John B

It depends on the material, and we don't know for certain what it is. Clean fire or not, make sure metal is clean (wire brush off scale) before quenching Cherry red, until you have had some experience in assessing this colour (many shades and types of cherries) stick with the non magnetic idea, bright red and above critical range. Single quench and test, swirl the hot blade around in the water when cooling then test with a file, if it is hard, the file will skid, if not it will file, if it files the material may not be a hardening type steel, if it is hard you may want to temper it to remove brittleness and the possibility of breakage Final sharpening is best done after heat treatment

I have a similar arrangement for demos' except that the vice is bolted onto a plate that fits the base, and this plate has a flat piece of bar welded to it that fits into the hardy hole diagonally, it can then just be dropped in when required, and overhangs the heel for lon work, the rest of the time it sits in a holder on the anvil stand, I can also use it as its intended engineering vise use (Parallel jaws as opposed to swinging jaw of leg vice) by clamping this welded on bar in a leg vice Will try to get a picture or two posted tomorrow

Hi and welcome, without knowing your age strength or much else, my suggestion would be a hammer you are comfortable with, Not too heavy, 2lb is a good general purpose weight, if the metal is at the right heat, you will forge it relatively easily. When you start to tire rest! If not you will have an incident (thats an accident that could be avoided) A clean face with no dents or marks on, as they will transfer to you work, The edge around this face should be slightly radiused to prevent bits chipping off, or marking your work if you dont strike it squarely to the angle of the face you are working on, A handle you can grip comfortably, you can always shape a handle to suit your grip. The types of hammer available are many and varied, some prefer a cross pein to allow fullering down to be done, others have different preferences, mainly it will depend on what you are making the most of, personally I prefer a rounding hammer, one face flat, the other end convex as this combination works for me as a general smith. You can purchase hammers very cheaply (ued) or very expensive, its not the hammer that makes the work good its the person wielding it. Good luck with your venture into blacksmithing, be safe and wear safety gear especially eye protection.

Text books usually cater for industrial applications and 'correct' scanarios. Normalising and annealling are done in these establishments under strict controlled conditions, temperatures being raised and held in a prescribed gradual manner, usually in large batches for economy purposes, Timing is critical as well as temperature, for others like myself who do not have the technology available to achieve this, do so by using their own methods that works for them, but it is still based on the critical points in the heating range.

You may have difficulty locating tallow, I can point you in the right direction for that as the guild had to purchase an amount when we were aking repouse pitch blocks, and we still have some left. If its mild steel I would just water or oil quench, it will not make much difference to the finished article, if it a carbon steel , it should be appreciably harder, then you will have to consider further treatment, try a sample piece first rather than the finished article. I like tallow for cooling hot cut tools as it suits the material I use to make them, JMHO

For rendered fat read tallow If you think the coal was a little niffy, wait till you try tallow ! Thats probably where the saying came from "See hear and smell the blacksmiths" quite thought invoking to the older generation, i just love it.

The top and bottom fullers are by and large reminders of a bygone age, and as blacksmiths do, methods have been developed to solve a problem. They are normally found at old tool sales, the reason being that in the days when metal was more expensive than labour (Is there a return coming?) and apprenticeships were the norm, the forge would have blacksmiths, journeymen, apprentices and strikers. Hence it was not a problem when usng fullers as the staff was on hand to use them correctly. A good striker was much sought after. Be it small tenons, gate journals, wagon axles or other similar items, it was the quickest way to produce them and very accurate and repeatable too.

Don't know about over there in the states, but here in the UK stables for horses use a net to hold hay in hung on peg in the wall, or at the rear of horsebox if at shows.

May be obvious, but is the jet clean?

Yes cylinders do explode if not treated with the utmost respect, The guy involved did not get a second chance, and his assistants will never attempt it again. This incident was terminal and unfortunately is not a one off.

Hi Jami, I know of some who have tried this, but none that have been succesful. I would suggest finding a smith in the local area, there are at least a dozen in the Edinburgh area, and seeing if you could use a corner of their facilities. Alternatively is there a city farm or other craft based centre where they may let you set up? Friendly farmers on the outskirts who may have an empty outbuilding? It would be more practical to have a permanent base to work from, You could work in copper from home to develop skills before moving on to hot forging as you only need to be able to anneal the copper occasionally, and this can be done with a gas blowtorch. You will learn techniques relevant to making armour, helms, breastplates etc and it does not make much noise or fumes to aggravate neighbours. Good luck with your quest.

Many years ago when videos were fairly new, (Pre easy access to the web), I found it most helpful, I just set it up and let it roll, most useful The original idea was to use it to track making new items so that you had a record of the method and techniques used, and to make videos to send to individuals of specific skills When viewing them back, you could see at what point it was if it went wrong and so you could deduce how to prevent making the same mistake again, it also clarified areas of wasted time like looking for tools, and duplicated working practices, your stance and the techniques being used. Workng on your own and trying to move forward, you can see yourself from an observers point of view, and learn by the mistakes you can see, not having to try and remember where it may have gone wrong, you can isolate that particular point refine it and repeat the process until you get it right. It was a humbling proceedure as you realise how much more there is to improve on to move forward, and what a p***t you were for making such obvious mistakes. I would recommend doing it to anyone One major problem at that time was that the focusing was dependant on light/heat in the focus area, everything used to black out when you were in the forge welding heat range and pulling it from the forge, this was overcame by using a filter. And to prevent hot scale damaging the lens, a welding mask clear glass was set up in front of it. If you do try this, don't be too hard on yourself when viewng it back.

Hi Rich, yes normally

Courses for 2009 are still to be arranged, but if you and some mates want a course, I can get one sorted specifically for your group and what you require outside the dates listed. We can cater for groups or individuals, such as Viking re-enactors, families or friends as a special experience day or weekend, or even individuals such as the ten year old who was given a days forging experience as an eleventh birthday present Have attached some pictures of what they made on the course

Hi Vic, go for the welders apron it should give you good service, they are easy and light to wear, and will give you adequate protection. The more expensive leather aprons can be rather stiff and awkward to wear especially if you are bending over a fair bit

Hi Rich, that 5 days before is usually for the booking to arrive, but that is flexible, courses can be booked up to the day before, subject to places being available, We operate on a one forge per student ratio, and like to keep to classes of up to six students at a time, we can accomodate 12 students with an extra 3 portable forges available for use if required. Normally if there are more than six on a course, we draft in an extra tutor, that is why we like the 5 days notice, it gives us time to arrange this as all of the tutors are working or retired smiths and can have other commitments. Most students from Cornwall can travel up relatively easily by vehicle, Port Isaac to Westpoint for instance takes less than two hours in a transit van. I would suggest coming on the Saturday the 25th of October course first and we can discuss how we can help you for an overnight stay and with fees etc. Other forms of transport can be a little more awkward, we can arrange to pick up from Exeter International Airport, rail and bus connections are a little more difficult, taxis are available. Camping on site or nearby is available, and there are numerous bed and breakfast establishments also. You can contact me by phone, the number is 01626 890503, (should be on the website) I have been organising the courses as a point of contact for many years now. Tutors vary with the type of course being held, but all are experienced within the craft and subject being offered, some excel or specialise in a particular area and we try to match courses with tutors for maximum learning opportunites for the students, I take some myself, and usually attend in support at others as I am familiar with the tools we have for students to use or purchase, and there location in the Forge, I also keep the teas and coffees coming.

Hi Rich, the courses are still on, there is a taster day coming up on this coming Saturday October 25th and there are two places curently available on it. The website you were looking at is an old one we are having difficulty contacting the webmaster to update, try Blacksmiths Guild Home for more recent details, or go to National Blacksmiths Competition and click on link to Blacksmiths Guild Looks like you have made a good start on your blacksmithing journey

Punches should punch. Parallel or taper with a square end either will do the job, And my personal preference is a sharp square edge at the business end, others may prefer a slight radius on the edges It may also depend on how accurate you want the hole, parallel will give you a finished size, tapered will not be as accurate, and will deform the sides of the bar being punched more than a parallel punch the further it passes through the workpiece enlarging the hole the deeper it goes. For accurate sized holes, punch through and finish with the correct size drift.

Sorry Keykeeper, I am agreeing with you 100% An experience from the past. Demonstration booked, melting and making a pitch mix for a repousse course in a supplied tube with a plate welded to the base as mixing/melting chamber. The chamber looked OK, but when heated, the pitch started oozing out from the welded joint at the base. Tube apparently was from a scrap pile, looked like steel but was some form of a cast iron, ordinary rods had been used to weld the base on. The item had been made and supplied by someone else to save time on the demonstration, however as we were heating from the base with a naked flame, it was thought to be imprudent to continue using this item. There was an old propane cylinder at the back of the workshop that was just the right size, so with lot of consideration, the remaining gas was vented, the valve assembly removed, (Brass, we can melt that down for a casting course), tank filled with water from hose until overflowing from the top orifice where the valve fitted, Then taking an small angle grinder (4.5" 115mm diameter), fitted with a thin stainless steel/steel cutting disc approximately 1/16" thick, cut through the tank and around the circumference whilst still full of water, this cut out the chance of a spark igniting the air/gas mixture that may have been in the tank (Surprisingly my audience had disappeared by this time) Taking care not to get water into the disc grinder (A pneumatic disc grinder would be better for this, but one was not available at the time) After the top portion was removed, the water was then tipped out, and the sharp edges removed, handles were then welded on to allow the pitch mixture to be poured into boxes after melting and the tank was ready to use. I then checked to see if I needed to change my undergarments, not this time, but a close call. I am not advising doing this, merely recounting something that has been a personal experience, It is very a dangerous practice, but like most dangerous processes, it can be done with care and careful consideration to the situation, just eliminate all the potential dangers.

Paperweight and pen holder

Take into account the diameter of the pole, and the drop for the curtains which will affect the size of S hook being suitable for use. Make a sample from a noted length, and then adjust if necessary to make the rest

I was not thinking of using a hair drier, I pictured using an angled approach into and across the open impeller end of a squirrel cage fan, the air flow should drag the gas into the fan and out through the exit port. Will try it first with smoke to establish an expected air flow.

cold rolled steel is made to tighter/closer tolerances, and square edged, and machines better, it can also be easier to forge weld, Usual proceedure for machining was to take a skim off each side to relieve the surface tension induced by the cold rolling process, then finish machine. it used to have a lead content to make it free cutting The hot rolled stuff comes in made to much wider tolerances, and shapes are not always square edged or square, or even straight, or consistent. But that doesn't matter if you are going to forge it to shape. One advantage over here in the UK is that when restoring old ironwork, you can get the cold rolled in imperial or metric sizes. Useful when trying to match sized bars or replace individual bits. I use the cold rolled for making tools that have to be fitted together eg sliding bits like on rams/slideways or smith's helpers.

So? if you feed the propane into the fan intake rather than the air before the gas, and feed this into the chamber, this should break up the propane and burn more efficiently?

Dig out a corner and see where the foundations are, and how deep. You can then make a decision on whether to dig it out 2" or deeper, if you dig it deeper and lower the floor it will give you more headroom I live in a 300 year old famhouse and the bulding is made of cob (Mud and straw mix rendered) which sits on the ground, no foundations as such, we removed the old wood flooring which was sitting on the earth, dug out at least 6" put in a damp proof membrane and concreted it, This was approved by the building inspector and no more worries about the floor