Frosty

I'm not so good making nails and sometimes folk at demos want to see nails made so I do. The heads often bend over rather than spread like they should. Telling folk how hard it is making picture hooks so fast is just part of the show. I put enough inflection in my voice and give them a theatrical wink to let them know I'm joking. I don't lie to the audience but I do tell tall tales and maintain a fun patter. Ethan: Where have you seen a cast iron nail header? I've never even heard of such a beast. My headers are forged from or to about 3/16" thick that will cover the prichel hole. I then heat it and use an old ball pein and lead mallet to drive a dome in it. Then I punch the nail hole from the inside of the dome leaving a tapered hole with the narrow end at the top of the dome. I flip it over and gently taper the top just a tiny bit. The top taper gives the hot nail plenty of area to seat against and seeing as it's getting smaller it stops the nail nicely. The longer taper from the bottom to the narrowest part means there is very little of the nail in contact with the header so the header won't draw so much heat. Once headed a quick quench of the nail shaft lets it pop or fall right out. Frosty The Lucky.

I'm thinking $19.95. In my experience items under $20.00 that fit in a pocket are good mover prices for nice but not fancy pieces at demos and shows. Frosty The Lucky.

How much if you don't mind me asking? Frosty The Lucky.

NO such thing Charles, there should be a warning label instead, something like. There is no safe way to ask a curmudgeon questions. If you don't want my opinion/help don't ask. Post you don't want outside opinions or expect me to obey your rules. I'll respect your wish. I've snapped at guys here for no good reason, good guys giving me a little friendly ribbing and I went right off the rails. I apologized when I realized what a xxxx xxxx I'd been. Still I'm old, hurt all the time, my blood sugar levels screw with me and am emotionally compromised. I don't have children of my own so never developed the skills necessary to deal with them. Ain't nothing safe about giving me attitude and I don't like being angry. It isn't worth it. WAIT A SECOND! Smoothbore my Brother! That's IT thank you. I think that'll ease the angry old fart reaction nicely. Go ahead boys ask me anything. Frosty PMB- 0x0, XOXO My Butt trail, Moraine, Alaska 98.600. Please include a self addressed stamped envelope and Benjamin, reply guaranteed. Frosty The Lucky.

​Me to the point Jim? Uh. . . Oh I'm not going anywhere I'm just tired of arguing, it makes me feel bad and I'm not here to feel bad. I'll still offer advice, opinion or help brainstorm ideas and problems I'm just tired of being asked a question and reading all the reasons a person wants something else or read why they just can't do it that way. Maybe these kid's recent attitude remind me of my own adolescence. I know Dad wished I'd just shut up sometimes. Probably just karmic kick back huh. Maybe I'm just feeling down. Frosty The Lucky.

Nice Ethan, those ought to sell well. I think $10.00 is pretty light on the price but it's your product and market. Frosty The Lucky.

I'm glad you revived this thread too, those are two good looking touchmarks. Who made yours Ethan? I really like it's depth and look. Very strong look, I like. I remember you saying in an earlier post who you ordered yours from Spanky but I'll need a repeat. I really like it too, it has a delicate intricacy, feminine without being lacy or frilly. Perfect Ladysmith touchmark. Oh yeah I like it. Thanks for the looksee. Frosty The Lucky.

I love it N S Good times working with your kids. When are you going to break the news they no longer have an excuse for not hanging up their coats? Good times, life long memories, nothing better. Frosty The Lucky.

Now there's a simple question with tomes worth of answer. Have you skimmed through the knife making section? This very thing is covered in some depth by some very expert folk. I only know just enough of the basics to realize how ignorant I am and where to go to find out what I need. Frosty The Lucky.

Spanky: "Mediocre artists borrow, great artists steal" PIcasso but I thing he was plagiarizing. Those are sweet openers, worth honoring by adapting with my own unique personal interpretation of the universal HIGH art form of bottle opening. Once I get inlaying glass into the negative space of small Fredrich's crosses right I'm going to turn a couple pocket or key fob size ones into "church keys" for our recently retired Pastor and the new one. I'll post pics. Frosty The Lucky.

Well Gee Andy, my first thought is What's Andy mean by "hammer tuning". I tweak my hammers pretty regularly from basic dressing to polishing out dings. I find a shiny polished face moves the steel easier. I alter the shapes occasionally or just redesign the darn thing as I want or need. . . . Tuning? Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Remi, 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. Just mentioning your location in the intro post isn't going to last in folk's minds. Are you an experienced blacksmith relocating or getting into the craft? Where are you relocating from? What do or do you want to do blacksmithing wise? This might be a record short and curious post from me, I'm usually a lot windier than curious. Frosty The Lucky.

About teaching, you can't really "teach" people, especially not on the internet. All you can really do is offer information, experience and examples. It's up to the student to learn. It's not like we can take a whip or idiot stick to a student so it's up to them. Useful advice. If a person can't take being talked to like an adult then working with HOT steel and dangerous tools is probably not your pursuit. The steel doesn't care, it just is, nor does the fire, the hammer, cuts, power tools, any of it. Nothing a human can say to you is as hard to take is a piece grabbed by a wire or buffing wheel and thrown through your chest. OR say you're standing in the wrong place when a 3lb. hammer slips from the smith's grip. On and on and far more permanent that words. Blacksmithing is a HARD craft, not difficult but HARD as in steel. It's not like some, say professional cake decoration, while precise and demanding well worthy of respect it isn't a HARD craft. Masonry, carpentry, truck driving, heavy equipment operation, etc. are HARD crafts. The price of mistakes can mean body parts, crippling or death for the craftsman or innocent bystanders. If some of us get short with a person for not wanting to listen or only wanting to listen to what they in their infinite beginnerhood believe is important, this might not be the craft for you. You don't get more lives, fingers, eyes, ears, etc. Nobody can keep someone who is determined from doing IT whatever IT is or doing IT their way. Just remember the price is yours to pay. We can only do what we can, tell you the rightest way years of experience has taught us, point out the failure points, where to stand, etc. We can't make you listen or follow a darned thing. That's on YOU. I have enough trouble not getting emotionally involved arguing with people bound and determined to do it their own way regardless to cry about their shed blood. I'm not going to do it anymore, I'll offer help and if it's not wanted fine. Frosty The Lucky.

You can cut leaf & coil spring with a hack saw unless you've hardened it. Shamus, when you say 1" leaf spring is that wide or thick? Either way a hack saw will do the trick and it's a lot easier and faster than you'd think. 12-14tpi blades are good, finer is NOT better. 3 teeth on the work at all times is the rule of thumb for optimum blade selection. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Andrew 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. The depth fire you need will depend on the fuel you're burning. Charcoal wants a deeper fire, as I recall in the 5-6" range while coal/coke wants 4-5". Deeper is better than too shallow and I'm not a solid fuel guy so when someone posts different depths go with them. With some experience you'll learn what the fire should look like both by itself and how the steel is behaving. Personally I like a duck's nest rather than a fire pot so I can change the size and shape as needed. In general I believe the 2" deep rotor is going to be too shallow without building it up with fire brick. Semi drums are generally WAY too deep and require filling with clay to be practical for general smithing. A standard pickup truck rear brake drum seems pretty much a good happy medium size and depth wise. That is however my opinion and I'm primarily a gas forge guy but over the years I've developed that opinion based on what others have said. IFI has a pretty extensive solid fuel forge section and much larger bladesmithing section. You're going to need a comfy chair, something to eat and drink just to skim. That's no foolin. Frosty The Lucky.

I carried hod and mixed mud for a while when I first moved to Alaska. My respects to masons, hard working guys. How's this, jelly roll some nicely contrasting steel. Split the billet and forge the trowels from from the inside of the cut. Or quarter it and do the same. Now I suppose if a Father were to get fancy he could forge a basic billet and incise or grind the shapes of an artifact or human bone through the lamina and forge that into trowels. Frosty The Lucky.

In virtually any configuration 1/2" of mild steel will make a poor anvil. Keep it around, it's useful stuff, just not for an anvil. Keep your eyes open for an anvil weight piece of steel. Getting in a hurry to build an anvil when you don't know nor understand what makes a good anvil is likely to turn into a "valuable learning experience". We learn from our mistakes yes? Just be patient, the kit will come, nothing good happens over night. Frosty The Lucky.

When you use that or any rotating tool stay OUT of the plane of rotation. You've seen mud slung of a bicycle wheel yes? That's the plane of rotation and things like grinders, wire wheels, buffs, your cut off saw, etc. can either grab things or even shatter shooting shrapnel at HIGH velocity. When I say high velocity I mean punch through your breastbone and penetrate your heart high velocity. We lost a member last October to a buffing wheel. Just learn to stand to the side so WHEN something gets caught you just are NOT in the way. Another thing to think about where cut off wheels are concerned is they're pretty fragile if hit from the side and it's really hard to see damage. Once damaged they can just come apart and . . . Stay out of the line to fire. Frosty The Lucky.

I don't know, maybe the Funky Wankers Dictionary? I bet it's on Wiki by now though. Uh, have we highjacked this thread or . . ? Frosty The Lucky.

I believe it is Thomas. Radioactivity is probably it's least dangerous attribute, toxicity is about as high as anything I know of and it's insidious once in you. I recall reading about the Fatman bomb project where someone was moving shavings from machining the core and dropped the container spilling the oil exposing the plutonium shavings to open air. It flashed emitting a little puff of smoke and the tech was dead in a week but he got a heavy dose. How much plutonium shavings? About a fingernail paring's worth, more wasn't allowed to leave the containment around the lathes. Cuttings were removed every pass or two in separate containments. I THINK this memory is of the Fatman core but it might have been the Little Boy core and that was a U238 gun device. I don't recall if Little Boy carried the Demon Core or it was detonated at Trinity. I'm remembering these things in bits and pieces. The Manhattan project killed a bunch of people, some in most gruesome ways, not counting the target populations that is. Interesting reading. Frosty The Lucky.

I used a roof jack with a wide skirt because I have a steel roof and it has pretty tall ribs. This makes it a little hard to get it down tight and water proof so moving it farther from the stack allowed me to use weather seal and mastic to put a gooey gasket under it and screw it at close intervals. Probably a better plan than asking a random bunch on the internet is hit the library and check out a book about roofing. There is a RIGHT way to do roof penetrations for every type roof there is. What works on mine may be a disaster on yours. Frosty The Lucky.

Pretty nice Shamus, good first project for sure. You'll be much happier with the scale sanded off the tang, all the parts of the handle need to be smooth. A little scale will grind through or blister your hide a LOT faster than you might think. Well done, carry on. Frosty The Lucky.

You have plenty enough to get started. Solid fuel forges are easy peasy and don't require much but a hair drier, mineral soil and a piece of pipe then charcoal or coal fuel. You already have a post vise, coooool, get it rigged and working and you don't need a hardy hole, eliminating the hardest to fake tool on an anvil. All you need for an anvil is a reasonably heavy piece of steel. If the local scrap yards won't let you buy, check out machine shops or heavy equipment shops. Machine shops will have drops and a nice piece of round stock in the 4"+ dia stood on end makes a fine anvil. Same for square or rectangular stock. Heavy repair shops might have a broken axle and they most often twist off at the spline end leaving the flange. Stood on end semi and dozer axles make SWEET anvils, they have a great depth of rebound (that's how hard the anvil hits back per blow) the flange and lug holes serve fine to hold bottom tools bending forks, etc. etc. The wood chisels might be happier left as wood chisels or relegated to the HC stock bucket, I don't think they'll make very useful metal working tools but I'm wrong a lot. The star drills could well be an S series steel and make outstanding impact tools, hot cuts, cold cuts, punches, chisels, etc. for metal work unless you want to make mason chisels, etc. then that's the HC stock bucket they should go into. The shorty punch will grind into a counter sink very nicely and it'll want a rounded tip. The large pin punch can be turned into all different shapes of hot punch as will the alignment (tapered) punch though those work well for punching and drifting holes. (drifting is expanding a penetration by driving a wedge into or through it. By wedge it can be a tapered round, oval, diamond, square, etc. cross section but it goes in narrow and gets fatter as it goes, hence wedge) Drifting is one of the best ways I know to produce a hole of precise shape and size. Tapered alignment punches work nicely for round but you're not actually driving them all the way through so it's not properly a "drift" but they do a fine job of opening a hole and in some cases a superior job as some holes should be tapered. Grind the mushrooming of the struck end of that chisel! That one is seriously dangerous as it stands. The overhang can chip ending sharp jagged shards of hard steel flying at flesh penetrating velocities. Eyeballs and arteries do NOT take kindly to being randomly penetrated. Grind it clean and chamfer the struck end of ALL your struck tools. This is basic maintenance of struck tools and should be done whenever the chamfer becomes hammered flattish. Any mushroomed struck tool either gets dressed or is a wall hanger in my shop, PERIOD. I have a few old top tools that are badly mushroomed with chips missing, I removed the handles and they're on a shelf as examples of dangerous tools. Seeing as you have a post vise wanting minor REALLY minor repairs the bench vise needs to stay on the bench for hand work. DON'T HIT your bench vise! They're cast iron and don't like being beat on, forget about that little anvil looking thingy on back that's a legacy shape and NOT an anvil. It's a very nice vise use it like it was designed to be used. The post vise looks complete missing only the return spring. Was there an odd looking gently curved piece of flat with a couple little tabs on one end and tapering down to a slightly more curve at the other end? If it isn't there these are really easy projects not needing spring steel at all. Heck the hardest to find, most often missing vise part is right there, looks like it even has the wedge, maybe both. Cool score. Nice spread of sledge hammers in the first pic, the head on the left looks like a stone dressing hammer to me, I have a 23lb. straight pein stone dressing sledge and it makes a SWEET heavy hitter. Unless you're going to train a striker, I've found handles about hand and a half length work nicely, call it more than half a standard sledge handle length or maybe double a single jack handle length. It gives you room for two hands but doesn't get in the way, good for close accurate hammering with a big gun. Be aware, that's MY preference, you'll develop preferences of your own as you go but feel free to borrow mine. Mother taught me to share you know. <wink> Ball peins, lots of them, good. I love ball peins, they're on my yard/garage/etc. sale buy em all list if the prices are reasonable. They're not only good smithing hammers as is but they can be reforged into all sorts of other useful hammers and top tools. For instance: Straight, angle, cross, etc. peins of different size and weights. Punches, slitters, hot cuts, butchers, shouldering tools, etc. again of different size and weight. Of course I suppose a person could use the ball pein for it's original purpose and pein rivets, tenons, head nails, etc. etc. they work a treat for that too. The hammer on the bottom left next to the red head is a "shrinking" hammer. The pointed end should come to a relatively sharp point and the flat face is the plannishing face and should be polished with the edges broken lightly.(that's radiused so as not to leave sharp marks) It's a body or sheet metal hammer used to reduce the area of a section by making it thicker. You use the pointy pein to make dents then flipping the sheet over or just working from the other side using the plannishing face to drive the pointed dents down flat. You use a "dolly" to buck the sheet while plannishing. Dollies are literally anvils and are often as light 10oz- though usually a pound or more. Anyway denting the sheet pulls the surrounding metal in towards the center of the impact area. Plannishing the dent flat can't make the surrounding metal expand so the metal IN the dent is upset or thickened. This leaves the sheet with a smaller area locally and thicker. Frosty The Lucky.

I suppose it's too late for me to suggest finding an old discarded shovel for stock? I'd use coil spring before I used leaf, it's less work to get to profile believe it or not. I agree with John, ceremonially killing the trowel is a perfect retirement gift. Any bogs close? Frosty The Lucky.

Is it an integral? Heck of a finish. Frosty The Lucky.