Pault17

I was gonna try this, but my wife refused to let me drop a hole through our roof, master bedroom, into the garage. back to the drawing board

As one of my heroes from the great movie "Bambi" said "you can call me (a) Flower if you want to..." Beautiful. I noted the weld splatter and thought "wat a great way to put pollen dust in the flower

My forge is called St. Joseph's forge. I consider my getting into blacksmithing a gift from Heaven (I found my first anvil and vise burried beside a tree on my in-laws' 15-acre property), I am a father (9 on the ground and expecting #10), and Joseph had to have done some blacksmithing ("back in the day" the lower level carpenters couldn't afford to send their wagon/cart repairs off to the smith.

Ladies used to call them Girdles :D :D The other idea is a hydration pack filled with a nice single malt or KY bourbon

I love any and many of the videos out there, Aspery, Brazeal, Hofi... just about any of them. But, I met this guy who did CGI for movies and he showed me this on: http://www.breakiron.com/

Here are a few pictures of my first anvil (the one I dug out of my inlaw's property). No edges to speak of. When I found it, it looked like somebody had been cold-forging rebar for many years. not knowing a thing about blacksmithing, but being eager to get started, I borrowed my father-in-law's 7-inch grinder with huge stone cup and removed all the rebar markings. I then filed the top flat. I used this one for a year until I "upgraded" to my current russian submarine from HF - with the diagonal hardie hole (pita because all my hardie tools have to be custom made - ALL of them)

Every year, for the past couple of years, a group of dad's with sons gets together at one of the dads' vacation cabin in the mountains of NC. two years ago, one of the mid-teen boys fashioned a dakota stove using cinder blocks covered with a large amount of dirt. The first year I showed them that providing additional air (two kids with paper plates, fanning vigorously) would get a piece of rebar glowing kinda orange, and if they stuck a splitting maul in a big stump, they could "forge" the re-rod into "something". that is now one of the looked-forward-to events with the boys I like the rocket stove idea for outside cooking. goes well with tripod over open fire.

I haven't wrapped my mind around it yet, but I just went. for the first time, to a metal shop (BMG in Wilson NC). I talked with the warehouse manager a few days ago and told him that I am very small time and had never been in one of these places before. Most of the steel and wrought I have, I have literally found. occasionally, if I needed/wanted a specific size, I would go to one of the box stores and purchase. Well i got three sticks of 1/2 round, three sticks of 1/8 x 1, three sticks of 5/16 round, 1 stick of 5/8 square and three sticks of 5/16 coldroll. I paid a total of $48 all told. I don't know if I was mugged, but didn't feel like it. figured it works out to about 20-cents a foot, all told. I know if I bought the same from a box place the same amount would be 3-5 times that, so I was happy.

Doc, prayers are on the way

I am not a man of many means, but I, too, picked up a couple of Grant's gooseneck tongs, and will use them in his memory. We will sorely miss his presence here. May the souls of the faithfully departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

I like the simplicity of the jaw design with the welded-on fixtures. rather vinking-ish style too. thanks for thinging in a different box for the rest of us

I/ve said it before, and you'll probably hear it again - "this place is like drinking from a fountain of knowlege" thanks for the great Idea. I have been out to Peter Ross's place a couple of times and never really paid enough attention to his top-tool tongs

Mark, where do you live? It never ceases to amaze me the luck others have getting hands on that kind of stuff. enviable to say the least.

rebar is similar to bed rails, and even railroad rails; scrap steel with more-than-mild carbon content. No pun intended, it is hit and miss as far as hardenability. I have some punches made from a section of #5 bar that hardened up nicely enough that I cut the bar into shorter lengths for use later. Oh, when talking rebar, the number denotes the eigth's of an inch - #3 = 3/8", 35 = 5/8", and so on. I use #4 and #5 for campfire tripods. I like the tent stake idea. I also do termite inspections, and made several 2-foot probing rods from a bunch of #3 I had, and gave them to other inspectors for Christmas gifts. P-James, the only dumb-ass is the one who says he/she already know's it all and can't learn from others. Ask away

The forge, minus the dow-draft hood, is strikingly similar to the one we have at the state fairgrounds. We use the water trough for coal storage and keep a big slack tub in front of the forge. Beautiful score. I really like that hood for shop visibility too

I know that the anvil we use at the state fair was re surfaced using a 110-120ksi (?) mig wire. the anvil was preheated, welded, machined, and belt-sanded no cracking and no loss of rebound. that was two or three years ago. I also borrow that it was not a 120v machine

If you have access to the tools, cut a bunch of 1/4-inch pieces off the end of a section of heavy 2-inds angle. short-cut starting point

if that's what you do on the spur of the moment, your thought out work must be downright scary nice. thanks

Definitely... Merry Christmas to all!!! I may get to bang a little, as at least one of my children has asked for "learning how to blacksmith" for Christmas. Bless you ALL!!!

Edible, maybe. But it doesn't last long. It needs to be applied on hot metal. not everybody has a store of beeswax handy for retreating. If they can't, they know you can, ad after every other 'cue they will ask you to. Olive oil is easy to apply to warm metal (much like cast iron) and doesn't go rancid like some vege oils or animal fat. still gives a nice finish. just a thought

Kube, you may want to consider olive on vegetable oil as a treat for the flippers, as they come in contact with food. besides, the wax will wear off pretty quick over the coals. as for the smell, I call it aromatherapy for blacksmiths. when the metal is at just the right temp, it gives off the most delicious honey smell!

Borntoolate, your picture taking is almost like Brian's. thanks so much for posting.

That, my friend, is but a minor set-back. you'll see. Happy hammerin'

phoenix-guy are you sending them through some kind of mail, orhand delivering? may affect pricing nice first leaf. I still carry mine as a humility reminder

I know you can smother a fire out. never tried to encase it in the metal though. other than the burner, hope all is well.