MC Hammer

Jason, that was fine work you did. I was rooting for you. PM sent.

I"m happy with my Diamond Back blacksmith forge. It has both ends and the side opens for odd shaped stuff. Believe me, I just did two doll stands for my girls and it accomodated the odd shapes.....but just barely and I was wishing for a coal stove about toward the end.

Wow, those look great. Don't forget, you can use a raw hide or wooden mallet to hammer it and it won't disturb the thread pattern. Works great for adjusting twisted metal too.

With so much scrap metal available, I wouldn't even mess with stripping the zinc off. If your area allows, just go to a scarp yard and collect good old rusty metal. In rust we trust! You can spark test the scrap and get an idea of carbon content in the sense of "this is definitely mild steel and this is definitely higher carbon." It's not an exact science, but can help you sort it out.

Better safe than sorry MM. From what I've researched, the bone hasn't yet fused into the device so there's always a chance of something going wrong. You know what though, I'm the same way and will probably get the evil eye like you are after my hip replacement Just be safe, I'd hate to see something go wrong for it to set you back from getting in the shop.

That's good to hear Toyman! 70% is a decent rebound and many of the older anvils that style have 70% rebounds I'm told.

Get yourself a steel ball bearing and drop it from 10 inches to get a better idea as to rebound. It's difficult to tell with a hammer drop because of all the variables of dropping the hammer the same, etc. I'm betting the rebound is more than 50% and probably more like 70%. My 2 inch thick plate of mildish steel returns 50% drops. You can order a steel ball bearing online or just get one from an auto bearing set at a junk yard or garage that works on cars. Another think that affects drop are chisel marks, so try to find spots that are clear or mostly clear of them to test on. Way to go reading first! I think you have a very good anvil there just looking at it. The face will polish as you use it.

With the wall right there behind the forge, have you thought about going straight back and doing an outside chimney from there on up? I've seen that set-up work pretty well in the draw department.

Something I've learned is that with thinner pieces it's best to forge them but not until they are past red heat. I tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap and then right back in the fire. The pieces heat really fast and you only lose a little heat. If feels like almost constant forging this way vs. forging until it goes to black heat. This was never more useful than when I forged a steel striker on Monday. Putting it back in the fire at red heat allowed me to get it right back up to orange heat fairly quickly. With something that thin I might only get 5-7 taps of the hammer before it hast to go back in the forge.

Heck there's a dollar's worth of hundred mile an hour tape on that sledge hammer........you did good, but getting grandpa's post vice is priceless I agree.

I think you'll be just fine with that anvil. Use it and see if the rebound problem gets worse which could mean more problems under the face plate. When you tap that spot with a hammer does it ring or buzz? Buzzing would indicate some possible problems with delamination under the face plate. Still quite usable and 80% rebound is good.

Perhaps Thomas, I hadn't thought of that. I'll clean it up and the tongs and get a picture posted. When I wire brushed it, I didn't see that the rivet like part went into the head or peen and the head looks pristine so perhaps you are right.

Visited my favorite junk shop on Friday and found a pair of short reined pick-up tongs. He threw in a ball peen hammer with an unusual thing on both the hammer head and the peen, it looks sorta like a rivet but it part of the hammer head - no clue what it was used for. I can think of some applications for texturing things and even maybe for eyes on people or dragons some day when I try them. I'll have to post a picture. both were for only $5. He didn't know what the pick-up tongs where on the account of the wavy jaws or he would have asked more for them I'm sure. I certainly didn't offer any further info

I remember once sitting in a screened in deck and those little suckers flew under the skirting, up through the tiny gap in the deck floor and bit us. I know when I build my screened in porch that I'll not forget screen underneath it. Das, you must have the same sweet blood I do - I always get nailed by mosquitoes.

Being fairly new to this forum myself, I can offer you some advice: Before you ask a question, make sure you search all the past threads first. Often the question you have has been asked and answered before - sometimes several times. It's not that folks here won't answer it again, but you can save yourself time by reading, reading, and reading. The other thing would be to listen to the voices of experience here. They freely share decades and in some cases a lifetime of blacksmithing experience. This is to the benefit of all of us. You might not agree with what they are telling you to do, but try it and report back. When you do that it shows you are willing to listen, learn and try. This can go a long way. The last piece of advice would be not to take things personally. All of us, me included, have in the past and it's just not productive. Some people's advice is rather gruff. Just let it roll right off you and don't consider it a personal attack. What I've learned from this forum has put me light years ahead in this craft and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. Welcome, and enjoy.

I have a bone spur in my dominant shoulder, but oddly enough forging doesn't bother it. I think flintknapping caused it so that's a whole different type of motion. I have to just listen to my body and not try to forge for more than 4 hours at a clip. Eventually the bone spur will catch up with me and probably will have to be dealt with. I wish you all the best of luck bigb.

Looks like a great start! You'll have to show a picture of it when it's finished. I bet you like having the tool rest.

I like it! Gives me some ideas for the future.

You did a fine job on the hook. Is that a horseshoe nail hook? Don't worry, many of us started out with what we call ASO (Anvil Shaped Objects) or things other than the London style anvil. Get busy making those little hooks and sell them each for $1.00. Do 300 of them and you have money to start shopping for a better anvil and forge Be proud of what you accomplished though. How many in your area can say they've forged a steel hook? Not many probably. So that puts you in a whole different category. Keep it up.

I would have to agree with others, it doesn't look like an 800 lb anvil to me either. I'd go with Biggun's weight estimate. It's still a pretty nice anvil and a nice stand. Hope it matches your height.

Thomas make an excellent point. I knew a flintknapper that was grinding antlers for all his knives he was making for the big show we all attend in August. He died from some lung illness from the antler dust. It killed him in 2 weeks time and he never made it to the show. When I see them on FIF grinding antler handles without a mask it makes me cringe. I always use my respirator when grinding antlers and I do it outside. Same with metal dust. None of it is good to breath in.

I'll have to take a picture of my atlatl and send you a PM JLP. I do it for fun every now and then but a bunch of my friends compete worldwide with other atlatlists. One pretty neat thing happened at one of our big knap-ins one year, a discover film crew came and filmed guys trying to pierce modern made Spanish armor with atlatl darts. Most dented it pretty badly but I do not believe anyone was successful in penetrating the armor as has been said historically. The spear was actually much longer, probably like around 7 feet or more tall. The dart is around 6 feet and is a little thicker than an arrow shaft. The spear replicas I make are pretty thick and hold quite a large clovis point while the dart points are more of a medium to small sized point. I know from making all of those that the shaft was much more valuable than the projectile point that tipped them - way more work goes into making a shaft of any kind.

JLP - ever tried an atlatl? I can hurl darts pretty far and accurate with this ancient tool.

Dax - there's no match to the feeling you get when you make stuff that can be put to use immediately. Much of the attention these days goes to knives and other edged weapons, but I gain the most satisfaction out of making things I need to use. I absolutely love the fact I can have a hardware need and just make the dang thing instead of going to the hardware store and trying to find something that will sorta work that is made of cheap metal and costs money. Yesterday I forged a couple of doll stands for my girls' porcelain dolls, a new holdfast for the anvil, and a rack for my tongs to go on a portable work table. The stands were a bit of a challenge as both dolls were different sizes and widths and I had to do a lot of careful measuring because it's not like I can hold the doll up to the hot stand and see if it's close. The moment of truth came and both dolls fit perfectly. Nothing super nice to brag about, but the materials were free and it cost me nothing but my time and some propane. The smiles from my daughters were payment enough. The only glitch I had was the smell of the rawhide hammer I was using to do some final adjustments. My wife particularly hates the smell and it filled the basement. My girls didn't like it either. Perhaps this is a new way to keep the shop deserted when I don't need any onlookers

Great scoop! Sometimes you just have to keep checking places like CL and you get lucky. Looks like it's in great using condition.