John B

Blacksmithing day at Finch Foundry, Sticklepath Nr to Okehampton Devon Saturday November 22cnd. (9.30 0n ) Open Competition, no entry fee, make a trivet, no time specified, bacon butties and ale free for competitors, see blacksmiths working, a display, sales of ironwork, and a chance to see the waterwheel powered trip hammer working. Firing the anvil during the day and a Gurning competition at night in the local hostelry. A fun day out for all the family so come on you Cornish smiths, it's not that far away and you will meet other like minded people. Make yourself known, and let's know what you want to do at the iForge weekends at Westpoint

Try looking under steel stockholders on yell.com for material suppliers, there are plenty out there that can get specific steels for you

Hi Alfie and welcome, whereabouts in Cornwall are you, there are quite a few smiths down there who may be pleased to help you. I'm up the road in Devon, but will be at the Royal Cornwall Show next year, Good luck with it and don't forget your safety equipment.

Don't they come in a fit state to use for that price? When making hammers on a commercial scale, ( and the company I worked for also hand forged the climbing items for the first succesful ascent of Everest in '53 ) the initial shaping and fitting was done before the items left the shop, and they were fit to use from receipt by the customer. Dressing should only be necessary after it has been used, I have been using the same hammer I made for over 45 years now, and all I have had to do to it is occassionally polish the face, and replace the handle. Some like to just increase the radius on the edge of the face, but try it before you decide what is needed for YOUR type of work. You can take the metal off easily enough but its more difficult to restore when youv'e gone too far.

Steel bench, or sheet of thin steel, with chalk or soapstone, and if I want a more lasting layout, line it with ink correction fluid or a paint pen. A master drawing on paper can be made and this transferred onto the steel sheet/bench for working to. This can then be archived for future use.

As soon as we have details of other events we are involved in, they will be available. Meanwhile there is a blacksmith gathering at Finch Foundry a water powered forge at Sticklepath nr Okehampton in Devon throughout the day on Saturday 22cnd of November there is a competition to make trivet, or to just have a go or watch other smiths at play, (you can't really call it work) There will also be a number of home made forges and different styles of blowers there that you can have a look at and try. Well worth the trip, come and introduce yourself, I'm the short fat ugly bloke.

Have attached a picture of a solution I use on small portable forges, this one is approximately 20" square x 3 1/2" deep ( it also used to be a standard fitting on larger industrial (including side by side) double forges) The one in the picture gives you a couple of options, at one side you have one plate that can be removed to give a low setting (Level with the base of the forge), at the other side, there are two plates that either one or both can be removed to give you a half depth setting, By removing the larger plate, and substituting one of the other plates, you can get access right through the forge on this half depth setting which leaves a fair depth of fire under the workpiece should you need it The plates consist of two large plates sandwiching a smaller plate slightly thicker than the wall thickness of the forge so they form an H section that can be easily slid in or out of the gap left in the wall sides of the forge. They can be taken out when required, then replaced when not needed, this helps to minimise the fuel being used spilling out over the sides

Thanks for that reminder Ted, it points out something I feel very strongly about that concerns me about this and other sites, I do not want to discourage anyone from enjoying the craft and all its skills, however ignorance is not always bliss, and it all seems so easy to do when you see the craft being demonstrated. Some of the videos I have seen on the net are genuine disasters in waiting/ horror movies, whilst others are excellent. For the beginner it is sometimes hard to know which are good and which are bad, safety issues are not always dealt with. However like all things that appear simple when being shown by someone proficient, there is usually a depth of experience they have, to get to that level. So please to all out there, before you start, do some research into what you are wanting to do and do it safely, and you may be around long enough to enjoy it. On a plus note, on this site if you ask a question, you will receive an excellent considered response, thanks to the depth of experience available from its contributors. And THANK YOU to Glenn (and the others) for making it available with all the hard work it entails. it is appreciated.

Correct me if I am wrong on a few points here, relevant to carburising. I am sure someone will put me right if I am misinformed, but I understnd the following; Carburising does not make mild steel into tool steel, it is merely a process for allowing case hardening to be undertaken after the process, Some of the carburised surface can be removed by machining to leave surfaces that can be treated/hardened mainly for wear resistance (ie cams on machinery) The depth of carbon penetration into the material is relatively small and penetration depends on the length of the soaking time, (proportionally I suppose thinner material will have a greater depth in relation to thicker material, although the actual dimension is the same) Up to 1/8" being a maximum expected penetration There is little point in trying to temper a case hardened item

Well worth the wait

FERRUM D. Gentile: Krusty The 100 pound mechanical powerhammer __________________ From a previous posting, I'm just starting to try to make one based on these details, but round about the 50 pound mark from bits of metal I have lying around, The only thing none too clear is if bearing metal is required for around the sliding ram, it indicates a couple of mm clearance all round, but I think I would prefer a brass lining even with this clearance. Time will tell.

Hi Frosty, if you look at Ethersins' earlier posts with piccies on I believe you can see a small compressor attached to his forge. As I understand it, a compressor does what it says, compresses to a pressure and delivers that pressure up to a rated output, stores it in a tank, then its bled off at the required setting for whatever tool or application is being used, Blowers/fans push/pull (depending on blade configuration) a volume of air through, without storing it in a tank, varying the speed will vary the pressure. I think I am correct in saying forges need a fair volume of air at a relatively low pressure (up to 9PSI?), compresors are not the right tool for the job, and are quite expensive to run in relation to a suitable blower/fan. I don't have a problem with Limeys, its the mis-spelt version I would consider taking exception too (with the S at the front)

Nice work Richard, Interesting cross, chain, pincers and hammer, must have some significance?

Hi Rich, forget the compressor, drop me an email, I may be able to help.

Will do, definitley looking like it may be a goer, Any preferences, Saturday, Sunday or a full weekend job ?

Cheers Ian

I dont think that will do much to harden them, here is an old method that works for me, is non toxic, and should be easily available to anyone. To surface harden mild steel. Take a spoonful of wholemeal flour, add two spoonfuls of salt, add a little water and make into a smooth paste. Heat the end of the item to be hardened until the paste will stick to it, when you have the item coated where you want it, heat the area to a bright red heat and plunge the item into cold clean soft water. The coated area will be appreciably harder. Good luck with it,

If it shatters, its not case hardened, case hardening only affects the outer surface of the steel

Thanks guys, noted Rich there are more than you think, I can list at least sixty professional smiths that are sent details inviting them to compete at the Royal Cornwall Show, there are many more that are amatuer or students of the craft.

Hi Talis, and welcome, if you go to our website Blacksmiths Guild Home you can get details of what we are about, and whats on up to the end of this year, we are sorting out what to offer in 2009, courses, social events, tool sale, group forging project, along with open days to make stuff you can see on the blueprints pages which are not yet available, but we have details from previous downloads. (see Blacksmiths Guild UK on groups on this forum for past comments.) We have a pattern welding course coming up on November 8th and 9th, at Westpoint, and there will be a forgeing day on November 22cnd at Finch Foundry at Sticklepath near to Okehampton, Blacksmiths from near and far will be coming along to that, a competition to make a trivet for those interested, winner gets a trophy and a bottle of whisky, (Free bacon and egg butties and beer to those competing) see the water powered tilt hammer working, blacksmiths demonstrations, firing the anvil, and ironwork on sale and to see. At night there is a gurning competition in the local hostelry if you fancy it. I have attached a couple of picture from last years event and the pieces made. A good day out for smiths and families, if you come introduce yourself. Good luck with your new venture into the world of smithing.

It looks like it was originally an old half round file

Is anyone on the site interested in coming to the forge at Westpoint (just 1and a half miles from Junction 30 Exeter Services on the M5) as a social/learning event ? I am asking now so that if there is a good response, we can schedule it in for some time next year, and fit it in in between our normal courses which are at the planning stage for 2009 at the moment. There are 12 hearths and three portable forges available, and I am proposing that we could make some of the items listed in the blueprints or just have a general forging day. It would be good to meet face to face, take part or just watch, we can all learn something from each other. If you are interested please register an interest here on the site.

That book and other complementary CoSIRA publications are available as a free download from Craft publications Along with catalogues for ironwork

Whatever works safely is the right solution (I seem to have picked that snippet up from somewhere)

Light pressure, smooth(ish) file, and it will cut (which you will feel, and particles (filings) will come off) or it will slide (skid) without marking the surface, indicating the surface is hard.