P. Bedard

Someone told me that the following books could be found in PDF format on the web;
The Blacksmith's Craft.
Wrought Ironwork.
Decorative Ironwork.
These three books made up the course materiels for many British blacksmiths up to the mid 90's.
But so far, I have not been able to find them on the web. I have the three in hardcover but I am loathe to lend them out (two of them are signed by Tommy Tucker) so if I could download and print off PDF versions, that would be perfect.
Anyone know where I might find these gems?

For those of us who don't have Mark's superhuman ability to form a perfect snub in steel, there is always the snub-end tool.
A great example is on page 10 of the book "Wrought Ironwork" published by the Rural Development Commssion (ISBN 0 854070 07 9). This can be made small for the tight snubs that Mark illustrated or larger to make "halfpenny snub end" scrolls. Once you make one (and they aren't difficult) you'll love it I'm sure. They give you a nice, clean flowing line from the snub to the scroll. I wouldn't be without mine...

(sorry I don't have a photo of this tool, otherwise I'd post it.)

I guess it all depends on how much stuff you produce. I usually buy a candle or two for small pieces and they last me quite a while. Remember, you're not soaking the hot iron in the stuff, just letting it soak into the steel while the piece is too hot to touch.

I'll do my best but now that the festival is over, it'll be a bit more difficult to get into the fort. But I still have to get in there and pick up my tools in the next few days, I'll try then.

Hey everyone.
I've been getting more and more interested in tying knots in steel lately. Does anyone know of a good site or book that explains this? I can make a simple, overhand knot but that's about it so far.
If anyone has any info on these, I'd very much appreciate it!

Jeremy,
The anvil is marked with "pure wrought cast" on the side. That's why we refer to it as cast. Not 100% sure why though since they were clearly forged in two pieces.
Hmmm, have to look into that.

neat looking shop .. working bellows are always nice! looks like its cold there tho....as far as nail makeing its a good demo item .. peoples attention span isnt much longer than it takes to make a nail ... and they dont take the attention to details that a forge weld does. what were you welding there ? the video didnt really show...

Nice weld you got there! Is that a hand hewn, mortar chinked shop ? Looks awesome i would like to see the outside sometimes, even the whole village if thats possible.
Great setup also.

It is fun but if we stuck to what was done in period, we'd be making nails. That's pretty much it. Oh, they did other things to be certain, but that shop in that fort was primarily a nail making enterprise. Probably get's dull after a while.
We tell them that and say we're making other things because we have "guests" like them and we like to show off our skills.

Hey all.
I uploaded a short video of me forgewelding at the Blacksmith's shop in Fort Gibraltar during the Festival du Voyageur.
It's a privately owned historical fort here in Winnipeg. It's open for 10 days during the festival (that ends Sunday Feb 22) and then again in the summer. It's fully staffed by re-enactors in typical garb of 19th century employees of the North West Company during the height of the fur trade era.

YouTube - Forgewelding at the Festival du Voyageur.

This isn't my normal shop, this is just something I do every winter. It's fun and we open the fort to school groups during the weekdays. This year I spoke to approximately 11 thousand students over 5 days. My voice is just about gone...

I believe that one is, as Unicorn correctly guessed, a riveting forge. Used all over North America to heat rivets (hence the name) so that they could be peened over hot and then tighten as they shrunk.
They're great for weekend meets but not for day to day forging.
Enjoy!

ZANG! That looks very nice Mark!
I'm definitely buying the one I posted and I have the plans for another one (English made) that I have to get around to making too.
So many tools, so little time...

Sorry Mark. The one I have my eye on one

The assembled unit, that comes with one set of uncut dies, is $97.00. Not a bad price at all. You'd probably make that money back in the first few jobs.

I'm looking at purchasing one of these and wanted a bit of feedback first.
How are they to work with?
How easy is it to change out the dies?
Is it worth the extra money to simply buy the assembled version rather than the kit?
Thanks for the info.

I work for the electric utility and smith part time. I consider myself a Blacksmith first because it's my art. If I could make a living at Blacksmithing, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But reality creeps up on that dream and tends to conk it on the back of the head with a 10lb sledge.
If you can do it, you have my admiration as well as my undying jealousy.

Buy it but follow Frosty's advice, make sure the guy knows that without the blower, it's just a cast iron table.
If he wants $100.00 for it, pay him and RUN before he comes to his senses!

I'm referring to the candle cup drip pan.
Does anyone know of an inexpensive source for them? I used to get them from a local scrapyard but he sold everything to another company and they hauled it all out a few months ago.
And now It looks like I'll have to have them specially made.
Before I go that route, It would be nice if someone had an alternative.

Very nice!
I'm a huge fan of organic forms in wrought iron. Thanks for the photos.

It doesn't have to be pretty to do a good job. Look at me for example!
Good work! Enjoy it and keep at it!

Thanks for the advice! Hopefully I'll be able to get some scraps and give it a try.

I just got a nice gift of some high carbon steel including some offcuts of car leaf-springs, some 4140 steel, some 4340, some S7, some A2, and something marked SPS (no idea what it is and I can't find it on the web).

So, do you recommend a spring steel/mild steel combination for damascus? If not, what do you recommend instead?
Thanks for the input!

Make absolutely sure that not only is the skin of the steel hot enough, but the core as well. A laser temp gauge won't tell you that.
Are you bringing these two pieces of steel together to the forge to be welded? Or are they wired together?
It makes a big difference.

My first forge was made from an old hot water tank and my first anvil was a chunk of something that fell off a Bulldozer that I found on the side of the road.
Work with them, enjoy them. The experience will only make you a better smith.

Story behind the name "Russian Rose" as told to me in '02 or '03:
Back in the '90's a group of Russian Master blacksmiths came to the USA as part of a cultural exchange. One of the items they taught was making a rose using flat stock. The Master smiths from the USA started calling it the "Russian Rose" in honor of the men from Russia. I was tought to use 1/8" x 1/2" flat to make the rose as that is what was used by the Russians. (I'm sure there are others that will have a different twist on the story but this is what I was told.) The USA masters then went to Russia for a time. Was not told what they were able to teach...

Not entirely sure why they're called that, but they are a fun project. I work on two at a time and they take about 20-25 minutes each.

The original plans I used, in here somewhere; iForge
did not call for a leaf or stem. I thought it needed it.
Hope you like it.