Seek

Ok, so this isn't evil? A hammer like that is still usefull on the anvil?

Yesterday I was looking for another hammer in the big box store. They had a decent model, 800 gram, flat on one side, peen on the other side and a hickory handle. Pretty cheap at 13 euro. The hammer and peen face were polished but the sides had a very rough texture. Just as if the hammer head had been cast, not forged. Would that be possible? Do our Chinese friends things like that?

No sorry, don't really understand Do you mean setting the bits opposed to each other, overlapping?

Thanks for the tip. Another thing I was thinking about: Somehow marking the steps before I do any hammering. Comparing an unhammerd piece with a finished one obviously doesn't work as I found out. The hammering changes dimensions. It'll take a while before I can do these things by eye.

After a long, sweaty afternoon, I managed to make a functional pair of flat tongs! As usual, practice is more difficult then reading about it on the Internet. First I made two mirror images, so they didn't fit together. Somewhere I got rotating left and right mixed up. Cut it of and repeat. I had some trouble to get the jaws and the bolster into the right shape. This is rather critical, otherwise things don't fit! Drawing out the reins was the most difficult part of the job. Somehow the theory didn't work, hammering over the horn of my anvil didn't change much in the thickness of the bar. And last but not least I was strugling with the rivet. Getting a glowing hot small piece of steel in two tight holes at the same time and letting it protrude equally on both side, ain't easy. But in the end, I did manage to make a real working pair of tongs. A few blisters in my hammer hand is a small price to pay for a price like that. BTW, i used the instructions from Abana: https://www.abana.org/resources/chf.shtml

My length is about the same as yours, and my workbench too. For now that'll be great, maybe I 'll find reasons to modify the height later.

Aha, pretty obvious when you think about it. Thanks. Also thanks for the dimensions. I just bought an old one and now need to fit it to my workbench.

What is the reason the the fixed leg of a post vice is so long? Does the extra length below the hinge have a function?

For the time being I am just playing around, Experimenting. But tips like this are very helpfull. I can luckilly regulate the blower with an old rheostat.

Thanks for the tips Thomas. I indeed have the feeling that my fire isn't deep enough. Would it be better with coal? I want to practice first a bit with charcoal, becuase real coal is not easy to get.

After a few little Mishaps when setting up my first forge, I finally got a fire going. Here's my setup. And a short video of the heat. I made a few beginners pieces. A round and a square drift and two nail like contraptions with a bend hook for a head.

Thanks for the friendly welcome. I sure did slow down, this thumb needs a few more days to heal. I also picked up some scaffolding tubes and couplings for the air ductwork. I don't think I can buy the steel drain pipes overhere that are usually used in these brake drum forges. But the scaffolding looks pretty stout and usefull too.

Yup, I found an old hairdryer. That'll do for a while.

Thanks for the information!

It is one of these plastic blowers used for bouncy toy castles and the like. It doesn't want to start, only makes a little noise. When I give it a bumpstart with a stick it will work allright. But I don't see me poking inside with a stick all the time I want to use it.

Ha ha, I can hanfle some obstacles along the way. I'm still anxious to get going, but trying to be cheap can turn out costly. What's wrong with stainless and high heat? I think the rotor will take most of the heat. The stainless is jst the table around it. BTW, I am from the Netherlands. I will update the profile.

Hi all, I'm new here, because I have the urge to shape some steel. But it sure ain't easy to get started! I want to make a simple forge with a brake rotor in a steel table. First I found a nice piece of stainless sheet at work. When using the angle grinder to cut it to size I managed to trip the fire alarm. That caused some angry looks from the boss. Next I went to the car wrecker to look around for a cheap rotor. There I sliced up my thumb on a sharp edge from an oildrum. Needed a couple of stitches. In the mean time I ordered a second hand blower. On arrival, it didn't work. I have to send it back. I don't think I ever entered a new hobby with so many obstacles!