Ranchmanben

I got this idea from a friend who had gone to a damascus making clinic at Jim Poor’s shop. Putting a fairly strong fan below your forge and blowing the dragons breath upwards. My set up still need a bit of work to optimize performance but this has been a game changer. This might be a well known trick and covered here many times but it’s new to me and thought others might benefit as well.

Cleaning day. Not finished but it’s a vast improvement.

That’s a good idea but I only burn coke in my forge because the ranch owners don’t want me to cut a hole in the barn for a chimney.

That scrolling jig looks like good one!

Gergely, I’d like to know how you get that kind of consistency. Do you have a heart shaping jig? Thanks Frosty. Its incredible the difference a light box makes. It worked so well that I’m going to take the time to make a good one instead of the cardboard box with wax paper taped to it.

Punch lube not line, Stupid autocorrect. But you got that right. I asked for a soup can full but what I got ought to last a life time.

This made me chuckle. I can imagine the sketch in your avatar hanging his head and wearily shaking it.

High praise indeed!

Only planning on using the coal dust as a punch line when punching holes.

I hope it’s forgeable as well but I’ve got a bad feeling about it. The guy who cut it up said it was really really hard to cut. I’ve got no clue about forging bronze to begin with so there’s going to be a lot of trial and error involved.

Built a light box and took some glamour hammer shots.

A guy I know, who works at a power plant, brought me a bucket of the finest ground coal dust I’ve ever seen. Should be perfect for punching holes. I didn’t realized the modern coal burning power plants grind up their coal and blow it in to burn it. I had always assumed it was lump coal. Also got some bronze to forge.

Gonna set the traps tonight and see what turns up. This morning when I stopped at the barn to grab my truck I noticed that they might have gotten the tub of rat poison blocks open which was right by the overhead door. This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed something amiss with that tub. The last time I thought I’d knocked it over with the air hose but now I suspect vermin tampered with it. I’m now wondering if one or both coons might be in the throws of kidney failure. The tub got moved to a cabinet this time.

Picked up a couple of old wrenches and some pulleys/rollers to use on a sliding door.

Nope, don’t have a water gun. Rat shot from a .22 isn’t going to do more than sting and be scary anyways. I suspect something was wrong with the raccoons, possibly rabid. There have been a few cases of rabies in my county. It’s odd for raccoons to be so persistent when a large beast is clearly visible, moving around and making noise. Couple that with the facts that I had to run one of them off at 2 in the afternoon last Thursday and they look unhealthy. The plan is to trap them and give them to the state labratory.

Was working making hammer handles tonight and hanging them and after 9:15 I had to run off a pair of young raccoons every 15 minutes or so. Lots of yelling, waving my arms and running at them took place. It was getting close to gun play when I finished and got the hammers into the oil bath for a couple days. No animals were harmed in the telling of this story. The same can’t be said for a rattle snake just inside the door a month ago.

58er, that looks mighty good. Got two hammers finished. Big and little. Gotta make handles and hang the other two this evening.

It’s usually pretty dry here and I try to soak the head in BLO once a year so I don’t usually have much of a problem with handles coming loose. This was just a thought of possibly improving handles over all. Maybe keep the feel of a wood handle and the toughness of a fiberglass handle. Probably not though.

I was just pointing out that it’s not just collectors who want massive anvils as you stated in the highlighted part.

I hadn’t thought about about the wedge causing fractures. To be honest, I’ve never had any dealings with stabilized wood and so I don’t know how behaves. I’ve always had good luck with BLO and turpentine, no reason to quit a good thing.

Now this is just untrue. My main anvil weighs 406lbs. Does it need to be that heavy, probably not although we’ve had three people striking on it with the smallest hammer weighing 10lbs. Given the opportunity, would I get a bigger one? In a heart beat. I don’t think I’ll ever get over the urge to have the biggest anvil possible.

I came across a vacuum setup for sale locally and it got me thinking, what about a stabilized hammer handle? I would think that the wood, hickory, would retain its durability and you’d never have to worry about the the fit swelling or shrinking. The only draw backs I can think of are possible slickness, cost and possible reduced flexibility. The flexibility would be the main draw back for me as I like my handles fairly thin and whippy. Anyone else have any thoughts on this? Ben

She’s been “forging” since she was a year and half. Her forging is hammering on the anvil til she finds the place it rings the loudest then we both hammer that spot. We recently started working on hammering specific chalk marks on cold stock. She does good for a couple minutes before I turn her loose on the dogs.

I only have to worry about it getting away from me in never never land.

No shame in buying a forge. I’m perfectly capable of building a gas forge but I haven’t ever felt like it so I’ve bought them. I cant speak to the one you’re looking at but NC makes a great forge that works for beginners as well as seasoned smiths. No mods needed.