thecelticforge

I am thinking I may take two 12X12 flys and make a ten foot shelter for me and the gulls.

BGD, I am an ex combat soldier and we are optimistic to the point of idiocy. A blacksmith working will get people out in ponchos and umbrellas to watch and browse when nothing else will.

You sound like my dentist.

I have found that if you really focus on using your back muscles to rise the hammer and chest muscles to strike, letting your arm function as a lever, a lot of arm troubles just go away.

We have had record amounts of rain fall here the past week, I was able to work the festival yesterday under a maple tree even though we had steady rain. Today, it was falling at a half inch an hour. That was too much even for me! Fire poppin, metal cracking when struck on the anvil, and first and second degree burns from handling hot wet metal.... it goes on. What kind of portable / craft fair shelters are you guys using? I need suggestions. I have been thinking about a hood on my fire pot with a stove pipe pipe adapting thingie on a canvas tarp held up with rope and lodge poles.

I have found that folks a re a lot more flexible if they see a peek of a fiver in my hand when I ask for something.

Mine is at knuckle height with my fists facing down and 8 inches from my belt. I was gonna say 30 some odd inches but that would have been WAY useless.

I have seen coopers use em too.

Frosty, I have 4 pairs of barn doors, about half the building is doors. I secure them from the inside with 4 inch round oak logs in steel brackets and enter through a little walk door that only has a "german latch" and a pad lock. It is as secure as I could make it. Now all I got do is remember to close the doors each night! I am a bit lax living in a pocket of the national forest and Camp Frank D. Merrill.

I am lucky as I already have fire extinguishers, an OSHA first aid kit and an eye wash station (from the remodel of the school). I will look into the class II dead bolt.

So you just count teaching hours as production hours because that is what you loose?

Several people in town have told me that I could do well giving blacksmith lessons. I was thinking of putting together a 40 hour curriculum. and syllabus. Charging is a different matter. As this will cut into production, I will need at least $350 USD a week to cover my expenses. Opinions?

I used a magnetic engine block heater on my anvil over night because it would suck the heat out of my body. I never realized how much heat went up the flue until that winter.

Sigh, I wish I had talent like that. It's beautiful!

I had to pour a two foot thick reinforced concrete slab under my forge. The Chimney is only going to be 16 feet tall. It is a bit of an overkill, but it kept the code people happy. That was the only stipulation besides the chimney being 4 feet higher than the roof.

I strive for the nice round clinkers. A little polyureathane and you have a dragon poop paperweight to sell.

I do what spike does. I just forgo the water. After the forging is over and before the cleanup begins. I take the coke off the top of the fire and pour green coal on top with the fan on. I break it up every few minutes till I am done putting things away. Then I turn the air off, shovel the coke out, and break it up so I will have plenty to work with. I try to do this 3 times a day so I will have at least a day's supply of coke at all times.

I like the gremlin idea best. Even with the gate shut, there is a small brrrze that should keep gas out of the tuyere.

I had an odd thing happen today. As I was closing down shop, I put a piece of metal in the fire to anneal it. It was an old rod from an oil pump. I brought it up to temperature and covered it with coke. Just as I unplugged the fan, it popped and threw coke against the wall. Now the question: What happened?

I secured my anvil with 1"X1/8" bands to the anvil block. It totally quieted down.

I would go for 1065.

A note on filing. use a CLEAN file. No oils. Don't even let your hand touch the work or the cutting surface of the file. I use acetone to remove any oil that may have come into contact with the surfaces. Files can be cleaned with a special brush. Again, no oils on the brush or file.

Very nice! I have not told you but your work has given me some very good ideas. Thanks for sharing!

I have had a bad month with our automobiles. The truck broke a mounting bolt for the brake caliper. I was able to drill and tap it out! However, the threads in the spindle were buggered up. I soon discovered that the threads had an odd pitch and there was no thread repair on the market. So I bought new bolts and put one in the fire and then hardened the threads. It fixed the old ones as pretty as you please. I plan on using this method again and again when ever I can!

Clean the old very well with acetone before you apply the adhesive. That is all I can think of.