Frosty

I hear you Brother, we all started and all know the frustrations. A couple things that might help. First stop thinking of this as a "trade" even the dream of making a living at smithing is sort of like dreaming of being a pro ball player or rock star. The odds ain't so good, better for being a pro blacksmith but still. Try thinking of it as a "Craft," a skill to acquire for whatever reason or purpose. No pressure, it's a set of skills. Then try to remember this is FUN. I don't care if anyone ever pays me a dime for what I make, I find a soul deep joy just in the doing. It's the process I love, making things others want to give me money for or work around the place to earn lessons so they can do it too is gravy. Remember a thing, fuel doesn't make the fire hot, air does. You don't need or maybe want the steel in the heart of the fire. If it's burning too easily try moving it higher, farther from the air blast. Most importantly, keep your eye on it. Don't stare at it, that way leads to cataracts NEVER stare into the fire but keep an eye on it. Quick glances every few seconds when it's getting close to temp. If you can shift away from the young man's need for the now and start to envision the craft as a process, not a trade a process. I think you'll be able to just have fun doing it. Once you relax it becomes easier to keep the steps straight and failures aren't bummers, they're lessons in a way that didn't work. Remember what you did though, just because it didn't work making a twinglus doesn't mean it isn't the perfect technique for making a whirly wizzywoggle. Every blow with the hammer, twist with a wrench, every vibration through your holding hand/tongs, every sound it makes is the steel talking to you. We have to learn the way of steel. It doesn't care about us, it's just highly refined dirt, just as happy as a rust stain in a mountain's heart as it is in the finest blade ever made. Without the hand and mind of mankind it's dirt. It's our great big brains and thumbs that convince dirt to become beautiful utility that will serve us for centuries or longer. Making is our glory. Process, it's our process and it's a life long learning curve we'll never crest. It's a gloriously eternal rush of learning, failures, successes, discovery and wonder. Enjoy the ride brother its a blast. Frosty The Lucky.

Do you have a fire rake? It's a simple but very useful tool, draw a point on a rod, then flatten it sort of leaf fashion, then bend it 90* with a little curve at the point so it hooks back just a little. The point will scrape and poke clinker and other junk through the grate or hook it out. The flat part works a treat for hooking and dragging loose or large crud out of the fire. I have one by the wood stove in the living room, it's probably the best fire poker I've ever used, does everything, pushes, pulls and rakes ash off the grate. Clinker can fool you, it's glowing so bright in the high yellow you'd swear your fire was prime screaming hot and it's NOT, the clinker is so hot because it's sucking all the heat out of the fire. When it starts messing with your fire, hook it and drag it out. Fire management is one of the more difficult and tricky skills to learn. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Puck, glad to have you. Puck. . . Isn't that the sound one makes when it hits you in the head? <grin> If you contact a farrier a/he'll be able to tell you either where s/he gets coal or which farriers use coal. Mixing the anthracite and bituminous is fine, just keep close track of how it behaves so you can determine the ratio that works best for you and the job. Is the anthracite coking up? If it is then you need to mound it up after it gets started and let the center coke up a little the color of the inside of the mound should be high yellow and if it's sticking together you're golden. Simply poke the stock in the side of the dome and rake a little back over the opening to keep air out. Slowly add more coal to the outside of the mound to coke up as you tamp it into the center. Tamping the mound is what the little shovel is for, more so than shoveling. If you're lucky you can start the fire with the bituminous and get a good heart of coke burning. The heat escaping the heart passing through the mound will coke up the rest as it gets tamped into the center. If it's very smoky poke a crater down through the top of the dome to expose the heart a little. The resulting flames will burn the smoke . . . mostly. <grin> Fire management is one of the more tricky and touchy skills a smith has to develop. Once you get a working handle on it you'll be able to adjust to whatever solid fuel you find yourself using. Frosty The Lucky.

Easier, more accurate and SAFER. Frosty The Lucky.

The quick method I use for cleaning up corners is a top swage on a bic. I've tried forging or cutting the corners out before punching but seeing as I have to drift it anyway and I can clean up the corners as I drift it seems like repeat work. My latest bottle opener doesn't work so well, I made it twist rather than lever to keep to the "church key" theme. It's for the pastor. Unfortunately it's not easy to use so I call it a bust as a practical opener. Maybe it's a left handed opener, maybe there's a practical joke there. Hmmmmm. It's resting on a soap stone wood stove tile, the little white square is the plug I carved from a welding chalk (soap stone). I didn't let it get hot enough to flow but the glass frit vitrified and is stuck and stable. A little more tweaking and it may be worth the hassle. Frosty The Lucky.

That'll make a fine smithy. My only recommendation is to put some diagonals between the posts. A good snow load or high wind could knock it over even if the logs are buried deep. Are you going to lay a gravel floor? It'll make drier warmer feet, a pickup load or two would be more than enough. All in all it's a good pole building I would've loved to have it when we were first getting established here, I had a tarp tent to keep weather off my stuff. The only up side to the tarp tent was when the snow collapsed it the tarp still covered things. Yours is so much more substantial, permanent and expandable. Well done. Frosty The Lucky.

No, I'm just saying a lot of tools have Vulcan as part of the name as a marketing thing. I've seen almost everything requiring fire tagged with vulcan at one time or another. I could be far off the mark but I think just having it in the name doesn't necessarily mean it's a product of one particular company. Frosty The Lucky.

​That's what you get when you Trek with those people, new "Trouble With Tribals." Frosty The Lucky.

Yeah, just looking at the text makes my left dent throb. Frosty The Lucky.

My heart and prayers go out to his family and friends. Frosty The Lucky.

​It might be Ian, do the Cuneiform documentation tablets look inscribed by lightning? Frosty The Lucky.

Folk in California (USA) could sure use the trick, they've been under a severe drought for 4 years now. Will it work for Americans? We'll pass the design on if you'll tell us how to make and use it correctly. Frosty The Lucky.

When the yard in Anchorage started telling me no they said the same thing liability. Another visit dumping a load from the state's shop one of the guys I knew there told me the reason was single buyer contract and they'd be held in breach with a hefty penalty if they sold to anybody else. Scrap now gets loaded into gondola cars and loaded directly on ships for China. I'm sure liability is a factor but seems someone else owns our scrap, Anchorage and as far as I know most everywhere else in Alaska that is. <sigh> Frosty The Lucky.

Does this mean I have to learn Linux? The dents in my head make it ache if I have to think too hard you know. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Ferrum, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. I've seen Vulcan stamped into lots of stuff not affiliated with THE Vulcan folk. Call it a good name for either a blacksmith tool or one made by a blacksmith. I'll be keeping an eye on the thread in case someone knows what it was used for. Frosty The Lucky.

Ayup, that's the dance I'm trying to figure out Tristan. I think I'm leaving it too long at too high a heat, I don't think it needs to actually be liquid. Be good to see you again Jed. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. Looks like a pretty nice anvil, I'll let someone more knowledgeable than I guesstimate the maker. Do you use it, want too? Have more tools, want more? Frosty The Lucky.

You like the whistling sound it makes when you swing it AND working in the rain? I must say you Carpathian mountain folk are interesting, stick around tell us more. Frosty The Lucky.

Ah, stick around, lots of the gang are into both, my thought was in re. your main aim. Seeing as you're into both, what the hey. Before you get too carried away making tools learn some of the basics first. Of course now I contradict myself and suggest one of the perfect beginner projects, tongs a necessary TOOL. Tongs are packed with a number of basic processes you'll need to know and you will need tongs, many pair at least. You also get the joy of using a tool you've made with your own hands, not much feels better. Once you've had a little time, you'll need to learn the feel and proper care of tool steel so punches, chisels, hacks, drifts, etc. is in line. Bending forks, twisting wrenches, etc. etc. The basic processes add up to sophisticated products, advanced projects are nothing but basic processes in the correct order. A little knowledge and a lot of practice, nobody is born knowing this stuff. Don't get too carried away acquiring scrap and such you can get stuck on packrat and forget to do something with it. However, keep your eyes open for a heavy piece of steel to use as an anvil, don't get stuck on a London Pattern it's a recent development and not a must have by a long shot. Don't stop looking for one of course, just don't wait till you get the perfect anvil. We're blacksmiths we don't do perfect, perfection is a fantasy for the kids. Frosty The Lucky.

You're making perfect sense but there is no ONE thing. Blacksmithing is an accumulation of a little knowledge and a LOT of practice. You can accumulate knowledge and tools your whole life and not actually learn much of use. You need to build a fire and start working the steel. The first hammer I made, with help was pretty easy all I needed was Mark to show me how to keep the punch straight and he let me use his power hammer and cupping die. Even without it, I'd beaten enough hot steel to have figured it out on my own, maybe, probably not the first try but I wouldn't learned FAR more if I'd made more mistakes. Lots of beginners are looking for the SECRET and most don't like my answer. A little knowledge and a LOT of practice. That's it, THE secret. No amount of combing for text meanings you might have missed will teach you the craft. You'll actually be on the right track when you come back with a pic and asking us what went wrong. I'm not looking to discourage you, I'd just like you at least close to the right trail to success, as it is now you're practicing to be a data analyst. Just build a fire and go for it, we won't be able to do much for you till you do. Frosty The Lucky.

Forgive me for not keeping up with this . . . subject. But . . . Who was the British General that during the opening stages of WWI demanded artillery be returned to the Traditional smooth bore bronze cannon Wellington beat Napoleon with? Frosty The Lucky.

Not wanting to mark up the anvil is a good reason, makes good sense. A person who doesn't want to modify their tooling for conditions is doomed to more labor than necessary. I have an anvil that has a REALLY hard face and isn't going to be marked by a hammer unless maybe it has a tungsten carbide insert or something equally silly. I can't say I've noticed new marks on my Trenton but it's already kind of dinged up, perfectly usable but more dinged than the Soderfors. I believe this is up to you and your anvil. If you miss the work and hit your anvil with the hammer and the anvil's face is soft enough to mark up then I think drawing it's temper till it's softer than the anvil face is in order. It'll depend on your anvil too, it'll be a tweak it till it's how you want it situation. If on the other hand you don't miss the hot steel your anvil's safe. Go ahead kids, jump old Frosty on that one, I know everybody misses now and then. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. Are you interested in smacking hot steel on an anvil or casting aluminum, they're two entirely different processes even though you can use the same furnace thingies. an old grill and hair drier make fine forges or foundry melters, humans have been casting iron and making steel with charcoal and forced air for millenia. If you want to blacksmith you're home here. However if you want to cast you'll want to sub onto a casting forum, I'm sure a caster will chime in with a link or two soon. Stick around though, beating hot steel into submission with hammers is not only useful, it's fun and VERY addictive. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. It's kind of hard to say what folk mean sometimes. I don't know why a person would normalize a cutler's or dog faced hammer though some alloys might call for it. Hard and polished is how I like ALL my hammers that aren't for striking top tools. Were I facing this question I'd have to research the makers in depth. If they weren't willing to provide good evidence of their knowledge and skill I'd move on. I'm a show me the hard evidence guy. If I don't understand something I can and will research it. Folk unwilling to provide evidence go down my list quickly. Be aware, this forum is open to virtually everybody so you'll have to sift beginner's opinion from the knowledgeable and experienced here as well. However, there are a bunch of us old curmudgeons who might call em on it so . . . <sheepish grin> Frosty The Lucky.