dickb

You can find some inexpensive hammers at Harbor Depot. I've bought a few ranging up to four pounds and they all from about six to eight dollars. The heads are well made and stand up under a lot of pounding. Some come with Hickory handles and others are "Hardwood" , whatever that is A note of caution, on one or two the handles loosened up a little. I used a little crazy glue and they tightened up and I haven't had any problems after. Good hickory handles are expensive and around here they cost as much as a new Harbor Freight hammer. Garage sales are great, particularly when they're selling a hammer with a broken or missing handle, or maybe a little surface rusted. Not deeply pitted.

Well, I found an easy way to hold the quarter inch lettering stamps. I took a six inch piece of quarter inch black iron pipe and found the quarter inch lettering punches fit snugly into the pipe. Insert the lettering stamp into the pipe leaving about an inch protruding. If the fit is too loose you can give the pipe a slight tap with a hammer, or just wrap a turn or two of electricians vinyl tape around the lettering stamp. Then insert a piece of quarter inch round stock into the other end of the pipe. This piece should be long enough to touch the end of the lettering stamp and stick out about an inch from the other end of the pipe. So now you can hold the pipe and strike the protruding end of the quarter inch stock. Took me about two days to figure this out and ten minutes to set it up. Dick B

I have a set of lettering punches, each is 1/4 inch square and 2 1/2 inches long. I would like to make some kind of holder that will allow me to see where I am positioning it prior to striking with a hammer. Vice grips or tongs don't work well because you can't easily see where you are positioning the punch. A quarter inch square hole about an inch or an inch and a half deep in the end of a short piece of bar stock would be fine. A friction fit would be fine, so I can change which punch is mounted in the handle. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I've made a few punches, slitters, chisels, out of rail anchors like the unit V shown at http://www.harmerste...ors-tie-plates/. I takes a little work to straighten them out but you end up with about two pounds of very usable, hardenable steel The "improved fair" anchor would make a good hot cut hardy tool with a little cuttting and welding.

My style of blacksmithing could be classified as " Rural Circa 1850 " as apposed to "ASME Circa 2012" . Is there a rule of thumb as to how much oil is needed to safely and effectively quench a given weight of steel. Now I know this question may be a little vague, but I'm using junkyard leaf and/or coil springs and the parts to be quenched will be in the range of a few ounces up to a maximum of about two pounds. I can not keep the oil at the forge so I expect to bring the oil to the forge and remove it after I use it. I know there are oils specifically made for quenching steels, but what did blacksmiths use a hundred years ago, before these were invented. Will used motor oil work. ? I can do the quenching outside in the open air if necessary. Many thanks

I ran a forge on coke a couple of days ago for the first time. On my first attempt to get the coke to burn I did not use enough kindling wood. The coke did not begin to burn before the kindling wood burned out. The next time I used a lot of kindling wood, just a few slivers of broken up wood and when these were burning, I added some more, a little bigger pieces and more of them, and finally enough scrap construction wood scrap to fill the fire pot. I was reasonably sure the construction wood scrap would ignite so I immediately piled on the coke and using a and cranked blower started cranking. When you blow air through a wood fire you get a very hot fire, easily capable of igniting the coke. The fire pot is about 1o inches by 12 inches and around five inches deep. Three important points, 1 use plenty of kindling wood 2 use as much air as you can get without blowing out the burning kindling. 3 the coke should be in small pieces averaging about the size of a walnut, approximately one cubic inch. Break it up to this size if necessary. Good luck, Dick B

I want to sing the praises of using Coke in a forge instead of Smithing Coal It does not produce any smoke or smell at all, no matter what you do. It burns hotter than hell and produces little or no ash or clinkers. The fire never settles down, no hollow spots, nothing but pure heat. Just add fresh coke as needed. It's a little harder to start a new fire in the forge, just use a little more kindling. I was told that it needed a strong blast to keep it running, but I didn't have any problems using a hundred year old, no name, hand cranked blower. A blacksmith friend gave me a bag of coke, which is what I was using, but I would like to find a regular dealer who sells it. Does anyone know a dealer in the New York or New Jersey area where I could buy some??

Has any one ever seen a pair of tongs like this one ? found on ebay at http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260955853179 Looks like you could make the pierced part and several differant sized hook parts to fit differant size/shape stock

How do I relate the geometry of a Slitting chisle to the material and size I want to drift? For example and to clarify the above. What size slitting chisle If the material is 3/8" (or 3/4" or 1" ) mild steel and I want to pierce it and drift a 1" diameter round hole . Are there some general rules? Thanks

Maybe I left out one ot two details, so let me include them here. I am planning to make a hawk made out of wrought iron with a HC cutting edge. I remember reading that wrought iron is forge welded at a higher temperature than HC steel. Will this create a problem, I use 20 Muleteam Borax when forge welding mild steel. If possible I am trying to get some advice from some more experience blacksmiths before I resort to using the "Law of Sufficient Mistakes" Thanks one and all

I have some 3/4 inch wrought iron and would like to steel it. The wrought iron looks pretty good, bends without cracking, no signs of delaminating. I haven't had any problems forge welding the wrought iron to itself. I'v been lucky and a local shop has given me some brand new automobile coil and leaf springs. Any suggestions how to forge weld some automobile leaf spring steel or automobile coil spring steel to the wrought iron. Thanks

How do I punch and/or drift a square hole? I can forge a square punch or a square drift, but it's not a perfect square. The four faces of the square are slightly differant and looking at the working end, the two diagonals are not identical. I usually strike a few blows from one side (side 1) and then turn the work over and strike a few blows from the opposite side (side 2). The problem is, when I turn the work over to drift from side 2, the drift will not exactly fit the work because the drift was not exactly symetrical. I end up with a more or less square hole but the corners are a little rough. Having the hole not exactly square is okay, but I have to use a file to clean up the corners with a file. I'd like not to have to use a file to clean up the corners. Does any one have a suggestion, aside from forging an absolutely square drift? Thanks

L Sure I remember you, How could I forget. The hammer is holding up fine, No cracks and no problems of any kind. I'd love to stop by the shop, but will call first. Every blacksmith has made a at least a couple of knives and that's what I was thinkin about. I collected a couple of leaf springs that I'm thinking of working on. A friend of mine delivers truck replacement parts, so a couple of heavy truck axels, about two and a quarter inch diameter, seem to have followed me home. At least one is brand new. Also a couple of smaller axels. I can drop a couple of these off if you have any use for them. I go up to Goshen on a pretty regular basis. Maybe we can get together for coffee or a drink. D.B. PS What are you doing with those beautiful faces you forge ?

I'm ok forging mild steel, probably 1018 steel. What temperature, actually what color, should I heat automobile leaf springs or automobile coil springs so I can forge without running into cracking problems. Same question but differant material, how about 1 1/4 inch jackhammer bits.? Not a very difficult question for an experienced person. Thanks in advance

sorry, I thought I had attached a picture, I will try again.

I bought this unusual hammer, see picture. It's a straight pein hammer , weighs 3 pounds nine ounces including handle, and has a seven eighths hole straight through parallel with the handle. It was made by Stanley, the name is punched into the hammer. Any idea what it was called and why the hole??? Please check the next reply, I included pictures.

I have heard the term "chambered fire" related to forge welding and I have a rough idea what that means. But I need a little more detail, (actually as much detail as possible.) Can anyone fill me in or point me to some good description on the internet. Thanks Dickb

I will be doing some forge welding and looking for some eye protection. I found these on the Fastenal website : http://www.fastenal.com/web/products.ex?N=999600985 Can anyone comment on which, if any of these, are suitable ?

I'm making a few handled tools, hot cutters, punches, etc. The material will be 1 " or 1 1/4" jackhammer bits. I understand the overall geometry of the cutting end of the chisles. How do I figure out the dimensions of the of the cutting edge. Thanks

I am partial to straight pein hammers and the shape of Jack Wheeler's hammer looked interesting. I have a two and a half pound straight pein hammer but am looking for another about a pound heavier. Dick b

In the Summer 2009 issue of the Hammer's Blow (see page 12) there is a picture of Jack Wheeler using an unusual hammer. Does anyone know what kind of hammer it is?

Thanks, Well i understand about neutral and/or reducing fire, but I'm not sure I understand "inverse proportion" The firepot is about 10 X 12 inches and about 5 inches deep. I do plan to do a lot of welding. I usually fire with the coal about 2 inches above the top of the pot. Given this info, which size (Nut or Pea) would you suggest? Thank you from a more or less Newbie.

I am using a coal forge with an old hand cranked blower. I have available Pea size anthracite coal and Nut size anthracite, both available bagged at about fifteen dollars per hundred pounds. Until now, I have been using the pea size. Can anyone give me an idea if it's a good idea (or not) to use the nut size? I see lots of articles on how to manage a soft coal fire, but I think these don't apply to using anthracite. I don't think it actually "cokes" and I don't think it packs into a solit mass. Am I correct? In general I'd like any advice available on managing an anthracite forge. Thanks

Herw's a method I've used. Non toxic and reasonably safe. Soak it a gallon or a couple of gallons of full strength Clorox bleach. Dick B