Lou L

I love this topic because doing historical searches is a mania of mine. I found one copy of "The Balcksmith and Wheelwright" from 1912 (on Google books) and it is loaded with cool stuff. There is a design spec for a foot powered power hammer, some cool top tools for an anvil, calipers and a few other things. It is, of course, loaded with ads for smithing equipment as well. I'll post this one but I'm going to keep looking for a while. It's fun. https://books.google.com/books?id=oxVGAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA17&lpg=PA17&dq=blacksmith+18th+century+advertisements&source=bl&ots=2jYm7isSEw&sig=k_SvLcpW3M_6mLwQtXCFSiYMSTY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjR68iOwanQAhUB0YMKHfySCS44ChDoAQgZMAA#v=onepage&q&f=false Forgot to add, it also has a page for The Blacksmith's Song....

I teach in the inner city...but times have changed. Modern children in all neighborhoods have learned deviance earlier than previous generations. The internet and modern TV programming have set them up for failure....they know too much. The children of upper class elites could now school me in dysfunction. Thomas, I did try to get design ideas for Renaissance era forks before starting and learned as much. There were a number of fancy silver forks with design embellishments but not a single iron one to see. The website I was perusing made the point that wooden eating utensils were rare due to decay. I ended up just cranking out something archaic looking and added twists and drifted out a hole in the fork to create some of that "how the heck do they do that?" effect. I'd say the best part about making the utensils was that I spent about ten minutes standing at the anvil holding the stock and visualized the steps in making them. In the end I was able to predict some challenges and ended up, I think, doing the various steps in the right order. This time I didn't have to learn everything the hard way!

Great job guys! You have a seriously capable striking anvil I would love to own! Thanks for the video.

I've already found myself on that journey. Haven't had a failure yet because I've learned something and had a good time all the same. Made some ugly metalic beasties all the while!

I had to shut down and couldn't finish them. I have an old wire wheel grinder that was left in my house when I bought it. It is dubious at best and I haven't set it up. I don't have a wire wheel for my grinder for some reason so I just left them half finished. I figured the raw nature of them would be beneficial for the kids using them as props for a Ren fair. Since they are using cardboard flames and a fake forge for their props I think these "props" will win the day. Thanks kindly for the support. I'm relatively proud of my first go at flatware despite the fact they are unfinished. I left the fork "not quite pointy" on purpose because it is to be used in school but otherwise my fork came out symmetrical in short order.

That sounds promising! I'm jealous of your stash of steel and your skill. Please post the results of your efforts!

That's an amazing steampunk table. I love it. Either cover it with glass or acrylic or fill it with clear epoxy. If it is too clean it will look contrived. Great work!

No pun here....the Picts are just awesome! They struck fear into the hearts of the Roman army. Half of my lineage is Welch (third generation American) and I cling to that Celtic heritage. But the Picts....those lunatics did what no one else could do.

Make one out of nails and cal it Nail Peart .... please!

So, the school in which I teach is a Paideia school....which means that there is a lot of project based learning. Kids basically are given a broad outline and are challenged to figure the rest out on their own. The tenth grade studies the Renaissance and one of their coached projects is that they hold a Ren fair for the school. Three kids apparently chose blacksmithing as their topic and their English teacher sent them to me. I educated the best I could on the history, purpose, etc.... Foolishly, I told them I'd make some forks and/or spoons and some other items that smith's would make a living on during that time period. I started today with high ideals of making some forks, spoons, nails (and a new header) and a load of S hooks. Well, after setting up my post vise (finally), grinding and prepping the spoon dies in my swage block and the. Acting like I was helping my wife with the leaves covering our yard.....I managed to only make three items. I basically started each without much of a plan and went by feel. I read some old IFI threads about making spoons and learned that even Tho as files his spoons to make them right so I just went for it. I learned quickly that it is harder than I thought it would be to get the right amount of material to form the spoon blank. I learned a lot today and had a lot of fun. Good times. Mandatory pictures attached.

The cross section looks impressive for sure. The thinner material is safely nestled in the center, that should help a lot. I don't envy the cleanup process though. Someone on here must have the perfect method for cleaning that up. The degreaser may just be the start of it. Electrolysis may just get "all up in there" in those hard to reach spaces. With that much material it would actually be efficient to go all out setting up a system to clean the metal. Enjoy the cable for sure! GWIOW, congratulations on the haul. Those are unprecedented prices (free doesn't count!). I'll not involve myself in any squabbles whose history predates Hadrian's wall...but, gentleman, please do continue with your jibes. Scottish, English, Irish debates are enjoyable entertainment.

That's an incredible haul! If you aren't already an expert at cable Damascus you will be soon. If you think that the guy you bought the cable from may have access to future resources you may want to visit him with a small, simple version of one of your knives as a gift. Who knows, he may keep an eye out for you after that. I guess it depends on the deal you got. If you got the cable for a song then you may want to build your karma!

I hope the owner of that collection uses at least some of those. What an amazing collection.

Good to hear you are moving forward Das! When we allow our problems to stagnate we give them the power to ruin us. Stay on it, keep communicating and stay true. Respect and support, Lou

If you two keep this up we will be able to publish a book of curmudgeonly poetry!

I think a class on "Making gifts for the Mrs." would be a nice angle. A ladies only class would serve as the perfect complement. Congrats on the great opportunity!

I swear I was thinking about doing a zen koan! Yours was just awesome. I had a great laugh. It felt like I was reading one of the sutras.

Rhyming with curmudgeon would lead to a lot of bludgeoning...so I'll go with a haiku: Angry rant on IFI Always the same dumb questions I'm a curmudgeon I predicted bludgeon! Yay me!

That is awesome! You could sell that all day long. Make more!

Win...but I'll try anyway To upset, to set down and twist, with a delicate flick of the wrist, after honing his skill, For long years the smith still chips his anvil, cause darn it, he missed.

No, it ends in "slammer"

A young blacksmith had a crippling stammer, But could sing with smooth strokes of his hammer, during some marital strife, he tried to talk to his wife, (my wife has informed me that I'm not allowed to write the last line)

This anvil deserves its own thread! Simply awesome. I think you could use my 150 pounder as a hardy tool...

What a great shop! I trust your new place will be amazing but can't imagine myself leaving a great setup like that. You have two very heavy, cumbersome hobbies. I can't wait to see how the move goes.

You sure have some spunk just going for mokome gane on a coal forge! I imagine those quarters won't fit into the slot of a gum ball machine anymore. Some people use a heavy gage pipe as a sort of oven inside the heart of the coal fire to do mokome. I have no idea how to make it work well yet. I'm designing a setup that mounts on the sides of my forge and hovers right into the fire pizza oven style. No idea if it will work. Keep at it though. There are plenty of days in the year when presents are expected of us!