Irondragon Forge ClayWorks

A lot of that stuff has been buried. When we bought our 60 acre place in the woods, it had been logged off in the early 1900s for a RR line the bulldozer turned up a lot of metal axe heads horse shoes and the like putting in our driveway. We figured out where the old logging road and several camp locations were, so I took my metal detector down it and found all sorts of buried goodies wagon parts, tools saw blades etc.

Your son did a fine job on his first bottle opener. As far as forging knives & swords in a JABOD, yes it can be done. You don't want to heat more stock than can be worked at a time.

Have you done a spark & break/snap test? I have seen some coil springs that were hard to harden if at all depending on the springs. Do you have any pictures? I've also had some files (HF Chinese junk) that were case hardened and wouldn't get hard enough for strikers.

You can radius the edge of your anvil, they come from the factory with sharp edges, expecting the smith to radius them to suit jobs. Or make a hardy block with a different radius on each edge.

Insanity is asking a blacksmith the same question and expecting to get the same answer.~ Frosty

I used a small cold chisel that I forged then filed the remainder on the hardy hole I trued up. I also make the shanks of my hardy's long enough to protrude through the bottom for when they get stuck and a light tap frees them up.

Might want to check out piano dollies. I have a set of four with three wheels on each that I use to move heavy stuff in the garage.

My concern with one piece hammers like the Estwing is the stress is transferred to your hand & arm through the handle.

Welcome to IFI, I suggest reading this to get the best out of the forum. READ THIS FIRST

I would square up the hole.

Ancestry.com is a good place to start, I was able to trace my GG Grandfather to the Civil War and get his records from the U.S.archives. .

I knew how to make them from doing it in the past, took a refresher watching the video. Besides that I just love the sound of your hammering, to me it's soothing.

Sweet!!!!

^^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^^

I will never reach the limit of the tools in my shop. ~icandry “practice makes permanent.” ~JHCC

Levitation

I think the stand Kozzy posted would be your best solution, two wheels and two handles would be less likely to tip and the wheels are large enough to go over semi rough ground. Wonder if they make a drone that would lift that much weight.

However... “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”

You posted in the correct location. If you edit your profile to show your location, who knows there may be members close enough to you to give a hand in your endeavor. We have members from over 150 countries and some have decades of experience repairing anvils. Myself, I wouldn't attempt it without help.

Welcome to IFI...Have you read this yet? READ THIS FIRST - It will help you get the best out of the forum.

What size stock did you start with? Your first tongs look a lot better than my first one did. I think thicker stock would let you forge a heavier bit & boss for stock like 5/8 or 3/4 of course that would require drawing the reigns more work.

Speaking of toes, I broke my big toe while cutting a RR tie for a post vise. I cut one end to length and picked up the rest of the tie to move it out of the way and dropped it right on my toe. To this day when it gets cold the little ouch reminds me to pay attention.

I think pictures of your "giant squishing machine gear box" are in order, along with the rest of the build.

I would patent the design too.

Had several involving ill fitting/broken tongs. The first pair of tongs I made out of rebar one bit broke off and the hot steel hit my foot burning through my sneakers while I did the dropped steel dance. Another while forging a knife blade with tongs that didn't quite fit the stock and it flipped out sticking me in the thigh. Like Thomas so many cuts that were wrapped in old shop rags, my wife made me put a paper towel dispenser in the shop. Every time I come into the house to wash a cut and bandage it she says "little ouch OK" she learned that saying from her Sensei.