the guy getting back to me with a price.

I might have a chance at what looks to be a pretty old leg vice. The jaws are not quite square over lapping by about 1/4 inch and the spring is lying beside it. I recon its about 3-3 1/2 foot long. The jaws move freely and the threads appear intact. Are these hard to repair and whats an old vice worth?

I wear a leather apron. dont really need it but its handy to wipe my hands on when i need a smoke.

Stunning sword.

Frosty I just watched an anthill "casting". Cant say I will ever do that. I have no need to kill millions of ants just to show off. Id rather work with nature than against her

​I can trade my shone for those???

My anvil is only just over 300 pounds and i struggle to lift that. How the heck did he expect to swing a hammer that heavy?

my other mate recons he can get me spring steel from time to time leaf springs and smaller car type coil springs

​That was the first one i made a bucket smelter. Used it to melt aluminium cans but I kept destroying the empty fire extinguishers I used as crucibles

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Castable-Refractory-Cement-clay-fire-place-brick-mortar-stove-chiminea-repair-/180869710817?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a1cacc3e1 this stuff is screed

What about the screed they use to make fireplaces? That should be good to 1200C temp wise id guess

so i want more of this stuff? my mate recons he throws out about a dozen of these a week

Ive been given a few of these kingpins off of busses. From what i can gather they are chromium molybdenium. What is this steel good for? could it be used as steel for making hardie hole tools? Stephen

I'm planning to move home to Scotland soon and I was wondering if there were any smiths in Scotland on the site. I'm a total nube at smithing and was hoping there might be someone in Scotland who's brains i could pick from time to time over a beer or 3

This is my little forge for now. Brake drum with seamless steel scafolding pipe for the air and ash. The little pink hairdryer was donated by one of my nurses.

I'm thinking of buying a pre-made forge. Do any of you guys have a preference for forges I can get in the UK. I'd prefer a solid fuel fire as i like being able to see the fuel and dont trust gas. Thanks Stephen

Glenn coal is pretty cheap here and i managed to pick up a 1/2 tank of propane and a torch for £5 the other week so might look at a little propane forge too. Scrap metal is the hard part to get. 1 breakers yard on the island, though lots of car clubs. So im trying to get the word out to some of the guys that work on cars for springs. Charles R. Stevens I used to make shovels for a living when i was a teen the iron dwarf .. mad house no problem im a psyche nurse.

Hi folks Ive been on the site a few days now, and just realised I havn't properly introduced myself. Im totally new to blacksmithing and I guess Im trying this out as a hobby to begin with. I currently live on a little rock in the English channel. I have managed to build a little brake drum forge and got hold of a 303lb anvil, a few hammers and bought a set of wolf jaw(?) tongs. Stephen

Ive put the word out and have a few mates looking for 1/2 shafts (high carbon) and axles. Stan The hardie hole is 1 1/2" All ive really done with the rebar is make a couple of those things that fit in the pritchel hole and hold down work on the anvil. I dont have the benefit of a power hammer or a place to store it for that matter. Charles R. Stevens The island is less than 40 square miles in size so no railways unfortunately. I might know someone that works for the local bus garage might be useful for springs. Theres one scrap yard on the island iIl pop round there on my next day off and see what I can get. VaughnT what metal is in a washing machine? Ive never tried stripping one down. norrin_radd Thats a good idea if i make a tool head and weld it to a bit of rebar it might work in the pritchel kinda like stan does with the hardie hole idea. This is my tiny brake drum forge with a pink hair dryer for air (1000w) and my little anvil at the back (303lb)

ianinsa wish I'd read a bit more before i bought the bar. However getting metal on this island is a nightmare. Everything is at a premium due to shipping costs. I bought a post vice on-line this morning and I'll have to wait till I go back to Scotland in the summer to pick it up as it would have cost more than the vice to ship it here. There may be a chance I could pick up an old axle or leaf spring. I have managed to get hold of as much re-bar as I could ever want though I'm told due to its composition its not much use in blacksmithing. I will persevere though and try to find and axle or spring to work on. Thanks for the advice and the welcome. arftist drawing out would probably be a better description of what I was trying to do. I like the idea of a long stem and ease of knocking it out the hardie. This is as close as I got with the method I tried. So as I said to ianinsa Ill look for a better material to work with. Any ideas what I could do with an almost meter long section of 1 3/4" square bar?

arftist Upsetting the steel above the anvil. is only due to using the hardy as a die. the hot bit gets squeezed in to the hardie and the bits that don't get moved up and out widening above the hole. so its not intentional., Hope that makes sense. And thanks for the welcome guys

Hi Guys. Im new to blacksmithing (I'm still playing with rebar). However I decided to try and make a cutter for my Hardie. I live on an Island and couldnt get 1 1/2" inch mild steel so had to buy 1 3/4" Bright steel. Is this any good for tool making and how high should I try to get the cutting edge. I had to buy a meter of this bar ( xxxx expensive stuff). So Im hoping it has its uses. Ive started to shape the bar using varous hammers from 7lb down to 4lb when my arm get sore. I have also been using the hardie hole as a dye and tried hitting the bar into the hole and upsetting the steel above the line. All advice would be welcome