lordcaradoc

Very nice hammer, and very considerate of you. I agree that hospitality has become an industry buzzword, not a way of life as it once was. My family and I participate in Medieval re-enactment (Society for Creative Enactment) and we try to live this way all the time. I stress try, but at least we make the effort that many won't.

Good job,
Tim

Wow Dave, that's beautiful work. I only hope my work gets to that level once I get my forge up and running.

Thanks for posting.

I don't have any idea on pricing really, but just for a baseline, how many hours work do you have in this project and what was the materials cost? That would be a good place to start.

Best regards,
Tim

I currently have three hammers for the forge. One is a 4lb beast of a cross peen with a fiberglass handle. I usually use that for driving wedges into stubborn wood to split it.

The second is a good 2.5 cross peen from Sears and was my normal hammer for a long time.

Last year, I bought a video by Tim Lively, Knifemaking Unplugged, and he used to use a 4lb sledge hammer with one face domed, (I now know that it makes it a rounding hammer) and I liked that. So I went to Harbor freight and bought a 3lb version. It took some time to shape the flat face to be usable and then I rounded off the other face. All the work was done with a flap-disk in the grinder and I took it really slow to avoid any issues with the questionable hardness of the face. In the end, it is now my favorite hammer and I grab that before any other when working at the anvil.

Regards,
Tim

Nice work. I think that volunteering at Living history and other shows like this is a key component to keeping interest in Blacksmithing high. Keep up the good work.

On a side note, those tent stakes look like a terrible failure, you should box them up and send them to me for immediate disposal.

Regards,
Tim

Anvil Fire carries it by the Pint for $44.00 US. Would that work?

Anvilfire Store

Regards,
Tim

When fluxing with wood ash, another thread mentioned to wrap the billet in clay soaked paper to create a "can weld" effect.

Phil

My first forge was built in an air tank, like I think you are wanting to build in the grill, with a pipe tuyere and mine was huge. I used a thrift store hair dryer and never needed more than the lowest setting. I got one of those foot switch extension cords for easier turning it on and off.

Regards,
Tim

Well, since everyone else gave the Smithin' uses, there are loads of other good things to use fireplace ashes for:

Ten uses for Wood Ashes

Of course, you can also use it in the old Outhouse instead of lime.

Regards,
Tim

Wonderful video.

Regards,
Tim

Clinton,

Here is what I would do in your situation. (if I had a forge at the moment that is. )

Take a 1/2" square stock piece and fold it in half. Weld that together leaving a few inches where the ends come together so you can flatten them out later for the mounting bolts. Then do your wrap and weld to create that square eye and weld that too. Then flatten out the now essentially 1" thick section and draw out the tails and drill/punch for the bolts. I've seen the tailed out mounts too, but that should give you all the features you are looking to replicate.

Here is a link that may help: Anvilfire: Blacksmith Vises
In the middle and near the end are the parts about the bracket.

Regards,
Tim

I feel like it's missing something. Anyone have any ideas on what I could add in the space left?

This is the stand I made for my swage block, it's made from guardrail posts. The top of the block is at the same height as my anvil face and when stood on it's edge on the step it's again at the right working height.

It's simple and works reasonably well though I will be installing something to secure it on edge. As it is you have to keep an eye on it in use or the block can tip or walk off.

Frosty the Lucky.

well as stated in a different post the forge got so hot it destroyed the reducers i had on the ends of the burners to help with flame shape, It seems these are not needed anyway for the forge to operate so no big deal. the guy i sold one to is really happy.
and the other may be sold this weekend.

thanks for the comments too!

I was wondering, can you forge cast iron or will it just smush into a mess? I got some really neat old machine blades off some type of mower/mulcher/harvester circa 1900ish & they are riveted to some cool little cast iron arms that would make awesome fantasy knives if I can hammer them flat but I've never actually tried to hammer cast iron and I don't want to ruin one trying to figure it out. I realize they will always be brittle cast iron & all that but hey they were tough enough to go on whatever type machine they came off of & their going to be fantasy knives not survival knives right?

Very nice Dave, I may borrow that idea one of these days.

Regards,
Tim

I had some big nails that I forged on the powerhammer awhile back and with the help of Fewood we forged the head on one. It came out pretty nice, this is the result of two heats, we could have taken one more heat and got it a bit flatter, but we were pressed for time. We also "attempted" to make a crane Brian Brazeal style

The striking was fun but my swage block was not bolted down so we were loosing lots of energy as it bounced across the shop

Working at a craft or any other skill, professionaly forces a level of discipline and competence that is hard to match otherwise. You must perform all day everday whether you feel like it or not. You must complete projects on time even if you lose interest or run into technical difficulties or get sick. You can't have serious gaps in your skills. Don't like fitting collars? Too bad, there's 150 of them on this project and you have no choice but to do them and do them well. Dont like math? You had better learn whats needed for your work. You will have to take on work that you don't enjoy and will learn a great deal from it. You will get to do maintenance or repair on other peoples work. You may hate what they did or admire it. In either case you will learn a lot. You will work on large projects and sometimes collaborate with other craftsmen. You cannot bask in the kind compliments of friends and family. Your work is out in the cold wind of the competitive market and will take harsh criticism. If your work doesn't perform as expected it may affect your livelihood or worse expose you to legal liability.

I do as I please in my shop. Sometimes its obsessive and I put in longer days and more effort than a professional. But only because I feel like it. I can stop smithing for months at a time and my shop will still be there when I return. If I dont like a technique, I avoid it. As I see it,to call myself a blacksmith would be to ignore the fact that I am in a completely different class from the people who do it for a living.

Beautiful work all of you. My wife and I just moved into a nice little house and there are no curtains, maybe I should get the forge set up and start making curtain rods rather than buy them.

I take much of what I see here as inspiration and am grateful for the interwebz to bring it to me.

Best regards,
Tim

Wow, I think taking a class from Brian is on my bucket list too, though I don't know if my wife will let me go for a whole week.

Fantastic pics, thanks Lyle and Brian. I have always subscribed to the notion that when you learn to make your own tools (where blacksmithing is concerned) that those skills will carry you through much of the solid education needed to be competent. I am learning slowly as I haven't been able to take any classes yet, but there are quite a few good classes available here in Washington and I will be taking some as soon as I can.

Brian, I love how the tools you make and teach others to make are not just functional, but also very pretty, I particularly like that flatter I saw repeatedly in the pics.

Again, fantastic job and I am jealous of Darren a little bit.

Best regards,
Tim

I’m certainly not offended. xxxx, I don’t think I can be offended at this stage of my life.

I don’t mean to imply that an individual should not think themselves a blacksmith but it is what they present to the public. What matters is are you a craftsman? Do you know in your heart that your work is good? Is it the best you can do or do you need to improve? Did it come out the way you wanted or could it have been better? You should be your own worst critic.

So today I think I will be a nuclear physicist.

OK, my turn to weigh in. I make my living in an office. I have also worked as a handyman to put bread on the table and will do so again, because I can do it in addition to my day job.

I have many hobbies. I participate in medieval reenactment, I do Woodworking, Blacksmithing and Leatherworking as an outgrowth of that hobby. Well, woodworking has been a passion for quite a bit longer. I'm also a history buff and an avid reader, among many other things I like to do with my scant free time.

I think a distinction could be applied here for those of us who can't make a living with Blacksmithing. ABANA stands for Artist Blacksmithing Association of North America. I may not be in a position right now to make a living at the forge, but I am still an artist for wanting to take the images in my head and shape the hot iron to conform to it. I am an Artist Woodworker because I conceive of a thing and make it into reality as well. I don't make my living doing that either. I love learning new skills for both and in other areas.

@Ciladog: Not to offend, but we can't all make our living doing this, or nobody would. Does the fact that I am currently not able to make a living doing these things I love, diminish my reverence for their history or for the skill of real masters? No. So I'll take the title Artist Blacksmith and hold my head high.

Best regards,
Tim

Edit: Oh, and if all I ever do achieve at the forge is to pay for the hobby, then that's OK too. :D

LeeRoy,

Nice stand.

My wife always has me buy lots of Bananas. First because our 4 year old daughter will eat lots, but also because it lets a few start to get all brown. Then they get made into Banana bread. that's my favorite way to get bananas.

Regards,
Tim

Except for one summer and fall I've always been able to work indoors. I wouldn't want to work outdoors in winter in Maine. It was a cold shop though until I fired up the kerosene heater. Yes a cold anvil does suck the heat out of your work quickly. Heating it and the leg vice as others describe is useful. The biggest problem I had was holding on to cold tools with my hands, even wearing gloves. At the end of the day the temp could reach a comfortable level as long as the wind wasn't blowing through that drafty place.

I have moved on to a new shop now, well insulated and with a propane heater to maintain a minimum temperature of at least 40F. This will be my first winter in the new shop. Picture attached.

A friend of mine who is a professional artist blacksmith came up with an ingenious way to keep his anvils warm all winter. He lives up near Owen Sound here in Ontario which is around 2 hours north of where I live - it can get pretty cold up here in the winter (sometimes minus 25 to minus 30 degrees celcius). His solution, so that he doesn't use up fuel to heat up heating-plates but still lets the anvil soak up heat all night long is to build a plywood "anvil cozy" for his anvils. The plywood box is big enough that he can line it with rigid styrofoam (the stuff with the shiney reflective layer on top) and slip it over the whole anvil. But the real ingenious part is that he attaches inside the top of the anvil cozy a light socket wired to an extension cord, with a 60 - 100 W lightbulb screwed in (so the box also has enough headroom to allow the light socket and buld to fit above the face of the anvil). Everynight he slips the anvil cozy over his anvil and plugs it in. By the time he starts work in the morning, the anvil had been soaking up the radiant heat from the lightbulb for over 8 hours. He says that on really cold mornings his anvil steams when he takes the cozy off - probably hot enough to keep your coffee warm

I love that idea.

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

Not sure what type bar stool you're looking for. But here's one for the Scots in Kilts.

http://www.gigglescout.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/scottish-bar-stool.jpg

That's very nice. Even better to share a hobby with your Sweetheart.

Best regards,
Tim