CarolusFaber

Hi everyone and first of all Happy New Year! I recently made a fabriacted stand for an old vise a friend gave me. I'd like to share with you the result. It's made out of a squared hollow tubing (18 cm x 18 cm, approx. 7 x 7 in) with a plate bolted onto the top and a piece of railroad track as an "extended foot". The inside is filled with gravel and sand to add more mass and stability and dampen vibrations. The vise is simply bolted to the stand. Hope you like it! As a personal augury for the new year, may you forge fire burn clean and hot, free from any clinkers! Carolus

HI Irondragon, thank you for your appreciation! Carolus

The amount of cut overlapping is a critical aspect indeed: when twisting, the central "split" section tightens quite a lot. Somewhere in my workshop I have a sheet with all the measurements I took during the various attemps, including the cross section in the narrow central part and cuts length. I might look for it and share here. I'd be happy if you will share your version! Thank you! Carolus

I must admit I struggled a bit to figure out how to have the necessary amount of material at the arms to be then spreaded out into the four triangles. I started from a 35mm*35mm square bar (mild steel) and then drawn out the middle section to make kind of an hourglass shape. Then, the process is the same as for the normal split cross, with the main difference that now you have plenty of material at the arms to be later forged in the typiacl triangular shape of the Maltese Cross. The tips are simply cut with an angle grinder and then refined at the forge. Regarding the twists, I twisted 180° the arms (inspiration taken from Moose Forge split cross or Friedrich's Cross). As you can see from the pictures, I think it's better to first do the twisting and then forge out the triangular arms. Hope it's clear enough! If you have improvements in the process (especially regarding the twist), I'd be very happy if you share! Carolus

Hi Frosty, thank you for your appreciation! If you wish, I can share some step-by-step photos I took during the process. Carolus Hi Anvil, I welded two little pins to the bottom arm of the cross (at its tips) and then the marble Master fixed it into the stone with some sort of mortar added with red marble powder in order not to see the joining seam. Thank you! Carolus

Hi everyone, some months ago, I forged this Maltese Cross using the "split cross" technique with added twists. The finishing applied is transparent varnish over the previusly polished surface with steel wirebrush. The project was then completed by fixing the cross on a red marble carved basin to realize a small holy water font (the carving work was done by a friend Master marble worker). I'm open to any comment and suggestion of yours! Hope you like it. Thanks! Carolus Faber

Thank you Neil for your reply!

Hi everyone! Two years ago I bought a small self-contained power hammer (40 kg ram, around 88 lbs) from the 50s. The model is called "Ariete" (the italian word for ram, the animal) and was manufactured by a company called "Mario Pensotti". I was wondering if anyone here (especially, but not only, the smiths from Europe and Italy) owns an italian-made power hammer (from Pensotti itself, or other manufacturers like Apuania Corsi, Maccaferri...) It would be nice to collect here some information, specs, blueprints and so on about that equipment and build something like an historical archive. Thank to you all in advance! Carolus (The photo was taken during maintenance, as you can see from the missing wooden wedges and the open cylinder )

Thank you all for your welcome! I hope to start sharing some projects with you as soon as possbile.

Hi everyone! I'm a new member from Italy, very happy to join this blacksmithing community! I started working with hammer and anvil six years ago as an hobby, thanks to my grandfather who transmitted me the passion for blacksmithing and metal working in general (he is a blacksmith indeed). I'm mostly interested in toolmaking, ornamental ironwork and restoration (especially machinery restoration). I'm looking forward to learn and broaden my knowledge in metalworking thanks to this community. All the best, CarolusFaber