Lou L

18 minutes ago, JHCC said:

I saw a smith stand with his hammer, thus,
The whilst his iron did on the anvil cool,
With open mouth swallowing a tailor's news

King John, Act IV, scene 2

I have never read that one.  It just didn't call to me...or to any of my teachers it would seem.  I went with stuff I knew offhand that I could manipulate a little.  I guess I have to read that one now.  Did you realize you were assigning homework when you posted this?

I'm impressed, you are a man of action!  That light box will serve for sure.  If you have another camera or at least a tripod that works with your phone you will be all set.  Well, playing with light sources is a good idea as well.  You might start by blasting two lights, one on each side, into your box and experimenting.  You can move them farther away or closer depending on the lights you have.  Figure out how to color balance whatever you are shooting with.  You should have decent results balancing off of the background you already have.  Then, as others have said, take lots of shots until you feel you have some control.  Have fun!

Oh, and it's nice to see yet another CT person here.  You and CTblades have filled the hole left when notownkid moved.

I'd say the only thing wrong with that forge is that it looks like it hasn't been used yet!  Fire that thing up.

Frosty, 

What steel do you use and how do you quench and temper it in order to make vorpal tools?

Love your version, BTW, and I think you should title it "Jabbersmithy".

This is how English teachers blacksmith....with Shakespeare:

Macbeth:

I once was an avid photographer and shot lots of sports, wildlife and macro photography. (I thought having kids would simply redirect my photographic interests toward portraits but it eliminated the time to shoot entirely.)  That aside, all you need to do is to build or buy yourself a light box.  Search "light box photography" in the good old Google and you will find what you need.  A light box allows you to diffuse light and control shadow.  Normal pop-up flashes wash out your image and cause ugly shadows.  Basically all advertising and demonstration photography is done using light boxes.

Place a light behind the box and one about 45degrees from the front. 

Use a light gray or white piece of paper under the light of the box to manually set the color temperature (weird, I've mentioned that phrase twice tonight) in your camera.  Turn off the camera's built in flash.  If you are using a manual camera go for an aperture around 8ish and then shoot with whatever shutter speed the camera says is right (aperture priority).  Use a tripod if you have one.  If you are using a phone for a camera then turn off the flash and hope it makes quality photos.

Great anvil!  Seriously though, the first thing I noticed was the artistic quality of your first photo.  It has excellent lighting, color temperature and overall ambiance.  The rusty foreground and shadowy background are just nice.  

Either way, enjoy that beautiful anvil.

46 minutes ago, C-1ToolSteel said:

Good job! Just make sure your English teacher knows what an anvil is.

I'm an English teacher....  +1 for Nerds.

Hey Dale,

I, and I'm sure everyone here, would love a photo or two of your new shop as well!  Thanks for those horse shoes!

Beggars can't be choosers!  I'd hang Christmas ornaments on either one....

What a gorgeous anvil.  I'm pining for it!

Best wishes to you and yours.  You have my daily moments of silence.

It is a guarantee that everyone here on IFI wants one...and would cherish it.  Let me correct myself....everyone everywhere wants one....

I've used a little ash before but more often I use nothing.  Then again, I haven't punched and drifted anything large like a hammer. I'm curious to see what the really experienced people say.

Congrats JME,. I'm right there with you.  I'm at that point where making a working tool in order to make something else is so incredibly satisfying.  I hope that feeling of success doesn't fade.  I'll be sad the day I hammer out a punch or something, use it and am not in awe.

I can't speak much to the stock sizes with experience but I can toss out guesses.  Assuming you aren't hanging a solid steel sign it appears to be plenty sturdy to me.  The lighter stock seems a good choice to me.  Thicker stock adds more weight which makes attaching to a wall and collaring more complex.  I would attach (countersink and weld) posts to the 2" wall flange and run them through holes in the 1" flange.  You could thread them to make detaching from the wall easier) or peen them.  Not sure if I make sense here.  Either way, I think it's a great design.  Wherever possible try to make the connection points visible.  It will accentuate the hand made aspect of the sign.

Lou

Jmoon,

I know nothing about gas forges but I did a search of the gas forges section.  I looked for topics about lining forges that had a lot of responses (more chatter = more information).  Try out this one and, if it doesn't tell you what you need to know check another!

http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/12480-ceramic-blanket-vs-refractory/

Also check out Wayne Coe's sight (he's an IFI member who deals in forging equipment).  He can sell you the good versions of what you may need and provides plans you can work from.  http://www.waynecoeartistblacksmith.com/Forge_Supplies.html

Good luck and don't be afraid to spend a lot of hours reading until you really understand not just what to do but why you should do it.

Lou

I don't know enough about Hay Budden anvils to know if they are actually cast from carbon steel, but, if it actually has a hard face welded on then you shouldn't have hit it with that flap disk.  It certainly looks much better though!  Instead of welding the edges you can easily make a hardy tool with different radiused edges.  Give it a long shank that sticks out the bottom of the hardy.  If you hollow out a long groove in the shank you can jam a wooden wedge in the presses into the bottom of the anvil and you will have a tight hardy tool you can pound on.

There are threads on IFI in which people much more knowledgeable than me talk about how and when to weld the corners of an anvil.  The threat in doing it is in tempering the face and having to harden it again.  Not fun.

Enjoy smacking metal!

Lou

7 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Lou; less than a ton is NOT an "epic" scrap pile.  Shoot I moved more than a ton of wrought iron scrap when I moved from OH to NM  only took a couple of pallets that I built walls for...

   If I had a ton of scrap anything I'd either be divorced or, worse, I'd lose every argument with my wife because, no matter what we disagreed on, she would always drag my scrap pile into the debate.  Perhaps with time I will manage to ferret away mass quantities in the garage in smaller, discreet piles.  One could hope!

3 hours ago, Stash said:

Lou

 most of what I took was not really recognizable as anything, or at least anything usable. I save short lengths of rope to tie together when I need a new belt. I'm cheep!

Steve

   Steve, I have always had a serious case of junk fever.  Lately I've had a hard time passing metal by.  I give every scrap of metal I walk by the elevator eyes...your pile would be no different!

That is the truest graphic I have ever read!  I can hear myself growling, "I swear I just had it and imput it right here!" .....

.  then I find it inside the house next to the coffee I also forgot to bring outside with me.

Perhaps it's perverse, but I would have appreciated a picture of your epic scrap pile.  Sadly, I would have zoomed in on the picture to identify items I would have wanted to keep.  

19 hours ago, JHCC said:

Sure you do: 

https://www.westhartfordct.gov/gov/departments/library_services/services/rnd/loan.asp

(After I'm done with them, that is.)

I guess I need to update my library card!

When Glenn started this topic I don't imagine he expected "it followed me home...from the library!"  Nice twist there.

Enjoy reading.  If you have the patience perhaps you can get out the old scanner and make a huge .pdf of those....says the greedy guy who doesn't have access to those books.

Congrats on the purchase JT.  No grinding!  Hit it with some ATF and then finish by pounding hot steel on it.  Anvils don't need lipstick and lace.

I kept looking for fun.  Found a whole load of stuff!

   Here is a website linking a bunch of free English historical texts with patterns and details of traditional ironwork:

http://www.hlcollege.ac.uk/Downloads/craftpublications.html

This one is pretty cool.  It is all details of early Anglo Saxon iron work:

http://www.pjoarchaeology.co.uk/academic-consultancy/anglosaxon-ironwork.html

The Blacksmith's Manual Illustrated has details of everything from tools to projects:

http://www.bamsite.org/books/BLACKSMITHS-MANUAL-ILLUSTRATED.pdf

And you can always look through the Colonial Williamsburg catalog:

http://www.williamsburgblacksmiths.com/Catalog/files/index.html

    There are many more but I'm overwhelmed with open tabs on my browser and need to stop here to reorient myself!