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I Forge Iron

Marcus Hopfinger

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Posts posted by Marcus Hopfinger

    TFS smithy special

    in Anvils, Swage Blocks, and Mandrels

    Posted

    400#s isn't much different than having a couple large friends sitting in the back...sure the weight is behind the axel if it is the trunk and the leverage is different. Just don't pack much else back there and try to get the weight as far forward in the trunk as possible, make getting the anvil one of the last things you do so it isn't bouncing around for such a long time and if you are still a bit worried then drive a heavy duty truck to the wedding. ;)

    Think I'm going to be sick again

    in Blacksmithing, General Discussion

    Posted

    There was an auction a couple weeks ago that is just a hop skip and a jump from where my house that i was interested in going to. There was a section on the sale bill with blacksmithing equipment and other shop tools. They advertised a large anvil (no weight listed so it is anyones guess what the auction company defines as large) a portable forge and other blacksmith tools. Top billing on the sale bill was antiques. I was planning on going but some pressing matters came up that prevented me from going....that was probably a good thing since my anvil fund is underfunded at the moment....I am trying to convince myself that the anvil and other tools were probably in terrible shape and the antique collectors that were there bid the prices through the roof so I didn't miss out on a great deal....that is what I am trying to convince myself anyway. Fortunately I don't know of anyone who went to the auction so they can't tell me there were great tools that sold for a song....so as far as I am convinced they were in rough shape and bought by some little old lady for an obscene price to put in her flower garden....that is my delusion and I am sticking to it. :blink:

    paint versus beeswax

    in Finishes for Metal

    Posted

    You mention he trades in "mountain man" stuff...is this for rendezvous/buckskinning or more decorative/tourist type of sales? If it is for rendezvous/buckskinning I would think that the beeswax finish would be much more desireable as it would be more authentic. Even if it is just for decorative use or sales to non-reenactor types a more traditional treatment would probably be more appealing I would think.

    Terry Pratchett creates a sword with meteorites

    in Everything Else

    Posted

    From news.com.au

    English fantasy author Sir Terry Pratchett says he was so excited after being knighted by the Queen that he decided to make his own sword to equip himself for his new status.

    It was not enough, however, simply to find some metal and get a blacksmith to bash it into shape.

    Pratchett, believing the sword would not truly be his own unless it was made from metal he had produced, found a field with deposits of iron ore near his home in Wiltshire, west of London.

    He gathered the deposits and smelted the iron ore himself.

    The author, 62, who has sold about 65 million copies of his books, which include the Discworld series, said: "Most of my life I've been producing stuff which is intangible and so it's amazing the achievement you feel when you have made something which is really real."

    With help from his friend Jake Keen — an expert on ancient metal-making techniques — the author dug up 81kg of ore and smelted it in the grounds of his house, using a makeshift kiln built from clay and hay and fuelled with damp sheep manure.

    Pratchett, who has Alzheimer's disease, also said he had thrown in "several pieces of meteorites — thunderbolt iron, you see — highly magical, you’ve got to chuck that stuff in whether you believe in it or not".

    After days of hammering the metal into bars, he took it to a blacksmith, whom he helped to shape it into a blade, which was finished with silverwork.

    Pratchett has stored the sword, which he completed last year, in a secret location, apparently concerned about the authorities taking an interest in it.

    He said: "It annoys me that knights aren’t allowed to carry their swords. That would be knife crime."

    See Terry's sword....scroll most of the way down the page to see the picture.

    Blacksmiths and Beards

    in Blacksmithing, General Discussion

    Posted

    When I was in the military I got in the habit of being clean-shaven but I grew a goatee for our town's 125th anniversary celebration in 2009 then shaved it off again. Last winter I regrew it but shaved it off for the summer...not sure if I will grow it back or not. The wife isn't big on me having one but doesn't mind the look when I do have it....just says it tickles too much.

    Off To War

    in Prayer List

    Posted

    God's speed your son's safe return. I had the fortune of spending a year in Iraq back in 2004/2005. Many of my compatriots from that adventure are now over in Afghanistan and several other friends of mine have done two or three deployments....and they are all in the National Guard not active duty. I will add you son to the prayer list for a safe return.

    best blacksmith movie

    in Everything Else

    Posted


    Kingdom of Heaven? Ain't that the one where Orlando Bloom dunks a glowing bracket he's been pounding on, pulls it out of the slake still glowing, and resumes pounding?


    Yes. He pounds over the end of a bit of flat stock over the side of the anvil, sticks the entire red hot area in the slack tub but when he pulls it out and puts it back on the anvil a bit of the middle of the bar is still glowing then *presto* it is glowing brightly and straight again so he pounds it back over. Must be a lower quality iron they had back then that didn't stay cool when quenched. ;)
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