Daswulf

When the going gets tuff, the tuff make a Swiss army anvil!

Nice work Heap. Dont stress the show. it will be a learning experience. You'll find out what to do and what not to do and things to do better. My first time selling got me a lot better prepared for the next time.

Too nice for fire wood lol.

Thanks Gergely, I'm glad I asked because the responses have all been helpful and full of great ideas. I may not get all of my obstacles out of the way but I think with the help I can find a way around them. That would be great. We'll talk.

cant help on brand but if it works use it. You should really discipline your bench vise. It's leg biting could be jealousy of your new post vise.

Rockstar, that is a different way of looking at problems. Deffinately something to think about and keep in mind. Makes me think of a saying I once heard. "I drink because I'm depressed, and I'm depressed because I drink". Something like that. Could have been with eating or something. Anyway it's a lot of food for thought.

Nice work Chris. There is a lot to like about it. I have thought about making some of these because I know some people that make and sell jewelry. Could be a good seller.

Thanks everyone. It Is all excellent advice. I had a fun relaxing weekend and am feeling better mentally. Next order of business is to get my shop cleaned up and organized. I'm usually fine with my organized mess but sometimes I feel better with a cleaner organized shop. Frank, I looked into the class and it looks pretty interesting. Not sure if I can swing the money at the moment but if I can it looks worth it. I'm sure I have some friends I could pester for a weekend as well.

If you can, run the pipe straight from your blower to the T. I think that angle is hurting your air. Also are you losing any air out of the ash dump? That should be a tight fit without air loss. Lastly what coal are you using? Bituminous and anthracite are a little different as far as how much air they require.

Very beautiful designs Joel

Mine isn't perfect around the brake rotor I use. It just fills with fines and drops some but they go into a bucket I already have underneath for the ash dump.

Thank you Robert. You are right that it is a state of being. I wouldn't call my own work glorious, but I am proud of it. Emothions on art is in the eyes of the beholder. I do appreciate that something I make can be enjoyed by others. I know I am constantly amazed and inspired by the work and ideas all of you contribute here. I must say that IFI is made up of Great people that I consider very much a family. You have all been very supportive and informative. I have and continue to learn so much from all of you. Frosty, I guess that's what I'm doing here. And the knowledge and ideas are more helpful then I think I could get at a bar.

Thank you all for the great responses. Sounds like a lot of great advice from many years of experience. I will be rereading through these tonight when I'm not distracted by the day job. This weekend should be a good break since tomorrow is my works golf outing. ( no, I can't golf to save my life but it's just for fun and we play best ball on teams so there is no pressure). Then Saturday a friend wanted to do a little off roading in the woods. So maybe I can clear my mind a bit and just enjoy the beauty of nature. Then when I get back to it, I'm going to go back through the basics just to recap and check my technique and fire control. I think maybe another of my problems Is having too many projects in my head at once. I'll try to slow it down and one thing at a time to get back into the rythem.

Actually This is a double question I guess. not only in forging but also in emotional state. which is probably the same answer. do something you can over and over or start back at the basics Are good answers for either. I love how blacksmithing is so relevant to life in general. still, I'm having trouble and any, all advice is helpful. I'll see if what I can physically do or basics get me back to good. both in my blacksmithing or mental state.

I try. is there a reason I'd regress? seems like two steps forward one step or two back. maybe I'm being careless or not following what I've learned but usually I feel I am. and then there is writers block. Sometimes I think I've just lost any talent I had. can that even happen? ok. start back at basics. maybe I'm out of it but I've even been messing up leaves and feathers. So start back at hooks. take a step back and see what I've been doing. funny enough my first RR spike spatula was my best and they get worse from there other then the twists. I just dont know what is wrong with me. way too many variables to count.

That's pretty good advice. I really feel like I'm stuck in small land. I'm failing at forge welds and other things that seem like simple tasks. lately I even tried leaves and was even messing those up. Burning the stems. Seems everything I try is a failure. Also writers block. I have no idea what to even do.

When nothing seems like it's going right, how do you pick yourself back up and move on?

LOL. Saw a Jeep once with an anvil mounted to the trailer receiver.

$450. U.S.

Looks like it's coming along well. How deep is the fire pot? And the table dosnt have to be perfect. It just holds extra fuel. It will help to add edging around it except where you set the workpiece in and on the opposite side it helps to have easily removable edging for when your working longer pieces. Tho you don't need it there, I like having it so when pushing shorter pieces into the fire you're not pushing fuel off the other side.

Slag, maybe Facebook. lol Thomas, Thats a brilliant Idea. and a fog machine..

lol I'll ask. but who knows. all I know now it some how he made it across the boarder.

haha nice.

Ouch! Impaled by a plane. Sounds like one lucky rabbit tho. Wouldnt want to be sitting behind this one. Aus, I've been looking up laws at least here in Pennsylvania and couldn't find anything in general laws but this in the inspection laws. Not sure if it would fit the bill.

The bulldog hood ornaments are great. On occasion I'll see hood ornaments from really old cars that are impressive.