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I"m sorry, but lining up the reins does not work that way.. LOL.. Like I said. should it matter and should I even care.. In a general discussion.. LOL.. I align all of my tong reins to be in the middle unless I'm being lazy.. I can tell right off without looking if they are righty or lefty tongs as soon as I hit the metal on the anvil.. I've had a few times when I go to demo where the owners have lefty tongs mixed in with the righty's and it bites me everytime.. As pointed out earlier the jaws are on the opposite side.. LOL.. the only time I make a set of tongs in both righty and lefty is with scroll tongs.. When you apply pressure against a righty pair the wrong way it will spread the jaws as the boss.. so need a lefty pair so the jaws are pulled against the boss.

LBS lovely work. Each time you show your work. I can see the refinements in your forging ability. Wonderful to see.

Oh, it's going to be crazy.. I have no idea how they are going to fit it all in.. Watch, this or that.. there is going to be so much going on.. My stuff is in the afternoon so at least Ill be able to catch some stuff. '

nice find in that special safe place.. Seems like the stamp was modified on purpose.. Was this the only one left?

Today with the interenet there are a bunch of different smiths, different levels of understanding and different understanding of what they think they actually had seen when so and so did such and such. This post is spurred on by the fact a few people out there are claiming that a left hand jawed tongs work for both lefty and righties. and just to make what ever. I get tired of talking about which is right or wrong from a traditional point of view.. A righty tong is, flat, turn 90 to the left (counter clock wise) , then 90 to left ( again counter clockwise).. A lefty tong is , flat, turn 90 to the right (clockwise), then 90 to the right (again clock wise). it's not hard.. its even easy to remember.. The only time the tong jaw and boss can be put to the other side is when the boss is a reverse profile.. LIke in the World Blacksmiths tongs. the boss is pushed up. And/or when there is no jaw boss. Then what makes them lefty or righty tongs is which jaw is actually on top. A righty will have the jaw on the bottom or torwards the left hand, and a lefty will have the jaw on top. or towards the right hand. Does it really matter.. It sure does.. Just like lefty and righty scissors. Question is does it matter to any body else???

We train on the ice as much as possible.. it is fun, fun, fun.. Luckily we are surrounded by ponds and now with the ice everywhere we have ice on hills too.. IFC. I'll check it tomorrow..

We have high winds now.. 13F is the prediction for tomorrow morning , but it's always 3-5F cooler here than in Worcester.. We have about 4" of solid ice.. I was lazy hoping the snow/ice combo would melt after last storm and it melted all right.. Into a sheet of ice everywhere. Fun for Martial arts practice. But now it won't melt for awhile. I did get the trailer setup before the snow and ice came in. So now can at least get some forge time if not to tired after horses..

oh, snap.. Are you in the cold belt?

that was really cold.. I felt so bad.. Your a tall person so all of my winter gear was out.. Forging in the surroug was neat.. You did great though.. Got those chain forge welds to stick even with the cold anvil.

golfishhunt. Love the spoon.. You would not like it here.. 50f is a heat wave.. that is shorts and T shirt weather.. It's 20F right now.. In some of the "How to" videos I put in a blurb shot of the thermometer I have handing up. The coldest I have ever forged in the trailer it was about 15F starting.. Got up to about 20F on the warmest hardest work.. the hotest was 115F with all the doors open.. The thermometer sits at the farthest part of the trailer just over the tool rack.. I can just look up to see the temperature. From the outside no one can see the temperature so during the summer they are outside and will say.. You must be dieing in there it's like 90f out.. I then read the temps and it's about 4 degrees cooler in the trailer. Of course I will pick ridiculous projects at the hottest time of the year.. As a side note.. some coil springs cracks on the center and if they are used springs can have stress cracks at both ends from all the flexing. You can see them when the spring is heated up.

We have numbers or buildings with steel roofs. I love the sound of a hard rain, sleet and such hitting it. Another little joy is when sleet hits it when its a slow sleet shower.. you get the hit of the sleet, then the hearing of it sliding down the steel.. Neat sound.

Some day we might just have that chance.. I was told there are some changes coming and its going to be a glorious adventure.

Billy, I have had many journeys in search of myself.. Most if not all involved some sort of quick knowledge gain.. I am dyslexic and when I first started reading it proved interesting, but I read mainly fantasy books.. 5, 6, 7 years old.. I then went to OSV at 8 years old and discovered Blacksmithing.. That was the last time I read anything that was not some sort of instruction manual.. I spent the next 4 or 5 years reading and memorizing every facet I could from Practical Blacksmithing and all the other books I had purchased, or was given on blacksmithing.. Literally ever chance I got I would read them and practice drawing out blacksmithing items, hammers, tongs, gates, tools. And get forge practice in. So basiclly I just started reading books on how to do things, from cars to designing transmissions because SAAB's had weak transmissions, to welding and fabrication, to tig welding, to intake and exhaust gas velocity and how the waves played into designs . Anyhow, I'm OCD and anything that I found interesting I would study up on.. Get a new TV or washing machine or anything mechanical and the instruction manual is the first thing I read. For every vehicle I own, I go and buy a factory workshop manual and read it cover to cover, and if I can I will also buy a parts book and read that cover to cover too. I was a wannabe Rally driver so went there, motorcycles, 2 stroke engine development and tuning, Exhaust system designs for max VE, I've talked with some really cool people in the Turbo charged upper crust.. Car designs because I wanted to build my own car. I own and 2001 Audi A4 Quattro 1.8T.. I own the factory work shop manuals, a Chiltons, A Bentley and 1 other 1.. All for the same car.. Yup read them all looking for information that might be different on how to do the same thing like change a wheel bearing. The list really is endless.. This all happened as a result of that first encounter with blacksmithing.. Originally I had no concept of square hole, or round holes and was considered slow when I was very young. NO concept of engineering anything.. I was happy with Barbies, stuff animals, etc. I was not what I would consider a bright child in conversation as my mind works quickly but my words are slow. So had a tendency to be a loner or involved in activities where I didn't have to talk.. LOL.. So, basically action oriented.. I used to walk around singing and skipping.. Used to drive everyone crazy. My heros were Tazan and Jane.. I was taught from a very early age, that if I wanted something I would have to work for it.. This made me into a saver.. Find a good deal, grab it because 30 years from now you might need it. I learned a bunch of coping mechanisms. So, yes many, many, many things I have done.. Usually it seems in about a 5 year to 7 year stretch. The only things that have been consistent over 50 years is blacksmthing (wanting to be better) and martial arts, and spiritual type things. Meditation and prayer.

Best way is to put a bore scope in the O2 sensor and take a look inside. I have had 3 cars come in with running problems and O2 fault related codes and 2 were plugged and one had a melted core. Easy to see with the bore scrope.. I bought one from HF on sale and it works perfectly for this type of thing. When was the last time you changed the fuel filter? Sorry if you have answered this, but I skipped most the posts about cars/trucks .

Nice work Mark, Love seeing your finely finished forgings. In the old days the belief was that a hammer should fall naturally with the most used face so the weighting was towards the most used face. This was believed to lessen stress and such as it was in theory the natural fall around the handle which was/is the pivot. I own many hammers that are face heavy.. There was a study done sometime back which I wish I would have kept the article though I don't know if its true or not but they found a balanced hammer is better for the body as the hammer has less of a tendency to want to twist after hitting.. A slow motion video of a hammer strike would be a great way to see exactly what is being done.. I have a slow motion camera so it might be worth it..

Dang you guys made fantastic time.. I'm still stuck at the frame aspect of the build.. I'm so happy for you.. When does the power hammer arrive?

Thats what happens when its time to share it..

This might be one of those times, where wrong is right.. or is it right is wrong..

Wow, look at you go.. That is fantastic.. Nice work.

golfishunt, you must have been to good.. If you want coal, you gotta be on the naughty list.

Lot of times with newer smiths they have fallen into the newer smiths mistake paradigm. short stroke the hammer, (no full swing). Stand to far away from the hot metal. all choked up in the body or hammer or both. closed chest.. death grip. stop breathing, only breathing off the top of the lungs. Etc, etc.. Lots of times this is the aspect that many experienced and helpful smiths , want to correct right off.. And for good reason.. With how much information that is out there. Forums, videos, schools, friends etc. etc. Its easier for a lot of people to progress rather quickly... That is a great thing and is fun to see. What usually bothers me the most, is when bad information gets passed along as gospel and then because of a mistake in understanding there is no chance of the person changing their mind, and you will hear them say.. " Well so and so does it that way" and the information is only a half truth.. This usually happens because of a limited newer understanding and they really can't see past that "new" trick. Keep up the good work.

I think the anvil might be a little low for Mark as he is bending over some.. chuckle, chuckle.. He looks a lot more like what.. The old method. Here is a really good close up of hammer swing.. See so it does change based on many factors.. Finding footage of Mark in full frame is tough.

CGL.. Not at all.. Its just information. What one likes or doesn't like should not matter to anyone else, only the person who is doing it. You don't even have to validate or back up what you do, unless you want to.. Its really no one elses business and no reason to justify the skill or behavior.. Its one of the reasons I try to stay away from doing comparisons between" This is what I do vs this is what you do".. In a reply to a thread.. I really just try to add to the thread a different skill set.. Vs my way is better.. Again I try to add to it.. Every method can be valid.. "EVERY METHOD CAN BE VALID".. With this said. This thread might help others to understand the methods of hammer control, a hammer swing, why the hammer is used the way it is and why there are so many variations for a given method.. this is just another example of hammering and both Hofi and Habermann came out about the same time frame in their information. And if one looks at the hammers are different but kinda the same.. They are both balanced designs (same weight end to end) Vs heavier face vs peen. What ever you prefer is perfect for you.. With Experience comes understanding and being able to share that experience in a way that can be shared and understood by others is part of the teaching process, of which ideally a teacher is a student at that very same moment. Again, this is just information. there is no "Wrong or Right" and one should not be judged as such.. What will happen is over a time frame the hope is they were perfect their skill set and if at some point they find a different way it is usually based on because it works best for them. I've been to demo's where Mark A. has been the lecturer and I can not stand straight up and forge.. LOL.. this standing straight up is seen in a fairly small circle and was my point as to Old, new and Hofi. Each video that has been posted.. Josh, Habermann, Hofi, Mark A. Each person has a little different take.. Vs 90% of the Farriers or old time blacksmiths out there.. It does not mean, one way is better or not.. It simply shows there is different information... The journey of self discovery is open to everyone. Most long time smiths have opinions on ever facet of smithing based on what has worked for them.. Take it all as a grain of salt..

Here is another smith who influenced a lot of people.. Habermann:

I can't speak for Hofi, but only through my own understanding have some insight.. His hammer was designed to be his Hammer and use his method of use. All of the design elements like face size, face distance to handle, peen width, weight, etc, etc all make up the model.. People used to go and take classes on just making the hammer correctly.. They do sell his hammer in Cast or forged now.. And there are knock offs which do not follow his model. The limit for me with the Hofi hammer is how I work at the anvil.. I have a tendency to work over the anvil face directly for everything with very little edge use.. So because of the short handle to face distance and using the hammer at angle while working I used to smash my pinky into the anvil face.. this is because of my grip, and no fault of the Hofi hammer.. Anyhow, there was a series of videos on why the Czech hammer and the Hofi hammer were different.. I imagine the videos are out there somewhere.. One aspect which I find to be a problem with any instruction.. Is everyone wants to put their own spin on it.. This can change the results and the method is then dismissed as invalid. it really becomes important to understand why things are being done the way they are.. Both physically and mentally.