George N. M.

People with more expertise with post vises than I have will give you better comments and suggestions but one thing that struck me is that appears that the threads in the center part of the screw are obviously more worn than the ends. I don't know if it is enough to make a practical differende in use but I think that you should be sure that there are enough threads left that the vise will work and hold once you have somehow repaired the screw box. Also, I don't know if someone skilled in welding or brazing cast iron could just weld or braze the screw box back onto the vise. In use the force would be compressive against the vise. So, the weld/braze is not going to get a lot of force on it. That may be the easiest solution. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

UK census records are sealed for 100 years (in the US it is 72 years IIRC). So the most recent UK census available through the UK National Archives website is 1921. Depending one Elenore"s age (say early 20s during WW2) she might show up as an infant or small child in the 1921 census. If you know where yur grandfather was stationed in the UK you might check the area around where he was stationed. My wife is a geneologist and you can see that some of it has rubbed off. GNM

I also agree with Gewoon. A heat deflector sounds like a simple and elegant solution to protect the garage door. A sheet of steel, aluminum, or even plywood suspended by cords or wires from hte edges of the garage door would work. Just angle it up towards the outside so that the hot air will spill out to the rest of the world. I have a modified Sandia type propane forge which has a chimney rather than venting out the ends and if I put my hand over the chimney with my arm extended over my head it is warm/hot but I doubt it would melt a plastic bag. The hot gases from the forge, particularly one that hs "dragon's breath because the exhaust is turbulent, mix with the surrounding atmosphere pretty quickly and the heat is diluted. You could even do some experiments witha themometer to quantify how haot it gets at farious locations and distances above the forge. Yes, I would protect the vinyl garage door because melting a hole in it is a bad and expensive to repair. GNM

'I'm in agreement with Frosty that there should be no problem running a propane forge in the rain. Any drops that hit it will immediately evaporate. However, while the roge is cold you will want to move it inside or cover it with a tarp to keep the liner dry. Look back at Alexandr's postings. Fairly recently he had a picture of a wood chimney cap shaped like an umbrella that he had done. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Billy, since the "Elenor Shaw" is etched into the blade it probably was done as a special order. She could have been the wife or girl friend of someone in the British Forces who ended up trading it with your grandfather for, say, American cigarettes, after Elenore "Dear Johned" him. As good a speculation as any. G

Horner is kind of an odd duck in the paleontolgy community. He has done some great stuff and has helped popularize the science but in many ways he is more than a half bubble off plumb. If you ask 5 paleontologists about him you will get about 12 opinions. And there is a reason that he is not affiliated with any university. He would be awful in a classroom. GNM

Davor, actually, I would suggest that you could just make the mast a little bit shorter and place the single spar at a height which falls between the two you have done. And, if possible place the mast more towands the middle of the hull. Maybe you could have two boxes for tea lights, one before and one aft of the mast. Also, could you please describe how you measured and formed the two strips forming the sides of the hull? That strikes me a geometrically complicated. Was it a fit and cut approach or did you have it all calculated out before hand? G

Scott, from what I have observed over the years on The History Blog is there only occasionally any follow up regarding conservation. Sometimes when there is an announced conservation effort on a well known painting or a mosaic there will be a later follow up showing the before and after versions. I think Livius, the lady who runs the History Blog, gets her material from internet press releases from museums, archeology authorities, the general and specialized media, etc. and repackages them for posting on her blog. So, if there is a special find there may or may not be another one after conservation. I have seen conservation posts on jewelry, paintings, mosaics, and a few other things but very rarely on iron objects. Most resposible museums know their limits on conservation and will only estend the process to significant artifacts, particularly those that are intended for display or detailed study. Otherwise, the artifact is stabilized, if necessary, and filed into the collections. Some of this is due to the conservative attitude of "do no harm" to the artifact and in hope that there may be a better way to deal with conservation and restoration in the future. And, yes, there are lots of folk out there who find something and do not recognize its significance and discard it or just set it in the corner or on the mantel as an interesting souvenir or try to "restore" it themselves, e.g. removing rust with a wire wheel. GNM

Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming. Glad to have you. If you put your general location in your profile we will be able to give better answers to some of your queries. This is a world wide forum and as far as we know you could be in Lapland, Kansas or Tasmania. Coal slag/clinker is basically impure glass because the commonest impurity in the swamps when the coal was being laid down was sand and silt which was washed in. So, any use of coal slag would be about the same as ground up glass. It will melt at about the same temperature and will abrade anything softer than itself. Because the melting point is fairly low, it did melt when the coal was burned, I don't see much use for it as a refactory product which would be exposed to higher temperatures than its melting point. Ground up to about pea gravel size slag is an excellent medium for traction in ice and snow. Anyone who lives in snow country and has access to slag/clinker should carry a container of it in their vehicle. And give it as a strange but very useful gift to friends and family. It works much better than sand or cat litter because it is sharper and more "grabby" and is a good size (sand is often too fine). Back in the day before road salt was a thing cities would spread crushed coal clinker on the icy streets for traction for horses, wagons, and pedestrians. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." PS In my experience "slag" are the molten impurities which accumulate on the top of liquid metal when refining ore, e.g. iron, and are poured off and discarded. "Clinker" is the unburned residue remaining after coal is burned. They are close to interchangable but IMO not quite. One implies a refining process while the other refers to a residue which is similar to ash when burning wood. My 2 cents.

Very nice, Davor. I like how the strips outline the hull. My only issue is the Viking ships only had one spar (the cross piece on the mast that holds the sail), not two as you have done. That kind of clangs esthetically for me but might not be an issue for other folk. Other than that, really, really good. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

You may have seen it already but there is a style of bootjack that looks like two single shot black powder pistols joined together at about the lock. Here is one: https://www.alamy.com/bootjack-dated-c-1939-dimensions-overall-225-x-28-cm-8-78-x-11-in-original-iad-object-10-long-medium-watercolor-gouache-and-pen-and-ink-on-paperboard-museum-national-gallery-of-art-washington-dc-author-john-price-image225625234.html?imageid=E5AAE177-85A2-423E-BE9B-9E81812287F7&p=697458&pn=1&searchId=7406b9cdb2be772591ae9f6c4767b29b&searchtype=0

PS Francis Whittaker once said that there is always room at the top but, unfortunately, that is a narrow niche and hard to break into. Even though I have pretty much worked carft shows and ethnic events and sometime done what I think is pretty well in that niche I have had to plan and strategize markets, target demographics, inventory balance, etc.. There is a LOT more to it than just being a good blacksmith whether you are just trying to make a hobby pay for itself or trying to have a significant revenue source. And, yes, there are a LOT of ticky-tacky homes being built and furnished. People are moving out of the cities and there is a big push for low and middle income housing and that often means multi-unit dwellings, condo and apartments. Not much call for hand made fixtures there. And given high mortgage rates and the cost of even "mid" level homes folk don't have the money for custom and unique fixtures. GNM

Jason, yes, taste and trends in architecture and interior decorating change over the years. Everyone wants something "new" and innovative to set them apart from everyone else. What was popular 25 or 30 years ago might as well be 250 or 300. But it is cyclical and tastes and trends come around again but it is hard to predict if what was "in" 25 or 30 years ago will again be popular next year or in 50 years. It also depends where you are geographically. If you are in the American Southwest Spanish Colonial or Territorial things are pretty evergreen an there is a constant demand. In the Rocky Mountains folk always like ranch or lodge themes. In New England Colonial seems to always have its fans. But some places just don't seem to have the same roots and seem to go with whatever is the current trend. I think this is particularly true in big cities like NYC, Chicago, or LA. At the other end of the scale I have heard someone here on IFI say that something that costs $20 or less and looks good in a double wide will always have a market. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

John, what is the maximum guage sheet metal it will handle? Thx. G

Jen, If you can reach the penetration points from the man lift being beside the building, great. I was visualizing having to be deeper on to the pitched roof. You are right about "professionals" dismissing direction from property owners. It is probably worse for someone of the female persuasion. Maybe you could find a female owned roofing company in the greater Boston Area. And it would need to be someone with experience in installing metal chimneys on metal roofs. That strikes me as something that happens in industrial applications rather than residential. In any case, stay safe. You have had some close calls and I/we want to keep you around the forum a LONG time. G

I'm going to suggest that you may want to have the chimney roof jacks, the upper chimneys, and the stack caps installed by professionals. Working high and outside is not to be approached lightly. As we get older high work is not our friend. At a minimum use a safety harness and have someone with you and a recovery plan if you end up dangling off the edge in your harness. You don't want to be hanging there until Susan is wondering why you haven't come home for dinner and comes looking for you (you may not be able to use your phone). I've got some chimney work to do on my shop and I'm going to have to get a younger friend or hire someone to help me and I only have a 1 story shop (probably about 9' to the eaves and 14' ridge).

Congratulations, Jennifer. Do you expect to be teaching there by summer? G.

Steve, for me it has been winter preventing me from getting out to the shop. We are coming into a somewhat warmer cycle and I will try to get out there in the next few days. When I have something I will PM you for a mailing address. George

All of us have had something that sent us down the blacksmith craft road. Some of us have mentioned it in passing but I think it would be interesting to gather them in a single thread. It will show that there are many, many routes to the craft. So, how did y'all come to be blacksmiths? Did you take a class, and if so why? Was a friend or relative a smith? Did you read about it or see it on the TV or internet and think that it would be cool? Did you want to make something, like a knife, and discovered that you had to learn the craft to get to that end point? Was there some other outside influence that sent you in this direction? Were you a metal worker like a welder or machinist and this was just an extension of skills? For me, I was working as a geologist in Riverton, WY (west central part of the state, about halfway between Casper and the Tetons) in 1978 and on a whim went to an auction. There was a rivet forge and a 100# Vulcan anvil in the sale. I had always been kind of interested in the craft and I had fairly recently become involved with the Society for Creative Anachronism, a medieval reenactment group, and blacksmithing seemed a cool, medieval craft. So, I bought both the anvil and forge for $25 each and started out by getting books from the library and I found some very nasty, slaked (weathered) coal, and rehabilitated the blower of the forge which was covered in pine sap and had a nest from something packed into the blower blades. After I got it up and running and started hitting hot metal I discovered that I liked it and it has been a part of my life for the last 46 years. George

I would guess from the style of the art and the slight coloring that it dates to the later 19th or very early 20th centuries, say 1860-1910/ GNM

Scott, an outfit called Birchwood Casey makes a gun browning solution "Plum Brown." Some gunsmiths use browning instead of blueing. IIRC, it is often used on Kentuky or Pennsylvania black powder rifle barrels. If it is like their browning solution (phosphoric acid) a little goes quite a ways, particularly if you are starting with "white" steel. Like most chemical patinas I doubt it would work directly over forge black. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Billy, you can make something fool proof but you can't make it damfool proof. Unfortunately, incidents like this are often pure darwinian natural selection at work. Your nephew may be working himself up to a Darwin Award. There are some folk who truly are unable to foresee consequences. Too bad because sometimes they are otherwise good people. They just need adult supervision more than the rest of us. GNM

Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming. Glad to have you. Nice score. It has had some wear but has a lot of life left in it. Your grandchilders' granchildren should be able to use it. I'm not sure how experienced a smith you are but incase you don't know, for a right handed smith anvils are usually mounted with the horn to the left. On your anvil the wear on one side of the face is from previous users working on the far edge of the anvil which, if you need an edge, is the easiest place to work. If you put your general location in your profile it will help us with queries and you may be able to meet up with other smiths. This is a world wide forum and we don't know if you are in Lapland, Tasmania, or Kansas. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

IMO, your nephew also needed a dummy slap to get his attention before you said, What were you thinking of??!! You weren't were you!!??" And then another dummy slap at the end to make sure the information was absorbed. GNM

I think the larger and more "reputable" institutions know about electrolysis of the conservation of ferric objects but some of the smaller places and archaeological officers may not be as well informed. I have a good friend who has a MS in Museum Management and a PhD in History and I will ask him about it the next time we talk. I'll let you know if he has anything interesting/war stories to tell. GNM