Will Brouwers

Thanks Frosty, and way to go John!

Today was a little bit on a lot of different things. I started on something quiet, roughing out a sledge hammer handle, and then at 10 I started with squaring up the holes I drilled in my nail header and made my first two nails ever! I'm pretty excited, even though they weren't even close to 1 heat nails, and they look pretty ugly. I also forged the top hook for my trammel hook that I had bent cold. Finally, I started to tackle the hardy hole swage block made from a F-450 tie rode end. I was able to recruit a striker last time I forged to make the square shank, but this time I had to bend it and have it sit nicely on the anvil. Next time I will begin the depressions.

Thanks for all these tips and tricks. Especially the one about measuring and marking from both sides and splitting the difference. That will be very handy!

Thanks for the reply George. I should’ve clarified which measurement. I meant by width, hotdog way. How best to find the center/middle of a 3/4 square bar without getting a tape measure out and struggling to find 3/8.

I would like to see what the other center finding tools were. I tried measuring halfway when making split crosses. But never seemed to truly find the center, the end of the ruler and trying to mark center with a center punch made for some inaccuracies.

Every time I carry my post vise upstairs and outside to forge, for some reason I feel like I am carrying a machine gun, so here is a picture lol

It would also be a good idea to check out the improvised anvil section of the forums. I am considering this as it would be nice to have a bench anvil...

Yeah, I'm sure it would. I have been keeping up with the developments on the prayer request page and have kept you in my prayers. It is definitely good to see you back on here!

I would first suggest looking at blacksmithing books, because they have some good beginner projects. The first thing I made as a beginner was an S hook. All you need for that, besides the assumed hammer, tongs, anvil and forge, would be a post vise and a twisting wrench, assuming you want a twist in the middle. If not, you can do it all without any other tools. However, as I write this, it would be good to have a bristle brush, not those cheap welding ones, and some kind of finish material-beeswax, paint, oil, etc.

And I just got back with another investment… 12 speed, 1 horsepower, floor mount drill press

My run to restore scored me a tuning fork/pickle fork and a half-full drill index, that I filled up more with a box of misc. drill bits my friend gave me

Good luck!! I should also clarify, now that I have gained some idea of what I am doing around the forge, and have friends to hold hot steel while I swing the sledge, I am going to make my own hardy hole swage block from a big tie rod end.

Thanks George, I always appreciate your comments and ideas on here. I thought it was fun that I am planning on making my own swage block out of a tie rod end, and that you recommended one! I have started looking at floor mount drill presses now! The only thing is, do I really need it now? I am planning on moving Spring of 2024, as that is when my schooling ends, so maybe it is worth waiting...

Thanks for all the replies!! George, I really appreciate your comment on upgrading a basic forging setup. Now that I have this money, my mind is running absolutely WILD on all the things I could buy, a drill press, a Holland anvil, since they are 45 minutes away from me, etc. Also, after seeing some video about all the treasure at Quad-State, it makes me think I should just put myself on a spending freeze until then lol. I appreciate all the other comments as well. For someone who has a small basement shop, a multi-ton scrap pile isn’t an option either, a lot of things aren’t an option. However, now that I am developing my forging skills (still not very good) I have decided to tackle a project I saw Black Bear Forge do on YouTube, a hardy hole swage block, for me made from an F-350 tie rod end. One of my friends held the tie rod in some very ill fitting tongs while I swung away with my 8lb. sledge. It feels good striking, moving so much metal so quickly! Anyways, I digress. I am always fighting the battle between gathering/collecting free or cheap things, but keeping a clean and uncluttered shop, between buying a lot of small things, or saving up for that really nice big thing.

This is a question that has been bouncing around in my head for a while. It started when I got some money for my birthday and immediately started to think of how I could spend it. As someone who is new to this craft and doesn't have many tools, my first thought was "what tools can I buy with this?" But then I realized that before I buy more tools, I should get better at using the tools I have, like the anvil, hammer and tongs. This also led to a bit of a re-evaluation of my pile of material and what I need to keep, vs. what isn't necessary. As someone who is always, and I mean always on the lookout for things that can be repurposed, reused, resold, etc. sometimes it gets a little out of hand. Just wondering your thoughts on it, especially since our craft has the high potential to collect LOTS of tools and material.

That would be cool! They make some cool stuff, and the owner is on here as Foundry Guy or something

Ooo!! Good idea! Thank you! Would such a small vise stand up to that kind of beating, I know they are made for heavy duty use, but it looks so frail next to my other post vise. I was also thinking of making it an only outside vise, because when I want to forge right now, I have to haul my big one upstairs. The only thing I really use it for is twists anyways, so I guess having a smaller one would work well. As I have been going over it, I saw that the jaws aren’t smooth, they have lots of teeth for grip. I should probably just leave it like that, right?

Picked these up for $60 today. The post vise is a little guy with 4 1/4 inch jaws. It’s overall length is 27 inches, so I’m trying to figure out how to best mount it, including getting a spring and bracket forged. I am hoping that the shear will work for me too. I sprayed it with penetrating oil and will hope for the best.

Sometimes it's hard being this tough

I hope that I don't raise my kids to harshly. I have been experimenting with dirt/clay and fire brick. I think the firebrick might be restricting me, but I do like how firebrick is more permanent than dirt, but maybe I shouldn't be focusing on permanence while I am still trying to figure out the basics...

Thanks again for the tips and advice. I probably just need to devote a day to fiddling with it, the problem is that I am a recovering perfectionist, so when things don’t work the first time, I start to question and second guess

Thanks Charles. And which side should the tuyere come out of? The 4in or 8-12 in?

I have more questions: I remade my fire pot to be not as wide, but I still had a very hard time lighting the forge, as well as getting my charcoal to get hot enough. It seemed like the fire didn’t want to spread to the rest of the charcoal. I wonder if I was just too impatient to let the charcoal catch? I had this same problem the last time I tried to use a side blast charcoal forge. I am attaching pictures to see if what I made should get me the results needed, because then I have narrowed it down to operator error. P.S. The 3/4 pipe is 1 inch above the forge floor

I was joking about forge welding my knife. I will do what swede fiddle suggested and keep it as a reminder and an example of how far I’ve come!

Well Frosty, that would eliminate the cracks and cold shuts. Now to learn how to forge weld so I can make a knife…