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I Forge Iron

firebug

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  1. Mr. Porter, I have read only a small portion of this thread and I am grateful that it is still active. I think I may have acquired your book while inheriting a box of blacksmith books from a friend. If not, I am going to purchase it, the information is worth far more than the cost. I currently have four new Rex Price of Hybridburners 1” forge and foundry burners and one T-Rex burner. I am designing a new forge that does not need to be capable of forge welding, just needs to get hot enough to easily do traditional forge work like scrolls, twists and sculptures etc. in addition to the burners I have two boxes of soft fire bricks rated at 2600 degrees and plenty of hard fire bricks. I have six full rolls of 2” thick x 24” 2600 degree blanket. Believe it or not, I found all six boxes plus some odd pieces on the side of the road which had fallen off of a trailer or truck. What are the odds? I am planning to build something similar to a forge I saw on YouTube called a Super C. It has a C shape with a 2” opening running along the side of the forge body at floor level. The opening is normally closed with the soft brick until you need the extra room, such as when you are forging larger scrolls. The overall length will be approximately 24” with a cast floor and 4” of wool all around. The ends will have sliding doors made from the soft bricks. I am currently calculating the number of burners required and already have plans for an idle circuit. If I haven’t completely confused you with my description, and you are aware of others whom have built similar forges, please send me in their direction. That goes for anyone who reads this post. Again Mr Porter, thank you for taking the time to write the book and to engage in this thread. Thanks to everyone else as well who have contributed to this thread. Gary
  2. I truly appreciate your reply to my Iron Kiss info request. I would really like to know how to properly do the routine maintenance and adjustments.

     I was only able to use it for a short time before having to disconnect it and move to a new shop. I haven’t hooked it back up yet. Every once in a while it would stick at the top. 
     

     Let me know what I owe you for your time and effort.

     Gary Cremeens 

  3. I truly appreciate that brother. Let me know what I owe you. I really want to maintain and understand how it’s supposed to work and be adjusted. I only used mine a little before I had to disconnect it and move to another shop. Every once in a while it would stick at the top. Gary Cremeens
  4. I need someone to point me in the direction of any information concerning the daily maintenance and repair of Iron KISS airhammers. I have a 75 lb model I bought used. I am willing to pay for a copy of any written manual or video. If the info is located on the web somewhere I would be forever grateful if you would point me in the right direction. Gary
  5. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn the cornerstone to your smithing, hammer swing. I have studied under Master Hofi while taking his classes in North Carolina and New York many times. I also went to his smithy in Israel and studied one on one with him for two weeks so I am speaking from experience here. Once while attending the hand hammer class in New York there was a German Master Blacksmith attending the same class. To be a Master Blacksmith in Germany you must attend a Blacksmithing College basically, for around 4-5 years. Along with about 4 years of apprenticeship. There are tests along the way as well. You cannot own your own blacksmith shop unless you are a Master Blacksmith in Germany. So to say this guy was a well educated blacksmith is putting it lightly. He and I were going to lunch on break and he is speaking in his accent, Master Hofi is traumatizing me. I said what do you mean? He said everything that Hofi was teaching us was exactly opposite of what he was taught, but it worked better. So here is this very well educated German Master Blacksmith saying the Hofi method worked better than what he was taught. By attending classes with Master Hofi my blacksmithing capabilities have ALWAYS surpassed my experience.
  6. I bought an 8" about 2 years ago for 450.00. That was a fair price in my opinion. I like it and would buy another if the price is right. Like anything they are only worth what people are willing to pay. Sometimes emotions get involved and the price of things go up. If someone wants to give me 1600.00 for mine I will even pay for half of the shipping.
  7. Yes let us know how it works out. If you don't mind let us know how much you had to pay for it in the end. I have the Phoenix 150B model and like it very much.
  8. That is what I told him. I said that the economy is the reason no one has bidded on the hammer with a beginning bid of 10,000.00. I hate it for him but it ain't gonna happen. The one and only hope he has is that someone that is going to buy a new Phoenix anyway just happens upon his add. The odds of that in this economy are none to none.
  9. The 150A Phoenix air hammer has been listed again on Ebay. I think this is about the 3rd time it was listed. I offered him 5,500.00 for the hammer if it didn't sell. He said I wasted my time. His opening bid is 10,000.00. I paid 7,500.00 for my Phoenix 150B delivered new. I personally like the B model better because you have better clearance around the anvil. The anvil on my 150B weighes 2500 pounds alone. The anvil on the A model is part of the flame cut 3" frame which does not weigh near as much as mine plus the one peace has much less room to work odd shaped material on. I like my Phoenix but have to believe that at 20,000.00 the 150A is way over priced. I just paid 8,500.00 for a Sahinler 50 that is just a little over 1 year old and has already been converted to single phase, has the optional metal base and an extra pair of dies as well as some other toooling for it. With it I do not need a compressor.
  10. Thanks for the replies. I have bought a Sahinler that is a little over a year old. It has been coverted to single phase power with a 10 horse motor. It has the steel base and extra dies. I gave 8,500.00 for it. Considering the above would cost about 14,000.00 plus shipping new I don't think that 8,500.00 was that bad. It will be nice to have it setting next to my Phoenix 150B. I will now be able to have two seperate hammers with different dies set up and will be able to forge complete leaves or other shapes requiring different dies in one heat. The other advantage it that if one hammer goes down I will have another to work on. Also, one is self contained and the other requires an air compressor, each with their own characteristics.
  11. I am looking for a used self contained hammer in good shape. Looking for a Anyang, Sayha, Sahinler etc. Don't really wnat a Nazel type. If anyone hears of one please respond to this post, I am "watching" this forum. Thanks for ya'lls help.
  12. Even a blind squirrel can find a nut every once in a while: means even an idiot can learn something. Useless as tits on a bore hog: means whatever the subject of the conversation is, is useless. Country as a butter bean: means, well you know. That head has wore out 3 bodies: means really ugly person, has been said about me. Blind in one eye, can't see out the other: means can't see. I feel like a stump whooped chitlin (pig intestine):means I am extremely tired and beat. They used to sling the chitlins against stumps to clean them out. His face could hold a two day rain: means a really wrinkled face. I would rather be down here wishing I was up there, than up there wishing I was down here: means don't go flying if you think the weather ain't good. Even though flying has made the world a smaller place it is still hard to miss when you crash. It didn't take long to look at that: means something was very hot and you through it down right after picking it up. You can't ride two horses with one a##: means make up your mind. Full as a tick: means I ate too much. If you are going to be stupid you got to be tuff. When it is brown it is cooking, when it is black it is done. That one was said around the fire station a lot. You can't polish a piece of dung. Having retired from the fire service I could go on all night.
  13. In the fire department we have hook like devices on the fly sections called ladder dogs. As the ladder is raised to the right height the man at the foot of the ladder facing the building will tell the man extending the fly sections with his back to the building to "dog" the ladder. Once the hooks "dogs" are set the man raising or extending the fly sections will say "ladder dogged"
  14. Thanks, after I finished hammerng them out I had to spend a few minutes smoothing them and breaking the corners.
  15. Here are a few photos of my new dishing tools I made this morning while I had a couple hours of playtime. Of course I used the Phoenix Power Hammer with the Hofi fullering dies. They turned out purdy. Now I just need to make some candle cups.
  16. I think that people are trying to get as much of their body weight into the strike as possible. They are throwing their body at the steel. It may create more force but I feel you are expending a lot of energy. Your body only has so much reserve energy, some more than others. I guess the question would be two fold. Are you getting enough extra work done to justify the extra expended energy and is it hurting you in the long run. The first one, I don't have an opinion on. The second one I do, it is just my opinion. By getting up on your tippy toes and swinging from heaven as well as throwing your body into the strike in an exaggerated manner is probably going to cause problems down the road. I have literally seen smiths strike like this. If they want to do it fine, I am not condemning them for it but in the long run they may suffer. They are still my friends.
  17. Here is the reply from the seller. Geeez, they could buy two of them for what they ran this one up to.. I might have to stop by Sears and pick up a few more.. - ironsmyters
  18. I sent the seller a note in the "ask the seller a question" box. I told him the hammer sells for about $40.00 new at Sears.
  19. That is very nice. Here is my first attempt and it is going to be the main post on a fire place set. I will create hangers on either side of the dragon head to hang the poker,broom,shovel etc on.dagon.bmp For some reason you will have to click on the photo link to the left of this sentence to get it to open.
  20. Thanks for the complements. Believe it or not none of that stuff gets in the way. I will be doing my first demo with it tomorrow at the Montgomery Forge Group meeting. I am going to do the cork screw/bottle opener that I learned from Hofi.
  21. Klammer, I posted a reply to an "anvil for sale" by Randy in the tailgating section. Tailgaiting is on the home page under "feedback and support". In the reply I listed the anvils I have bought, one recently and one I am going to buy in a few weeks. The prices are all less than what you are going to pay per pound for a used anvil. AGAIN, some of this depends on location, type of anvil and what others are willing to pay. A new 175 Euroanvil is 850.00 and I love mine as well as the 335 Euroanvil. For the money I think they are hard to beat. My favorite anvil in the states is the Ozark Pattern which for the most part was designed by Uri Hofi. That is the anvil I will be picking up in a few weeks. While all of these anvils are more expensive overall than the one you are looking at, the prices per pound for the most part are cheaper, for a new anvil. In the end it comes down to many little considerations as to whether to buy the anvil or not. Here is how "I" would look at it. Am I going to do this as a hobby or a business eventually? If you are seriuos about turning this into a money maker then spend all you can on your anvil. It will outlast you, your son, his son etc. It is an investment and one that is not cheap to replace if you make a bad decission. What STYLE of anvil do you want. Many love the London patern which is what you are looking at, I don't, I would much rather work on a European style. So, the anvil you are considering holds no value for me except for resale if I found it at a steal. To me you can do so much more with a European style anvil and I like the way they are laid out. This is my opinion, shared by many, but and opinoin none the less. Look into it, take your tiiiiiiiiiime. Don't jump too fast another one will come along soon enough. I would seriously consider a new one in the end. One last thing, depending on what you are going to do a 100 pound anvil is kind of small. I am not a proponent of huge anvils either for the most part the average smith can do with a 175 to 275 pound anvil in my opinion unless you are doing large stuff. So, in the end, you would most likely have to buy another anvil anyway. If you saved this money and put a some more with it later you could buy one anvil that would do most anything you will need. Go to the "blacksmithing general discussion" and check out my 175 Euroanvil with the stand I made for it. The topic is "my portable demo setup" by firebug. This will give you a look at another style of anvil.
  22. Ian, It is that final whip or pivot of the hammer between the thumb and first two fingers just before it strikes the steel that allows the head to speed up faster than it would if you had a firm grip around the handle and relied just on wrist action alone to increase velocity. I believe that science backs up the statement that the higher the velocity of the hammer head the more work you can do. When I said that you can do more work with a lighter hammer being swung at a higher velocity than a heavier hammer I meant that, but within certain perimeters. In no way do I believe that you will do more work with a 3 pound hammer as compared to a 5 pound hammer as long as the velocity between them are at least close. What I meant was, the same person could pick up a 2.7 pound hammer and swing it at a faster rate than a 3 pound hammer and be able to do more work. I am only talking about a small overall difference in weight mainly to demonstrate that the velocity does figure into the amount of work that gets done. It's not just about weight. Now there may be a bigger difference in this when we are speaking of two different people swinging the same type of hammer. One could forge with a 3 pound hammer and do more work than a person swinging a 4 pound hammer simply because the second individual my have a much slower swing than the first. We should try and work throughout the day as smartly as we can so that at the end of the day we are not wore out any more than need be. I believe that the hammer and your swing are two of the most important things you use and do. Therefore it would be wise for all of us to scrutinize each and do our best to improve them if possible. I believe your swing is like mine which I believe is one of the best ways to swing a hammer. I am not here to point a finger at anyone that does not believe like me. I just want to explain in detail the way I swing which is the way that I was taught by Hofi. I like your demonstration with the ball peen and plywood too. I may have to give it a try.
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