Frosty

It's a good looking drive, lantern hook Jaycat, a little refinement and it'll be a very marketable item. Glenn and Chinobi covered my main suggestions but I want to reinforce them. Drive hooks need a 90* bend where the hammer is to strike or the curve will absorb energy in a useless way. I like to go a bit farther by folding the bend to so it's double thick in line with the point but that's my thing. The lantern hook should be more pronounced for safety's sake. It's a barn and even if the wind doesn't blow inside things get knocked about and swung so sucurely held lanterns is a must. It's okay if it's a little hard to get the lantern loose, market it as a safety feature, you won't be sorry. I'd have to make one and check it with a lantern to tell but I'm always jumpy about a flame close to a wooden beam, especially old, dry, hay dusty and cobwebby ones. Were I to make lantern hooks the arm would be long enough no part of the lantern could touch or be closer than an inch or two from the beam. Of course being blacksmiths we can get away with making a reflector/heat shield from a large tin can end. All it'd need is a hole to drive the hook through and it'd be VERY authentic blacksmithery. More marketing features, Safety AND Period (traditional) quiche. Frosty The Lucky.

The only legitimate hammer:anvil ratio I've seen raw data for is the power hammer ratio. I only see two types of anvil damage on healthy anvil. Chipped edges and swayed faces. The cause of edge damage is pretty obvious, though I'm sure some clever folk have come up with other methods. Sway is (IMHO) caused primarily by deformation of the anvil below the face steel. I've seen this most commonly in wrought body anvils but some cast bodies too. I've never seen it in a Swedish cast steel anvil that hasn't been through a fire or such. I have seen a couple swayed anvils I THINK may be erosive wear but I don't know about the mechanics of that. So, I THINK using too heavy a hammer on a soft bodied anvil, especially if it's a light weight or thin faced one could result in eventual sway damage. Chipping edges doesn't have as much to do with hammer weight but the heavier the hammer the more likely and more severe the edge chipping so don't miss. Other than damage the anvil hammer ratio isn't such a big deal except for efficiency and overall hardness has almost as much to do with it as weight under the blow. For direct example, my 125lb. Soderfors moves metal FAR better than my 200lb. Trenton ad the Trenton has a taller waist so there's more iron under the blow but it's a soft wrought body. A bearing doesn't rebound as well from the Trenton as the Soderfors either. The Soderfors also shows no sway or marking on the face but there are some chips out of the edges. She's a HARD old gal but a sweetheart. And them's my thoughts. Frosty The Lucky.

That'd be fun Tristan but it might open any of us up for a surprise meeting. Oh I forgot to tell you you WON the election! Congratulations! I believe Vince is now a TV celebrity. He can be our official front guy. I don't know what he's donated, Maybe Mark does. Frosty The Lucky.

When I first opened this thread I was interested, now I'm trying to figure out how to poke my mind's eye out! I had a leather apron made in the early 90's from collar to below the knees. It's a very nice apron and has taken the blow from a disintegrating 9" grinding disk right on my sternum without causing a bruise. Great apron but I haven't worn it in I don't know how long. I just don't do things that really require it, I've even lowered the amount of flux in my welds to the point it doesn't splatter. Oh yeah, I wear it at demos, the audience expects a "real" blacksmith to wear an apron so I take it off the hanger. Frosty The Lucky.

I love the idea of the jacko'forge. Add a few spices and have desert after work! On a serious note, all the outer shell does is keep the ceramic fibers contained and provide support. An old friend of mine made his gas forge with a spittoon shaped chamber mounted vertically under a refractory table. I've made demo forges with Kaowool and hardware cloth. Frosty The Lucky.

If you use sharp crushed sand it won't shift like if you use alluvial (stream beach smooth rounded particles) sand. Attaching a wide base to the bottom of the anvil to keep it from shifting is almost a must if you use alluvial sand. In either case sand makes a very good base and can be easily adjusted for user/job height. Frosty The Lucky.

How's this for a guy who's a relative newcomer to the craft? Tristan's a real comer. As for the little one becoming a blacksmith one day, I'm her "weird uncle Jerry" so she'll be afforded plenty of opportunities for learning . . . interesting . . . things. <grin> Frosty The Lucky.

Most compressors running up here have deicers, basic alcohol bottles that add a bit regularly, I wish I remember what they're called. They're off the shelf most anywhere from auto/truck parts stores and hardware stores. Jim, using an air hose as a water trap is elegant in its simplicity. My hat's off to you Bro. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Jeff, glad to have you. You might want to hook up with Bryan Morgan in North Pole. He says there's a hardware store in or near Fairbanks that carries metallurgical coal. From what I've heard the coal from Healy is boiler coal they powder and blow into power plant furnaces, it isn't the same as smithing coal at all. Then there's the coal I hear is being sold from the Sutton area that's sub bituminous. I haven't heard much good about it but have never tried it so it's hearsay. I have used coal from Chickaloon, the Castle Mountain mine or one of the mines. It's laid on or near the surface since just after WWII and can be pretty iffy. If you can find or ID the good coal it's as good as you can get anywhere. I have probably half a ton I mined some years back but I'm mostly a propane forge guy. Frosty The Lucky.

The next meeting is at Jim's, 04/26/14. Did anyone else see Vince on an art auction piece on PBS TV Sunday night? Jer

Very nice Nick. I'm thinking you should've tested them out though, have a few smiths over, spit a ham and discuss important smitherly topics as it cooks. Your customers will be well pleased with THOSE bragging rights! Frosty The Lucky.

Awe shucks. It's often much easier to answer a question or toss out a few suggestions, especially if they're based on experience or things I've read here than it is to ask one. You have an advantage over many of the other new guys, you're a fabricator and we speak a very similar language so you ask clear understandable questions. Or close enough. When I built my coal forge (back when I thought I could get good coal) I used exhaust pipe for the air supply. 3" x about 12" for the main tuyere and "T" welded 2" about 4" off the low end for the blower. I just used a 3" exhaust stack flap cap with a long piece of 1/4"x3/4" for a counter weight and handy tong target so I could open the ash dump with a poker, tongs, hammer, whatever was handy. I welded a flange to the air grate end so I could just pop rivet it to the table. The forge is a duck's nest so there's no fire pot, just a missing 1/2 brick. The table's lined with fire brick with the joints filled with ash, fire clay and whatever was handy A duck's nest is just a depression in the clayed liner of the forge pan/table/whatever with the air grate in the bottom. Mine is as I said a half brick, it's 4 1/2"x4 1/2"x2 1/4" and loosely tamped in place with damp fire clay. I made my air grate before I knew how to make one but it works well and is adjustable. It's a round piece of 3/8" plate maybe 4" dia with probably 25 5/16" holes, it adjusts by blocking holes with shallow headed rivets. What I really like about a duck's nest is making whatever size fire I need simply by stacking fire bricks around it to act like a fire pot. Duck's nests are what you see in rivet forges,just a round pan with an air grate in the center, ram a little clay in the pan and leave a depression that exposes the grate. Viola, duck's nest! Professo: If it's steel and not plated it's probably just fine. You can clean paint off but removing plating is a hassle that leaves you with a hazmat to dispose of. I don't recommend grinding galvanizing though it isn't particularly toxic as dust it is still an irritant to be avoided. Avoid chrome and cadmium plating they ARE toxic. Frosty The Lucky.

I'm liking my steel anvil stands better all the time. They're open so I can work right up to the anvil, have handy hammer and tong racks and really deaden the ring. They're also so much lighter and easier to handle that a block of wood. Frosty The Lucky.

Nice looking hammer, I'm very fond of straight peins, they make drawing lengthwise so much easier. Frosty The Lucky.

Gordon Williams, yes, thanks Mark. If you spot typos and such within a few hours of making the mistake you can click the "Edit" button at the bottom right of the post next to the "Report, Multi quote and Quote" buttons and correct mistakes. I know I use it all the time. Like right now. <grin> Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Zantow, glad to have you. Put your general location in the header, you might be surprised how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. Frosty The Lucky.

That ain't getting carried away unless it's your portable unit, then it's a might be. You Sooooo fit in here. <grin> Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you put your general location in the header it'll be a LOT easier to hook up with folk within visiting distance. Take Jerry's advice and hook up with the Texas gang, they're active and and a good bunch. You'll learn more in an hour with an experienced smith than you will teaching yourself in days or more. They'll also almost surely have a tailgating session in the parking lot. Not the BBQ kind of tailgating, the tools and equipment for sale and wanted kind of tailgating. Frosty The Lucky.

Just use the "stump" anvil. Horns are latecomers to the craft you don't need one for most any operation. AND that gear has a nice shaft if you need to true something up. Of course you can try what you propose but all in all you'll be better served learning to forge on what you have. It isn't the tools that do the work, it's the smith. You don't even need a flat surface, I don't know how long it was done but many Viking blades were forged on boulders and I'd be willing to bet using cobbles for hammers. Build your skills sets and you'll find it doesn't make a lot of difference what you use for an anvil, hammer, cut, etc. Frosty The Lucky.

Alex: The Mojave isn't known for wet soils,liquifaction isn't a factor except maybe during a cloudburst. I have my 50lb little giant on the shop slab floor. Sure I doubled the rebar under it and it's a bit thicker but it's so FAR from a cubic yard of concrete. . . It doesn't rattle a thing in the shop and I tested it by standing a nickle on edge on the floor next to it. Just make the footing wider than the hammer's foot and double up the rebar. I'd make it 6" thick but it's probably not necessary, 25lb. LGs don't hammer the floor very hard. Frosty The Lucky.

Well, okay, there's a pic! That'll work, I'd maybe put a higher rim on it especially where the coal's piled. I have helpers on my gas forge that slip in or out as needed. They're simple affairs made of 3/4" rd. tubing and 3/4" angle iron with 1" rd. tubing welded under the table so the helpers can slide in and out. What I discovered after installing the things is they're perfect for holding tongs right where you need them and will give you a memorable reminder if you grab a pair by the bits. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome back. Life is that thing that gets in the way of what we plan. I have a whole drawer full of that "T" shirt. Pics, we want to SEEEEE what you're doing. Frosty The Lucky.

Good looking work all round. My first pair of tongs were near perfect for turning hot dogs on a grill, not so good for forging. <grin> The holdfast looks like it'll do well. At a recent clinic the demonstrator (who's name escapes me right now but I can blame the TREE) used holdfasts with a cross bar welded as a foot. They worked exceptionally well you can hold long pieces in the middle, along the anvil's edge, etc. Very handy mod. I only made one little mod and used/forged a longitudinal curve, like a slice lengthwise of pipe so the holdfast foot wouldn't mark the work. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. The CBA is a very active group and all over the golden state. don't get in a big hurry to buy tools till you have an idea what you want to do and what you'll need. Most of us have a lot of tools we picked up only to find out later they aren't so good for what we do. No big thing, we all did/do it. As Thomas says good wood is good trade stock, blacksmiths are almost always up for a trade but get your dickering face on. <wink> Frosty The Lucky.

Sounds like you're in the ball park. I was estimating your tube length off the screen and am not a bit surprised I was that far off. .035" mig tip should work well and with the shape of the flame it's aimed correctly. What is the "T" size? The first couple I made I used 3/4"x3/4"x3/4" "T"s and they worked well but were a bear to adjust. now I'm using 1"x1"x3/4" to make it intake air more easily and they're a bunch easier to adjust and much less sensitive to breezes. About commercial burners: You'll see the tube is tapered it's full length at a ratio of just under 1:12 or a bit under 12*. This gives them very robust induction and they use larger jets and much lower psi. Tapering the tube full length is sort of outside the typical home shop unless a person wanted to build a spinning lathe and learn to spin OR buy a machine lathe and machine them from billets. Just WAY too much work for normal folk making about $200+ for a commercial burner reasonable. There's no question a commercial burner will beat mine or Ron Reil's or Michael Porter's or a Rex easy. Ron and I spent a happy year brainstorming and experimenting with these things, not because we thought we could make a better burner but because we love to tinker and the early failures got out backs up. Ron spent a lot of time and effort developing an easy to build linear induction type burner and I went with an ejector type for it's more robust induction. Michael got involved after Ron and I stopped playing together with burners and he developed a good instruction set for making his version of an ejector. All in all I have no idea how many hours we invested reinventing the wheel but it's been a fun ride and I get a bit of a rush seeing one of our burners on someone's forge or foundry furnace or whatever. In all that time the biggest problem was getting them to induct enough air to produce a neutral flame. If we could taper the tube it becomes easy as the gradually increasing diameter requires the air fuel flow to fill a larger volume increasing the vacuum and draw. Using a smaller diameter jet and higher psi makes a stronger vacuum as well making for a lean flame so a choke makes for easy adjustment. This is a perfectly valid method and will make as hot a fire. However, we spent a lot of time going the way we did because a smaller jet means less fuel and fewer BTUs per second overall. A smaller jetted burner has it's upside, it's easier to adjust using the choke, no question so it's generally easier to build too. Good points. While it's absolute temperature is as high it doesn't make as much heat total so the size of the forge chamber is less. I use 0.023" mig tips in 1/2" burners for ban can forges with volumes around 150-175 cu/in. Gee, didn't that turn rambly. Frosty The Lucky.