The Rusty Forge

cheers FlyingXS, I can get my hands on plenty of Lonolin from the farm

Just now, SmoothBore said:

Even though it's become a very common situation, ... I'll still point out, ... that allowing your children to drive the agenda in your home, ... denies them the opportunity of acquiring maturity in the proven fashion of previous generations.

This seems to yield a populace whose attitudes are dictated by "social media", ... obsessed with electronic "toys", ... and unable to sustain adult relationships.

Essentially, ... the army of mindless drones that Orwell predicted.

 

Kids that are exposed to "real world" situations, learn how to solve "real world" problems, without being manipulated and exploited.

If they burn their fingers, or stub their toes in the process, ... they learn from that too.

very true SmoothBore, she loves coming out to the shed every now and then, but I try an limit her time out there so I can not have the worry while I'm trying to work, as for electronic toys she has more imagination that most and just loves crafty stuff, colouring book and some pencils, play dough and the like and shell entertain herself for hours....when she gets a bit older she'll be hands on for sure out in the shed.

2 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

lots of ways ranging from putting it into orbit---hard vacuum is death on rust! to heavy gold plating.  I don't know your climate but what I'd suggest is oiling it say ATF, waxing it, using boiled linseed oil or painting it depending on info you didn't provide.

what information that I didn't supply would you like?

1 hour ago, matto said:

Cover it with an oily rag after you are done.  Use it more. Wipe with car wax when you are done, use it more, you will always have to re apply what ever after you use it. Using it more will make the rust stay away longer.  

Matto cheers, oily rag might be the biz, I've got a 4 year old girl that's not into shed time, would love to use it a lot more

1 hour ago, BIGGUNDOCTOR said:

Or do what I do and just don't worry about it. It isn't like it will rust away anytime soon. Let it get a patina, and when you use it the scale off of the workpiece will clean it up. 

cheers biggundoctor, I've got a bit of OCD about clean stuff

hi guys and gals

I've got a BK Sydney 3CWT (250kg) anvil and I don't get out to use it as much as I would like, the problem I'm having is within a week I get a layer of rust on the working face only powder type rust , anyways to prevent this happening, TIA

cheers Rusty

Nice, like it...awesome stuff

great stuff, can't wait till elevate my skill to be able to do the same

8 hours ago, Adair said:

First of all,  congratulations on getting a fire going and having some quality forge time. 

I hope you don't mind some constructive criticism about your posture.  I offer it because it pains my lower back to see you hunched over like that.  A lot of beginning smiths do what you are doing.  I believe they want their eyes close to the work and their body far from it. Some also insist on their body always being square to the work.  My advice is step up to that anvil and get your body over the work.  You will save your back, save your muscles, and improve accuracy and endurance.  Swinging as the photo shows,  you are expending a lot of energy to hold that hammer in the air at arms length from your center.  

-Adair

Cheers Adair, mate at this early stage I am open to all the constructive criticism I can get, as we all knowledge is power, and the power is the people who can give you knowledge 

8 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Raise the anvil and step up to it.  Some folks even smith standing next to the anvil and facing the horn with their tongs and workpiece crossing in front of their waist.instead of beside it.

thanks for the input, learning everyday with the help of folks like you

cheers

12 hours ago, zsteve said:

Hi Rusty,

Nice looking anvil, is that a Swedish anvil? Has it got any markings on it. 

Cheers

Hi zsteve

Anvil is a 150kg, B K anvil made in Sydney Australia

Aussie anvil 150kg or 3cwt, made in Sydney. Yeah really happy with it 

Hi TomasPowers

will be fitting one, as yes I did come across the problem so far, I have got a gas fired forge made from an old 9kg gas bottle, I started working on before this project...fitted one to there don't really know why I didn't to the hard/solid fuel forge......I have a these brain snaps sometimes but it will be rectified.....learning every day

keep the anvil ringing  (cheers)

24 minutes ago, DSW said:

That stand isn't too hard to adjust in height. A couple of 2x's under the legs will lift it a bit and you can play with different heights that way without too much trouble. When you find what works, just drill a few holes in the angle iron and run in some lags to lock the wood in place.

had thoughts of doing just that DSW, then wait till the right stump comes along (I get a bit fixated on things and really want a stump)

cheers mate

16 minutes ago, TwistedCustoms said:

Nice looking setup, I started forging with a lot less. There is lots of info here on setting up a smithy. The way I determine anvil height is standing naturally with arms at side making a fist. My anvil height is where my knuckles rest on the anvil top. If you have a welder you could extend the legs of the angle iron base to raise it a bit. Stooping over to hammer gets old fast! Forge on!

believe it or not my ape like arms are knuckle height to the anvil but I still have to bend a little to get the right strike on, just going to look for a good stump to refine for height, reading on this site I go into information overload and get side tracked and end up miles from where I started looking, love this site...keep hammering  

1 minute ago, Judson Yaggy said:

Nice start.  I like your forehead protectors (grin).  Your anvil looks painfully low to me but if it works for you then happy hammering!

yes anvil is low, still hunting for a good stump.....forehead protectors (yeah get told on a daily basis they're for your eyes not your head lol) 

I'll get there, now working on my gas fired forge, first fire just last weekend. haven't got all my tools yet was a little impatient, need a good set of tongs and a decent hammer

Thanks Frosty, i think I've got a fairly good skill set cabinet maker by trade done a few welding courses and leather work, lived on the land also, I've got my own personal teacher ( a farrier and blade smith ) he's pointing me in the right direction.( I hope ) not really he's well known around the traps. Already made a couple of knives with his guidance...just simple rasps file knives with a simple forged handle. When I work all this forum stuff out ill post some pics

hammer on

Hi Guys and Gals

just starting my journey in the world of blacksmithing, good friend of mine is a farrier. could say I caught the bug from him, in the past I've used his shop, now I'm setting up my own, looking forward to doing some great things making knifes, really looking forward to making my first Damascus billet