Frank Turley

I've been teaching blacksmithing for 41 years, and I still subscribe to the "concentric circle theory." Drop a pebble into still water, and the concentric circles begin, going outward. If you learn, say, what's in the inner circle, that leaves something to learn in the adjacent one, etc., etc. And each circle gets larger! http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

Sometimes, a windfall. Sometimes, you pay through the nose. Early on in my career, a man presented me with a complete set of unused Atha tongs, gratis. In the early 1970's, I paid $200 for a large floor mandrel. At the time, I thought the price was outrageous, but I knew that the mandrels were hard to find. Now, I'm glad I have it. About five years ago, I discovered a 250 pound Trenton anvil in a junk yard, and I got it for $250. Fifteen years ago, I paid $700 for a 227 pound Hey-Bud; it was in beeyootiful shape. Maybe it'll all average out some day. Maybe it has, already. A horseshoer friend from Colorado, drove by a farmstead where the two driveway pillars were cone mandrels. At the top of each, a chain was tack welded and drooped down to attach to a wooden fence. My buddy stopped, met the owners, and made a successful deal to forge two decorative posts to replace the mandrels, no cash money involved. Presently, the Saltfork Craftsmen of Oklahama are fund raising by selling new, ductile iron mandrels and swage blocks. The mandrels have a 10"D base and are 36" tall. The swage blocks have depressions: circular, spoon, and shovel. The prices are $200 and $100 respectively, plus shipping. To me, those prices are fair. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

Good advice so far. I use mild steel for most of my tongs for hand hammer work. Brian is making flat jawed tongs, probably our most commonly used ones, with the possible exception of bolt tongs. It looks like Brian is starting with 5/8" round M.S. I frequently lap weld on 3/8" or 7/16" round for the reins, but the reins can be drawn out. Most farriers' tongs are about 14" long, finished, and are commonly designed to hold 5/16" stock. Blacksmith tongs can be that small or longer depending on the work to be held and the comfort of the smith. Tongs are forged of high carbon steel or a respectable alloy steel if they are large tongs for use with a power hammer, especially in industrial applications. 4130 or 4140 steel might be a good choice. For these tongs, the reins are never welded on for reasons of safety. The reins are normally a long taper in width, the thickness staying the same as the boss. The three-shouldered method of hogging out a flat tong jaw is shown in the British book, "The Blacksmith's Craft" and the book by Ernst Schwarzkopf, "Plain and Ornamental Forging." The first shoulder demarcates and starts the jaw. The second shoulder defines the base of the jaw and begins to flatten the pivot-boss. The third shoulder finishes the boss and begins the rein. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

I was fourteen when the family went out of state to a family reunion in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. It took place on the old Pratt family farmstead. We had the usual barbecue, croquet, darts, etc. The kids there were strangers to me, and for some reason, I didn't want to deal with them. I thought that they were pukes. Not far from the house and front yard stood a large barn. The farm had not been a working farm for at least twenty years, so there were no animals around. I made my way toward the barn and around to one side where the large doors were located. They were locked, so I kept on going to the far side where there was a smaller entrance door. I tested the latch and slowly opened the door. I entered into what I now describe as a sanctum. The light within was dusky with a few of the sun's rays coming through sporadic cracks in the wall. The floor was straw covered, and my steps sent up tiny bits of straw and dust motes that became accentuated in the sparse sunlight. When I looked to the left, I saw a complete blacksmith shop with a wooden floor. The shop was adjacent to the end wall and took up about one quarter of the total floor space of the barn. Nobody was around; the place was silent. I was transfixed. I approached the shop; it was just as it was left maybe twenty years ago, but the tools and equipment were much older. I first went to the horseshoeing box, and I handled the tools and nails. I then went to the anvil, forge, and vise. There was a drill press and there were shelves of unidentifiable hardware. Time was suspended. I tried to imagine the tools in use. I'm not too sure how long I was away from the others, maybe an hour. I finally exited and found the family. They were curious as to my whereabouts, and I just told them that I went for a walk. This ethereal experience set the tone for what would happen 13 years from that time. I finally called a farrier and got to apprentice and travel with him. This allowed me to escape from a desk job and fullfill a long ago dream. The dream expanded into my becoming a blacksmith and opening a blacksmithing school. I found out much later that a psychologist named Abraham Maslow wrote about such episodes, and named them "peak experiences." They are often eidetic and if one pays attention, they can alter one's life, hopefully in a positive manner. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

I've always used the oxidizing torch tip, but one time I waved it a little the wrong way and blew a hole in the screen. Start over. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

If you're going to stay with the knuckled barrel, we sometimes over tighten the knuckles a tad, and drill them out with a pistol drill, looking for a bare metal finish inside. Using the vise and drilling horizontally by teasing the drill in at a slow speed is safer than using the drill press, the latter often being grabby. The old hinges I've seen seem to have a very small upset which I think was done cold. I have a three knuckled, rusty, antique H-L hinge from New Orleans with forge welded barrels. The pin upsets are not visible. Perhaps the barrel ends were countersunk and the annealed pin ends were cold-upset into the countersinks, filed, and burnished. If you ease the hinge joint by working back and forth at a red heat, nobody said that you needed a slack tub. You can just stand there and work them until cool, thereby avoiding "thermal shock" and perhaps uneven contraction. It just takes longer.

A scroll can be made based on the "golden rectangle." In fact, one of Penland Craft School's logos used to be that depiction. However, in the real world, scrolls can be based on varying radii, as long as the expansion rate from the center is constant (exponential?). I have a nicely shaped sea shell that does not follow the golden proportion. We can also look at the Chambered Nautilus or a snail shell, each with its own interpretation of what a scroll should be. In the British book, "The Blacksmith's Craft," there is a section on forging scroll tools. The scroll for the tool is bent free hand using hand hammer, anvil horn, and bending forks w/wrenches. One of the most difficult things is to draw a scroll full sized and try to make a scroll form follow the drawing. It takes many trips back and forth from forge to drawing, bending and unbending, and can lead to frustration. It is easier to take an already made scroll tool, oversized, and rotate it over the drawing until it "fits," making an allowance for the scroll stock thickness. One can make a soapstone mark on the tool where they believe the scroll ends. Then it's time to make a test scroll to see whether it's the right size or not. The soapstone mark can be moved in or out until the scroll is the right size. It helps to arc weld a square or rectangular module of flat M.S. into which the scroll is supposed to fit. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

Mike, My info is from an old bulletin,* which lacks tempering temperatures. Normalize 1,600 - 1,700F Anneal 1,400 - 1,450F Harden 1,500 - 1,550F in oil In 1966, the typical percentage analysis of E 52100 was: Carbon .95 - 1.10 Manganese .25 - .45 Silicon .20 - .35 Chromium 1.30 - 1.60 * "Heat Treatment and Properties of Iron and Steel", National Bureau of Standards Monograph 88, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1966.

Off topic. I missed Clifton. I was Indian dancing at Tecumseh Lodge Powwow, Tipton Fairgrounds, September 4-5, 2010.

When I got started in this game, I used boiled linseed oil, but sometimes if the metal was overheated, I got a dark olive drab color. I have seen enough olive drab, so forget that one! Then I tried mixing beeswax, turps, and linseed oil. It was time consuming and noxious. Presently, I use old fashioned Johnson's paste floor wax, applied with a cotton rag. It works, and I apply it in open air or with the doors and windows open. I normally apply it when the metal is about 750-800ºF. The heat is above the temper rainbow, 630ºF, and below a black heat about 850ºF [?]. I'm in New Mexico, so on interior work, it lasts up to 5 years, maybe longer. In the saline environments of Houston or San Pedro, I don't think it would last long, at all. I believe the guru on anvilfire calls what happens when applied, "caramelizing" a culinary term...but it also means that when heat is applied, the material turns a dark color. In any event, you'll get a semi-gloss black finish. For exterior work, it's advisable to use primer and paint. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

Who would've thought there would exist electronic shills?

"En la casa de herrero, Cuchilla herrumbrosa." In the house of the blacksmith, A rusty knife. "En la casa de herrero, Cuchara de palo." In the house of the blacksmith, A wooden spoon.

I would be tempted to use 3/4" square at a minimum. This will give you heaalthy tenons, 3/8"D or larger. If the tenons are round in section, you can make cold chisel marks around the hole before peening them over. This helps keep them from twisting after installation. The marks will be covered by the peened head. My "ice cream parlor" chairs were made in Mexico as "saloon or cantina" chairs. They are of 5/16" round MS and below the sheet metal seat, each leg is of two 5/16" rods parallel for about 4" and then twisted. Each foot opens into a U-bend, about a 2" spread. The stretcher (brace) is a horizontal square joining the four legs, again of 5/16" round stock. Without this bracing, you'd be in trouble. It is important not to underbuild. I made a coffee table once with legs that were too slender. Even with the stretcher, the table vibrated like mad, if bumped. I started over. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

I've been smithing for a long while, but I haven't yet attempted to forge a leg vise. To do so, you would need to be considered super-advanced in this craft. I do have some references, not all of which I can find on the net. > 'Restoration of Leg Vises' Parts I,II,III,IV by James R. Melchor & Peter M. Ross. "Anvil Magazine" Vol. 26 #7 July 2001; Vol. 26 #8 August 2001; Vol. 26 #9 September 2001; Vol. 26 #10 October 2001. [hard copies] These articles are excellent source material with good sequential photographs of Peter Ross working. > http://www.anvilfire.com FAQS, "Blacksmith Vises" by Jock Dempsey > "Complex Hand Forging: Bench Vise" by Tom Latané January 2001. I don't have a source for this four page handout. It was given to me by a student. Latané shows the leg vise forging procedures with some line drawings, except he does not complete the leg length, because this is a bench vise. These two addresses came with the handout: Tom Latané, P.O. Box 62, Pepin, WI 54759. Contact Charlie Bateman for a square threaded nut and bolt. 6201 Edgewood Avenue, Woodburg, MN 55125. > "An Adventure in Leg Vise Rebuilding" by Tom Suter is currently on line from the home page menu of the New Jersey Blacksmiths Association. Suter has some good information with a few line drawings. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

One method is shown on page 76 in Otto Schmirler's "Werk und Werkzeug des Kunstschmieds." He shows a shouldered block of steel with square legs either end, clamped in the vise. The 30º hole is in the center of the block. The drawings seem to show that a vertical hole is slit/drifted on the work piece and then the piece is placed on the block. When drifted again, the drift must take the angle in the block below it. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

When I was young, I used to see ads for Plumb brand hammers which stated, "Exclusive rim temper." I see on the net that they still have the rim temper which "helps prevent incidents of chipping and spalling." I don't know how it is done in industry, but I have done it as Thomas describes. I might advise that if the haft is still in the head, to protect the haft from catching on fire with a wet rag. I use a snug fitting, turned eye on 7/8" square stock, leaving enough extending for a handle. I apply the eye at a welding heat, which surprisingly, is not often enough heat to draw the proper temper color of the face (normally a dark straw). Sometimes, I'll have two tempering irons in the fire, just in case. The face is abraded to bare metal to better see the temper colors. The THEORY is that the face should temper to a straw or dark straw (430-470ºF) on a forging hammer and the "rim" of the face to a "softer temper color" because the heat is conducted from outside in. In my experience, this may happen to a degree, but in real life, the softer temper colors are not too noticeable on the rim. Nevertheless, I consider the smithy rim temper to be efficacious. Based on my experience and my reading, there is the possiblity of a forging hammer face "hollowing" or at least, "flattening" with prolonged use. The fairly hard temper in the straw range helps to prevent this from happening. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

A friend gave me a "retablo" with a picture of St. Dunstan grabbing the devil's nose. In New Mexico, a retablo is a flat board upon which saints are painted. They are hung on the walls of many homes. The following is written on the reverse of this commercial retablo. "St. Dunston Patron of Blacksmiths, Jewelers Armorers and Locksmiths. Dunstan was archbishop of Canterbury in the 10th Century. He was banished by King Edwy for accusing the king of having sex! During his exile he took up blacksmithing. The devil came to him in the guise of a woman. Dunstan recognized the devil and caught him by the nose with his tongs. In 957 he was restored to office by the new king Edgar." http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

Strickland has more tools than I do, but I have collected more fly ash. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

I like what you have done, although my images are Xed out. We call that a cleft weld or a bird's mouth weld. I did one on a mild steel digging bar which we split. A 4" length of high carbon steel was driven into it. So far, it has held up over the years. A friend and I fixed a broken vise leg by lap welding, and it worked. We had the original leg to re-attach, so that helped. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

I don't know of specific classes. One of my "grad students," Lar, is in the area and may know something: larnotlars@msn dot com The Rock Ledge Ranch, a living historical farm, is in Colorado Springs, and they formerly offered occasional weekend workshops in smithing. I offer six day intro classes in Santa Fe, 375 miles south of Denver. I've demoed at Vista, Santa Ana, Cazadero, and Petaluma, CA. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

All shoulders should be radiused for strength. The radius acts like a gusset. As a beginner in smithing, I read in "The Blacksmith's Craft" that one should put a 1/8" radius on the near and far anvil-face edges. The radii run from the step to almost the middle of the waist. All of my anvils have this feature, and it was done with an angle-sander. As a rule of thumb, all shoulders should be reduced about one half the thickness of the stock you start with...ON THE FINISHED TONGS. This means to shoulder not quite half thereby LEAVING A FINISHING ALLOWANCE for reforging, fine tuning, and perhaps, grinding. Therefore, starting with 5/8" stock, the jaw will wind up being 5/16" thick. A sharp angled, inside shoulder may "gall" the metal, even if using mild steel, and with repeated use, may develop a crack. Again, referring to "The Blacksmith's Craft," the authors suggest forging each tong shoulder at a welding heat. They do not explain why, but in my experience, it makes the job go quickly and there is less chance of getting the small heat checks that you often get when shouldering and working at a red heat and below. On older anvils I've seen in the U.S., this radius idea may vary. Many of them had a radius on the far side only. Some had the radius going in length from a 1/4" radius down to a point of zero. To each his own. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

Two tidbits which will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks, along with some money. In much of old Mexico, the horseshoes are made of rebar. In fact, a friend from Veracruz says that most customers won't allow a shoe to be nailed on unless it has some raised ribs showing on the thickness. At a drunken party, the subject of rebar came up. One guy says that rebar was invented by a woman. Another responded, "No crap! These women are getting involved in everything! What was her name?" "Reba McEntire." http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

I started as a farrier with a rounding hammer which has a ball face. Peens are smaller than faces. Presently, for most of my work, I use a cross peen. I reserve the ball peen for a few things. One is cold and hot riveting. If the rivet is beginning to bend, it is more easily caught with a peen/angle blow to bring it back to center. When heading a rivet in a heading tool, there is less chance of hitting the tool itself, when using a ball peen or ball face. The scarf on the side edge of a flat bar prior to T-welding can be done with a ball peen. If you have a spoon bowl already shaped and thinned, it can be sunk hot into a wooden block starting on a flat place and using a ball peen. It will make its own cavity into the wood. The bowl can then be fine tuned over a ball stake. The ball peen can be used as a top-tool bob punch, but should be struck with a brass or copper hammer. I make horsehead hoof picks, and I make the cheek of the horse with a small ball peen used as a bob punch. As a horseshoer, I would draw the thin projection [clips} off the side/edge of the shoe with a ball peen. The ball end of some of the newly made hammers has a kind of radiused "conical" shape, whereas the older ones had a spherical ball. The older, well made hammers had a nice octagonal section between eye and ball. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

It depends. 4" jaw vises are fairly common, but if you're seriously blacksmithing, it's nice to have a 5" jaw and above. True confessions. I have a leg vise fetish. I saw one on evilBay about 7 or 8 years ago. It had 7" jaws and I could tell it was a Peter Wright by its nice lines. I asked the seller for a photo of the screw, and he complied. It looked almost mint. The vise was missing its spring; U-shackle; jib key; wedge; and mount. I bid and got the vise for about $175.00. Additionally, the shipping was about $45.00. But Hey! I wanted it, and I knew I could make the needed parts. I got it installed right away, and it is my personal vise. I'm not sorry I spent that much, and I'm not sorry for the sweat equity. In use, it has paid me back many times over. To each his own. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

Robert Owings took my class many years ago, and then went to Germany to study for a while. On the trip home, he was able to go through France and by chance, visit a French rural smith. After visiting for a while, when he left the smithy, the smith gave him a pair of tongs for a gift. They were much like your lag screw tongs except the straight jaw had a small bend upward at the end, toward the curved neck jaw. Robert stopped in Santa Fe when he reached the states heading for California. He showed me and my class the tongs and we liked them, but we didn't have a name for them. I had an old retired swabbie in that class, and when we asked for a name, he said without hesitation, "How about French Tacklers?" So that's what they're called in our shop. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools