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Frosty, I wouldn't say that BBQ came to mind. You've got me wondering if Alaskans just toss their Yeti onto the grill hair and all!

Another thought that comes to mind is that blacksmithing can quickly lead to tool collecting. Once you're onto the channels where such things are for sale, it's easier to come across deals on upgrade equipment. I know several smiths who have collected multiples of everything. Few of them actually use their starter equipment because they've got nicer stuff. I would imagine that a complete rookie setup is a much easier sell because most of the potential buyers a given blacksmith knows, already have their beginner equipment. I suspect few rookies would buy an affordable leg vice if they didn't already have something to use as an anvil. Same story with a blower. That equipment can seem like a luxury to someone who needs a hammer. Buying a complete kit means the rookie can get to beating hot steel right away with equipment that demonstrably worked for someone else.

This post reminds me of a long day at work as an apprentice electrician. We were upsizing the electrical service to a house with a basement. The existing feeder cable was routed through the basement wall and into the panel. We needed a larger hole through the cinderblock wall to allow the larger cable. I dutifully measured twice both inside and out. The cable came up out of the meter, through the wall, and then down into the panel. I started hammer-drilling above the existing cable from the outside which was a muddy slope. I got about two inches into the wall when a brilliant white spark leaped out of the hole and straight into my chest. It hurt something awful but I kept my composure and pulled the drill out. As I set the drill down, I noticed a spot on my shirt which turned out to be a hole. I pulled my shirt up and found a little cup-shaped piece of copper colored metal burned into my chest. I popped it out, thankfully it cauterized the wound, but I still have a scar from it. Still wondering what happened when I noticed that two thirds of the carbide tip of the drill had burnt completely away! I figure I was struck by the brazing material. It turned out that the original electrician had installed the cable in the meter, stuck it through the holes, then pushed the slack up into the web of the cinderblock to save the time in cutting it. When I drilled through the wall, I clipped one of the main feeders for the house! Until then, it had never occurred to me that someone would do such a thing. Thank goodness I was using a double-insulated drill!

Anvil, I don't know about the anvil "bubble" bursting, but there are some signs that the real-estate bubbles in major cities are bursting. The knock-on effect will likely involve a whole lot of people selling off cumbersome equipment so they can move. I read today that pending home sales have been in a slump for six months straight. Over the last six months, I know at least three families who sold everything they could part with to fund a much less expensive life elsewhere.

#1 Don't burn toxic stuff. Being too cheap to buy mild steel is a terrible reason to risk harming everything in your environment. #2 High carbon steel can be significantly harder to forge than mild steel. Not, theoretically harder, or philosophically harder, harder under the hammer at all heats. I think it's just terrible to learn on and I'm speaking from experience. #3 Building skill with mild steel will progress further and faster because it's harder to burn, easier to move under the hammer, and it's available in a huge variety of sizes. #4 It really, really, really, pays to start projects with stock that's close to your finished size. I've spent a month of Sundays struggling to draw things out only to burn the stupid project in half because I was too tired to pay attention.

I put one of those retractable key keeper things that janitors use on my apron. It's got my silverstreak pencil taped to the end so I never have to go looking for it. I've never tried, but I'm pretty sure that it would retract with a reasonably sized caliper attached to it. Protip: If you put the key keeper on "backwards" to where the tool is trapped between you and the apron, it won't dangle when you bend over, yet it's plenty quick to haul out when you need it.

Seems like masons could have built-in a stone ladder, or at least the necessary embeds to allow a climbing platform to function. Lots of security ladders stop 10' off the ground so it takes a ladder to get to them which keeps all but the most enterprising kids off. The whole thing reminds me of a currently manufactured van. Every feature appears to have been thoughtfully designed by someone who passionately hates drivers. Yet, just like the Chimney job, there's somebody perfectly happy to make their living with it.

JLP, That's an excellent question. For starters, I would say that the single best approach is to avoid clients with low-budget jobs and high penalty contracts. "Helping" a broke client is usually bad business. If they can't/won't pay what you're worth, they can't/won't recognize the risk they're creating for you. Once you're already under contract it's just good policy to document absolutely anything that hinders workflow. Generate timely and consistent reports that are shared with everyone involved. If you're working for a GC, send a copy to the client or their representative as well. Be circumspect about starting a premature "blame war", but don't shy away from accurate communication. I've found that pictures do wonders for saying things diplomatically. Sometimes, I'll put arrows and notes on the pictures to draw attention to the issue so that laymen can understand what's going on. When you're asked to price change orders, put a deadline on the proposal. If you can't hold the project deadline without a go-ahead answer in three days, give them two days to make a decision. Wherever possible, avoid Friday deadlines because feckless clients and design teams will send a partial answer three hours after quitting time, then later claim they answered "that week". If the change order work would exceed your remaining time on the job, write in a provision clearly stating how much additional time the change order work will add. As your change order deadlines approach, send reminder emails to all parties the day before. If a proposal deadline expires, send a follow-up email explicitly stating that. If the client gives you a verbal approval, politely remind them that no work will proceed without a formal contract change. This is the single most common cheat in the construction industry. They "approve" change work off the record, then refuse to pay after the work is done. If you're up against a stopping point, communicate that to everyone involved. Take the schedule and work backwards to determine the last day you can get an answer and still make the deadline. Inform all parties that they're encountering a day for day delay on the project deadline from that point forward. Be sure to include all relevant documentation like the Request For Information (RFI), the day it was sent, etc. Don't volunteer to manage other trades, but be responsive and cooperative with them. Above all, be careful about things you don't know for certain. I've had projects where a trade wasn't performing and the rumors going around were scandalous compared to the truth. There are clients and Project Managers who like to "hide" whenever there's a problem. They don't answer their phones or emails, but they do make sure that site supervisors are loudly yelling to "just get it done". If they do actually communicate, they prefer to do so over their cell phone where you are the only witness to what was said. Be particularly careful about what you say on the phone because it's fairly common practice to have you on speakerphone without telling you who else is listening. Avoid giving any off the cuff prices because they'll be stripped of context and used in whatever way suits their interests. After such calls, I email a quick re-cap of everything that was discussed with special emphasis on my understanding. Where appropriate, I copy or blind copy the email to anyone who was mentioned in the discussion. Again, remember that rumors aren't proof of anything. Sometimes I'll ask the recipient to confirm my understanding of a particular issue. If they later take a different position, I can re-send the email with "second request" appended to the title. Some clients will quit dithering when they're aware that their behavior is being documented. Others will become more hostile because they feel "rushed". In those cases, I ask for a meeting and approach the problem differently. A lot of construction contracting is set up so that subs "do what they're told". Design teams tasked with solving the problem aren't suffering if the remedy proves too expensive. They can always claim the contractors are ripping the client off. I use the meeting to flip that relationship on it's head. "What can you afford?" defines the available remedies without all the needless pricing exercises. Listen to what people are saying. More than once a "simple fix" wasn't as obvious as I originally thought. Also, listen to what matters to the decision-makers. If you get your answer and your change order, it doesn't matter if the Client thinks they "told you what for". I'm paid to do work for money, not for correcting the Client about semantics. A word to the wise here, there's a fine line between allowing a slight misunderstanding and lying by omission. Don't do anything that wouldn't look good in court. Along those same lines, we sometimes encounter situations where the dysfunction jeopardizes the job. In those cases, we "make a deal" where necessary to get out of the jam and blackball those clients going forward. Hopefully that helps.

I've spent most of my working life in the construction industry and it's a rare day when everything goes to plan. Mistakes, misunderstandings, or simple lack of thinking things through causes a whole lot of negotiation about what comes next. Change orders can be immensely profitable, indeed many businesses depend on them to be profitable. That being said, negotiations don't always land in your favor so it's important to understand what's at stake. I've seen situations that escalated because one or more parties lost sight of the bigger picture. For example, let's say the client is on a shoestring budget. The design team didn't get paid to investigate existing conditions, so lots of surprises are popping up. Further, let's say the client decided to purchase salvaged materials that turn out to be different from what they told the design team to include. So far, it sounds like this is all clearly the client's fault, and they'll have to pay to remedy the situation. Let's say this client is desperate to open on time because they would otherwise miss out on peak revenue season that accounts for nearly all their annual revenue. To protect themselves, the client required a payment and performance bond for everyone on the job and stipulated liquidated damages of $10,000 per day for being late. The client is in a tough situation, so they're particularly concerned about overpaying on change orders. This leads to squabbles that go on much longer than they should. To be efficient and productive, the work at issue needs to happen before other tasks so the job doesn't progress like it should. A lot of low-budget construction clients aren't very experienced. They're not concerned with how this squabble is affecting the overall job because they have contract terms and bonds ensuring their deadline. So who pays the price for being wrong? In situations like this, the immediate answer depends on timing. If the squabble drags on long enough, the client may call in the bonds to replace the contractors and get their project built. The replacement contractors aren't going to be cheap because they're getting paid for by the bonding agency who can (and likely will) seize assets to settle the exorbitant tab. Now I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV so none of this should be misconstrued as legal advice. I suppose it's possible that a contractor could win a case against the client, but that will take a lot of time and money. Keep in mind that said legal battle would probably take place after you've had assets seized by your bonding agency which likely preclude you from conducting business anywhere else. For most contractors, getting their bond invoked is an "extinction level event". I've seen situations where a particularly malignant client drove the project into delays, then used the thread of invoking bonds to demand extreme discounts. Over the years I've had several situations where it was considerably cheaper to pay for the clients mistake so we could avoid more costly problems. That's something to consider the next time the client wants to change something on the project. I've found that more contractors go out of business because of problems with a job they won, than from all the jobs they lost.

For $65.00 you could probably build one from scratch provided you're willing to use something cheaper than leather. It looks pretty large, battered, and awkward for a "quick-flip" kind of project.

anvil, You're making some good points however I suspect your solution is driven by how you work. Saddles are less likely to get knocked clean off the anvil surface when you're dealing with heavy or awkward stock and a striker. It seems like you could punch or drill a hole such that they could run a bolt through the cutting plate and the pritchel hole. If it were 1/4" or 3/8" bolts, you could use uni-strut nuts that have a captive spring. The spring would help to accommodate any odd angles on the underside of the pritchel hole and the large rectangular nut is as easy to use as a wingnut. That wouldn't silence the noise, but it would allow the plate to get rotated over when tool edge contact is imminent. Alternately, a plate with eye bolts on the corners might be used with bungee straps to the stand/stump. Chain could also be used with one side tied off, and the other with a foot loop or weight to hold it down.

I would vote mild steel as well because both copper and brass will work-harden. Also, brass has a tendency to leave residue on hot steel. Maybe not a big deal, unless you're welding. I wonder if anyone has ever tried sinking a mild steel plate into a wooden stump for a cutting anvil. That seems like it would be pretty quiet.

Slag, I learned the hair oil trick from a carpenter who was mostly bald. He liked to bait younger people in so he could wipe the nail on their hair.

Eophex, Have you considered a side-draft forge? I believe the JABOD forge is a significant upgrade to a brake drum forge. Side drafts offer many advantages in use, not the least of which is that they are easily adapted to different fuels and forging needs. I think they're a better solution for coke forges because a bottom blast coke forge needs a very heavy firepot to hold up to the heat. However, if you'd prefer a bottom blast, I second JHCC's comment about construction sites.

Rayner, Everything looks like it's coming along nicely. That dryer motor isn't ideal. It has exposed windings, bearings, basically everything that's vulnerable about the motor is unprotected. What your situation calls for is a totally enclosed, fan cooled (TEFC) motor. Those have cast-in fins on the housing with a shaft-connected fan that blows air over the aforementioned fins to cool everything down. That would last a very long time. At a bare minimum, please consider looking for a motor with a dust resistant housing that is either double insulated or grounded. Make sure you are running this on a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) protected circuit.

Frosty's tip reminds me of an old one. A blunt nail rubbed on you hair will push it's way through delicate wood molding without splitting it. The blunt tip acts like a punch rather than a wedge. The hair oils lubricate the passage without any mess.

Cabbages, I thought I'd add a few things that haven't been mentioned yet. First, if you're using a solid fuel forge with a blower it's possible to over-supply the fire with air. The jet of air in the fire can act like a cutting torch. Starting out, I had a lot of frustrating experiences where the steel wouldn't get hot so I'd crank up the air supply. One moment the steel was a dull red, the next it was burnt in two. The solution was a larger, deeper fire, with an air source that is high in volume and low in speed. Also, patience. Most youtubers edit out the heating time. It can take quite a while for a large piece of steel to come up to temperature. If the fire is deep enough, the oxygen gets consumed before it gets to the stock. That allows you to get the steel hot without burning it so easily. Mild steel is much easier to forge than high-carbon. Some high-alloy steels exhibit "red hardness" which means they're hard even when glowing red! As mentioned above, high-carbon has a lower burning temperature so it's less forgiving of mistakes. Rebar is a truly terrible steel to forge. If you have a welder, you might use straight sections as welded-on handles to your project stock. Even then, take the time to grind off the texturing to avoid giving yourself blisters. As a final thought, I'd recommend you look into buying "drops" from a local steel supplier. Suppliers often sell steel by the linear foot. Once a piece is shorter than 18" or so, they put it in the discount "drops" bin. Steel from suppliers costs less than half what home centers charge for the same material. Discount bin material cuts another 10% or thereabouts at the place I go. New steel sufficient to make a set of ordinary tongs would probably cost about the same as what home centers charge for rebar.

See now I feel guilty because I thought he was Chuck Norris too...

What order would you choose if you were running a company?

On some level can't every personal preference be bent to apply to Maslow's hierarchy? I suppose there are some folks who let that psychology govern every aspect of their lives but I wouldn't assume it's universal. Even if I tried to apply Maslow to my three preferences, it still leaves the ranking uncertain. Which one is the "higher level" purpose or potential? Maslow also admitted that his hierarchy is very person specific. An artist who neglects their health illustrates that point.

That's very true. I intentionally limited it to these three for two reasons. The first is that open-ended questions elicit responses that don't allow simple comparisons. The second is to hear how people shift their thinking when the question is posed from two points of view. You mentioned a "soulless corporation" would only be concerned with profit by definition. OK, so expand on that. If it makes the business more money to have employees who feel they have purpose, wouldn't that be a priority for them? Being nice/humane to people is certainly cheaper than paying them more. I can see why you put it this way but I think there is a flaw in that reasoning which underpins my priority question. If profit is the only concern for both parties, the balance will reflect the supply versus the demand. This can cut both ways. I can think of several industries that are in decline because the workers would rather see the business fail than to accept a competitive wage. Thinking of this in the one dimension of profit leads to a natural impasse. Just out of curiosity, why didn't either of you actually list your preferred priorities from either perspective?

I guess I never noticed sand turning into slag but it makes sense. It might be stuck to the clinker. I suppose kitty litter would be lighter than sand which would be a nice trade. Wouldn't the kitty litter vitrify in the fire?

I'd like to hear your take on this from two points of view. #1 as an employee, what order would you prefer? #2 as an employer, what order would you arrange? For the sake of clarity, here's what each means to me; Purpose: A sense that the work being done provides consistent meaning and/or emotional satisfaction to everyone involved. Profit: Monetary reward that exceeds the value of the work right now. How much do you make beyond covering your expenses. Potential: Access to opportunities, relationships, or other benefits in the future. To kick things off, here are my answers. As an Employee I'd rank it Profit, Potential, Purpose. As an Employer I'd choose Profit, Purpose, Potential. It's been my experience that employers who low-ball wages don't actually value the worker as much as they claim. As an employee, I put potential second because I've found that's where most of the interview promises are broken. I've left more jobs because the employer broke a promise for advancement than any other reason. To my mind, if they can't deliver a long-term path for advancement, their purpose isn't aligned with my best interests. I'd hasten to add that advancement doesn't necessarily mean promotion. My current job title hasn't changed but through the work I've gained access to a higher/better tier of professionals than I otherwise could. As an employer I chose a different order for the last two because I think businesses that chase every shiny thing lose their connection with everything but profit which often suffers. I see a lot of businesses grinding away at "potential" stuff that rarely works out because they don't have a plan beyond pursuit. That failure inevitably leads to broken promises. If figure you can't deliver on something if you don't know how to get from here to there. Profit is number one because I've never encountered a successful and stable business that couldn't/wouldn't prioritize earning a profit. What do you think?

As a general comment, I'm not sure the fire brick at the bottom is strictly necessary or beneficial. Sand/dirt is an excellent insulator and it's easier to pluck clinker out of soft stuff. One of the things I really love about the side blast is how the clinker flows beneath the fire where it collects out of the way. It'll eventually get large enough to interfere but since it sets up in a layer, it's prone to coming out whole which saves a lot of struggle. The other nice thing about using sand or ash is that you can offload the weight into buckets for easier transportation.

I built a water cooled tuyere with a remote bosh. It looks like a pig snout with hoses connecting to a plastic tub. While certainly not as compact as the JABOD that Charles made, it is very portable. The tuyere isn't actually attached to the sandbox so I can store everything in a tighter footprint. JHCC is right about the clinker, it just sinks below the blast so the fire can go longer without cleaning. It's easy to snag the clinker in one intact lump when it collects in the sand pit. I've never used a dry tuyere, it's probably cheaper and definitely simpler to use sacrificial gas pipe. I will say that 30 gallons of water gets steaming hot in about four hours of forging using coal and roughly 2.5 hours using coke. I followed the tuyere design from Mark Aspery's website. I ended up having to open the nozzle restriction so my hand-crank blower would work properly. I love the flexibility and cost savings of a side draft forge. If I had to do it again, I'd probably spend more to make an integral bosh like JHCC's.