Musika

Hey, i haven't been here in a long time, like to add I like the new look. I was wondering, why is charcoal actually used instead of regular wood as fuel in most cases? I read that it is cleaner to burn, thus it helps keep the metal from contaminating. Also, it is supposed to burn slower and at a lower tempurate. Which i'm sure is not true. Can you guys help me out? Thanks Musika ♪

Thanks guys! But my actual question wasn't answered if you read my origianl post. "What the purity of can tabs are." As far as melting them, i'm going to do it, i just need to put aside some time when i have it to do so. My original idea was to try and just see if i could do it. Not that it would serve any particular purpose, just as a learning thing. I start work tomorrow and i'll be saving to buy a stake holder and some stakes to go with it to start cold metal shaping. After that i might build a home made forge to try some other things.

Hey guys! Haven't posted in a while but i'm wondering, what the purity of can tabs are. You know, the thing you use to open say a can of coke. And of the cans themselves. I have collected a good deal of them, and thought it would be a cool project to try and melt the aluminum down and make something of it. My next question would then be, what kind of tempuratures do you need to achieve in order to melt aluminum into a liquid state in order to cast it? What sort of materials would one need to hold molten aluminum? And so on. Thanks!

No offence, but you realise that in the picture. That is not bronze, that is leather. But you could do it in bronze im sure. I don't think you would have to hot work the scales to get them to shape up properly, you could do it cold. You just need to get a mold which you can shape them into. =]

Nice! Now thats some steel! I saw a sculpture the other day made of wire. I'm sure it was aluminium though. It was a 2D portrait of a dog.

Thanks for the hot worked welcome! *Badum dum chhh* Zimmermann? Cool, i'll have a look and see if he can't help me. =]

Wow, thank guys! This is really a great community! Yea, i'm taking a look at anvilfire and the armour archive and they are a ton of help! But i still haven't found how an entire suit of armour would actually be held together. My best guess would be leather straps and obviously the rivets you see on the inside. But i have yet to find a website which has a good explaination of how for example the legs would be attached. My guess is a hooker's garder belt! XD Or something similar. ;)

Probably is somewhere on the forum, but is there a section where people make things out of sheet metal without hot working them. IE Medival Armor? (BTW that what got me started on the search for an anvil) =]

Hello all of you out there. I'm nw to the forums, and actually got started after not having access to my school's anvil and furnace... So i got on a search for people who knew about smithing and anvils, and found you guys! I currently have an ongoing search for an anvil here: http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/looking-anvil-11149/ I'm living in Germany and hope to learn a great deal and offer what little knowledge i have to try and help!

A solar furnace is not an unrealistic idea. But you do realise that you will need a lot more than 5 square feet of mirror to get even a reasonable tempurate. I lived in New Mexico for a few years and one project which i enacted was a solar grill. Using nothing more than an old grill from the local scrap yard and sheet of 1mm Aluminium. Bending the sheet into a half pipe, I managed to get it to heat hot dogs to about 150 degrees F. But enough of that... I don't quite remember where but i have seen a solar furnace which heats up to 3000 degrees C. (Melts most metals) But it used hundreds of mirrors and was spread over a half square kilometer... Just my 2 cents. =]

Cool! Good luck on your journey! =]

Servus! Thanks! I'm so glad to have gotten a response from someone who know what they are doing. Responses to: 1. I'm actually looking for a forged steel anvil if thats possible, i'll settle for a steel face though. 2. I'm looking buy a new anvil if it's possible, but used is cool. 3. 40-60Kg should be fine to begin with. 4. If its new i'd hope so! Otherwise i'll have to inspect it if it's used. 5. I hope no! If so, i'll use WD40 to polish it back to a shine if need be. 6. Well i've not yet used an anvil, so i'll have to train my ear to understand what you meen. =] 7. Like i said, i'm looking to pay 200-250 dollars, but if it's just a little more, i'll porbably let myself go. Cool! Bt i'm not to far from you. If i can't find a good anvil here i might have to ask where your nice guy lives so i can call or visit him. Wow, 3 euros per KG is not bad, i'd pay for a 50Kg gladly! Thanks for all the help! Musika

Hello! I'm new to the forums, but i've been here quite a few times researching. I've been getting into historical armor and metal working has always been a hobby of mine since the 7th grade where we made a steel shovel ourselves. I've made several metal sculptures and tools myself using my school's workshop (which has an anvil) aswell as a chainmaille shirt! But i would like to finally have my own anvil. Anyway! I'm looking to buy a beginners anvil and was hoping for some good advice. I'm looking to put no more than 200-250 dollars into a decent anvil right now, and i've looked all over here and in shops and scrap yards and even on the internet! But nothing works. I found some great website, which seem to have products, but no information on how to order them and prices... I'm looking for a South German style anvil, and if you haven't noticed, i live in germany. =] Thanks!