John B

Will email you Dave, not time to post any on, and still working on an updated poster, but can send you a pdf if you can print them off? website is www.internationalblacksmithsfest.com

Hi Joel, A comparison picture with the others would have been helpful. Not knowing your hearth set up is also an unknown If the problems started at about item number 9 , here's an hypothesis if you are using a side blast with coke, I would consider the amount of clinker in the fire, If the clinker is covering the centre of the heated section, then the appearance may be that of an even heat on the surface, but not fully soaked through. It has been noticeable that with the Monkton coke, as the day goes on the fire seems to be working OK, however, the smaller/shorter sections of material being heated tend not to get heat where it would be expected, What seems to be happening is the clinker has built up and although air is permeating through the mass, the outer area of this clinker base is actually hotter than the centre, so if your bar is left in situ without being passed through, then the ends will be soaked, whilst the central section has the appearance of being at a similar heat, but the heat is not all the way through the bar. Try again with a clean fire and see what happens, Similar lines as to previous post Mr Sells put up as I was posting this.

Here you go Eddie, a small selection from a show competition which may give some ideas.

Upcoming series seen advertised on TV, first episode, Monday 14th April at 9pm on More4. Don Barker taking some more students through their paces, a similar previous programme can be seen here Hope it doesn't get over edited !!!

Hope you make it, let me know how you get on. We need an Icelandic team.

What size bar you talking about? x section and length ? Three tools, leg vise, floor plate (or similar solid place) and hammer. Pneumatic / hydraulic set up There is also a manually lever operated tool for upsetting tyres for wheels that used to be avaialble Looking forward to seeing your solution.

No time limit, this side of the event would be good, sooner the better from our point of view so we can cater for camping and numbers etc.

Welcome to the site, whereabouts in Yorkshire arte you talking about, Harrison lathes were made in Heckmondwike, Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster, Leeds, Halifax, all were major engineering centres, most cities and some villages have engineers scattered about, so there should be plenty of advice available locally. What make of lathe is it? Motor or belt driven? length of bed (chuck to tailstock)?, swing or height of centre of chuck to bed ? Gap bed or solid? All are questions which would make it easier to help free the machine up back to good working order, As for learning how to use a lathe, it isn't that difficult, you should be able to get night school classes locally if you are in the right age bracket, otherwise ask around and see if anyone locally can help, I would, but don't get up to Yorkshire very often.

Whale oil was if I remember correctly from mainly sperm whales, their blubber rendered down at dockside, in the 1800's there were 55 whaling ships working out of Whitby, harvesting whales, polar bears and seals from the Greenland area, strong links were formed during these times and Anchorage in Alaska is twinned with Whitby Sperm whale oil was the preferred oil for lighting, burning more clearly and brightly and with less odour than other similar oils, which is probably why it was favoured as a quenching medium Whale oil was replaced by other oil products, specifically made for the purpose, when whaling became outlawed, there were stocks of it still available if you knew where to go for it.These were in sealed barrels from pre outlawed days, probably all gone now I would think.

Again more information would help, thickness and type of materials, if you are making the rivets, then it may be more advantageous to heat them first, if the rivets are a soft malleable iron as in machine made rivets then maybe not. Use two rivets to stop handle moving, or a square rivet on its own, and step the handle to fit the edge of the ladle. Are you going to use countersunk or flat or domed/round head rivets As for tips, make all rivet holes a good fit for the rivet, Deburr all holes so the mating parts fit flush to start with, You will need a rivet set and snap (Domer is a US term for a snap From Frank Turley) in one form or another, this can be a combined set and snap, and a separate snap, and somewhere/something solid to rivet against (Bucking or backing) which could also be the snap The set is used like a monkey tool to close the assembled joint and bed in the pieces, the snap to form and polish the finished head, usually a round head type rivet,and also a snap is used to locate the round head on a rivet as you hammer the free end, so as to maintain the round head. The rivet should be cut off to the right length before rivetting, usually from beneath the head of the rivet being used, the thicknesses of the materials being brought together, then one and a half to twice the diameter of the rivet shank being used. This rule also applies for countersunk rivets When you come to pein the rivet over, use lots of light blows, and keep the rivet straight, use a ball pein hammer around the outside edge of the rivet shank to mushroom/upset it out and then the face of the hammer if you want to make it flush as in a countersunk joint, or use the snap/domer to form a round head. Hot rivets in theory close the joint as they cool, but in practice, unless you are quite proficient in the technique, they will have cooled , somewhat nullyfying the effect. Local heat can help, but if you try to put it back into the fire to heat, it will also heat the surrounding areas, and they are then prone to distortion. Give it a go and have fun.

I would term that a bolster support, but can understand why they term it a drifting post

Ignoring the material issue, You will have problems with that design. IMHO There is no great rigidity in this set up, any slight movement and the points are not going to line up, And as you are balancing the bar on the bottom tool, if this is not perfectly square to the blade, it will twist and misalign them, which is what you have found out, If this tool is just for lining in pre forging, you only need 1/8" cutting depth to mark your bar, this also helps in dissipating the heat from the tools edge You don't need a bottom blade, a guide bar/spacer would be more advantageous to get a repeated centre line or an offset, the bottom die just needs to be anvil like, and then you can mark it from four sides. It is also much more versatile as there are many other options it can then be used for. Start thinking blacksmithing solutions rather than engineering methods,

Have you come across this in your lurking '?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>> it was put there to try to help this very problem of vernacular / terminology of the craft

A picture would help. if it fits into the hardie hole, have a look here and scroll down to Cone Mandrel '?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>> and scroll down to Cone Mandrel That could be loosely described as a drifting post Or it could be a floor mandrel, a larger version of the cone mandrel

This free download publication has just been brought to my attention, and whilst not immediately for the absolute beginner, it provides an invaluable range of useful information for anyone remotely interested in or involved in the industry, and an insight into the ironwork history in Ireland. http://www.ahg.gov.ie/en/Publications/HeritagePublications/BuiltHeritagePolicyPublications/Iron%20-%20The%20Repair%20of%20Wrought%20and%20Cast%20Ironwork% And the important bit. All or part of this publication may be reproduced without further permission provided the source is acknowledged Source is: DUBLIN PUBLISHED BY THE STATIONERY OFFICE To be purchased directly from: Government Publications Sales Office Sun Alliance House Molesworth Street Dublin 2 or by mail order from: Government Publications Postal Trade Section Unit 20 Lakeside Retail Park Claremorris Co. Mayo Tel: 01 – 6476834/37 or 1890 213434; Fax: 01 – 6476843 or 094 - 9378964 or through any bookseller © Government of Ireland 2009 ISBN 978-1-4064-2189-7 All or part of this publication may be reproduced without further permission provided the source is acknowledged Text by: Ali Davey Contributor: David Mitchell Series Editor: Jacqui Donnelly Copy Editor: Eleanor Flegg Design: Bennis Design

Not yet, we are trying to arrange it so the maximum number of people can benefit from the experience All details will be posted to the website as soon as relevant information is received and can be seen at http://www.internationalblacksmithsfest.com/ Some Masterclasses will be inside a marquee and may be repeated each day, these will be the ones that will need to be booked in for, Others will be open to all due to the situation, ie bonfire for tyre bonding is not ideal inside. The iron smelt will be done over a number of days, casting will be done every day, There will also be trade stands and groups where demonstrations will be taking place. There will be something going on each and every day that will be well worth attending for. For the demonstrators, traders and those booking in for the whole four days there will be a post show hoolie and hog roast on the last evening after the public have left.

Hi Tim, Looks relatively small in fly press terms somewhere in the 1 to 2 range, still useful, but usually fly presses,for 'smithing, the bigger the better, its the throat size that's more of a question when you are going to use it for 'smithing, this is not their original purpose. If that is a tool to fit the press, the spigot diameter is usually 1", so you may be able to do a bit of estimating size wise from that. The ball carriers not look original, and the working Lengths may have been extended to give it more oomph. Always difficult to judge from a single picture

Also concerned with no guard on angle grinder, seems to be a common practice these days, but wrong. Guards are there for a reason, grinders can be lethal, any grinders, wheels disintegrate if wrong pressure angles are used, that's the reason for the guard.they bite. There is no right or wrong way top do something, but there usually is a safe way, Adopt it.

Unfortunate coincidence there Doug, however with Brian and Alec and Dan attending there will be a US contingent spreading the techniques you are fortunate to have on hand, its also an alternative for those who haven't got the funds to attend the ABANA festival from this side of the pond to see and learn from Internationally acclaimed 'smiths in their specific skill areas. Hopefully attract more interest from the public to take an interest and have a go at it for themselves.

Don't want to get into an argument here, just responding to what I saw on the screen, I would think we all have had that type of question, the key is how to tackle it and learn from it. I was merely trying to say well done for being honest with what you knew, and trying to explain a response to a situation so others may benefit from my experience for future reference, or should I not bother? If Joel didn't want to know the answers, then why did he put up? Quote " I didn't know the answer to either (because I didn't know how corrosive milk was or how long "over time" was, as opposed to about steel) but I gave the best answers I could." Or isn't he interested in how he can learn more so he could answer? There is no shame or indignity in not knowing an answer, but a qualified answer is more realistic and establishes credibility.

For full details http://www.internationalblacksmithsfest.com/ where you can see who we have currently received confirmation from that they will be there, and what they will be doing. August 13th to 16th, Four days to keep you happy, pick up tips 'n tricks, see the Masters in action and enjoy yourself in the company of like minded people, any problems you have had should be able to be sorted here. At the centre of the showground there will be blacksmiths working throughout the event as well as an iron smelt, aluminium casting, Medieval ironworking, Blacksmithing competitions, Demonstrations and Master classes and old fashioned fairground attractions, Aunt Sally, coconut shyes, high strikers, rides, bouncy castle etc Other crafts and traders featuring some of the the best the UK has to offer will also be on the site to keep all the family interested, and special attractions to keep the kids happy too. For stallholders and the visiting blacksmiths, there will be a close of event hoolie and hog roast on the Saturday evening after the public have departed.

Hoozah, after many delays, we have finally got the website up and functioning and it can be seen here http://www.internationalblacksmithsfest.com/ one or two minor changes from what was originally envisaged, but all the building blocks are now in place, Marquees hired, toilet facilities booked, security arranged, plus many top class demonstrators and exhibits. BABA will also be holding their AGM on the Saturday morning from 9.00am We now need more International Teams to come forward to compete as well as individuals and students. All details are on the website Any other queries or questions feel free to ask and I'll do my best to respond. It's promising to be a great four days and I look forward to meeting many of you there to put names to faces and to share and spread the knowledge.

Without more details, I would hazard a guess this is a clamp rather than a press, The thread seems left handed instead of the usual right hand, therefore It would be more suited to horizontal mounting than vertical as shown as you would get a clamping action then, something like a machine vise. It could be used as a press, but will need some modifications. They should not be a problem to make I would think, may be on the light side, but could be useful. Would be interesting to know its original use.

That's all you could do in the circumstances then, without all the necessary relevant facts, you cannot give a definitive answer, merely an 'in my opinion' type of answer which you seem to have done. And if you are asking others to give you the answers, we too would require more than the general information you posted. What materials and finish on your food safe item? by your definition it would imply being safe for food is what it says. or are you asking if milk is a food? However different foods have different characteristics in cooking as opposed to eating situations, and react differently in those circumstances and these have to be taken into consideration. As for the burnished finish, again specific type of material being used, any other finish applied over the burnishing, you say indoor, but again indoor conditions vary from damp or dry, and a more specific time span, would be helpful. I hate so called 'simple questions', they very rarely have a simple answer.

As usual I am afraid, no one definitive answer, it depends on the situation and the facilities you have at your disposal, sizes of materials, desired outcome etc You now get to a bit of a hypothetical explanation which misleads from good recommended practice and answering the original post, which has already been well covered with alternative methods to achieve the desired results. The swelling you refer to is not necessarily a form of upsetting, merely a displacement of parent material, and this in itself could cause problems, depending on material you are using, and whether punching or slitting and drifting. The inserted piece through this 'forged' area replaces what has been altered during the forging op, you are relying on the abutting parts to give excess material Have a considered look and see what you think would work best for the particular situation, branch welding is the easier way to go for building up multi piece items. If you are adding bits to an existing piece then each is a unique situation and has to be considered as such.