Smoggy

Why not just use normal screw holes but forge the screw heads into leaves ....if you use a standard screw first to make a threaded hole, it can then be replaced with leaf head screw by hand....!

" ,,,Boraxo hand soap..." Long, long time since I've seen any of that in the UK..!

...mark the outside radius of the spring before you start..... it may help identify the possible cause of your problem.

That pair of tongs remind me very much of a type of pipe wrench, especially the hinge area and I would not be surprised if they were a repurposed item.

It would also have been far better to tag this latest question on the end of the first thread you started as it refers to the same forge build, then we would have known what you'd already been advised to do and have more of an idea of what you have done, did you actually follow any of the advise previously provided?

I have only ever worn one item of jewelry, my gold wedding ring. Over the years the palm side wore thin untill the day when I was lifting something heavy and my grip deformed it. I managed to take it off straight away no problem. It was consigned to a chain and my wifes has worn it as a necklace ever since, I've never had a replacement. Some years ago a workmate dismounting from the bed of a pickup managed to get his wedding ring caught on some protrusion or other, the ring was fine, still fitted his finger perfectly as it hung from the truck devoid of him!

My father, at one time a baker, reconed kneading dough was the best way to clean your hands....! I often use washing up liquid without water initially as I find swarfega tends to dry the oils out of my skin. if the grime is ingrained, I pat the soapy damp palms in sand to make a scrub, washing up liquid and washing powder work well too. As for my nails, I keep my right hand nails long if I can for guitar playing and a tip I came across to make them easy to clean is to scratch a block of soap before commencing work. The soap can then be easily scrapped out at hand wash time and brings the crud with it leaving nice clean nails. I only tried it once, worked well enough, but I couldn't stand the soap under my nails but the oil, grease, filings and swarf don't bother me!

Wooden block flooring Glenn. pretty common here in the UK in industrial settings over past decades. The only ones I've seen removed were very well impregnated with who can tell, original treatment plus what ever got spilt onto it over the decade and it lasts and wears very well indeed. The ones I saw where being burned as fire wood, one 6x4x4" block lasted about six hours due to all the volitiles it had absorbed over the years.....we refered to them as "toxic logs"!

I'd use, standard flags, or paving blocks......which if you don't live in the UK may mean nothing or something entirely different to you....!

I agree, they are designed to be tightened by hand. Using additonal force is likely to bind the screw threads causing gauling and more so if the handle does not give under excesive pressure. A softer handle that does become deformed is much easier to repair initially without permanant damage or replace ultimately than a machined screw thread.

For the most part I don't use gloves regardess of what I'm doing bar a few exceptions, I've started using one my left hand when arc/mig welding as I find I need to help guide the rod/tip these days. I sometimes use a rag, sheet of paper or a scrap of leather depending what I'm doing. If you go through one of the pair reasonable uickly you need to team up with a glove buddy and swap rights for lefts or find gloves that fit both hands.....some of the knitted one do, and you may be able to find then with a heat resistant spec.

Do yourself a favour and practice your technique, if you are getting twist or bends in your blades it's you not the anvil. Some of the finest blades (including swords) in history were forged on anvils barely bigger than the hammer, and very rarely would they have been flat and level. Attempting to repair an anvil could well lead to it's distruction if you are inexperienced, and if you need help to find the rods you intend to use I assume you are a novice. There is little wrong with that anvil, most of us use lesser examples without problems. That slight dip is in fact a bonus feature when you are attempting to forge something straight, it's just what you need to take the bend out of a blade!

I hate to state this but it looks from the pics like the amount of weld you are going to be applying is as much as if you had simply reformed the face with the correct rod. saving a lot of work and leaving you a forl lift tine for use elsewhere, and avoiding the problems of the tiype of weld you are now left to complete! Others here could have advised what rods to use. I shall be following with interest to view the outcome, good luck.

The swage block was another vendor VaughnT, this haul turned up virtually on his doorstep! Antiweed sand? I assume you mean plain sand you use as a weed suppressant, if so, you can apparently use it for forge welding, not tried it myself......yet..... it can also be usefull in a solid fuel forge too mixed with clay to make a liner....!

Time to get into action then, first orders are a holder for the stakes.......(tree stump?) ..... and bracket and spring for the vice and somewhere to mount it, by the time you've sorted those the top of the anvil will be nicely work cleaned. How is the anvil for hieght in it's stand, will it be needing a plinth to sit on? ( ......is that silver sand in the bag by the wall? )

Not a lot wrong with a pair of flat bits that will hold a piece of bar or pipe of those dimensions, very well done.

Excellent, glad to have been able to point you at it .....looking forward to seeing what you make.

I couldn't believe it's turned up on your doorstep! If it's what you are wanting, and you can afford the price then it looks to be a very good deal at what would cost around £1700 new!

Don't know how you got on with the featured anvil, but if you check out ebay there is a vendor in Malton with two items for Fist is a leg vice (needs a spring) could be a bargain and the second one a Brooks anvil, stand, tongs and stakes and hardy tooling, could be out of your pocket at a £450 starting price, but then again it may not sell and could end up being split...defo worth a looksee. I'll drop you apm with a link.

"... I've got plans for ingots closer to 12" long by 5" wide by 3" deep ..." Rudy, can I ask why? I either cast refined ingots to remelt for casting (stock material) so make them of a size to fit the crucible, or I cast billets to machine or forge, or I cast direct to the required finished item. What is your intention for these brass/bronze ingots?

"...It reminded me to a weird kind of milling machine. (Or maybe not that weird, I'm just not used to milling machines.) It was a bit like this: ..." Gergely, it isn't the work table from a shaper is it? sliding head as in your photo but holds a lathe type tool rather than a rotating bit?

A tad difficult to read, the name on the casting is Beaumont and Wood Ltd. Sheffield. (presumably England) if anyone has any knowledge of the company please do enlighten us.....neither myself or ID have had any luck searching for info. We know they also made forge blowers and bellows.

As promised.......contact the Shakespear pub, ( Gibralta St. S3 8UB ) in Sheffield, blacksmithing classes are held there, short one to one courses.......next is 19th Nov 2016. No idea who holds them, you'll need to do your own homework from here..... Close enough for you ?

As you have stated you do not wish to spend any cash until you are happy smithing is for you, and I can relate to that, then if the vacuum is your only current option, yes it can work but it's not the best. Please be aware that while making do with what's at hand may be the cheap option, it may also be a difficult option and ultimately turn your metal bashing passion cold! As advised above, keep your options open and soak up the info in the threads here. For fuel, charcoal is usually easier to obtain than coal so it's a good opening choice, vacuums general provide too much air, but by simply blowing "at" rather than "into" your air feed pipe you can reduce the flow in the forge.

If only you had found them a little earlier ID...! Don't recognise that name, but I do have an uncomfortable feeling that I should........!!!!!!