George N. M.

This is pure speculation but could this huge hammer head originally have been part of a helve type of power hammer which was subsequently dismantled and a hand handle added? Maybe as a sort of gag/joke to have in someone's shop. I will say that anything hit with it would stay hit. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

We have commented on this before but a surprising number of smiths have spouses who are somehow into fiber arts, sewing, spinning, weaving, etc.. These are known as "steel wool" marriages. My theory is that craft attracts craft. If a person is inclined to work with their hands they will be attractive to someone who also has the same inclination. I have been at blacksmithing events where the spouses are set up outside the shop with their spinning wheels and sewing baskets. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Try King Architectural Metals. They seem to have a selection of various diameter balls. I'd be surprised if they did not ship to Canada. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming. Glad to have you. You sound like you are approaching the craft in a very orderly and logical manner. This is good. Too many folk who have zero experience want to be told how to make a 2 handed sword. You don't have to start with expensive tools. You can start with a JABOD (Just A Box of Dirt) forge, and improvised anvil (a hunk of RR track set on end, a Harbor Freight hammer, and something to grab hot stuff, tongs, vise grips, etc.. Basically, all you need is a source of heat, a "pounder," a "grabber," and something to pound on. Look up the New Jersey Blacksmith Association or the Pennsylvania Artist Blacksmith Association and seriously think about joining. Going to demonstrations and workshops is a very good way to learn the craft. Concentrate in your early projects on making somethong pretty or useful for the CFO. Also, make sure that she knows that this is a hobby that can pay for itself and can even be a source of supplemental income. Ypu'll find a very interesting and welcoming community here at IFI. It is world wide with around 60k folk who have joined but not all post regularly. Folk range in age from early teens to 80s. Education from HS drop outs to advanced degrees. Lots of life experience and blacksmith experience. Just stay away from discussions of politics, religion, or sex and keep your language suitable for a 10 year old girl. I hope you come to love the craft as much as many of us have. I've been doing it since 1978 and it has helped me through tough times and added to my happimess in good times. There seem to be a higher percentage of veterans here than in the general population. All services and dates of service from 50+ years ago to recent discharges. There are usually discussions on Memorial Day and Veteran's Day. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

If you have a problem finding blacksmith coal and go with charcoal DO NOT use charcoal briquettes. They are powdered charcoal with a binder (often corn startch) holding the bits together. In the blast of a forge the burning birquettes will disintegrate and blow into your face. This is a BAD thing. Use solid lump charcoal (aka cowboy charcoal). You could also convert some of your pallets into charcoal. There are a number of threads on IFI about how to do this. Or look up "charcoal retorts." "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

I think the "my grandfather was a blacksmith" comes from the fact that many farmers had a small forge and anvil to do small repairs to avoid having to go into town. It's not unlike the fact than many, if not most, shops and farms have a welder of some sort. In a couple of generations folk will be saying, "My grandfather was a welder." "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Frequent sharpening is a function of how hard the steel is tempered. If you want to make blades that don't need to be sharpened frequently temper to a cooler color such as bronze rather than the more common blue. A harder knife will be more brittle. So, if the anticipated use has a lot of lateral loads on the blade a springier temper (blue) is better. For example, razors are tempered harder because in normal use they have little twisting or lateral force on the blade. A hunting or camp knife which might be used to chop through a game animal's pelvis or rib cage or wood is subject to a lot of lateral force. I have seen knives used that way with big chips out of the edge. You may want to experiment with some samples ("cupons") of a particular steel to see how hard it is and how difficulat or easy it is to break or bend the sample when quenched and tempered in different quenches and different tempers. IMO, kitchen knives can be tempered harder than general use blades because they are generally used just for stright cutting with no prying, etc.. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

You will also get some odd suggestions. One which, while not common, that I've gotten a number of times is that if you quench a work piece between heats it will heat up faster when you put it back into the forge. This, of course, violates several laws of thermodynamics. It is hard for me to deal with something that is so patently wrong. I usually say something like I've been doing it this way for years and it would be tough for me to change my ways. A common question is if I shoe horses. I say, "Sure, shoo, horse, shoo." (while making shooing motions with my hands). I also say that it as a farrier's job and that all I know about horses is that one end kicks and the other end bites. You will also have to explain that steel is a poor conductor of heat when folk see you holding the end of a piece of steel of which the other end is orange hot. GNM

Just don't try to bend it. ;-) I recently assembled a similar modern made one. Little has changed in the design in the last 150 years. You can use either wood or metal for the slats for the seat and back. In your climate I would suggest metal ( maybe rectangular steel tubing) with a good rust resistant finish. GNM

Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming. Glad to have you. Your bench is almost certainly cast iron which is made by pouring molten metal into a mold rather than wrought iron which is made by heating and bending iron or steel and then fastening the individual parts together with rivets, bands/collars, or welding. Also, cast iron has a different chemical content (very high carbon content) and cannot be forged and has a much coarser crystalline structure. When subjected to a force it will fail by breaking rather than bending (brittle rather than malleable). The marks appear to me to be factory part marks/numbers rather than any kind of company touch mark or trade mark. It was almost certainly made in a factory or foundry. Individual craftsmen were not set up to do cast iron pours. This is a semi-wild guess but I would date it as late 19th or early 20th century. The details in cast iron are "softer." This is similar to the difference between cast and struck ancient coins, e.g. the difference between a cast early Roman dupondis or as and a struck denarius. (Just to tie back to your mention of numistmatics.) "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

John, nice work. Anything worth doing is worth overdoing. GNM

One of my standard pieces of advice to new parents is to take lots of embarassing baby/toddler pictures so that you have plenty of blackmail ammunition when they are teenagers, e.g. "Be home by midnight or your girlfriend gets an 8x10 glossy/posted on social media of this one." It works surprisingly well. Avoiding embarassment is one of the strongest motivators for adolecents. Those of you with young children take note. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Will, you don't need to forge weld to make excellent knives. That is only necessary to make pattern welded/damascus blades which are not superior to a blade made out of a single type of steel. They may be "prettier" if your aesthetics run in that direction but they will not be superior cutting tools. Design, forging a shape, grinding/filing, heat treating, building a hilt, and leather work are IMO skills that should be mastered before getting into pattern welding. Also, in my experience only about 20-25% of building a blade is actually forging and heat treating. The rest is all bench work, grinding polishing, hilt and handle making, sheath making, etc.. That is why I don't do knives that often. I'd rather be hitting hot iron. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming. Glad to have you. First, you need to decide if you want to use a propane forge which I think is where you are going from your post or a solid fuel (charcoal, coal, or coke) forge. A very basic solid fuel forge (JABOD, Just A Box Of Dirt) can be slapped together in an hour or so. All you need is some lumber and a blower (a hand held hair drier will do). This is not much of a "project." Look at some of the JABOD threads here on IFI. I agree with Swedefiddle, getting involved in a local group is a very good way to get involved with the craft. Look up the Great Basin Blacksmith Guild which I think is the closest ABANA affiliate to you. I hope ylu and your son find the craft as rewarding as many of us have. I have been doing it since 1978 and it has helped me through bad times and increased my happiness during good times. It is a hobby that can provide a supplemental income which few other avocations can do. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

What did they use to fasten the rails to the ties in NZ? I know in some places around the world, particularly where wood is scarce and expensive (not a problem in NZ) athey use steel ties with the rails bolted on. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Will, I would say that 1/4" is more than enough, maybe even a bit too much. Don't forget the old adage, "Forge thick and grind thin, if a good blade you would win." Before starting I suggest taking a amall piece of the spring, maybe 3 cm by 6 cm and experiment with heat treating to make sure what you plan to do will work. Heat and quench and test for hardness. Then temper and test hardness and maybe malleability by putting it in the vise and seeing if it will bend or break when hit sideways. Some springs are made of odd alloys which are hard to heat treat in the shop. I've had some that would never harden. You don't want to discover a heat treating issue after you have put in your time forging and grinding. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Brooke, the blacksmithing craft has certainly attracted all of us. I've been doing it since 1978 and it has been a positive addition to my life. It has helped me thought tough times and increased my happiness in good times. It can be tough as a career, just as any single person skill can be tough as a sole source of income, but it can be a nice supplemental source and it can pay for itself, which is something that most hobbies cannot do. Browsw around on the IFI site and the internet to see what sort of things can be done. There are some marvelous things out there. Also, your skill will be continously improving. We all started as rookies. Good luck and I hope you stick around. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Let us know how it goes. One thing that I have learned is that you cannot demo and sell at the same time. You can do one or the other but not both. If you want to do both you will need to take someone else along to handle the sales. You can keep up a patter with the spectators while forging but you can't show folk things, make change, etc. while running the forge. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

If you are at an event where other merchants are selling things like shawls and blankets penannular brooches are good. There was one year where I was demonstrating at the Colorado Highland Festival at Estes Park when the weather was authentically Scottish, intermittent rain and blustery. All the fabric merchants quickly sold out of shawls and blankets and I couldn't make penannulars fast enough for everyone who wanted one. Also, folk would huddle around the forge to get warm and then feel obligated to buy something. I did very well that year. Standing under my fly beside the forge I was perfectly comfortable. Also, making miniature "swords" out of double headed construction nails for the kids is always popular. Nothing complex or time consuming. I would say that the longest time you should allow for one item for which folk will watch is no more than 15-20 minutes and maybe not that long. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Welcome aboard, Brooke, from 7500' in SE Wyoming, USA. Glad to have you. Even though the anvil is about 200 years old there is life in the old girl yet. It could be put back into service easily. Any wear can be worked around. Personally, I would like to either see you develop an interst in the craft an put it back into use or see it passed on to a working smith who would use it. Old tools are best when used, not made into decorations IMO. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Very nice work, Jobtiel, but I have one suggestion: I would replace the phillips headed screws with something else. They just look out of place to me. Domed rivet heads, diamond headed nails, even slot and dome heaned screws would be an improvement. Keep up the good work. GNM

IHC, given your location your punch may have been used in the railroad shops on the NP High Line in Glasgow or Wplf Point. You might check ebay for values of Atha tools. I just did a quick check and there are lots of Atha hammer heads and hammers and a few blacksmithing tools. One seller was calling a punch of smaller diameter than yours a "railroad hammer" and asking about $50 for it. There were other blacksmith tools somewhat more expensive than that but only one or two over $100. I think John's suggestion is a good one. It advances you financially and may get the punch to someone who may be able to use it. I am always an advocate for putting old tools to use. I've had some experience with winters in your part of the world and I will say that you guys really know how to do winter. Nothing between you and the North Pole but a 3 wire fence. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyomi9ng. Glad to have you. To expand on what Thomas and Irondragon have said, it is a tool used for puching 5/8" diameter holes in hot steel. You do not swing it like a hammer. You place the round punch part on the hot steel and then hit the wide part with a hammer driving the business end into the hot steel. When you are about 3/4 of the way through you flip the work piece over and puch from the other side. When the holes meet a slug of hot metal drops out the bottom. You usually do this over the hardy or pritchel holes in the anvil or a hole in a swage block. BTW, it is a nice tool but 5/8" is a good size hole to punch. I suspect that it was primarily used in an industrial application rather than a small balcksmith shop. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Shaina, while it happens more commonly with things like copper, bronze, and brass steel can work harden too and become brittle. If you are doing much cold work on something it is not a bad idea to periodically heat it up to about mid-red (non-magnetic) and then let it slowly cool. placing it in something that insulates it and lets it cool slowly like lime, vermiculite, wood ash, etc. will be best. Cracks and weak points can develop other ways too but it is best to avoid all, or as many as possible, causes of failure. And, every time something like this happens you learn something and are less likely to do it again. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Chief: The 1/4 step down you mention argues against a 1 1/4" plate being welded to the top of the anvil. The weld line may indicate something else or nothing at all if someone was futzing around with a welded and just wanted to practice laying a bead. That said, be critical and a bit suspicious when inspecting it. Don't expect a Vulcan to ring like a bell but the sound should be consistent across the face. That and the amount of rebound are your 2 most important criteia. One thing to watch out for is an anvil that has been through a barn or shop fire. It may look good but the heat has drawn the temper of the face plate and it will have a very poor rebound. There are difficult ways of retempering the face but ity involves big fires to heat the anvil red hot and a very large quenching tank or something like a lake, river, or ocean for quenching. And, manipulating a 300 pound red hot hunk of iron can be interesting without things like overhead cranes or an engine lift. And no mylon lifting straps! Only chains. Don't be afraid to point out issues and problems with the anvil to the seller and how they reduce its value. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."