Brasilikilt

Hey I got my post vise off Ebay for around $20.00, it actually cost more to ship it from Arkansas to my house in Oregon! Its beaten up, and has some metal welded on to repair it, I´ve flailed on it a lot, and still works fine. I suspect you havent been watching ebay auctions very closely. If you check often, you will find some `lesser`vises out there which dont have a collector value, but are perfectly usable for a smith. Also check Craigslist...... If you cant find a post vise, you can still use a bench vise for a lot of things.

Hey all Im here visiting family again, and have driven past several shops that construct gates and railings. These guys as I can tell dont do traditional blacksmith work, but rather cut lengths of tube and solid stock to weld together making simple utilitarian ironwork which is seen practically in every house on every street. While they dont forge scrolls or do any hotwork outside of mig and stick welding- I still recognize the kinship. I actually saw one of these shops has a very ancient looking and very massive post vice....Im guessing 7inch jaws mounted on what probably is a chunk of rock-hard tropical wood set in concrete. This is as much as I could see sitting in a car 20 feet away while stuck in traffic. I have yet to see an anvil or forge.. This is a 3rd world country where you see horse drawn carts used on the street along side cars....I see thrown shoes on the side of the road, so I know there has to be farriers around here to fit them onto the horse/mule in the first place. My question is.....Any Iforge members here in Rio? Anyone who knows of a more traditionally-minded metal worker here in town...perhaps after reading something online? Anyways.....I have a camera with me at all times, and have already taken photos (at the risk of being yelled at) of some really crazy WW1 era presses and generators at a military museum. Anyways, wanted to throw that out there Take care and Ill keep you all posted Iain

I second this...Ive used baking soda and water for years to clean my carbon steel kitchen knives...Just pour some in a bowl with a little water to form a thick-ish paste, spoon a gob onto a regular kitchen towel, and it works great! No need to go out and buy anything as %99 percent of US households already have baking soda on a shelf or in the fridge.

Thanks for the responses as every idea and suggestion is given some consideration. Basically I am going to ask them for a small patch of ground, and perhaps some volunteers to help with construction (assuming they don't have a structure for me to set up in) I'm prepared to do it by myself if need be, and my goal is to get the job done with very little or no fund expenditure. The first order of business is to utilize waste materials for the construction of the shop itself. I was thinking of using broken up concrete chunks as the footings,(or perhaps a knee wall) upon a rammed-earth floor. http://summerville-novascotia.com/PalletShed/ After seeing this website, I'm thinking pallet construction seems like a highly viable option with this project. Lumber is always expensive, every day I see concrete chunks, pallets and scrap wood being given away for free on craigslist. Whatever cannot be purposed for construction will be rendered down into charcoal to use in the forge. That's another thing, I live in timber country, not coal country. coal is getting more expensive and increasingly harder to acquire, especially on a "blacksmith's level" around here. Why not save potentially tons of wood scrap destined for a landfill, and use it to fuel a forge? Trees are everywhere around here, and they're always falling/blown/cut down by people who have no fire place and simply want to get it out of their yard. Failing that...there are several mountainous slash piles just outside of town just waiting for someone with a trailer and a chainsaw. I know permits are often required to cut wood from these slash piles, but since I would be working for non-profit, perhaps I could obtain special permission, or at least relax the rules somewhat?? My biggest concern is in regards to my tools.....After everything is set up, it would probably be best to make a set of tools that would belong to the farm, while gradually taking my own kit out of circulation. I do have a lockable metal box to store hammers/tongs/hardies and such, but I am worried most about careless novices trashing my anvil. Teenagers are known all too well for destroying things for sport. *sigh* Anyways, does my plan seem too fanciful? Thanks again Iain

Hey all It's not so much a question if I want to do it or not, because I'm doing it on my own anyway....It's if THEY consider the addition of a blacksmith shop on their farm to be a good idea, and then give me the green light to proceed. Thingmaker...that's excellent! Perhaps letting them know that other smiths are willing to volunteer will shift their opinions in my favor. Has anyone done anything similar before? If so, I'm all for hearing how you went about it. thanks!

Hey all There's a 100+ year old farm very near to my house. I've driven past 1,000's of times, but never actually stopped to check it out. I walked the grounds the other day and was rather pleased with what I saw-Regular neighborhood people volunteering, getting their hands dirty and growing some very good quality crops to eat, and sell at the neighborhood farmer's market. http://www.zengerfarm.org/ While checking the place out, I had the thought that a blacksmith shop might fit in very well with what they are doing there...After a short conversation with some people in the office, they invited me back in a few weeks to discuss my idea in more detail. My thoughts are that an onsite blacksmith shop would: #1 be able to repair/sharpen shovels, rakes and other every day use hand tools instead of discarding them and buying replacements. #2 An operating forge will also be able to recycle and re-purpose discarded items/scrap steel to produce utilitarian and art items to sell at the Farmer's market and possibly generate revenue for the farm. #3 Community programs can be built around blacksmithing which could serve as an after school vocational activity, or to simply draw in new volunteers. This farm works closely with, and provides internships for students currently attending a vocational school. I attended this school some years back, and earned scholarship money after completing 900 hours of community service through Americorps. That scholarship money paid for my welders certification course, my blacksmith classes, paid for most of my welder, anvil, post vise and lots of other odds and ends. I basically want to give something back, while supporting a good cause. To me it seems like a great idea, do any of you see any reason why I shouldn't go forward with my proposal? thanks, Iain

Ah.....Excellent work my man! I also have been studying and doing my own copies of some of the early knives associated with the Bowie family. I'll take the liberty to post a pic of the original. It seems like it'd be really handy to have it on display right down the street :-) As I recall, none of the surviving knives proven to have association with the Bowie family perfectly match the eyewitness descriptions of the knife Jim Bowie used during the sandbar fight. The knife he used was said to have a 9 1/4" blade that was 1 1/2" wide, and yes--looked just like a common butcher knife.... Rezin apparently commissioned several cutlers and surgical instrument companies to make knives for him...and then have copies of those knives made to give to friends and family. Unfortunately this has made it a bit difficult to determine which knife his brother used, or if it even exists anymore. I don't want to hijack your thread, so I will refrain from posting my Forrest Bowie blades, which get my vote for being the closest surviving example of the original used during the duel. Friendly debate encouraged :-) Once again, you did a fine job on your reproduction.

A few years back, some tweeker broke into my workshop/man cave and made off with all my good knives and muzzle loading supplies. Funny they didn't take any of the power tools. Th rest of you guys charge a premium for your wares. Since I'm your average poor American, I was prompted to take a welders cert course and a semester of blacksmith classes to begin replacing my lost gear.... Wouldn't you know it, I had loads of fun and found out that I was sort of good at it!

I haven't personally, but have the book "The complete modern blacksmith" by Alexander Weygers which has a few sections that deal with the forging and re-cycling of garden tools.

Ya know what? This looks like a piece that was cut off during the production of a large tool/machine. It's my guess that it's mild steel, but.....scrap steel in my neck of the woods is going for about .50/lb. Even if this anvil is made from mild steel, I would consider the extra mass an improvement over a rail anvil, but not as good as an anvil with a proper face made of tool steel. I would definitely check it out, but would offer the guy $75 and see what he says. That being said, I *do* live in an anvil poor area :-)

Sheesh.....This event is about an hour's drive from my front door...How can I not show up?

Here's a link that may be of some help to you. The end product is a bit rough, but appears to be very functional.

The trick how I understand it is that you forge the blade to rough shape, and use a heavy wooden branch to beat the curve into the blade. Similar to putting a counter-bend on a knife before forging the edge bevels. I would check on you tube....I seem to recall more than a few videos that dealt with Khukuris and other similar blades. Good luck

Wow....I apparently posted my question in the right place! I had never thought of using any wax or lubricant on the blade as I thought this was mainly a thing for high-speed powered tools-such as a drill press or band saw. There's a block of paraffin in the shop, so I'll have a go at using it...It's not bona-fide saw wax, but it's better than nothing, and should produce noticeable results I expect. The Norton blade was just swapped from a cheapo frame into slightly newer, more robust hacksaw frame. It's a Stanley, so not the greatest, but definitely an improvement over the old one :-) I didn't suspect using a cheap frame had much to do with blade life, but in my own defense, I do tend to tighten up my blades like guitar strings. I discovered a long time ago that tight blade stays straighter and makes for a cleaner/truer cut. Also I do tend to try to keep more teeth on the material rather than less in order to cut stuff...especially metal..I don't relish using hand saws, so the quicker I hack through my piece, the better :-) When I go out on the hunt for new blades, I will definitely pay more attention to tooth count and type of metal. It seems as though the collective opinion is that less teeth is better for softer metals, but I'll see what they have at the store and decide from there Thanks so much for the feedback Iain

Hi everyone I guess I have the curse of the dull hacksaw blades. I've been cutting pieces for knife fittings out of copper, brass and sometimes mild steel, and prefer to use the hand saw and files for delicate work. In the past I settled for the cheap Chinese blades, and they got dull pretty quick....No surprise there. I go out and buy Norton blades, thinking that they'll be better, but even cutting through copper tubing and 1/8" and 1/4" brass plate, those blades become useless rather quickly. Perhaps there are finer aspects of hacksaw technique that somehow elude me..... But still, would any of you point me toward a good brand of hacksaw blade that won't get dull after a few uses?? Thanks, Iain

Wow...I'm feeling a bit of inspiration to try one of these myself...Perhaps on a slightly smaller scale for starters :-) Sounds like a lot of hammering to draw it out of 45mm square well done :-)

Personally, nothing leaves my bench which isn't meant to be functional. My grandparents have had a Bowie knife hanging on the wall for over 40 years...it's never been used that I know of, but when I have taken it down to check it out, it shaves hair. A decorative knife can be functional, and if it's on the wall it can be viewed as being easily accessible in the case of say, a home invasion or something. Make a display knife...dress it up with fancy wood and shiny metal and show the world that your capable of impressive art knives as well as plain utilitarian blades-while making both fully functional. Your reputation and integrity remains intact...plus it presents opportunities for more business when someone asks the owner "Wow, where'd you get that knife on the wall!?!"

Hello all Thanks for the helpful info and leads to coal sources. My main problem as I figure it is not the price of coal itself, it's the cost of shipping it out here to Oregon, which is quite a haul from you guys in those areas where coal is plentiful and rather cheap. I live in timber country and will most likely round up a few 55 gal drums and camp out next to an enormous slash pile with my partner in crime and a goodly amount of libations in order to render down as much charcoal as possible. Failing that, I saw that Trader Joe's has 18 lb bags of good hardwood charcoal for $5.49 each....It's not the greatest scenario, but it could be a handy source in a pinch. But, for now I will use the dwindling remainder of my supply while planning out a proper gas forge. Thanks again for all the info...It might come in handy if I *really* do miss working with real coal. Iain

Hey all I found a little info on the company that made these anvils. Since I have never heard about this particular manufacturer before, I figured I would share what I found. This anvil was made in Dudley, England by the anvil manufacturer Joseph Wilkinson. The company was one of the "Big Three" English anvil makers. What was first believed to have been crossed swords or cannons in the trademark is now understood to stand for a location in Dudley, England called Queens Cross. Information credited to Richard Postman's book, Anvils In America. $50 for a Vulcan anvil was just fine for me, but when I went in the store the other day, they had $145.00 price tag on it....HA HA HA

Hey all Figured I would show off my new addition to the anvil family. I've been keeping my eyes open for a little portable anvil, because taking a 180 lb Trenton with me to do Farmer's markets and reenactments on weekends would obviously be quite a chore! I had a seriously abused 70 lb Vulcan sitting in my shed for almost 2 years now, I had planned to repair to HEAVILY mangled edges of the face, but never regarded the project as high-priority.. When I saw this little guy sitting at one of my favorite shops-Ted's tool shed, It had a nice ring, good rebound..as far as I was concerned it was sold. I offered the beat up Vulcan in trade. He gave me $50 store credit towards the anvil, which knocked a big chunk off the original asking price, which ended up being about $2.40/lb....Not bad for 'anvil-poor' Portland, Oregon. All the marks are very readable, except for the word right after Wilkinson which I originally thought said "JUN5" which might be the month/day of manufacture. After brushing off the rust it looks more like "JUNB"....Is anyone able to tell me what that might mean? Anyways....I figured I would share the excitement Thanks for looking Iain

So..... I went out to my main coal supplier-Valley Farrier supply in Beaver Creek, Oregon....about 20 mins outside of Portland city limits. I immediately noticed that the 2 or 3 tons of coal they *always* have sitting outside were not there. I walked inside and asked the guy inside about it, and he explained that they are trying figure out if people will still buy coal at a projected $38 per 50 lb sack. LUCKILY one of the other employees who is also a black/blade smith was kind enough to sell me a couple partially filled sacks from his supply, which will keep me going for a little while, but I suppose my only 2 options now are to build a gas forge, (which I am already planning to do) and/or gather up a big supply of waste wood and render down my own charcoal. Apparently with the high gas prices and competition with China, coal is getting so expensive that we will be seeing our sources on the west coast slowly dry up because us average blacksmiths will not be able to afford it. Ohh boy...I sure will miss using good 'ol Pennsylvania coal :-( If any other smiths in the Greater Portland area are needing any coal now will have to now drive all the way down to Monroe Oregon. I figured I would let you all know. Take care Iain

Hello everyone Thanks for the info....Unfortunately after I read these responses, my computer took a giant dump on me and I was unable to respond until now. I don't have much time right now (visiting relatives) other than to say that when the online capabilities at home are restored, I will look over these links and information and likely put something together pretty quick (I hope!) Thanks again....this info is already helping me understand these burners a bit better. take care Iain

Hi everyone! Anyways...I admit that I know next to nothing about forge burner construction, even though I have used gas forges on many occasions. The problem is that when others are discussing the building and use of them, a lot of terminology is used which I am not familiar with. This has made it challenging for me to sift through the threads and find the information I am seeking. On the forges that I have used in the past, all the burner appeared to be was a tube with a nozzle blowing gas inside, but it's obviously a bit more complicated than that. Can anyone point me to some instructions either here or elsewhere online for a simple efficient burner design? I don't have welding capabilities right now, but can drill holes, cut steel to length and certainly heat and flare the end of some tubing in my coal forge if need be. I have seen the types made out of cast iron plumbing pipe and think this might be one of the better designs for me. Venturi?? Reil?? The you tube vids I have seen are mostly guys making those "Look at how great my burner works!!" and give a very basic description about it's construction. If you guys can show me the information you all used to build one, or point me in the right direction, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks Iain

Hey all I pretty much said it in the title....I was told that I was doing great, the bosses liked me etc. Last week they mentioned something about "Slowing down a bit due to the higher fuel prices." I didn't pay close enough attention obviously, and here I am with no paycheck coming in. I'm not a total neophyte, I have worked in fabrication/metal shops operated punch presses, band saws, grinders etc. I'm not expecting very much to come of this, but I figured I would throw some things out there to see if the spark catches. I am an "entry level" yet proficient welder with formal training and certification, Most recently with short-arc MIG, but also Flux core. I am capable of doing some cosmetically pleasing, yet durable welds. I could also bring my own Miller 225 volt CV/DC wire feed welder to the shop if needed. I am excellent with a hand grinder and had been doing paint prep grinding every day for the past several months. I have forging skills, but nothing terribly fancy or intricate...If you're doing gates, railings and architectural stuff, I could start making scrolls for example with a minimum of instruction either by hand or with a mechanical hammer. I also have wood-working experience, can use a table saw, band saw, lathe, belt sanders, tape measure and could be rather helpful when doing installs. At the very least I am looking to stay busy and build on my existing skills while I look for a full-time job. I don't ask for much: Training in exchange for doing your grunt work, A good reference and, if you're *really* nice, you could throw some tools or gas money my way. There it is....if you have any interest in discussing this further please send me a PM or write me at Iain.Heyworth@GMAIL.com thanks Iain