Daswulf

Lol. A lot of times, yes. sometimes I'm the perfect man for that job. If I ever end up a fraction as good as some of the guys/ gals here I think I could call that a success. That's why I'm here, to learn.

SmoothBore, thank you for the info, and I agree. I wanted to change the spacing but this one was how she wanted it. I will use better spacing on any future letters. Mtnstream, I can see what you mean about the L. I wanted to remake the A entirely as I didn't like it but she insisted I keep it. I wanted to make it match the v better and I botched the cross part. I appreciate the ideas.

Well I was originally going to try letters made out of wrenches but customer gave me mostly free reign. Wrenches were fighting me as I need to make tongs to handle them. I mentioned rebar and showed an example. She loved it. The finished project was her idea I wasn't happy with several parts and positions but hey, she's paying the bill. And liked it. This is a gift for her dad in a wedding coming up. Any advise on letters? I know a few things I'd have done different. But opinions and better experience is always welcome. First photo is final product which she was happy with and wanted. Second photo was her layout.

Charles, another reason I don't trust doctors. But glad you two are making ground if I'm reading it right. Haven't stopped the prayers.

I believe you in that sfDuck. Good thing I still have my day job. can't hurt to try. Also I believe it's good to diversify.

I'd go for Mattos idea. I have two and use them both for different tasks. But have preference to one. As Thomas said they are both excellent anvils. I know I wouldn't give either up myself. After some forging on them for a year you'll probably figure out what you want to do.

Loctite would be good too. I remember there being a lot of hood ornament theft going on in my youth.

Searching "Norris England anvil" I found an old post but the pictures were missing and they didn't come up with much info on it that I saw just that it's a Norrisez, and it mentioned the overlaid oversized N on the name. Looks like it still has a nice face on the sweet spot.

Yes. Welcome aboard. Specifics really help in the question to get specific answers. Please be more specific. We like pictures too. the horse shoes are probably steel, not iron. You Can burn wood and use the hot coals with a blower to forge with. What are you planning to make? what tools do you have to work with? How is the blower setup to the fire pit? etc.. Too many unknowns to know how to answer your questions.

Nice bad mood coal poker.

I was thinking more along the lines of what j.w.s made. It's simple if you can aquire the block of steel. Its not letting me post the link so search " my new block anvil"

welcome aboard. If you don't need a horn and your a machinist then you can probably find a way to get a block of 4140 or some other harder steel, radius the edges slightly, mount it to a stump and get forging. that's the easiest way to make one.

Awesome job Heap. I agree with Jim about making it a bottle opener as well. But this one looks fine as it. Only improvement I could think is maybe to wire wheel the heck out of the screw part to polish it up so it would screw in to the cork smoothly.

I like your thinking Joel.

Possibly old sizing gauges to check if the workpiece diameter is correct. Just a guess.

Forget it.

Very true. Start with your PPE. design your forge and hood. Then get a hammer, find something good to use as an anvil and start with some basics. You will see what you Need as you go. Most things Can be sourced for free or cheap. Start with the basics and build your way up. There is a lot of good info on here for forge making and hoods. Vent pipe should be no less then 10", 12" is better. look at the space you have to work in and search around for others setups to see where you might want to put your equipment. Forge is #1 preferably if you vent yours out through the roof you only want to cut it once. So placement of that should be thought out. I prefer a brake rotor over a drum but others have preferences as well Charles has a good method as well. Do some research and see what works for you with what you can source.

I've used galvanized buckets for quenching. It won't get hot enough to burn the zinc off. You would have to get the metal really hot to burn off zinc.

Kailthir welcome aboard. Like Glenn said, visit some fleamarkets, yard sales and estate auctions. Old hammers, files, punches, chisels and other tools are abundant there and usually cheap. Especially if your going to be refacing the hammers to suit your needs anyway. For the files you'll want to get a file card to clean them. Some tools in my opinion it just pays to buy new and quality, like the 4 1/2" grinder. For the oil, you may want something with a lid so #1 you can close it if it lights up and #2 so you don't accidentally kick it over and have a oily mess to clean up or a potential spreading oil fire. I use a tall ammo can. Oh yeah. A fire extinguisher is good to have too. As for the bolts I think most would be fine if they arnt right in the air grate.

Like a larger nut with the correct depth.

Very cool! Love how the copper is cut out for the flowers and the different shapes of the heads. What did you use on the copper? It has a great contrast coloring.

Another Beautiful blade. Sad to hear your packing it in but our hands can only do so much in our lifetime. I sure hope you'll stick around and pass on some knowledge. If you need to retire your hands, dont retire your brain.

I love the look of it. I was experimenting a bit with the napped look a little while ago and yours turned out great. also Love how you did the antler for the guard.

I like him JHCC. Some scrap just wants to be something else and have a new life. BigGunDoctor, Halloween is coming, you could cut jack-o-lantern faces in them and give them a little spray paint job.

I'd say you made progress. good work.