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I have found sheet metal doesn't hold up under heat. I tried using rebar as a support but the heat softens it over time. What's worked amazingly well is thinwall conduit. The hollow cross section holds its shape better under heat and it's much stronger than the rebar. Be careful since it's galvanized inside and out.

I copied an idea posted elsewhere on this forum. I put the air pipe up from the bottom of the bowl about 2" with a threaded cap on the end. I used iron pipe from the hardware store. The cap has a 1" hole in the center. What this does is put the air inlet ABOVE the bottom of the bowl allowing dust and slag to fall UNDER the fire. Clinkers form like a donut below the heat. It's much, much, cleaner running than a grate or a clinker breaker. I don't think I'd ever go back. The only down side is that it's harder to get the dust out of the bottom since it won't go down the "drain". I you used plumbing parts you can buy a floor flange to weld in from below.

Just thinking out loud but could an aircraft cable be wrapped around the area to be cut and winched down like a garrote? Assuming the cable didn't get stuck, it'd at least reduce the area to be sawzalled to a minimum.

The Woodwrights shop had an episode on Japanese planes and they showed how the laminated iron was scalloped on the HC side to reduce the metal in contact with the grind stone thus reducing the time spent honing the flat side. They said it was scraped out not ground out and it looked it too. The same technique was used on their chisels as well for the same reasons.

Friction stir welding? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friction_stir_welding

GNJC has made a good point - enlarging the bench hole isn't good. It's an interesting balance between large enough to fit right and flexible enough to be useful. Don't forget bench dogs. Lots of planing is done with a hold fast and a bench dog.

Vaughn, did you make those? They're very cool and it's easily the most elegant slip joint I've ever seen. Matt_K are those for some kind of horse shoeing? I'm curious.

About six months ago I read an article about trends in Architecture and was very surprised to learn that there was an entire movement dedicated to making bland and massive concrete monoliths. "Brutalist Architecture" is an apt name indeed! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brutalist_architecture I brought this up because it's not always about price but the intent of the look. Until I encountered that article it had never occurred to me that anyone actually wanted such ugly buildings. I always figured it was to build as cheaply as possible. The truth is that most of the stuff built as cheaply as possible hasn't lasted. I think of this every time I see a public project under construction. Thankfully the brutalist designs have lost favor in my area- I'm glad to see them go.

This post is particularly interesting to me as I've recently returned to archery. While reading up on recurve bows I learned that there are subsets of archers who choose to focus on some version of "traditional" or "primitive". What strikes me about both of these topics is how sanctimonious some folks get about technology and techniques that developed after the period they're interested in. Don't get me wrong, if you're pursuing living history- that's very cool and I deeply appreciate the appeal. What get's me is how re-enactors at a living history museum will respond to modern concepts like it's an alien thought- there's no malice towards innovation, progress, and contemporary thinking. Much like a monk's thinking. In contrast I'm finding this isn't often the case with traditionally minded Blacksmithing and Archery. I think that's really odd since most of what appeals to me about these topics is how simple materials can be harnessed by creative minds to solve problems and make cool things. Heck, while reading about recurve archery competition I encountered a group that expressly forbid shooters from pulling the bow string with three fingers under the arrow! This was from a "traditional" group. This group comes across as unconcerned with anyone's tradition but their own specific views - kind of like a hermit with an internet connection. I can appreciate the hard work and knowledge that goes into a piece of work. I can relate to the desire to withdraw from the contemporary to master something meaningful to yourself. I can also appreciate a bullseye no matter who shot it. I'm grateful to live in an age where I can experience the old and the new at my own pace. I can don the curmudgeon cap and say the modern thing I could do without is the idea that everything must be a specialty. Dividing everything up works against sharing the body of knowledge our ancestors built. It's my understanding there are more blacksmiths in the U.S. today than before there were cars. I believe that's because we have the free time to pursue our interests at very little cost because the information is free online. I love being "unplugged" while blacksmithing - I also love that I can learn about blacksmithing at my computer. I see no reason to disparage the technology between the two.

Brian, I don't understand what you mean by a diagonal slot opening drift. Thanks,

Nature abhors a vacuum. I find that un-allocated time gets commandeered by life. Jeff Seelye has a great point about making the workspace cooperate with limited time. Part of the reason I got into blacksmithing is that I could set up in the back yard.

Back when I was an apprentice I was sent out to a jobsite on Christmas eve with a journeyman who had a doctor's appointment just after lunch. He went in to get a bump on his hand looked at. He came back several hours later in a cast and sling! He told me he must have gotten a metal splinter in that hand several years before. The splinter infected and started something called a "spiral cyst". The doctors scheduled emergency surgery for Christmas morning because they felt center of the cyst was septic enough that he'd get blood poisoning should it rupture. They didn't want him to leave but he wouldn't be dissuaded from collecting his tools before hand. I'm always impressed at how we're all durable and fragile at the same time!

Angle grinder?

Oddly enough, it's hard to find hammer handles but a lot of hardware stores have replacement shovel handles. I can get quite a few hammer handles out of a shovel handle.

The floor slab thickness depends upon many factors most critical of which is the state of the subgrade. All too often this is treated as though everything just needs to be rammed down hence the common (and often wrong) assumption that uneven floors "settled". Expansive soils are common in many areas. Drainage and subgrade water flow are common reasons for structural failure. Adding rebar to concrete won't keep it from cracking- it just keeps it from loosing all strength when it cracks. Fiber additives work to interrupt fault lines within the slab which greatly reduces crack propagation. All of which is to say that it's worth making sure you've got good drainage, no expansive fill (clay), and plenty of fiber in the mix. Anything getting impacted regularly should be supported separately with saw cuts separating it from the slab to mitigate vibration transmission.

I'd suggest a different direction which is thick end grain cutting board pared with a cleaver. It's strange to me that folks will use a french chef knife to cut up food, then they futz around trying to get it picked up off a thin cutting board and into the pot or whatever. I've seen lots of people pick up the board and swipe the food off into the pot. Neither one is as fast as using an asian cleaver as a paddle to scoop everything up. Plus a cleaver gets your knuckles off the board which is a frustrating thing about most cheap culinary knives. I think this is the reason the Santoku has become so popular. Bread knives are commonly made with no drop to the blade which results in the tip getting more use than the body. A few cutlery firms are making serrated bread knives with a dropped offset to get the knuckles off the board. Speaking of serrations, the common concave serrations are more prone to snagging and tearing than convex serrations. I've even seen large carving knives made with them as they can create a very smooth cut when properly done.

Basher, How do they affix the arrow head to the shaft? These look like a file tang sort of arrangement but that seems like it'd split the arrow shaft in use. They're absolutely beautiful.

For production, matching commercially available handles is a good move. Assuming also that your client likes those handles. If you're making the handles yourself I'd go with something rectangular. I can't see why rectangular holes aren't more common since it's much easier to cut wood square than to a sculpted ovoid like 99.99% of them out there. Heck even if it were a rectangle with rounded corners it'd be less work to fit than the traditional. The other side of the argument is to see what your client considers perfect. Odds are that they'll replace handles themselves. How do they proceed? There's a video on youtube of Grunsfors axe making. They use a press to set the handle and wedges all in one go. Might be worth considering that as well if you're going to make a great volume of them.

George, I agree that the AIA contracts are onerous. It never ceases to amaze me that a group that has no formal consensus on design standards somehow has their act together on construction contract law! Nearly all of them have weasel wording on the plans that amounts to "Don't scale the plans even though I didn't provide dimensions". I will say that the AIA contracts can be relatively tame compared to huge national entities like chain supermarkets. Most of them include a bit that prevents final billing until all change order proposals have been either accepted or declined yet there's no limit on the time they can take to consider the proposal. Several such projects have had open change orders for nine months past the project's conclusion! I understand that in some states a subcontractor files a mechanics lien immediately after signing a contract. Much like locks, contracts don't keep people honest.

Coming in somewhat shorter of the vision of interchangeable bits, you could also make stacking inserts to reduce the internal dimensions of larger tongs. For example, a box jaw with inserts that reduced it from 1" square to 3/4" to 1/4" and so forth. As for connecting the bits, a pin welded to the jaw insert that runs through a hole in the jaw. A Spanish latch attached to the body of the tong could secure it. Anything magnetic or spring held may fail due to heat.

I've found the cheapest source for hickory is replacement handles for shovels. I can typically get about five hammer handles out of a single shovel handle. Roy Underhill has an episode of the Woodwrights shop where he extols the virtue of Hickory in particular young hickory. Apparently the design differences between European and American axes were greatly influenced by the enhanced spring of Hickory compared to Ash.

Wroughton, Wow, that's a shame! It's really awful the architects are the ones doing it. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) took it upon themselves to craft the most used "standard" contract form for Construction. Out here the Architects generally have no contractual connection to the General Contractor or the subcontractors. They function as owners representatives, enforcing the contract documents (Plans and specs). More often than not Architects and their consultant engineers in Colorado uphold the specifications against cost cutting measures. It can border on cronyism in some cases where a superior (and cheaper) product is declined in favor of the specified one. In some cases it's almost like they're trying to build a portfolio of work without bearing any responsibility for the cost. It really sounds like the Architects you're working with are taking that to an extreme. Especially if they don't do their own detailing, and finish specifications. I can understand your dilemma, curing ethical rot is somewhat like amputation - nothing that makes it, comes out whole.

Frosty, I love your dad's axiom: "If you win every bid you're bidding too low. I'll watch for the auction." And the corollary, "If you never win a bid you're bidding too high. I'll watch for the auction." Thanks for sharing that, I know it'll bounce around my head some bid days! Richard, thank you for your comments. I agree that business acumen is a pivotal element to success. Reading your post about the universities reminded me of when I was a student. I found myself greatly frustrated that most of my business classes taught little that amounts to how to think like a businessperson. The professors were presenting a consensus driven methodology. Notably absent were any guidelines of right and wrong. Every answer was treated as potentially correct. How then could a graduate function when left alone to make executive decisions representing their employer's interest? I believe most of business acumen boils down to the practical application of critical thinking and experience. Both are needed but the more you have of one, the less you need of the other. Any disregard for practicality in education is a loss to the student. Macbruce, I think you're right on the money about the spot bids. Something to ask yourself is: why is getting a price for blacksmithing an emergency? One crummy tactic I've encountered is for the client to create artificial pressure by demanding on the spot bids off of poorly done drawings. The rare people who're in an honest to goodness jam will find a way to work with you. As a rule, they will have good plans and a reasonable budget for the work. Often they're looking for a ballpark number to ease their mind about the budget. Ease their mind by assuring them that you will get them the best price you can. If it applies, tell them how quickly you can get started once they sign a contract. One final thought, bid shopping is a crime in many states and in my opinion should be a crime in all states. The client provides the lowest bid amount (sometimes the complete bid) to other contractors hoping to get a lower bid. Putting work out to bid reflects market value much like an auction. Anyone not bidding is not participating in the market. No Auction house would stay in business if they sold an item to a backroom bidder offering a dollar more after the hammer fell. There is no reason to believe a client who's bid shopping will stop with one answer. Being the contractor who buy's all the work means being the dumbest contractor they know. I would rather lose honestly than win by cheating. It's cost me the work of ethically deficient clients, and earned me a reputation for honest dealing.

I tried the water on the anvil & hammer trick for a day. Greg and I agree, it's not for everyone. I've learned that I was too stingy with my coal. Making a large well banked fire has reduced the scale tremendously. I find there's very little scale on the anvil after each heat now. It seems like some steels scale more than others. I've never tried stainless so I have no frame of reference.

Building on Thomas' comment, a musical scale can be defined as a set of notes you can play that will sound good together. It can also be defined as a much smaller set of notes that won't sound good. If imposed on the piano, there might only be a dozen or so keys you can'l play. For me there's greater flexibility when I have to remember fewer things. Relating to blacksmithing there are processes to move metal from one general shape to another but that doesn't mean it's easy. Here are a few examples: Upsetting thin stock. Hot Cutting (no saws, grinders, etc) without support for the piece Working metal that's too heavy to easily move on your own. Looking through the Anvilfire series you'll see lots of examples of where some unsightly blob is right in the middle of things. Eventually, that blob becomes the stock for forming a detail that would have been in the way for the earlier operations. I would suggest that you take a particular genre of blacksmithing and watch you tube videos of people doing it. I wanted to make tomahawks. This video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQaaS71yfvM shows the entire process. I very quickly learned that I'd be spending the foreseeable future making the various top and bottom tools that Jim used in that video. Making tools to make stuff is a serious setback to someone just starting out. It's also instructive to note that the reason they used so many tools, was to avoid an awkward operation. Things unfold smoothly and progress is easy to see. Notice how the work looks NOTHING like an axe for quite a while. Ask yourself why they progressed the way they did working your way backwards. The clay suggestion is a good one. I might add that you may consider making a model of what you want with the clay using whatever method it takes (fingers, trowels, whatever). Once you've got it finished, consider how you'd get it back into the same shape as your stock only this time using your hammer, anvil, and tongs. Making several models will give you the ability to stop along the way so you're not starting from scratch. Once you've found a solution. Start with a piece of clay shaped like your stock and using the hammer, tongs, and anvil- make your model. I think the exercise will teach you what you want to learn. Also, posting some pictures of your clay model will give experienced smiths something to visualize what you're attempting to do.