Mike Ameling

As I recall, the COSIRA group has plans for a simple forge and it includes such a round bellows. The organization and their plans are for "developing countries", and setting up simple businesses that people can work. The CINVA Ram is another type of simple tooling - for making consistent mud/clay building blocks. It forms and compresses them by a hand lever system.

A lot of those simple technology plans have a lot of value and ideas for you to gleam from. Of course, a lot of their plans are for gardening and raising animals. But they also have stuff to help you turn it into a small business.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

I made up a version of this for hanging/displaying key rings at Jay's Big River Forge. I took a bunch of variable length 1/8 inch round rod, and tapered one end. Then I gave it a quick wrap with some utility wire, heated the "bundle" up, and twisted it. This gave the "trunk" of the tree a pleasing twisted branch look. Then I heated up individual points, and bent/curved them out with a little upturn on the end to hang the keyrings from. We then welded it to a round domed and textured plate for a base - heavy on the thickness for that base. A bee's wax coating finished it off.

If your base plate is dished enough, you can make a hole through it and hide all your arc welding underneath. Or you can taper the other ends as well, with random lengths, and bend/twist them out like tree roots and then do a couple discrete welds to hold it onto your slightly domed base plate. It would look better with just a few of the outside "roots" twisted down on the base plate, with the center core pieces being flush with it or passed through a hole in that base plate and welded underneath.

It sat on the counter in the retail room at the shop - right next to the register. We kept an assortment of the leaf and little fishes key rings on it.

But I had to make a second one. Somebody talked Jay out of the first one - for hanging ear rings and jewelry! I don't remember what Jay charged them for it. I hope he got shop rate. But I think it was more of an "advertising incentive" on a big railing or spiral staircase project.

So it goes.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

The big problem I have with my historical reproductions is that I usually charge my "working person" price instead of a "commissioned art work" price. It's one of those judgement calls you make at the time. And it has led to a bunch of repeat business.

With my reproduction flint strikers, I charge what many consider to be a high price for them. I started charging $10 to $15 for them years ago. After seeing my pricing, a bunch of the local people making flint strikers moved their prices up to my pricing level - but their work quality varied quite a bit. Then I shifted up to $12 to $15 for them. Very few other have moved their pricing up. This year, after a dozen years, I've shifted my pricing up to an average of $15 each. A few people have decided to match that, but most say they will never sell costing so much. But mine always sell. The quality of the work plus the historical research behind it tell in the end. People searching for the absolute cheapest price buy from those other guys. Those comparing quality of workmanship tend to buy from me. Too many of those other guys only put in the absolute bare minimum effort/time into forging their flint strikers, and it shows in the end product.

In the end, the quality of the work you do shines through. And applying the same level of quality workmanship to the simple/basic things also shows in the end. Otherwise you are just competing for that bottom rung of the marketplace.

But some people start right out charging "commissioned art work" pricing. They are looking for that top end of the marketplace. But too often their clientel become educated about what truly is quality work and shift to other sources.

With time/experience, you develop a "feel" for the pricing in your area. Just keep all those behind-the-scenes business considerations in mind.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

I've though several times about making some twisted bronze bracelets out of atlas metals bronze. That would be a more work but would also be a xxxx of a lot more interesting. I think you just motivated me to buy some bronze.

Over the years, I've made a bunch of the Celtic cloak pins (also called blanket pins) from brass brazing rod.

I cut the main part to length, chuck it in my drill, and the "taper" it on the bench grinder. It's quick and simple to do a long taper that way. Then I will heat up an end and use scroll pliers to put a little curl on it. And then I heat up the whole piece and bend into a circle. I often use the kitchen gas stove to heat up the brass rod. And for the "pin" I use some very small diameter brazing rod, file a quick point on one end, heat the other end and make that "eye loop" with scrolling pliers. Tweak it open a bit, slip it onto the large "c" part, and tighten the eye. A little emery cloth shines them up nicely.

And sometimes I heat them up and "forge" them square, and then twist them before bending into that circle. Plus you can flatten/flair the ends as well. A ... light ... rubbing with emery cloth shines up the high points while leaving the low parts darker.

The only point to remember in making them is to leave enough gap between the main ends so that the rotating pin can pass between them - and having that pin long enough to go all the way across and extend a bit past the other side.

They are a good project to do some "mass production" on. Make up the pieces for a half dozen or a dozen at a time. Just do each step on all the pieces, then move to the next step - cut to length, taper the ends, scroll the ends, heat and bend into the C or Oval shape. Then do the same for the rotating pin part.

They are a fun ... tinkering ... project.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

Ah, to be able to get "shop rate" on projects. Tiss a noble quest!

First, there is that distinction/difference between doing this as a Business, and doing it as a Hobby to make a little extra beverage money.

The "hobby" pricing tends more towards covering physical costs of materials, plus a little extra for the labor - just to make a little extra pizza/beer money. But that usually does not cover the ... infrastructure ... costs - building/land, tooling, insurance, taxes, depreciation, bookkeeping, etc.

"Business" pricing has to figure in all those ... extra costs. In his Cookbook, Francis Whitaker said that for every "billable" hour spent forging/working on a project, there is at least another hour of "shop" time that cannot be directly billed to a project. That extra time is for the normal business overhead. So what you charge for a project needs to cover that additional hour of time you cannot directly bill for.

And then there is your marketplace. Some locations will pay more for good iron work. But many will view it like fleamarket or garage sale junk/pricing. Plus they also tend to think that you BOUGHT it somewhere else just to re-sell, so you can ... dicker down ... on the price to not make as much "profit" off of them! And sometimes you still want to slap some snit who looks at the price and then goes storming off muttering that you must think it's made of gold! They don't see the 15 hours of work at below min-wage you spent making that. All they see is that they like and want it, but expect to pay pennies-on-the-dollar for it --- just like at most fleamarkets and garage sales.

And then there is all the competition with the cheap/import junk sold by so many stores and vendors. You just can't compete against that.

Selling "campfire" iron work at living history events is a rough market. Too many people want the better or fancy work, but they only want to pay the lowest possible price they ever saw for a similar item - no matter how many years ago that was. Plus you will be competing with all those "hobby" smiths who only want to make a few extra bucks to pay some of their costs and cover some extra pizza/beer. That level is only slightly above the junker/closeout fleamarket garage sale marketplace.

So pricing is a pretty mixed bag. On some things you will easily make back your costs plus some profit. On other things you will mostly end up losing money - but gaining experience. Plus what people want to buy varies from year-to-year or even week-to-week. A "hot" selling item today may never sell again. But too often the one item everybody wants is what you do not have along, or only had a couple of.

Big projects require a good commitment to full shop pricing. You have to figure your time, your materials, your "overhead", and then try to figure out how to make some profit off of it -- without scaring them completely away from "sticker shock". In the end you usually just hope you don't lose money making it for them. Water and beans instead of pizza and beer.

Just a few humble thoughts to share on a very complicated question.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

Several lady friends showed me the ... use ... they found out for the leaf keyrings I gave them. They use them to help open their pop-top beverage cans! Instead of sliding/using their long fingernails to pull up the tabs. Just slip the leaf under the tab and pull/lever up.

Works for them.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

p.s. I generally use 3/8 round rod for my leaf keyrings. About 1 1/2 inches of it makes a good leaf if you hammer it right.

But there also are some videos showing fire starting with a traditional flint/steel. I know several people have found some, but I don't know what they searched for. Probably used that "traditional" word in their search.

I have a dial-up connection, so I don't watch videos.

Yeah, they now call those modern ferro-cerrium rod fires starters FLINT! Even that tv show SURVIVOR calls it FLINT. More traditional words given new meanings/definitions.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

Many years ago, I made up a simple story-board of forging a leaf keyring. I made it up to bring along when doing a demo. It helped explain the steps/stages I was working on - without having to repeat myself too often. And, at the time I made this up, I was still using a spring fuller to neck in behind the lump that will become the leaf. Now I just lay it over the corner of the anvil and fuller it in that way - quicker/simpler.



Leaf keyrings are a good project for a public demo at something like a threshing/steam engine show. You can generally get one made up within 5 to 20 minutes - depending upon how much you talk and show the people. And you can complete it before the attention span of kids gets tooo stretched!

But I usually end up giving them away at the shows. There is usually some little kid there intently watching it get formed/forged out. Or some cute girl watching.

One time I had a young girl (around 5 or 6) watching while her parents were a few yards over talking about some old gas engines with another guy at his display. You could see the ... excitement/amazement ... in her eyes as that bar of metal took shape - with lots of running commentary. When I finished it, I put that ring on it and then handed it to her to look at. And then I told her she could have it. She beamed that smile, said a thank you, and went bubbling over to her mom to show her. A minute later she came back and handed it back to me. She said she ... did not have any keys to put on it! I smiled and suggested to her that maybe her mother had some keys and might like it. Another beaming smile and thank you, then off she went skipping over to her parents.

Aaah, the simple thoughts and world of children.

Mikey - that grumpy ol German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

p.s. My friends and I have sold the leaf keyrings at the threshing show demonstrations. Pricing has been a little ... funny ... with them. At $3 each they will sell all day, and almost as fast as you make them. At $4, people think about it a while before they buy. At $5 or $6, they tend to pass them by. At $8 or $10, other people start to get interested in them (but want to dicker a bit). When Jay had the Big River Forge retail store open, we sold them for $10. At that low price they are viewed more as a fun souvenir of the show. At the higher price they are viewed as an art/sculpture piece, but you will sell fewer. But too often people see them as just a ... trinket. So I tend to give away more of them - to people who really do appreciate them.

Ah, I see. The angle in the pics made it that edge look thicker than it was.

Too many people don't understand that working edge when actually branding cattle. They end up with something that will mark wood OK, but blotch on a hide.

Now, if I ... re-work ... a little bit ... an old Rocking B ..... um ... aaah ... never mind!

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
- with a small modest herd of poor "slow elk" that have lost their way ...

I am thinking my problem is the stone and the shape of the edge. Danged 4th century technology!

4th Century Technology? Yeah, but actually 4th Century B.C. technology - or earlier. The earliest documented/dated flint striker is from around 500 years B.C. - dated by the coins that were buried with it in the tomb. That "carbon dating" can be off a couple hundred years or more.

On the striking surface. Some people prefer a wide/flat striking surface. Kind of like the Frizzen on a flintlock gun. But in my experience, I have found that a narrow striking surface works better. It "concentrates" the force into a smaller area - making it a little easier to chip/dig out those little bits of steel. So I often find myself tilting a striker slightly to the side - so that I strike my sparks from along one corner/edge.

Real flint just works better. It is easier to get a thin/sharp edge, and it is stronger so that it holds that sharp edge longer before crumbling. But you can use most any rock that you can get a sharp edge on. I've used granite, quartz, agate, limestone, even slate. It was just harder to get that initial sharp edge, and then have it hold up longer than one strike.

Also check the angle of your flint and steel. That sharp edge needs to slip along your steel and dig in. Too great an angle and the flint won't dig in. Too shallow an angle and it won't dig in either - just scrape along it. Somewhere around a 45 to 60 degree angle seems to work well.

Good luck on you ... quest for fire.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

Nice little project.

Any significance to the Rafter Three W brand?

I take it that this is just for branding wood, not for use on cattle. The "edge" design ain't right for branding cattle - too thick.

Making branding irons do force you to be ... creative ... in their design.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

p.s. Just don't get caught with a "runnin iron" in some territories!

Here's a group I made up for a small town festival. I gave them to be used as Door Prizes. And I've had a number of inquiries since then. I just did it to help out the town festival. But that "advertising" does pay off. The little fishes were initially cut out with a pattern plasma cutter. Jay over at Big River Forge came up with the pattern in larger sizes for some of his lawn-art stuff. And then we shrunk it down for keyrings.



Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

I noticed that nobody gave you the standard WARNING!!!! Blacksmithing is ADDICTIVE!!!

For years, my standard ... schpeel ... when describing what I did was to tell people that

I torture a lot of iron, and occasionally make something!
That way there is no "false advertising".

Or even called myself and

Alleged Blacksmith and Known Iron Torturer


There comes a time when learning about blacksmithing that you just have to pick up a hammer and start beating up iron. It's the only way to really know HOW the metal works under the hammer.

And then one day, some better known and more experienced blacksmith will walk by and give you that little "that's nice" or "I like that" comment. At that point it will take you a while to get your concentration back and get back to working on whatever you were doing.

As to gaining experience. The best story I have about that happened many years ago. I was at a mountain man rendezvous gathering. A young man showed up with a few minimal blacksmithing tools and pieces of assorted found "scrap iron". And then he started to work. His skill level was at that early "learning" stage. Well, somebody asked him about getting a simple camp fire set - that classic two uprights and crossbar for hanging pots over a fire. Well, the "kid" talked with the guy a bit, they shook hands, and he proceeded to make the set. But he didn't have enough square stock to really make it. (I think he couldn't afford to buy much new stock at that time.) So he took a pair of COIL SPRINGS (from a car) that he had brought along, straightened them out, HAMMERED them SQUARE, then made the two uprights and crossbar! WOW! The work involved in that! But he made them right there, got a lot of extra experience doing it, and they really looked good when he was done. And a lot of people watched him working on that project.

So like most things, skill comes with experience.

And then there are those kids you talk through making a simple S hook as a first project. And then they pick up a big chunk of iron and ask: Can I make a sword out of this? You don't want to discourage them, but you do have to tell them No. And then explain that success on one minor little project does not instantly turn them into a master swordsmith!

Blacksmithing - Humbling experiences just come with the territory.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
--- with a scrap/junker pile to be proud of!

Those saw maker's anvils were originally made for forging up saw blades. Later they were used more for adjusting and truing up big circular saw blades at lumber mills.

They are a normal anvil - with a hardened steel face. They can be used like any other anvil. They just don't have that "horn" on one end, and don't have a prichel or harder hole.

Over the years, I've ended up with two of them. One is rectangular anvil with a loop handle welded on end to help you carry it. It weighs around 100 pounds. And then there is that BIG one. It runs closer to 200 pounds. Rectangular with a slight taper up to that flat top face.

Knife makers do like them - when they can find one. You have that large flat face to work with. You can do all the normal blacksmith work on them. You just have to get a little more ... creative ... because you don't have a horn for shaping.

Just measured the big one. The face is 5 1/2 by 10 1/2. Base 7 x 12. And it is 10 1/2 inches tall. I can't remember the actual weight. I checked it many years ago. The small one is 6 x 10 on the face, 7 x 10 1/2 on the base, and 5 1/2 inches tall. It weighs 85 pounds on the junker bathroom scale - but we all know how THOSE lie.

The Fisher saw makers anvils are fairly hard to find. In Postman's anvil book there is a picture of the Fisher companies anvil display for the World's Fair - early 1900's. As I recall, they showed a 1200 pounder! Along with one of most every size they made.

So it should be a good user anvil. But check the steel face to see if it might have gone through a fire and gotten annealed.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

One additional thought.

"Medium Red" may not have been the right temp. It all depends upon how You see that red color. The best way is to use a magnet. The "critical temp" for heat-treating is that point where a magnet will no longer stick to the steel. That is the point when you need to quench it.

But if it is hotter than that critical temp, then the grain structure in the steel gets altered and expanded. And the quench can be off. But if it is too cool, then the quench won't take and it won't harden up.

So until you can fairly accurately tell the color of that critical temp when a magnet will no longer stick to the steel, it is best to use that magnet to check.

Now, I usually quench with plain water. Oil cools the steel at a slower rate. So that can also affect your striker. I have had little experience using oil, but I know a bunch of people who always oil quench. It's a matter of what works for you.

But my gut feeling is that the steel you used was off to begin with. So I would suggest making your next striker using some known good high-carbon steel. Those lawn mower blades are great. And I also pick up those modern hay-rake teeth down at the local Farm Fleet store. They run around $1.30 each. But you end up with around 30 inches or so of 1/4 inch diameter rod by the time you straighten it out. I cut them into 5 inch lengths to make that classic C striker, or that Scottish snail striker, or that double snails or rams horn striker. I flatten them out first, then taper the ends. And then form the rest of the striker. And the last thing I do before the normalize/thermal-cycle/heat-treat step is to use a Flatter on it. This evens up and smooths out the sides.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

Well, a number of possibilities here.

Chinese files tend to be junk steel. They usually are made from low carbon soft iron/steel inside, and then are Case-Hardened on the outside. This means that only a few thousandths of an inch have enough carbon in it to strike sparks. And most of that is in the file teeth. Even some "good" modern files are made like this. Most older files and some modern "good" brands will work - like Nicholson. Those are still made with high carbon steel throughout the whole file.

That is also why knife makers will do a heat-treat check on a small chunk of a file - to see IF it will heat-treat. That way they don't put many hours of work into making a knife only to end up with junk at the end.

What gets called "drill rod" can still have quite a variable carbon content in its metal alloy. And many people will take a piece of junker "welding shop" rod to weld onto a drill to make an extra long drill bit. The drillbit end can have good tool steel in it, but that long shaft often won't.

And when you blend in other metal alloys, you can end up with "steel" that will get very hard with heat-treating, yet have very little carbon content in it. Those other metal alloys giving it the hardness (chromium, magnesium, nickel, etc.)

And then there is that chert. Was the edge truly sharp enough and thin enough, and hard enough to dig/chip out little bits of steel from the hardened striker? Chert tends to be more brittle than flint, and the sharp edges crumble back a lot faster.

What you are trying to do is chip/dig out little bits of the steel from the striking surface of your steel. The harder that steel is heat-treated, the easier it is for that sharp rock edge to chip/dig out little bits. The energy of chipping/digging out those tiny bits, along with breaking of molecular bonds, heats up those tiny bits of steel hot enough that the carbon in them burns. That carbon burning is the little "twinkling" you see in the sparks.

Plus the hardness of a striker is greater than the hardness required for a good knife blade. Those need to be hard enough to hold an edge well, but not too hard that they are brittle. A good striker needs that extra hardness.

So a lot of little things could possibly be wrong. Or several could be combined and throwing things off. The first step is to start with good high-carbon steel. A good Spark Test should show that. Make sure that you see lots of those twinkling little sparks. If possible, compare to some pieces on known high-carbon steel. A lawn mower blade would be a good choice, but not a wrench or screwdriver. Those have too much other metal alloy mixed in. But the tines from a hay/manure fork are generally pretty good carbon steel - another possibility.

And sometimes your ... technique ... for striking sparks might not be working right. With a known good flint striker, it's then easy to tell when your technique is working right. With some unknown quality of flint striker it gets more complicated.

I hope these rambling thoughts help.

Let me know if you have more questions.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

The Matthew Edel blacksmith shop in Haverhill Iowa was run up until he died in the 1920's or 30's. It still used the overhead mounted bellows. And then it was closed up by the family, and then donated to the County/State in the early 1970's - with EVERYTHING still in it and in place when he died! What a wonderful place to explore! Overhead lineshafts, single cylinder engine in the back to run things, home-made helve hammer, and ALL THOSE LITTLE specialty tools made over the years for projects! It even still has the pairs of horseshoes hanging in the rafters with the farmer's names tagged - for swapping out winter/summer horseshoes. A typical small town blacksmith shop.

The local chapter of UMBA (Upper Midwest Blacksmith Association) meets there all the time, and demonstrates there during "tourist season" - May through October.

But he was still using that bellows for his forge up into the 1900's. Yes, hand-cranked blowers were available, and he even had one there next to the brick forge. But the bellows was still there and connected for use.

And his NORMAL everyday hammer was a 5 POUNDER! One tough older man!

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

p.s. The big problem with rebuilding a bellows or building a new one is the cost of the leather. The rest is just a little careful wood work. Bealer, Andrews, Watson, Weygers all have good info on a bellows.

That "insurance adjuster" that followed the fire trucks is a scammer! Report him to your insurance company and the police.

Yes, check that insurance policy for a "replacement" clause. Otherwise you will just get the check and have to do all the chasing about to find replacements for your anvil and tools.

But also check your policy. Many "home owners" policies do not cover shops/tools - especially if you "charge" for things. That would require a "business" insurance policy. A friend had a small fire in his attached garage after welding something for a friend of his. The first question asked by the insurance man was ... if he had charged his friend for the welding. He said no, he just did it to help his friend. If he would have said yes, none of his claim would have been covered under his normal household insurance policy. Once you "charge" or "sell" something, the shop part shifts over to being viewed as a "business".

Historical note: A friend did his Doctorial Thesis on the early blacksmith shops of Wisconsin - part of an art/history/museum program. So he researched all the early blacksmith shops he could find to write about. And along the way he found out that MOST burnt down at some point - some several times. So when he planned out his blacksmith shop, he "planned" that it might burn down at some point in the future - well distanced from his home/vehicles/family. And also well accessible for the fire department. He never did have a fire, but still planned for the possibility.

My shop has very little in it that might burn, and it is separated from all other buildings. Plus the couple plastic and canvas tarps that make up its sides would not generate enough heat to damage the temper on the tools inside.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

Aaaah, that ... ancient ... web site of my about flint strikers. I really really need to redo it - as I learn this newfangled language on these "infernal machines". And add a ton more information and pictures. One of these days.

One little "hint" when forming up those two styles with tight spirals on them. I draw the end taper out, then start the spiral either over the anvil edge or with scroll tongs. Then tighten it up. After I reheat it, I clamp that started end in the corner of my vice with the rest of the rod sticking up. Now I pull/wrap it down around the part of the scroll already formed. Tighten and true up on the anvil. Then re-heat, clamp it in the vice again, and pull/wrap the next section around that which is already done. The tight spiral goes pretty quickly that way.

This way, the only tricky part is getting that first full curl on the spiral. The rest is just wrapping it around the part already done. And stopping before you have toooo much spiraled up! But you can always straighten parts back out easily.

And it is so much more fun than just making that classic C or "n" style strikers.

Have fun with the ... students.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' german Blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

p.s. I now have reproductions of specific early flint striker styles on display or in use at the National Museum of the American Indian, Grand Portage National Monument, Museum of the West, the New York State Gananodaga Indian village site/park, the Jamestown/Yorktown Volunteers Association, 5 or 6 State parks, and even the Museum of Welsh Life over in Wales.

Thanks Mike, that is very informative. Do you mind if I print your pics and descriptions for future use? Appropriate credit of course and I'll ask permission if it looks like something that should go in our Newsletter.

Thanks,

Frosty

Go right ahead and use them if you can. The information is already written up in various books, I just kind of condensed it. And these are only around a dozen and a half styles/shapes. There are several dozen more out there that I know of.

Such a simple tool of everyday life, and such a long history of use. Yes, some of the fancier ones tended to survive better, but some are so simple/basic and survived well over the centuries. Every time I forge up a new style/shape that I found in a book or museum, I have a NEW FAVORITE for a while. I usually have one thrown in the pocket with a musket flint.

There are a number of You-Tube videos out there showing how to start a fire with flint and steel. I haven't seen them since I only have a dial-up connection. And there are also several descriptions of using one on a number of web sites. I have a simple description on my "ancient" web site. The Viking Answer Lady has a good description. And the Northwest Journal - the online publication of the Canadian Library system for their schools has some good description and tips. I'll see if I can get a copy of my version and post it here.

Of course, if you are a blacksmith, you can always start a fire by hammering an iron rod to heat it up. Take a 1/4 to 3/8 inch rod, and hammer it cold on your anvil. Rotate it often, and use moderate blows. You want to put the energy into the iron instead of just flatten it out. With each hammer blow, the iron will get hotter. Hammering it fast enough and long enough will get the end glowing red in a little bit. Then touch that glowing red end to your tinder material to start it burning. Yes, it does wear out your arm pretty fast, and you will need the time spent turning that burning/smoldering tinder into a full fire to recover. It's a neat trick. And all you do is hammer the iron cold. (OK, that will also send you to Hell - for beating cold iron - but what blacksmith ain't already heading there for not charging enough?)

Thanks

Mikey - that grumpy ol' german blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
- who just got back from my folks place for Easter

Thanks for the kind words. They are really appreciated.

And I have copies of the 4 known books about flint strikers.

FIRE STEELS by Cacciandra and Cesati isbn 88-422-0687-3 A very good boo, but kind of expensive. New runs around $85, but I got mine used through alibris for less than half that.

FIRE-STEEL or GLI ACCIARINI by Sanctis and Fantoni isbn 88-7143-118-9 In English and Italian. Nice little book with good pictures.

MEDIEVAL FIRESTEELS by Spiro Svoronos isbn 0-9761088-0-1 A nice little book, but most strikers have cast brass handles.

THE BRYANT AND MAY MUSEUM OF FIRE-MAKING APPLIANCES: Catalogue of the Exhibits published in 1926. No isbn. Great early information. But they only show pictures of some of the flint strikers in the museum collection.

And then there are lots of books that have information and pictures in them - but usually just a picture or two, or a paragraph or two.

Decorative Antique Ironwork: A Pictorial Treasury by D'Allemagne isbn 0-486-22082-6 has some pictures/info spread throughout it. But it has TONS of pictures of early iron work - and lots of it being very fancy stuff. They even have pictures of some iron yo-yo's from the 1700's!

Yeah, if I ever get to feeling too proud of my work, all I have to do is look in a few books to see what the REAL masters did.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' german blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

I'm still amazed at all the different styles/shapes of original flint strikers that I have found over the years in books/museums. Such variety in such a simple tool of everyday life from very early Roman times B.C. on up to the present. And a lot of ... art ... involved in them. And then there is all that "mechanical" stuff of figuring out how to replicate them on the anvil. Perhaps these will offer some inspiration for you blacksmiths out there - and a bit of a history lesson as well.

These are some of the flint strikers I made up yesterday. And the historical time periods vary quite a bit.

Left side from bottom:

- Found at the Fox Hill Seneca Indian village site up in New York.
- Found at the Cherry Hill Seneca Indian village site up in New York.
These two Indian village sites were in use from 1650 to 1680. The strikers are believed to be of Dutch origin - from traders operating out of New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island - before the British captured it and renamed it New York.
- A Scottish flint striker. The British museum dates this to the 18th century, and said it was more decorative than the local British flint strikers, and probably from the Scottish dealings with France and Flanders were it was common. Note the similarities with that Dutch striker from the Cherry Hill village site. More than just coincidence.
- The top two on the left are Roman 1st to 3rd century style flint strikers. There is a French striker dated 1566 that has some similarities to the top one, but otherwise these styles went out of fashion several centuries before.
Right side from bottom:
- a Burgundian flint striker. The shape shows up in the mid 1400's, and continued to be seen up into the mid 1700's. It even shows up in several family Coat-of-Arms.
- an Irish flint striker. The British museum dates it to the 18th century. Don't you just love those museum 100 year date ranges.
- Classic C striker. With that extra little curl on only one end, this became pretty common in the early 1800's, and is more generally associated with the Western fur trade - Rocky Mountains.
- Classic Spanish Colonial or Mexican U shaped flint striker. Usually called an Eslabone - which means Link - because it resembles a chain link. There are lots of little variations on these - longer, shorter, thicker, with almost no gap in the middle, with a gap wide enough to put your fingers in it, almost V shaped, and with those extra little curls bent/curled from either side of the bar. There is also an Italian version dated 1634 where the two little curls are bent/curled into the center gap.

The unique thing about those Scottish and Irish flint strikers is that the British museum actually identified them as Scottish and Irish. They usually just give them that generic "British" or "English" designations.



Just some more iron work to get people inspired to beat up steel. And to show people some more shapes/styles of flint strikers.

Now I have to work on some more of those "bar" styles. Lots of variations with them - some being among the very first ever traded to the Indians in North America. Yes, that very thin/small "handle" was often broken off.




These I worked on earlier this week. From bottom left:

Viking era - with the ends curled back and forth like two snakes
Viking era - a simpler C style - the Vikings liked that center peak
Roman P - a Roman 1st to 3rd century style
And the top one is an original Roman era P style

Right side from bottom:

English Double Curl - from around 1700 up through the rest of the 1700's. Plus one original was found in northern Italy
English Monkeytail - mid to late 1700's
Voyageur style - the HBC was selling these in the early 1800's up to around 1860
And the top one is an original Roman era "dogsled" style. It kind of resembles the profile of a dogsled.




Have fun blacksmithing.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

Just make up your first trial scroll using heavy enough stock to begin with. If it is of heavy enough stock, it can work as-is as your "form". But you do have to watch that you do not push its limits and ... adjust ... it when bending thicker stock. That is why some people take that form and tack-weld it to a strip of angle iron or a flat plate. It keeps the form from bending on you.

Over at Jay's Big River Forge shop, he had several simple scroll jigs - just 1/4 to 5/8 by 1 1/2 to 2 inch stock formed into the scroll shape he wanted most. We would just clamp the end in a movable floor mounted vice to use it. Heat a bar up, flare or taper the end, then start the scroll on the anvil. Then heat up a section, hold/clamp it to the jig, and start bending it around. Just stop bending before you run out of heated area on your bar. Then heat another section, slip in on the jig, and bend the next section.

It worked well and fast - especially for the smaller stuff like 1/2 square or 1/4x1 inch flats. But I kept ... pushing ... the limits of that jig by scrolling 3/4 square on it - also 7/8 and 1 inch squares. There were a couple times I had to ... tweak ... that jig back to shape a bit. You can get a lot of leverage when swinging a 10 to 12 foot bar of 3/4 square around - even hot. (We should have tack that jig to some sort of base.) You also have to ... adjust ... your vice/jig/bending fork as you go - to get enough CLEAR room to maneuver things within the shop. No matter how much clear working space you start with, it never seems to be enough with long bars.

In the end, it is all a matter of the "economics" of the job. Are you going to be making enough of that specific scroll to justify making the original jig. But once you DO have that jig, it is surprising how often you end up using it - even as a starting point that you then tweak tighter or wider.

For sign hangers, table legs, and railing elements, I usually made one up, and then tried to tweak the rest of the scrolls to be close to that one.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

Also go down and visit a couple antique/junque stores/malls. You would be surprised at how many KEYS they often have - and in many many varieties. You might find some that would work. Also check with a locksmith. They might have blanks (or old keys) like it that can be ... tweaked ... to work.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

It's always amazing the amount of time a little ... tinkering ... project can eat up.

So figure your "shop rate" - whatever is normal for your area. And then I would say double it.

But also remember some of Francis Whitakers advice on what to charge. For every hour of forge work, there is another hour (or more) that you spend on all the other parts of the business that you cannot directly charge a client for.

How to make it? Hmmm ... take a long high-carbon bolt. Grind/file off the sides of the bolt head leaving those wings. Then drill out the end. Then heat up and forge out a loop or T handle out of the rest of the long bolt. If the bolt is long enough to begin with, you can clip off any threads before forging. But you should probably anneal that high-carbon bolt first. Just choose your original bolt so that you have enough metal in the head for the key "wings", and that the shaft isn't too thick when compared to the original key.

Keys like that get cast up because it is the quick/simple/cheap way to make them. Now, if they would cast that key out of GOOD QUALITY STEEL to begin with (instead of "pot metal"), they would have fewer problems.

Hmmm ... another possible idea. Have a flexible rubber mold made up to make wax duplicates of that key made - for that Lost Wax casting method. Then have a steel foundry cast them up using a pretty good quality steel mix. When you get them back, clean up any casting flanges, smooth them out, and drill that center hole to true size. Gunsmiths have small parts cast up like this all the time. And if you are kind of good at carving wax, you wouldn't even need to make that flexible rubber mold to form the wax blanks.

Other options would all involve heating larger stock, forging, upsetting, fullering, drilling, and more grinding/sanding to finish.

Hope this helps spark an idea that will work for you.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands