John B

You could always try to see if they have any spares in stock, Hardinge Machine Tools Address: Silverton Road Marsh Barton Exeter Devon EX2 8NN United Kingdom Telephone: +44 1392 208181 Still being made but probably a little different now

If I remember correctly this is not a simple bar, the end shown is retained in position by a wedge and retaining plate arrangement which allows the shaft to be removed. The other end is a knuckle, with a pivot pin passing through, holding it to the hammer head. I would still suggest getting a new one from Neville Barnes as per previous reply in this thread. If the connecting rod replacement is not the correct length, the head will not strike parallel to the anvil face, limiting its use It has been known on these hammers that if the head is not parallel to the face, then they can be adjusted by either using O/A to heat the bar and jump it up, to the required length, or remove and forge/ draw out to adjust to correct length. This would seem to indicate that the material used for this particular application is not cast iron. 70 years old is I believe quite new compared to my Blacker. and I have fitted new parts to it supplied by Neville Barnes,

Just phone Neville Barnes up and he will send you a new one at reasonable cost, probably has them in stock Blacker Hammers and spares, (UK) 01427 838245 Neville Barnes Ltd, The Forge Padmore Lane, Upton, Gainsborough, Lincs. DN21 5NH

I would think a lot would depend on pivot points and leverage ratios, and how efficient it is. I personally prefer one with internal connections as it takes up less space in the workshop

Try Tallow (rendered Animal fat) in a can, it will melt then resolidify

Hi Apprenticeman, if you want to see what you can do with a press look at Metal Pig Forge click on portfolio, then go the the bottom of that page and click on stoves. Rumour has it that the stove had to be compressed to fit into the back of the station wagon (I think its 1/4 plate that was used) Cool huh? stove page

I am going to be away for a while, and my camera skills aren't so good but I will see what I can do.

Sorry I didn't pick up on this thread before, but as we were going to schedule in "How to make a thistle" on one of our Westpoint Forge courses later this year, for those unable to attend, here's how to do it. Take a length of tube of appropriate diameter for the base of the thistle, about 12" long, and tightly pack this inside with straight thin wire (if you are going to use welding filler rod, remove the copper coating first) Heat the tube with the packed wires in to an appropriate forging heat, and using a top and bottom fuller or guillotine tool neck in the tube about 2 to 2.5 inches from the end to about 3/8 diameter. This will later be forged down to form the stem, the radius on the fuller will form the bulbous base of the thistle, different radii will determine the curve on base to stem. Allow it to cool Cut off with a hacksaw approximately 1"+ on the long side of the assembled tube/wires(Depending on how long you want to draw this stem out) The remaining stock can then be used to produce further thistle heads Using appropriate tongs, heat the fullered / sawn off end to a welding heat and forge it down to a solid piece for the stem, due to the spaces between the wires inside you will have to be patient and allow the whole to soak until it gets to the right heat throughout. you can leave this bigger than your required finished stem size as it will make it easier to do the next step which is to develop the thistle top. Reverse the piece and heat at the open end for the full length of the bulbous part, then taking a sharp hot chisel (preferably one with a flat side and an angled edge) with the angled edge of the chisel facing the stem, approximately half way along this portion, carefully cut through the outer tube all the way around, without cutting through the internal wires. The angle on the chisel will put a nice small radius on the pipe at the base/bulbous side, and the vertical side of the cut will allow you to remove the cut off piece of tube exposing the internal wires. You can then finish forging the stem to the required finished dimension, and make a couple of leaves and forge weld them to the stem. The end of the tube can then be removed, and the wires spread out to form the thistle's bristles. You may have to try one or two to determine what looks best to you, if you leave them too long the thistle tends to look more like a shaving brush and be careful not to forge weld all the bristles at the open end together. If you wish to decorate the bulbous part, use a bottom swage to support the bulbous part and use a sharp chisel to incise the decoration around the base. Have a go and enjoy yourself

Would there be a problem with pulling on handle as it has to go nearly 1 full rotation and have to be fairly long for pressure required?

Saint Clement was also a patron saint of the Blacksmiths (More the merrier, I'll take all the help I can get)

HSS steels? Chisels? I was always under the impression that it was ver brittle and likely to fracture if struck. This is based on the fact that when I was an apprentice engineer somebody caught a punch with a hammer, the punch fractured and embedded itself into my hand, the first I knew of it was when I saw blood trickling onto the floor. A piece of the punch about 3/8" long was removed by the works nurse. Since then I have been very wary of using HSS tools for anything other than the purpose they were designed for. I would be interested in others experiences if they have safely used HSS for tools other than turning/milling/machining operations.

By SS, did you mean Silver Solder or Stainless Steel? Copper can be silver soldered to join pieces, and the silver solder can also be used as an inlay to provide decoration on other materials also.

Many years ago I had to make a curved braas tube handrail for a church, this presented a few problems which as they were solved created more problems. However relevant to this thread, during the process of putting the curve in the tube, as it work hardened, it fractured. I made enquiries and was told by the "experts" at Britsh Oxygen Co, brass couldn't be welded. So ignoring this advice (basically 'cos the job had to be done)and working on the principle if it can be cast or made molten, anything can be repaired, and nothing to lose because if it didn't repair it would be scrap. I cut off a sliver of the tube and straightend it to use as a filler rod. And using oxy acetyline with a carburising flame and borax as a flux, I successfully repaired the area cracked and split. When it was cleaned off and polished with the rest of the handrail, it was, and still is barely detectable, and it has never been noticed by anyone else, until pointed out to them, and then they have great trouble finding it, and some not finding it, others finding it in the wrong place. Bronze welding into incised grooves on a steel body and cleaned off gives a great result, just remember it oxidises and will dull with time.

Only use chuck key when securing or loosening workpiece, NEVER leave chuck key in chuck and walk away ! Remember when you are removing metal on the outside diameters, you are removing twice the amount of material eg 1/4" cut makes bar 1/2" smaller Small diameters, need a higher speed than large diameters. Make sure cutting tool is on a level with centre line of chuck to tailstock Make sure cutting tool is held securely, and that the cutting point is ground to allow tool to cut, not rub. Use heavier cuts and coarse feed to rough down to near size then lighter cuts and finer feeds to finish. Use cutting fluids if you are not using carbide tipped tools if possible Enjoy playing with it, its amazing what you can produce on a lathe, use your imagination, one of the pieces we used to make for fun was a cube in a cube in a cube in alloy, easy when you know how, and eassy to figure out how to, when you are conversant with the versatility of the machine.

Axles and drive shafts, make excellent hammers, by sway shafts I think we know them as anti roll bars or torsion bars and I would use them for punches or drifts As to heat treating the hammers, usually I would just heat treat the surface in use. This can be done in a variety of ways, finish the piece to your required finish (Polished/shiny) heat the piece to above its critical range (non magnetic) then quench in oil, remove from oil and while still dull red, quickly repolish the working face area with a stone or other suitable method, and as tempering colours run down to the working face, at the appropriate colour (Purple (ish)) quench the face until cool. Another way if you have a running water supply nearby is to wrap a rag / cloth around the tap (faucet?) and turn on to a slow steady stream/trickle of water, when the hammer head is dull red to black, concentrate this flow onto the centre of the working surface where it will steam away quite vigorously, keep this going until the piece is cool enough to be easily handled, I use this method on ball/round faced hammers as it seems to give a good result for me. Or, as in the case of a leafing hammer, and where it is required to have both ends hard wearing, then I use a local heat (oxy acetelyne or propane or in the forge) and have a shallow container containing the quenching oil, heat the face and a small distance back from it, then when red, immerse the end into the oil and it can be left in until cool, repeat for other end. My criteria for hammers etc is that they should have a hardened working face that will not easily chip, and a tough but not brittle body. Experiment with what works for you and wear glasses when using them.

The Transmission drive shafts I am familiar with are usually made from a high carbon steel, different manufacturers use different specifications, however all the steel ones should be heat treatable, and make excellent hammer heads, drifts, anvil tools etc. If you consider their function, they have to withstand shock loads and torsion, so they should be of a good quality steel capable of functioning to these parameters. Also what used to be good quality steel were the inside gears and shafts in vehicle gearboxes, some of which can be used to make interesting shapes in hot metal, I would suggest normalising/ annealing them first, and just surface harden the working face by whichever method you prefer.

I use a piece of leather cot off the bottom of my apron (Cos I'm a shortie) about 9" long by 5" wide with a slit cut at one end to fit over my wrist. It can easily be flipped out of the way so I can use my bare hand on whatever I am holding. Works right or left hand

Having used old drained off engine oil I have found it to severely blacken the finish on carving chisel blades I have made. There are heavy carbon deposits which can be difficult to remove and a tendency for the oil to flash ignite quite readily I now use new oil in the tank and have far less problems. When using old used engine oil, the actual viscosity and from what use it came from is not always known, I find a clean new transmission fluid or flushing oil is succesful and can be used many times.

Anvil level or not, the important thing is the relationship of your hammer face to the anvil face, I find one of the other important feature is when students are forging, the anvil face is within what I call the comfort zone, that is if the anvil is too high, then crescents (or indentations) are formed at the nearside if the work, too low and the crescents are formed away from the smith, the crescents being formed by the edges of the hammer

A very old method of surface hardening 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 are will be appreciably harder. An ideal way to make a quickie tool more hardwearing and no toxic chemicals involved

Hi Dan P, with reference to your experiences with bottom blast forges in the Uk, again the Baker Vaugh links give details of a commercially available firepot in the Uk, prior to that Alcosa made and used them in portable and fixed forges. I am somewhat puzzled as to how the ones you have used did not work right, I and our Guild members have made a number of these bottom blasts, and found them to be very succesful. The latest one I made last week is meant to be used at shows and demos and although being relatively small, 16" x 16" hearth, and a 1/3 HP motor it will quite happily bring 3/4" square bar to a welding heat. I have forge welded 2" square solid wrought iron in an Alcosa bottom blast forge in preference to a side blast forge as it was more suited to that type of forge. It had to be a good weld as the bar in question was to support a weather vane on a church tower. The architect responsible for repairs to the tower had decided that structure was too tall by six foot and the overall height had to be reduced, being a blacksmith I would just have cut six foot off the bottom of the bar, but for some reason, the top six foot had been cut off, consequently it had to be rejoined and the bottom six foot cut off instead. Its all good fun

With reference to the Baker Vaughn links and their solid tue irons. Having used one of these, in my experience they are better suited to coal as it is not as fierce as coke. Even then, I had a problem with a hand cranked forge, using coal on a solid tue iron when an over enthusistic assistant kept cranking even when I had no iron in the fire, and at the end of the day when I had shut down the fire and cleaned out the ash and clinker, I found the front of the tue had melted and receded a good 3/4 of an inch from the start of the day. Needless to say it has not happened since

A pleasure to use. Some years ago I inherited a portable forge that sits on top of circular bellows, hand cranked with a lever from the side (just uses a pulling/pumping action), there are two cast wheels at the back, and two legs at the front On a level with the forge hearth are two hinged handles with removable pins to lock them in place and to allow the forge to be wheeled to be used wherever needed. The bellows I believe originally came from Berry Pomeroy Castle Garrison (South Devon) and were used in medieval times in the battlefield situation. Using coal it easily attains welding heat, and is very economical in use.

Glad to be of some use about side/back blast forges. I do use fines or coke ash to fill the base of the forge, when it was new, I used firebricks to fill the base of the hearth but left a pit area in front of the tue to allow the clinker to go into, The alternative would be to use sand to take up this space. I also packed ash and fines around the tue iron to stop the tube being heated excessively. In practice the wall thickness of the outer tube is not an issue as the air blast concentrates the hot spot to the front of the blast hole, if heavy duty forging is required, then up the tue hole dameter to 1", a 3/4" diameter works well allowing firewelding up to 2" square on Wrought Iron (possibly larger, thats the largest I have had the pleasure to work on,) It will also raise meteorites to a forging/welding heat but that's another story You can spread the range of the fire by using firebricks to divert the blast to what the forging situation calls for As for economy, as with all forges, it is down to how you use them, and it is a balance of cost of the fuel used, to the cost of time saved if you don't back the blast off between heats. You do not need to have a fire the size and appearance of a mini volcano to be effective, too much air and you will suffer pitting and make a lot of clinker which will stick to your workpiece, at the right blast you should get a rapid heat with a clean finish any scale will readily wire brush off and you should get a clean forged finish. Be warned though, awareness is needed as a momentary lapse in concentration WILL result in the metal sparkling and melting, (well above forge welding heat.) The coke we use is a pig to keep in and will die very rapidly, so it is more practical and economical to let the forge tick over at a good working heat whilst in prolonged use, it also generates less clinker this way. Because the coke dies quickly it is quite easy to shut the air off, wait 2 or 3 minutes by which time the clinker is solidified, and then you can usually fish it out in one lump, rake the fire back together and turn on the air blast again and you are up and running in a couple of minutes. This is usually a matter of trial and experience When in use, pile the new coke you are going to use over the tue iron and backed up to the rear of the forge, this will dry out any dampness, and make it easy to rake forward and recharge the fire. We also find a lot of smoke is created on startup, but this disappears as soon as the fire gets going I would guess that one of the reasons most of forges you are used to is because of the relative weights of the firepots/tue iron. When you have to ship or cart the basic items, the firepot takes up less space, weighs less, is easier to produce, and does not need a water supply. When solid tue irons were in use, (as opposed to water cooled ones) it was not unknown for cannonballs with a hole bored through to be used. Sometimes the cast ones were mounted flush with the back brickwork on a brick built hearth. This worked well with coal, but the introduction of coke meant they were eroded/melted far more rapidly. Hope this helps.

The back blast forges are quite simple to make and in use operation. One of the reasons the solid tue irons are not as common now as they used to be is because of the difficulty we here in the UK have in getting a suitable forging coal, Coke has replaced coal and generates far more heat at the nose of the tue, consequently burning away the nose more rapidly than coal did. They take up more floorspace in the workshop than a bottom blast forge, and you need access to water to top up the tank. When the water in the tank becomes warm, natural convection currents (hot water rises) allow the water to circulate and help keep the front face of the tue relatively cool preventing it from burning away If your shop is cold in winter, you could plumb the tank in to a radiator for the shop The main components you will need if you want to make one are A tank, with a capacity of about 20+gallons A piece of pipe/tube 4" dia x 10"long (Sizes are approximate use what is available) A piece of tube with a bore of 1"+diameter, long enough to pass through the tank and plus the length of the larger diameter tube (Your Air supply has to be connected to this tube) A thick disc (1/2") plate with a 3/4" or 7/8" diameter hole through centre and with an outside diameter to allow it to fit over the end of the larger tube with sufficient to allow you to run a weld around Cut two holes in the tank at a centre line approximately 3" up from the base of the tank, one hole to allow small tube to pass through the other slightly smaller than the diameter of the larger tube to allow tube to be welded onto the tank surface Weld the smaller bore tube to the back of the thick disc, Then weld this disc and tube to pass down the centre of the larger tube/pipe, ensure the assembly will fit through the tank, Next weld the larger tube to the front of the tank, and weld the smaller tube in position at the rear of the tank Check that the tank and welded assemblies are watertight, then the unit is ready to be placed into the forge hearth from the rear. The height of the tue hole is approximately 5" above the base of the forge, If you leave an air gap between the rear of the forge hearth and the tank, this will negate the need for a heavy back plate, and assist in keeping the water cool. Note the sizes are not critical, the principle is the important thing, In use, if you place your bar across the front of the tue iron, you will get a longer heat than if you place the bar in from the front of the hearth, use this position for heating an end to be jumped up, or if you only need a short heat on the bar end. I hope this helps