George N. M.

The type of latch mechanism where you have to lift the latch from the outside with a string or chain is a very old style. Sometimes it would just lift the bar that engages a depression in the fixed piece. In your type the latch automatically engages as the door is closed. There is an expession of welcome in the Western US of "the latchstring is on the outside." The string or chain could be pulled in for security purposes when necessary. Yours is more secure because it would be more difficult to reach something through the crack of the door to lift the locking mechanism than a simple moveable bar latch would be. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

One question: How available/expensive is charcoal (NOT briquettes) in Indonesia? I know it is a common cooking and heating fuel in many parts of the world. You will have to decide if the expense and time involved in making your own charcoal fuel is worth it versus buying a bag whenever you need it. GNM PS One of the attractions of blacksmithing is that it can be very low tech (not much different than the process in 1000-500 BC) or it can be pretty high tech (induction forges, power hammers, fancy heat treating ovens, etc.). And it is all "real" blacksmithing. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

DM, since you are starting smithing on, as we Americans would say, a "shoestring budget", you may want to look at how smiths operated for thousands of years before the invention of modern smithing tools and techniques. And look up videos of how smiths today operate in third world countries in Africa and Asia. The traditional techniques and the modern "low tech" tools and processes are pretty basic and inexpensive. And these smith did/do some very impressive work. In your part of the world look at the kris swords and knives made in Indonesia and the Philippines. All you need is a fire to get metal hot, something to pound on (anvil), a pounder (hammer), a grabber (tongs/pliers/visegrips, etc.), and a hunk of metal to get hot and pound on. Also, great blades were made before the advent of modern abrasives and belt grinders. Look up "draw filing" to get a very nice finish by hand. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

One of the best versions. Pretty much anything by Judy Collins is high quality for me. G

Given the fact that Judy is 84 the abilty to still sing at that level is fairly amazing. The voice is huskier than 50-60 years ago and I am sure some of the high notes are gone but it is still lovely. There was a time when I had a serious "thing" for her. She is originally from Denver and a friend of a friend knew her. By all reports she was/is a genuinely nice person and in no way is a diva. G.

I heard Maddy Prior sing a year or rwo ago and although, like all of us, she has aged she still has her pipes. Judy Collins is the same way. G

Yeah, some of the heavy metal ones where the lyrics are shouted rather than sung leave me pretty cold but I know that some folk enjoy that style although I, personally, can't fathom why. Some of the Steelye Span ones can give me a ear worm since I have been familiar with them for most of my life. G

I'd guesstimate about 2 quarts/liters. BTW, you do need to remove the liner which has all the suspension in it first. It is not like a hard hat where the shell and suspension are all one piece. I have seen field shaving stations where there were a series of mirrors with a peg beneath each mirror. The troops would scoop hot soapy water out of a 35 gallon garbage can which had an immersion heater in it with their helmets and move to the mirrors to shave. G

OK, things I have done with or seen done with a helmet, steel, M1: bucket, stool, pillow, digging tool, wheel chock, pop corn popper, shaving bowl, bathing bowl, and just about any other use that that shape and size will support. Others may add any other creative or mundane uses. GNM

I'm starting a new thread so that it can be added to rather than just adding a post regarding shop music. I have been gathering a list of songs and music featuring blacksmiths and blacksmithing for some time. The genres vary from folk to classical to heavy metal. All are available on You Tube. Please add more. This is non-exhaustive. Song/ Piece Artist Hammer and Anvil The Longest Johns The Blacksmith of Brandywine The New Christy Minstrels The Blacksmith Steelye Span Vysache Vorpal Blacksmith Song Japanese Anime When the Hammer Falls Clamavi De Profundus Bal'Kor the Forgemaster Legend Music (instrumental) Song of Hammerdeep Clamavi De Profundus The Blacksmith Stomp Noble Jacks The Blacksmith Song Aspen Forge: Michah (musical version of Longfellow's "The Village Smithy") The Blacksmith Cruachan Two Magicians Steelye Span Anvil Chorus G. Verdi Polka Francaise Op. 269 J. Strauss (performed by Andre Rieu at Feuerfest 1996) Dwarven Forge Clamavi De Profundus Hephaistos Napalm Records Manowar Blackwind, Fire, and Steel Children of the Smith Blind Guardian Blacksmith's Prayer Seth Lakeman Some of these have been familiar to me for 50+ years and some I just found today. I don't know how the spacing and blacking is going to come out when I post this but it was nice and square when it left me. George "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." "By hammer and hand all arts do atand." PS I hope that there are some new ones here that some folk haven't heard yet. Enjoy.

"Either do or not do. There is no "try'" -Yoda

Yes, socket bayonets have been used for a lot more things than just converting a musket or rifle into a short pike. Soldiers are really good at adaptive uses. Ask any WW2, Korea, or Viet Nam vet about the things you can do with an M1 steel pot (helmet). The modern composite helmets certain ly give better protection but they do not have as many secondary uses. GNM

Would it be safer to drill a small diameter (1/16"/.5mm) hole in the cylinder to release the gas gradually? There must be some way to safely degas these. What do scrappers do? If faced with this I might be tempted to take them out to the rifle range and put a bullet through them from 100 yards or so. Probably not an option in Belgium. Once disarmed I'd salvage the spring and discard the cylinder since the piston rod is chrome plated. PS Re campfires: too many folk don't think that it is a "real" campfire unless it cn be seen from the International Space Station.

Quite a bit of that makes sense. Hard to quantify though. Although I got into blacksmithing about 7 years after I got back from Viet Nam I will say that it has helped me psychologically with anything left over from VN as well as other rough times in my life since. As I have said before, blacksmithing has helped with the tough times and made the good times better. I do think that making things, blacksmithing, woodworking, cooking, sewing, spinning, weaving, gardening, etc. is good for overall psychological health. It is really satisfying to hold something and know that it did not exist before you put your mind and hand to it. I think that if more folk did things like this there would be less need for mental health professionals. Also, blacksmithing is a ind of minor immortality, the things I make will exist long after I am gone. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

My sense is that there is a higher percentage of military veterans on IFI than in the general population. There is probably a psychological or sociological thesis or dissertation in that fact as to why folk who serve are more likely to be or become "makers" of any sort. I will say that blacksmithing is good therapy for stress whether or not military related. Anyway, as I've said before, glad to have you. GNM, LTC, US Army (ret)

This is just my opinion as someone who came of age before the internet but IMO email is not the optimum mode of communication with places like the shops you are contacting because it is too impersonal and easily ignored. The best is face to face contact and the second best is an actual telephone call. If they can't/won't help you you just ask if there is someone they can suggest. That can open up a surprising number of contacts. Also, it is harder for them to turn you down and/or ignore you in person or on the phone. Sometimes the old ways of communication have advantages. And, while you are contacting these folk you can apply the TPAAAT (Thomas Powers Appled Anvil Acquisition Technique) which involves asking every person you meet or talk to if they know of any anvils for sale or available. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

IMO two RR track plate welded together back to back for a bolster would work BUT ....... My concern would be that the back of the welded together plates would not be flat and that would interfere in its use when punching or drifting. All the track plates I have seen have ridges which hold the rail from moving laterally. I suppose you could grind them off. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming. Glad that you have de-lurked. Very nice work. You certainly have the finish part of knife making down pat. Actually, an anvil is about the one of the easiest tools to acquire since any old hunk of steel will work, a bull dozer track shoe or weight, a piece of railroad track mounted on end, or just about anything else. They are all "real" anvils if you hit hot steel on them. Modern London or various European shaped anvils are a fairly new thing in the history of the craft coming into use around the 18th century. Before that smiths did marvelous work on "block" anvils which are still in use by smiths in many parts of the world. You will find that shaping a blade out of hot steel is, IMO, more rewarding than stock removal and, again IMO, easier. You will wonder why you didn't start doing it that way long ago. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

BMTU, also we like getting folk involved in what we enjoy doing. It gives us more folk with which we have something in common. Also, some of us are getting up there and know we won't be on this side of the Rainbow Bridge forever and feel a resonsibility to the craft to pass along some of what we know. Because we were all once beginners we understand the frustrations and difficulties you are going through because we have gone through them too and come out the other side. George

Dear Steve, since these were unavailable for so long they kind of dropped off my radar. Now, that you are resurrecting them so fast it is like drinking from a fire hose. It will take some time to process them. There have been a few, e.g. the mystical things to do to ensure a successful forge weld, that I now recall reading years ago. Again, thank you for all the effort. These are a good resource. Also, are you accepting any new ones? GNM

Very interesting. It would appear to me that on the barrel the iron secured a large hole, maybe for filling, and the smaller hole below may have been for a tap (faucet). I have no idea why such a substantial bracket would have been needed. The church piece would have take a LOT of repetitious work to fabricate but the end result is very impressive. I assume that this is inside a museum. GNM

Hatriot, I hope you've done some reading on how high to mount your anvil. If you haven't, about knuckle high is the classic level but some folk like theirs a bit higher or lower. You want your hammer face to hit parallel to the face of the anvil. A sand box base makes it easy to adjust by adding or removing sand. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming. Glad to have you. Everything in the photos looks great. I might have made the fire pot a bit smaller but that is personal taste. Now, get it all set up and start hitting hot steel and making stuff. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Oh, and one more thing: I keep two notebooks. One is my demonstration notes. If I go to a demo I sketch each step and write commentary beside the sketches so that I don't have to rely on my memeory when I get beack to my shop. I've gone back to notes I took 25 years ago and been able to follow them. The second is my bench book where I write down instructions for my future self. It can be the steps to make X, measurements and calculations for Y, notes on quenching and tempering Z steel, and similar sorts of information which I think my future self will need and may have forgotten. They both have their own value and I use them regularly. Fortunately, I'm pretty good at sketching, probably from my years as a geologist and in the military making terrain sketches, maps, block diagrams, etc.. Not everyone has that practice. If you have a hard time sketching try sketching one of your own projects as you make it. Like the rest of blacksmithing you get better the more often you do it. And, IMO, it is worth the journey. Blacksmithing has been a part of my life for the last 46 years and it has made the good times better and has helped me through the bad times. GNM