Bob JS

Some ideas to consider, Vacuum cleaner- even if it doesn't have a blow setting. Put it in a box with a pipe leading from it. I have got the motor and fan from an old hover mower on stand by for future forges. You will have discoved that charcoal doesn't need much air - Im running my small diy forge off my big old belt driven compressor, I can get yellow hot, but you will need it much hotter for forge welding. Also could get a blower form a scrap car place.

But we do have plenty of Railways (not as many as we used to ), I believe there are some similarities with these Railroads you speak of The only spikes I have come into contact with here look like dogs wih little ears. Ps wouldn't be supprised if it were actually east asia who had the first - I know they had deliberate sets of grooves in the road for cartwheels. Sorry, gone a bit off subject there.

I like that. Creates a nice chain link effect. Thanks for sharing.

The author of the web page I linked to states that the $ symbol on his spikes (also with MC) is the makers mark of 'Gerdau Ameristeel' - Im my opinion this rules out MC being a makers mark. He states MC means Medium Carbon. We dont even have railroads in the UK so I have no personal knolledge of this - just pointing out what I have read on the net.

World Class Knives - Photos Hope this is of use.

Sorry, Must have missed a page of this thread somewhere. Got a hair dryer? or a vacuum cleaner

Nice job, made my first pair this week too, so I know how good it feels. Are you also wandering around finding things that just need to be picked up with tongs? Just me then :)

Hi new guy, Just a bit of encouragement from a fellow newbie. Listen to guys like Frosty - I followed their advice and made this forge: lit a fire and made this lot: I know you probably want to make the best use of the materials you have, but when we are talking about a metal container lined with clay dug out of the garden, it really doesnt matter if it dont work perfectly first time. For example mine is like a bowl, so I would change that so I can heat the middle of stock etc. Before I made this one I just had an offcut of 5 ich dia pipe, stood it on a bit of mesh with an air pipe in the bottom, filled it with charcoal and made myself some coat hooks. It is quicker and cheaper to risk making a poor forge from mud, than to try and make a really good one first time and waste materials. Just my opinions, in a nut shell listen to what these guys are telling you, keep it simple.

very nice!

Just thought I would add that I have since been strongly advised against this due to the potential for chips flying off the hammer and causing injury.

is is at all common for an anvil not to have the table/shelf/step? - on an otherwise typical london pattern Im starting to wonder whether I just missed it. Wont go into details here but I didnt get a good look at the anvil but more of a grope as is was burried under things - I didnt feel the table but my hand might have just slid over it if it had worn edges. I wasnt there to view the anvil, but might go back soon for a better look. Just wondering because I cant find a pic of a similar anvil with not table.

Thanks for all the kind words. I did a little tidying up on them today, sqeezed some of the bends out of the reins and finished the rivet off properly - they could have done with more finishing and tweaking while hot, but time ran out and coke isn't cheap. Punched a no.1 in the handle, hopefully the first pair of many to come. Thanks again Bob

Btw the anvil is maybe 30'' long - didnt think to measure. We guessed around 2 1/2cwt (only because it was a bit smaller than the one we guessed to be 3cwt ) Definitly not a cast body, with what looked like a small ledge along the front and back of the feet, and two visible handling holes - Peter wright? The make doesn't really bother me, but It would make it easier for me to google and compare and find out a bit more about it.

Forgot to ask this before, When you say mortar - is that just bog standard cement and sand? any comments on how this stands up to the heat?

: My dad used to do model enginnering as a hobby, so I have a fairly well stocked workshop. My education included art, design, resistant materials. I have been doing various things since I left school, a bit of work and lots of projects. I have always been interested in traditional skills and crafts, and like to lean about them by having a go and putting into practice things I have read in books and on the internet. I went on a basic forge techniques day course yesterday - I have never really been on a course to learn something like this, because I usually like to teach myself things - but I am considering blacksmithing as a serious career choice, so thought I better go see what its like working in a propper forge. answer? Great! Thanks to everyone.

Thanks for the advice. Sounds like having no table is not a big deal, that its main advantages would be providing a variety of shapes and edges - which could also be found on junk steel, or made as hardy tools. Question for Philip: How is the step particularly usefull for making shoulders - in comparison to all the other edges on the anvil?

Thats great! really looks the part. Shame my old mower was plastic. (but being a hover mower its going to turn into a mighty blower one day.

I made my first pair of tongs yesterday! :cool: There is a really friendly atmosphere at Kew, with 3 blacksmiths at the forge, and a bunch of engineers from the museum all getting together for a communal meal. The second half of the day is yours to play with, putting the thing you have learned into practice to make anything you like (as long as it is practical). I was there to learn as many different things as I could while the tuition was avaliable, so I could practice them later. I like to make things that I can use and that have a function, so I said 'I could use some tongs' It was pretty obvious that this was pushing the time scale a bit for a beginner like me, so after getting the stock cut to size, we decided that Kath would make one half of the tongs, and I would make the other - taking it in turns to do each stage and hopefully keeping the two halves fairly similar. We started off with about 7'' of 16mm square stock each. One thing I definitly leaned was why air hammers were invented, as drawing out those reins by hand was hard work and time consuming - very satisfying though. So after lots of hard work, sweating, a wrist support, lots of interest and input from the other smiths and some final adjustment I had my first pair of traditionaly made tongs! All in all a great day, highly recomended and good value for money with all materials and fuel included. Also, students can return to the forge in their own time to have a play, with advice and support if needed. Bob :D

I tried a search for this but with so many results for anvil table I hope you will forgive me if it has already been asked and answered, but: I have seen an anvil for sale with no table between the face and the horn/bick. So far I understand that the original idea for the table was to have somewhere on which to use a chisel without damaging the face - but it seems that using a soft plate on the face is is now a more popular practice. Are there any other uses for the table? Am I going to regret spending my pennies on one that does not have one? Thanks. Bob

Finally got around to taking some photos of the stuff I have done since I built my slightly larger forge (thanks to everyone who helped with this). I havent got an anvil yet but did manage dig the old vice out of the flowerbed and make a stand for it. I have been supporting a big lump hammer in the jaws as a makeshift anvil - well at least Im not having to chase it around!! All feedback and comments welcomed - especially any ideas for fixing the scroll work on the brackets - even If I could I wouldnt really want to weld, some form of traditional joint would be good, what do you recommend? Bob

Im still a newbie and on a quest to find an anvil too. At the moment I am using a small block of mild steel, and the head of a big lump hammer as an anvil. (the lump hammer is good because it has rounded edges for drawing and starting scrolls etc, and the steel block is good for flat finishing and it has crisp edges) My point is that while you are looking for a propper anvil just get some metal hot and find something to pound it on!