George N. M.

Thomas,

I will check tomorrow.

G.

Dear All,

This anvil has been my primary anvil for 30+ years.  IIRC it weighs about 180-200 pounds.  I bought it from an antique store in Leadville, CO in the early to mid 1980s.  It has absolutely no markings unless there is something under the base and I'm not going to dismount it to look.  I'm hoping that someone may be able to offer an identification based on shape and the fact there are no markings.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

I suggest that you replace some of the 90 degree triangular shapes with some that are 60 degrees so that you can forge a equilateral triangular shape.  Also, I would place the round shapes on the edge in ascending or descending order of size of radius.  That way, if you are closing up a round shape such as a socket you can move from one shape to the next size easily.  As you have it laid out you might have to go to the side of the swage block or turn it over 90 degrees.  Not the most efficient way to do it.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand"

One last thing:  The decision to form a legal entity or pay the premiums for insurance turn on a risk/benefit ratio.  You have to decide how much risk you potentially have, how much risk you are willing to tolerate, and how much money and hassle are you willing to pay to reduce that risk.  Basically, you have to decide "For what could someone sue me?" and "How much could I lose if someone sued me successfully?"  If you are a hobby smith selling a few hundred dollars per year of bottle openers and do dads at craft fairs you probably have very little risk.  If you have a large shop with employees and are selling thousands of dollars per year of architechtural ironwork which could injure someone if it failed you probably want as much liability protection because you have larger potential liability and more to lose.

Dear Jason,

The basic concept is that when you form a corporation, a limited liability company, etc. you have created a new legal entity to replace the natural legal entity, you.  The legal entity is the owner of the business and has the liability and even if you own the legal entity it stands between you and whoever wants to sue for whatever grievance.  It may be easier for an insurance company to get their little heads around insuring the XYZ, Inc. metal fabricating company than John Smith, Blacksmith.  As I have said before, the trick to this being effective is to keep your personal finances and the company finances separate.  This is where a Certified Public Accountant earns their pay.  Listen to him or her.

There is a story of William the Marshall (13th century) dancing with the ladies in full armor while waiting for a tournament to start.  He may have said, "You'll have to pardon my dancing, I'm a bit rusty."

What most folk think of as a "suit of armor" is often 16th century jousting armor.  That said, when someone with money went to an armorer to get a set of armor there were usually parts that could be added or removed.  For example, the helmet that would actually be worn in combat had a fairly open face because limited vision in a battle is not a good thing and for better ventilation.  For jousting, a visor with much more limited vision and heavier plates would be added.  A small vision slit works if all you have to see is your oncoming opponent.  the same is true of the rest of the armor, various plates would be added for the joust.

The same set of armor configured for the joust could be much heavier than it would be for actual military service.

Because it was thought very cool to have pieces of armor fly off at impact some pieces of armor were spring loaded so that if the opponent hit the target just right pieces would fly high into the air.

I have seen a person wearing a full set of historically correct plate armor turn a cartwheel.  Hardly so limiting to need a crane to mount a horse. 

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

If it ain't true it should be.

Late addition to the thread re tongs:  I once heard an Islamic tale that Allah gave the first smith the first tongs because while you can use rocks for hammers and anvils you need a pair of tongs to make a pair of tongs.

Dear Frosty,

IIRC the widmanstatten pattern reflects the crystal structure of the original meteorite.  Therefore, it might not show up unless a stock removal surface was etched by acid or time, just like pattern welded steel does not show its details until the surface is exposed to something to which the steels react differently.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

This thread is drifting a bit but I think that the interaction between the smith as a merchant and the potential customer is important.  For me, the social interaction is an important part of what I get out of a show.  It isn't just about the money.  But, I'm fairly gregarious and social and like the interaction and conversation.  I like educating the folk about the craft.  I'd be lying if I didn't say that it is an ego stroke when people compliment my work or are amazed when I answer in the affirmative that, yes, I made everything here.

That said, there are times when there is some sort of connection between a particular person and a particular item.  There have been times when someone has come back several times to visit a particular item.  You can see they really, really want the item.  Often, they cannot afford what I am asking for it.  And sometimes I can sense that the item just should be with them.  So, I'll take what ever they can afford to give me.  On occasion, I have just given it away to them.  Good karma and cast bread upon the waters.  I have traded my time for someone else's pleasure and I have never felt short changed.

Also, I think it important to have a prepared "patter".  This is particularly important for folk who have a hard time ad libbing.  I could explain what a penannular brooch is and how it works in my sleep.  I've probably recited it thousands of times.  Something I have used at SCA or Celtic events to call people over to my booth is "I have bright shiny things and sharp pokey things!"  Much of my trade seems to be women buying gifts for their men folk.  I encourage that with "Anyone who says it is hard to shop for men has not shopped at my booth."

Maybe at the end of the day it doesn't matter too much if it is craft or art.  If you have connected an object and a person and they have traded you their money for your time and skill it is all good.

The mention of a gargoyle reminds me of a story of a medieval craftsman who was carving a statute for placement high in a cathedral.   He was asked why he was finishing the back of the statue, which would never be seen, as finely as the front.  He replied, "God would know and I would know."

This has been a very interesting thread and has brought up a number of things that I am going to have to consider.

I have always priced my items by the time I put into them.  I figure that all I really have to sell is my time and skill.  For years I have figured my shop time at $50-60/hour (maybe it is time to give myself a raise).  If an item takes me half an hour to produce I price it at $30 or so.

I'm not sure that I am comfortable increasing my prices by a factor of 2, 3, 4, or 5 just because a certain set of customers can or are wiling to pay that amount.  This seems to resemble the communist adage of "from each according to their ability" (to pay).  Is my time any more valuable to a wealthy person than it is to a person of more modest means?

I am going to have to think about the idea that craft has a practical function while art does not.  A safety pin will hold a garment together as well as any brooch.  Does that make all brooches art?

I'm not sure that I am comfortable with the idea that art excites an emotion.  Disgust and revulsion are emotions as valid delight and a sense of beauty.  Maybe I am just not sophisticated enough but I have always thought that art had something to do with beauty and is pleasing to the eye.  That said, I have seen plenty of art that I would not want to see every morning when I get up.  There is plenty of ugly in this bad old world and if I can produce something to counteract that in some small way that is a worthy goal.  Also, who is going to put down good money for something that excites negative emotions in themselves or others unless they are going for some sort of shock value?

Maybe, in an ideal world we would just all trade time.  For an attorney who charges $150/hour for his time my half hour object would cost $75 but for a teacher who makes $20 it is $10.  I once knew a judge who set fines that way.  A person with a well paying job would pay a higher fine for the same offense as a person with a less well paying position.

I'm still unsure of how I would lower the bar for other artists who are selling different objects in different mediums by selling at an average lower price.

The point is well taken re one unique object versus multiples of nearly identical objects.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

I know that this is a late addition to this thread but I have always wondered if these early iron objects were made by a process other than forging.  For example, stock removal or casting.  I know that many iron meteorites do not forge well but they may lend themselves to other technologies.  If bronze blades are made by casting and then polishing might some bronze worker have cranked up his furnace high enough to melt the odd lump which fell from the sky and poured it into the same mould as he used for bronze?  This might require some experimental archeology.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Dear All,

I was recently invited to participate in a fairly high end art show by a friend who is a weaver and fiber artist.  I had to decline because we are in the process of moving and my inventory is too low to participate anyway.  I sent her photos of my booth and typical goods (brooches, neck rings, knives, pendants, kitchen ware, iron roses, Thors hammers, etc.) and she told me that it is a good thing that I wan't able to participate because multiples of a particular object would be discouraged.  Everything should be one of a kind and fairly expensive, nothing priced at less than $100.  This was a new concept for me and I wonder if this is what may be a practical difference between "Art" and "Craft."  I had never thought that "Art" or beauty had to be unique and expensive.  Personally, I would rather sell ten $10 items than one $100 item.  That spreads my skill and talent to 10 times as many people and, assuming that my customers are happy to acquire whatever they purchase from me, I have made a ten times larger contribution to the happiness of the world.

Any thoughts on this?  In particular, whether it is better to sell a few expensive objects or a larger number of less expensive pieces.  Also, how this is viewed in the "Arts" community.  Was my friend in left field?  Would I be somehow lowering the bar for other artists in other media by selling duplicate items at a lower price.

My late wife told me that while I have a lot of talent and produce things of beauty I do not have enough odd personality quirks to really call myself an artist.  So, I have always been proud to be a craftsman.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Dear Chuckbuckeye,

I have found a good way to disassemble garage door springs is to cut the coil into about 12-18 inch pieces, then heat the whole short coil up, place it on a horizontal piece of pipe held in a vice, and then pull the end of the hot coil out horizontally to get a long, sort of straight piece of spring steel which will go in a rack or lean up in a corner until you need it.  You could do some calculations to see how long a coil you would need to generate, say, a 6 or 8 foot straightish piece after unwinding.

Have fun.  I've had good luck with garage door springs as raw material but check how it works and hardens before you put much effort into it all.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

I have used garage door springs as raw material for fire steels with good success.  However, I once had some that would not harden in a water quench.  Also, usually good for punches and other small tools.  If you make any chisels carry the flattening up into the body of the tool so that it is easier to index in use.

"By hammer and hand, all arts do stand."

Another suggestion re a gypsy mount:  Start with a softer metal and work up to what you want as a final product.  Try distorting the mounting hole in lead or pewter then work up into copper or bronze.  Trying to start out with, say, pattern welded stainless would probably be an exercise in frustration.  

There are some very nice cabbed emeralds out there.  There may even be some star emeralds.

You can get some nice an inexpensive cabs from jewelry supply places on the internet.  I like garnets but you can get practically any precious or semi-precious stone in a cab.

I think the kind of bit that gives you a flat bottomed hole (no starting spike in the middle or spurs on the sides of the bit) is called a forsner bit.  Maybe someone else with more experience can elaborate.  You will almost certainly need a drill press to do this.  You don't have enough control with a hand held drill.  You might be able to carefully excavate a hole with a dremel tool.

IMO, the only person you need to please and delight is your beloved.  That is who you are going to spend the rest of life, not your or her family.  I gave my wife an antique Italian miniature painting brooch which had been my mother's as an engagement gift and she loved it.  Everybody, their dog, and their dog's dog give rings as an engagement gifts.  If you think she will enjoy something different, unique, and beautiful from your heart and hand do not be afraid to go for it and be a nonconformist.  She will tell the story for decades of how loving, thoughtful, and unique you were.

Just my personal thoughts:  I don't particularly care for diamonds, they are too cold as a primary stone.  They are fine as an accessory stone to set off something else but not as the centerpiece.  The idea of diamonds as an engagement ring was a marketing ploy by DeBeers in the 1920s to stimulate sales.  Prior to that engagement rings were not common.  It has worked very well.  Because of advertising many people think that it is not a proper engagement ring unless it has a big honkin' diamond in it.

I find colored stones such as emeralds, rubies, and sapphires to be much more attractive.  My late wife had an emerald wedding ring and my present wife has one with a sapphire.

Also, at least think about a cabachon (sp?) stone which is domed on one side and flat on the back.  There are some very nice stones in this cut.  I like the "star" ones in particular which have (usually) a six pointed star in the reflection on the surface which moves around as the light shifts.  The technical term for this is asterism.

A simple way to mount a cab stone is to drill a flat bottomed hole in a ring just slightly larger than the diameter of the stone.  Then, when the stone is set into the hole upset the sides of the hole to grip the stone by striking inward towards center with a pointed punch.  If you use the point of a triangular shaped punch you can get a nice sun burst pattern around the stone.  I'd also use a drop of epoxy as insurance.  I believe this is called a gypsy mount.

Sorry to be so late to this thread but it sounds like you have some time.

Just an odd historical factoid:  When the State of Colorado Constitution was published in 1876 it was done in 3 official languages: English, Spanish, and German.

Dear Rockstar,

Theoretically, you can have such a provision in a subcontract but there are many jurisdictions which prohibit this sort of thing by statute as a matter of public policy.  Too many subs were getting stiffed and, oddly enough, the generals were somehow staying in business and making a profit.

Performance bonding can sometimes be an insurance but let me tell you, from experience, that collecting for anything from a bonding company is not a joy and pleasure.

Often, the subs have significant protection through liens on the project property.  

Dear Slag,

Although it has been 30+ years since I graduated from law school I still think of myself as a "recovering geologist."  It's one day at a time and you are never completely cured.  Whenever I get an urge to hit a rock with a hammer or make a map I call someone up and they talk me out of it.  "My name is George and I'm a geologist.  I've gone 27 days without hitting a rock with a hammer." (applause)  When the bottom fell out of the minerals industry in the early 80s I didn't want to go to work at Burger King or 7-11 (I never wanted to say, "Do you want fries with that?" professionally.) I went back to the Univ. of Wyoming and went to law school.  It's been fun.  Inside job, no heavy lifting.  I've been a blacksmith since the late '70s and that has been fun too.

Contracts and contract attorneys are for the small percentage of times when things go bad.  Attorneys get paid to look for and prepare for the worst case scenario.  Most contract and agreements go just fine but the few that go bad justify all the preparation for the worst.  However, it is hard to quantify a negative.  You can't tell a client that you saved them X dollars in litigation costs and judgements because of the way you drafted their contract.

One of the nice things about being a blacksmith is that while I have had to deal with ideas and paper all day long I get to deal with something very tangible at the forge.  That has been a real saving grace and one of the reasons that I have not burned out as an attorney.

G.

A lot of the time various waivers and hold harmless clauses are there only to discourage claims and litigation.  They are unenforceable in a court of law but serve to deter people who have a valid claim.  Whoever drafted the language knows perfectly well that it has no legal effect but if it can serve to avoid, say, 50% of potential claims it has served its intent well.

Rockstar, because of the question of one governmental entitiy's authority over another one building permits and building code compliance can be problematical.  For example, a state office building may not have to meet a local building code or obtain a local building permit or even comply with local zoning because a local government cannot regulate a "superior" level of government from which it derives its authority.  This will vary from state to state and may be addressed by statue but it can lead to some interesting results.

Also, in CO there is a provision in the state Constitution which prohibits "pledging the public credit."  This was enacted in the 19th century to prevent local governments from issuing bonds or making loans to support shaky railroad promoters who promised to bring a RR to town.  Now, CO governments can use it to avoid any hold harmless clauses in contracts because that would be "pledging the public credit" to a private party.  I believe that other states have similar laws.

I agree with Slag that it would be pretty tough to present a cheat sheet on contracts here.  It is a very complex area of the law and even a contracts course in law school only lays the general groundwork.  There wasn't much in my contracts course that helped me in slogging through the AIA contract templates.  Getting ahold of the bar exam review materials on contracts is a good start but remember,  they are intended as a memory aide to people who have already been through law school, not to educate someone who has no prior knowledge.

Fortunately, at blacksmith level the best binding contract is usually a handshake.  The blacksmith does the work, the customer pays, and everyone is happy.

I don't know what is available in your part of the world but adding something like turpentine or some other dryer to the linseed oil may mitigate the drying/stickiness issue.

Dear Rockstar,

Another issue from the property owner/client perspective is the cosy relationship between architects, engineers, design firms, and contractors.  They will all be working with each other again and do not wish to foul their nest for future projects by calling BS on one another.

Almost 20 years ago the County I worked for at the time passed a bond issue to build a new Human Services building.  Once the voters approved the bond issue we knew the maximum budget for the property (in CO a government cannot incur multi-year debt without a vote of the people).  We went to the architect and asked for a design within the budget.  They came back with a design and cost estimate and when we put it out to bid the lowest bid was about 50% greater than the budgeted amount.  The excuse was that the cost of steel had increased.  I thought that is something the architects should have been keeping track of.  I can see being off 10-15% plus or minus but that much means all they were doing was a WAG.  We had to cut back the scope of the project considerably to get it within the budget.