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I Forge Iron

Greebe

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Everything posted by Greebe

  1. AI and automation is going to have a severe impact on life in the near term. For instance a study that came out a few months back from the McKinsey Global Institute shows that around 800 Million jobs globally will be lost to automation by 2030, and 75 Million of that just in the U.S. That is 33% of American jobs in the next 12 years gone. I really think the impact is going to be much worse then people think. I had to do a large research project on AI and what we are seeing now is just a tiny bit of what will be happening very soon. The big part of all this is not actual intelligence in a human way, but in a much more superior way through neural networks and machine learning that will make machines have the ability to out pace us in everything. Machine learning and neural networking are the kicker in all of this. You DO NOT have to program the program, as it can train itself. So it basically operates outside of the parameters of its base program and learns just like you and I but it can do it a million times faster. No longer is the machine only able to just execute a program, it can do virtually anything just by looking at data and by actual physical interactions with the world through robotics. Combine that with big data and quantum computing and you have a system that can grow and learn faster then we could have ever thought. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is here, and we stand on the precipice of a brave new world that will soon to be unlike anything we have know before.
  2. I usually shape my handles to fit my hand and do not sand them down very far after rasping to shape. Then I just put plain old BLO on them. Works for me. I also do this with my axe handles. The handles I carve myself I never sand or rasp, just carve with a knife and leave the hand carved finish which is really nice.
  3. That would be cool, and probably help some people get some ideas on how to find something to get started.
  4. Yes everything is according to each individuals perspective. As a business owner of a machine shop I am far too familiar with expensive tooling, and blacksmithing tools such as an anvil is a drop in the bucket compared to my other tooling. For example, one face mill among dozens, can easily cost $500-$800 but is payed off in a few jobs. This does not include the machine to use it in which costs many tens of thousands of dollars. Blacksmithing for me is just a hobby. I think the most I ever made in a year was around $8,000 just playing at it and my anvil suites me fine for most of what I do. However it always comes down to a cost benefit analysis. Does a $2000 anvil afford you the benefit to speed production to be worth the cost. For someone just getting into it, especially a kids with little money and working at a fast food place, buying new is not an option. Now if it can make them money on the relative short term to pay back their investment so they can grow in other areas it is worth it, which for most will not be the case. I personally do not look at lifetime returns as it is not profitable, but that is just my perspective as a business owner. Maybe I should get a foundry to cast anvils for me so that I can finish them in my machine shop and make some serious profit, because I know how little we pay for large castings for other parts.
  5. We just need a prominent figure in the community to say that a large round hardened steel shaft is better then an anvil. Paging Hofi, Brazeal. Hehe! One question though, what would you do if your slab o steel did not have a horn? I know the horn of my anvil gets used a lot and it would make work much harder if I did not have one.
  6. You guys are absolutely right. If someone really wants to get into blacksmithing they can do it with found items. Not disputing that. When I was a kid I started on an anvil my dad made out of a section of railroad track and used a oxy-acetylene torch. Like I said I have the equipment I need, I have just run a number of people discouraged by not being able to find tools that do not demand a premium. For instance one of the few anvils that came up recently on craigslist was 85 lbs or so, had most of one side broken off, and the guy was asking $600. Just for kicks I sent him a message, he wrote back and said he sold it to a collector. Go figure. Yes there are new anvils, but I would not consider $1000-$1500 for a 165lb anvil reasonably priced for most people wanting to get into blacksmithing. Even the wee little 77lb Peddinghaus is a $1000. I am not looking for a fight, but you can't tell me that collectors who have over 600 anvils sitting in a storage building aren't making prices higher and making it harder for new smiths to get into the craft because of the lack of being able to find tools. Come to Minnesota and you will see how scare tools are for the blacksmith and how the collector market has made what is available extremely expensive. I mean really, who needs to have over 600 anvils? That makes no sense. That would be kind of like buying 600 houses just to sit on them and not let people have a roof over their heads even when there are more people then houses. What is the point?
  7. That is my feeling. There are only so many anvils remaining, and that is one of the biggest investments to getting into the craft these days. I have talked to a lot of young people who want to get into smithing, but cannot find or afford the asking price of anvils. The only reason they are more scarce and expensive is because people want to collect them and horde a pile of them in a building somewhere that will never get used. If you took all these horded anvils and put them back into circulation then there would be a lot more young people getting into the craft which I see as a good thing. In a sense I feel that collectors are choking the life out of the craft and keeping new people from getting into it which is a shame. I have most of the equipment I need including an old anvil, but I would love to have a nicer shape anvil that is also bigger then the one I have now. However they never come up for sale in my area, and on the rare occasion when they do, the prices are extremely high because the collector/hording market is so rampant. I just cannot see the rational to this type of behavior. I guess people are missing something in their life and try to fill it with more stuff, in this case anvils or other tools. Once the collector buys another one, the joy quickly fades and they are off to find another one to try to fill the void in their life. Kind of sad when you look at the psychology behind it and how it negatively impacts he craft.
  8. Collectors have really hurt the market for doers. Just sayin!
  9. Thanks. That is what I figured, just thought I would check.
  10. Could just pull the handle, heat it to red, let cool slowly, then rehang the handle. Then you would know you have a nice soft hammer for what you are wanting to do.
  11. That is really cool. You should keep it on the hammer rack and when you have someone over that wants to smith, ask them for the ass hammer and see what they do. LOL
  12. That is a nice hammer. I am having a hard time figuring out why it does not work well for you though.
  13. Thanks for the responses. My heaviest hammers are only 3 lb. My favorite hammer that I have used for the past 10 years is some old unmarked 2 lb. cross peen. I probably only have 12-14 hammers of varying weight and configuration, but they are traditional patterns. I have stayed away from heavier hammers after I blew a tendon on my hammer arm about 9 years ago. Had a golf ball sized lump on my forearm from where the fluid leaked out of the tendon. Fun fun. I just took it easy for a while then went back to work. Recently I have been using a 3lb hammer more and like it for the most part when forging heavier stock. Definitely is quicker and to some degree seems less tiring because you don't have to take as many swings at things. Would a heavier hammer held closer to the head be less strain on your body then say a 2 to 2-1/2lb hammer held farther back? I am just curious as I my hands and arms are getting worn out from working in the trades most of my life. Need to find more efficient ways to work that are better on the body. Thanks all.
  14. I am just curious about the idea behind the use of heavy hammers. It used to seem common to use a 2-3lb hammer for forging, while now days with the existence of the Brazeal rounding hammer concept, seems like lots of people are going to 3-5lb hammers. I can see how you could move more steel with a heavier hammer, but wouldn't this also cause a lot more stress on the body? One last thing. Brian's style seems to favor a heavy hammer head, but he chokes up almost touching the head. Seems like the advantage of the heavier head is wasted if you choke up on the handle that much. Thoughts and opinions?
  15. Looks quite nice. How did you clean that up and keep the nice patina? Wire wheel on an angle grinder?
  16. Good point. I was wanting to place an order tonight however and they are closed, so I was just hoping someone here knew. Thanks -- Greebe
  17. Looking at picking up a few scroll tongs. Saw the ones sold by and labled as Centaur. Any ideas where these are made? Must not be the USA as they are not listed that way? Thanks, Greebe
  18. How would you soak the 1045 before bringing it up to forging heat? Do you heat it on the other edge of a fire for a while before getting it into the fire? I will be putting in an order for more metal later this week. The cost difference between the two is about .50 cents a foot. I was just thinking that it would save time not having to weld in a bit on the 1018. Plus then on a hammer pole the hammer end could be hardened as well with the 1045. I just wasn't sure if it was going to take a lot more work forging the 1045 than it would make it worth it vs using the 1018. Thanks Greebe
  19. I am curious which of these two steels are easier to forge, 1018 or 1045? The reason I ask, is because I wanted to know if it would be easier to use 1018 for slit and drift tomahawks and weld in a bit, or just stay with solid 1" square 1045. Would there be much difference in how they forge? Would 1018 be easier? Would one be better for the eye strength? Thanks Greebe
  20. Greebe

    Cross Pein Hammer

    Very Nice Hammer.
  21. Haha. Good one. I too am wondering why people would bother keeping a slack tube plugged in all winter. Just get a galvanized bucket and dump it out at the end of the day. Problem solved and the electricity saved would pay for 1000s of gallons of water.
  22. My forge set up right now is in an enclosed, but unheated and uninsulated breeze way. I was thinking about the best way to preheat the anvil as well. I just got rid of a magnetic oil pan heater this year. I might go to the thrift store and see if I can find an old iron to use. Put it on cotton setting and let it heat her up. My only though about heating the anvil up is if you could hurt the heat treatment of the face. Greebe
  23. Frosty, Maybe you remember me from a few emails. I was in Sutton and then Nome before leaving this past year. I really had good intentions to make it up you way but never got a chance. Take Care, Greebe
  24. I just left Alaska this past year after living there for nearly ten years. My wife and I moved recently outside and are kind of regretting it. I only knew Virgil from stopping in and talking to him a few times over the years. I didn't know him though as a personal friend. I had a buddy that I worked with from the Girdwood Fire Department that made a few knives with him. Don't know if he still goes down there or not these days. Greebe
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