Mick

Look now. I'm technologically challenged and have a natural tendency not to follow directions but I think I got it now.

So after around 8 months of creeping up on it I have finally made something. Stole the design off Mike Turner and forged these up from memory of his pics (pun intended). Got a ways to go to match the finish and execution shown by Mr Turner. Took 2 heats to cut and another 5 or 6 to forge the picks. Comments and critiques are most welcome, and I promise not to get sooky over criticisms.

I can understand a small hammer for demos, light to carry, easy to pack away etc. BUT how do you manage the small arm? Do you keep it buttoned under your shirt when you're using your big arms? Is it detachable and you carry it around, in maybe a handdbag? Or do you have one big arm that you use at home in your shop and the other is small that you use at demos? Would this mean you are ambidextrous? If you did lots of demo's would your small arm bet bigger from the exersize, and then you wouldn't have a small arm to use at demos? Sooooooooo many questions.

Do edits count as posts? Like maybe 0.1 posts per edit. That would make this maybe 79.4 posts. Now only 0.6 to go for 80. YEEHA

If all posts were to be judged on the quality of the content..................well its something to ponder isn't it. Anyway 300 is a nice round number.

For goodness sake Mike read your own signature. I would say you have just done exactly that and probably a lesson learned that will not be forgot for quite a while. Remember any fool can make a mistake but it takes a true idiot to repeat it. BTW I really like the idea that you started out with.

That tool would be called Eric

I could knock up 50 of those easy in an afternoon, which side do they want the hinges on? Oh shoot, my doubleoverheadtransmogriphyingperspectivewarper is on the fritz, guess I'll have to pass it up.

Bryce whichever motor you end up with just make sure it's sealed up real tight to keep the smoke in. Once the smoke gets out it won't work any more, and the prettier the color of the smoke the more expensive it tends to be. You now have the benefit of my total knowledge about electricity and electrical devices - please use it wisely.

Mike I double dare ya to try punching the little hanging hole at the top on the next one.

I know the feeling oh so well, Ragnarok, I've got one of the biggest load of brown coal in the southern hemisphere sitting right under me. Brown coal = anthracite. Bugger. I make home grown charcoal!

I'm guessing that 4th from the right 5th pic is for a repeatable hook forged back over the thicker jaw of the tongs

After soooo many years of watching BBC programs I could have sworn Wales was one giant colliery, everyone was a coal miner called David Jones and there were piles of coal on every street corner. And here you are having trouble locating coal. Good luck with the hunt.

I am so glad this thread has been revived, as I have been interested in mobility / enablement aids for some time now. My thoughts on this problem: If I were in the situation of being wheelchair bound, I would not want my shop designed in a way that would exclude friends, visitors from sharing it with me. This would preclude the use of any floor mounted rail type system, or the setting of anvils etc below useable heights for a standing person. The use of any wheeled aid in a smith shop environment would present issues with debris on the floor interfering with wheels. (ever tried to move any hard tired equipment around the shop and got hung up on a small piece of steel or the like.) Straight forward over head rail would restrict movement to a linear layout. In a normal smithing session, a basic triangular layout is generally used - forge,anvil, vise maybe swage block, set out 3 ft to 5 ft apart. So imagine if you will a wall mounted tv bracket on steroids. Two arms, the first pivoting from a fixed point overhead either wall or post, (a variation on this later), the second arm pivoted from the free end of the first (360 deg rotation) . Suspended from the free end of the second arm a chair to suit the user, also with 360 deg rotation, the suspension member offset to place the centre of the load directly under the pivot point. If you can follow the above layout you will see that the arrangement would allow the user infinite and precise positioning anywhere within the range of the two pivoting arms, the chair height could easily be raised or lowered with some straight forward engineering. Correctly engineered, effort required to move the chair would be very minimal, and motive power could be manual, servo motors whatever. Locking mechanisms would keep the chair in the chosen position. Now imagine the whole mechanism mounted on an overhead rail on a traveling carriage, it would give the user access to the entire shop and contents. The system could be made as basic or high tech as budget and or desire dictates. The design of the chair itself could be altered to suit the needs of the user. The user would occupy no more floor area than a standing person, the need to modify tools and equipment would be minimal. The shop would be useable by anyone. Just my thought on the subject.

Perhaps that anvil might work better if it was a little more to the right, no, back where it was, no try it over there!!!!!! Thank goodness furniture isn't as heavy as that anvil. Good looking bit of gear that. Well done.

I also learned my computer skills suck. I posted this twice

Had cause to fire up the not yet finished forge today. Needed to straighten some pins from a horse float I have borrowed and rental cost is repairs and maintenance. I also decided to forge some staples for tethering points. So what I learned was: 1. I am not yet a blacksmith. 2. My forge has a voracious appetite for charcoal. 3. When your anvil only weighs about 40 pounds and it is not mounted you will have to chase it around the shop when in use. 4. When you have no tongs a pair of really long handled pliers are your friend. 5. By the time I figure out which way to hold and hit it, all the red has gone. 6. A centre punch makes a dismal drift. 7. A centre punch used as a hot drift no longer works as a centre punch. 8. I am a much better mig welder than I thought I was. 9. A bare hand is not a good tool for brushing drill swarf of you work. 10. Every small particle within 100 yards of magnetic welding aids is magnetic, and when they stick to the magnet it don't work so good anymore. What I didn't learn was how to get all that magnetic junk off'n the magnets, so they now look like little red triangular porcupines. The staples are now designated as prototypes only and will be refined and further developed soon.

Shoot Rdennett yoiu must by your blades from the same supplier I do. Every blade he sells has got a bend built into it.

Should've been in bed an hour ago, but just had to keep trolling through this guys web site. Great find and good post Sweany, thanks.

Such a mans memory will be enshrined in every piece forged by those who learned from his knowledge and skill. Not a bad legacy to leave. I feel the poorer for not having known of him before now.

I have been to New Zealand many times, the south Island just as many, been through Westport just about as often. They have a hardware store there that I do not doubt sell small ball pein hammers. Probably even have a choice of cheap chinese ones for a couple of $NZ, through to name brands for a few more dollars. Why would you want to make one?????? I guess I'm saying make your hammer out of a nickel bronze alloy, readily available in your pocket, the big ones are $2, the small ones are $1.

I can offer no advice on the anvil damage however that square forged peg on the bottom of the shears just looks like it might fit a Hardy hole. Seems to me it would lay that leg right along the face of the anvil with the jaws sticking out past the horn. Hmmm I was just wondering.

G'day Rraven, Dad was an industrial pattern maker back in the days before CNC, he used huon pine a lot, especially for fine and intricate patterns, it was prized for the closeness and tightness of the grain. The patterns were sealed with shelac an finished with 2 pac estapol. It will also respond well to any natural oil finish. As beautiful as it is to work with it, it is pretty much a bland and featureless timber. Like any unfinished timber and being particularly blonde, it would pick up dirt and other stains if left untreated. By the way the only legal harvest of Huon Pine in Tas these days is deadfall stuff, they are recovering full logs that have been submerged for many many years. Where in Aus are you?

Clinker? Dunno what that is. Anyway have to go out and bag up my latest batch of home grown charcoal now.