Kaleb

I would still go with the thrall

Frosty that's an idea I would have never thought of on my own. I was thinking there were only two options being, welding or tongs. Up till Little Blacksmith made me a set of tongs I had avoided even the thought of making them yet alone using them. My only problem in thought was; big piece of steel and no welder.

I have a hammer, an aso, a fire, and what else am I forgetting? Ohh wait I don't have the steel or tongs. As much as I would love to right now I am on the hunt for steel... without a car to get me looking at scrap piles all across the Mid-West! This weekend I'll stop by Tractor Supply Co. and pick up some more coal and material to forge the tongs. Then after that I just need to acquire the 2x2 stock and then I'm ready to pound a piece of steel for 5 hours straight. And man I am totally ready to put this theory into action, but time, school, and other things seem to have other ideas.

Yeah I would probably just use modern mild steel, and with that I should be able to get some good mushrooming over time.

Well I was thinking about upsetting the top to the size I desire. Just with sweat and a hammer, so I would need tongs to hold the stock upright on my aso.

LB you have done so much for me already, but if I have trouble finding what I am looking for I will make sure to contact you.

I am intrigued about both the burner and the ammo can forge.

Well for everything I find an answer to, I end up with another problem. Now I need to forge a pair of tongs that will hold the 2" square stock. Thanks to LB I have a template but this is another project I have thought of doing but not quite yet.

Now ho does one go about eating an elephant in the Viking Age?

Wayne I love how you edge people on to your page , I myself have been looking at it often as of late.

Yeah I'll probably end up drowning with or with out TP's help! I did end up looking up my local chapter and to my surprise there are no traditional woodworkers and there are a few blacksmiths already. So maybe I do have something to offer to the group.

No, I didn't even really know about them until you brought them up. I'll have to do some searchin' now.

Now the hard part for me is finding someone who has scrap wrought iron up here. I haven't run into any real scrap yards in Omaha yet so I might have to order some mild steel off the internet. Also I have no experience working wrought iron either.

Charles: I did think about upsetting the stock before, I just didn't think about it when I posted. And your theory on the anvil mushrooming out over time is probably a fair assumption and something I failed to think about. TP: I do like the design of your stump anvil, how much do you think it weighs? LB: Maybe I will have to take the beginners class with Elmo over the winter. Then maybe we could work together when you come up next summer.

I have tried contacting Elmo on a few occasions by email and by phone without any reply. I did look at his classes but as of now my first priority is to buy a truck and not spend us$350 on a class quite yet. But it would be interesting to get into his shop sometime most likely in a class eventually. So on the anvil, I was thinking, what if I found a piece of 4x4 square stock and just tapered the end down to a 1x1. the only thing then that I wouldn't be able to do is weld a face to the anvil. And as of now I am not too worried about having a bick on such a small anvil. I wouldn't have the experience to do that either.