Jobtiel1

I got a good deal on an oxy acetylene cutting torch from a neighbor. He only had the torch and tips and no bottles or anything. I do plan on having bottles sometime soon, but for now I want to wait for the shed to be completely done and see if there is any place to store them securely and away from the forge and work bench where I grind and weld. For now it looks like the rest will come in the future. There is one complete set that belongs to the box, and then another burner type thing with the black handle and a inlet/valve thing from another set, which I might sell. ~Jobtiel

I agree, very cool build and interesting video! I liked the part where you forged the threads. Unfortunately there was no video of you forging the nut, that would have been cool to see too. Do you by any chance have some pictures on how that swage you used for the threads works? ~Jobtiel

I think its a good theory that it was a cutout for anvil block, and once that became worn they ground it out to a tapered half round to assist in making of tool sockets. ~Jobtiel

They mention in the video a part of it is also the added publicity, if they didn't use chainmail, we probably wouldn't be talking about it right now. ~Jobtiel

You sure that that can withstand the pressures of an air compressor. I would be very reluctant to use anything that is not graded for an air compressor. ~Jobtiel

A good tip I picked up on some older threads here when I was looking for some help with welding a bit of leaf spring to mild is to kind of tap your hammer in way that you fight the rebound a bit. Firm hits and not sharp hits. It worked really well, even with a heavier hammer. Next time I'll try some smaller ones too and compare how well it welds. I've gotten good at getting a welding fire so that is at least one of the hurdles gone. ~Jobtiel

Indeed, very impressive! how did you forge the inside threads? ~Jobtiel

It looks nearly identical, the seller doesn't live in Belgium, but the anvil could have travelled a bit, it's not that far off. His claims are probably false if that's the only anvil that comes up. ~Jobtiel

Wear would be interesting here, the rest of the anvil seems to be in good shape, so it would be kind of weird for this gap to be caused by wear I imagine. I can't come up with something outside of a socket for maybe farming tools that would warrant a specific gap in an anvil. Maybe some industrial process needed this specific taper over and over again and reckoned it was easier to have an anvil maker make this gap in there for them instead of doing it with swages or free-hand. ~Jobtiel

I thought that too, I was thinking about maybe tapers, or sockets for chisels, since it might be easier to shape the socket with a drift inside if you have a matching taper in your anvil. I haven't contacted the guy, I reckon he's a smith since he mentioned you can test the anvil at his place. Maybe I'll go visit him some time and talk about the anvil a bit. ~Jobtiel

Perfectly alike would be silly, looking at it now they are close enough to look good, so I'm happy with how it turned out. ~Jobtiel

I finished a long overdue item my mother asked for a while ago, a rack to hang her keys on. They were using screws ever since moving last summer. Well, it's done, and I quite like it! Unfortunately I dropped my calipers after the first hook, so the hooks are not all the same. ~Jobtiel

Hi all, In my frequent browsing of our local online marketplace, I came across this anvil. The seller had a whole story about it. The anvil weighs 237 kg, and was used in a smithy from an old stone factory, presumably a factory where they make stuff out of slabs of stone. He said that the gap in the face was used to make gun barrels. I'm in no place to buy it at the moment, he is asking 750 euros, which is a premium price for an anvil of that size here. But nevertheless it's a really cool anvil! Have you ever come across anvils like this? Every once in a while one of these special anvils pops up. Maybe after I finish my studies I can see if I can afford one. ~Jobtiel

No problem! nowadays I don't have any problems with coal fires anymore, practice makes perfect! ~Jobtiel

The grate part kind of "hill" on this one was cast iron as well, but often you see these with cast iron firepots. I do have a picture with the set up after I installed the new firepot, it shows how it works but is not the completely original set up. Also a picture of my old set up outside, if you zoom in you can have a better view from the other side. This picture is still with the original config. ~Jobtiel

Hi TW, I don't know the manufacturer of these things. But they are everywhere around here, I guess this is our version of the hand cranked blower, hence why there are not a lot of those to be found. They are called "veldsmidse" or field forge. I guess these forges were made to be easily transportable and work everywhere, kind of the same as a rivet forge. They work well enough if the band doesn't slip, but after about a year I upgraded the forge with an actual firepot and an electric blower. I still have the old parts laying around in case I want to change it back for some event without electricity.

Yeah maple is not the best, but I had it lying around after some trees were cut down last spring. If it breaks it breaks. I agree on the eye being too wide. It's also really thin, it was my first wrapped eye welded axe so the specifics have to be nailed down a bit. I was trying to make it fit an ash handle I had lying around, but it was way too wide. I'll have to make another one for that handle! DHarris, when you carve those handles, a drawknife and spokeshave will come in real handy! A carving axe is useful for roughing out as well. the one i used had an asymmetric bevel and it worked great for carving! ~Jobtiel

This week I carved a handle for the axe from some maple, as well as finished the profile and hardening and tempering of the axe. I did mess up the stamps a little bit, but overall, it turned out pretty nice. First time carving a handle so that definitely needs some more work. ~Jobtiel

Yes, I live in the Netherlands.

Archeon is a living history museum, I've seen him work there once, and there is already an older resident smith, so it's quite possible that he started working there.

Yeah the lack of practice can be a challenge if I ever move abroad. Concerning poisonous plants, I was always told: "If the birds don't eat it, neither should you!". We don't have a lot of deadly poisonous plants, but you can get quite sick if you manage to eat poisonous stuff. this is a picture of the wolf in question, barely a few kilometers from where I live: It's a young male looking for a place to live, livestock farmer's weren't too happy about that one. ~Jobtiel

Reading all of this I'm happy I live in the Netherlands, there are no venomous animals living here, apart from a snake. But that snake's habitat is nowhere close to where I live. There have been wolves around again after years of being absent though. ~Jobtiel

Good Day is the shop today, I finally got a good welding fire set up, and managed to finish forging the axe I messed up the last time! A wrapped eye, with a piece of leaf spring for the beard. The eye is a bit on the large side, but I've written down my marks, so I can change it accordingly next time. ~Jobtiel

I started working on a bearded axe, and was forge welding the beard, a piece of leaf spring, in. It's a wrapped eye axe. However, the beard crumbled while forge welding. I've been looking around on the forum, and found that leaf spring should be welded at a bright orange, not at yellow. Which leaves me a question. Should the mild steel be at yellow and the leaf spring at Orange during forge welding, or will it also work when the mild steel is at the same temperature as the leaf spring? ~Jobtiel

TW, would be a nice for the market, and a correction, I saw one champion 400 once, it was sold for 1200 euros iirc. But imagine the shipping rate on a pile of anvils! ~Jobtiel