Frosty

I have a couple magnetic oil pan heaters and use them to keep the propane tank from freezing. I warm the anvils with a piece of 1" plate about 10" square first heat is on top of the barrel stove while it's taking the bite out of the shop air. The second heat is standing in the door of the forge. Another good method is hang a coffee can of burning charcoal from the horn or heal, it works well. I've heard cold attributed to breaking an anvil but I've heard virtually all modern tech attributed to UFOs as well. I'm sure if it were -40 and you missed a full swing blow with a sledge you could do damage, maybe knock the heal off. The biggest down check I've experienced with cold anvils is how fast they suck the heat out of stock. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Burkey, glad to have you. I'm with the others, keep your eye pealed for a leg vise and keep the bench vise for more precise work. A swage block isn't something you'll use all the time but they do come in handy. Having fabrication skills will let you build a treadle hammer and or a modern utility power hammer, both extremely useful for moving steel. The last MUST have tip is a larger shop, the 1/8 in use now will shortly become 9-10/8 and expansion will come next. Power outlets, you can NEVER have too many outlets, or lights. Seriously, I built a 30'x40' red iron steel shop and it was getting crowded before I got it weathered in. Frosty The Lucky.

Yeah Vince is a polite guy isn't he. <grin> We talked about the Christmas show at the meeting didn't we. Were there a lot of displays? Frosty The Lucky.

Vince thinks what is normal, being able to see the floor or you being confused? What kind of show was it? Frosty The Lucky.

You got it in one Davor! That is indeed a highly coveted hand crank thingy! Sorry, I couldn't resist joking a little. I'm afraid I don't know what it is but I'll sure be interested when someone who does speaks up. Frosty The Lucky.

Looks pretty good. Yeah, screwing into end grain isn't good for strength, a kid swinging on the gate is likely to pull it right out. Making another strap that lays along the fence beam will be a lot stronger and not hard to make. A good practice piece actually. If, however you want to use the screw in pintles, mix some epoxy and thin it with xylene a little, you don't want it warm syrup thin, just not putty thick. Shove some epoxy in the hole, dip the screw and screw it in. When the xylene evaporates out the epoxy will set and the only way you'll get the pintle screw out is by destroying that end of the board. Frosty The Lucky.

Very cool Jacques, perfect Halloween costume gear. I not only love the rebar axe but think the little flower on top of the helm is just too sweet for words. Got a pic of you in costume? You would've been a HIT at the church Halloween party last night. Nano? Not a term I know, except for the Latin meaning 1 billionth, or is that VERY small. Frosty The Lucky.

Spixycat: two suggestions to start. Put your general location in the header, there's probably an IFI member within visiting distance. Second STOP messing with the gate till you've learned at least a little about metal working. For goodness sake stop cutting the ears on the "Y" section, there's absolutely NO reason to do so, it's just damaging the piece. Tig welders can indeed be used to heat steel but the arc is WAY hotter than necessary and WILL alter the contact zone metallurgically. A torch is a gentler heat, you can certainly melt it but you have to try or be really inept. Brazing does far less to alter wrought than fusion welding simply because it's a hard solder and doesn't melt the base metal. Calling brazing welding is another misnomer and a pretty clear sign of your need of a couple classes. Without some basic knowledge you will not have much if any success by asking questions. You don't have enough knowledge to ask good questions or understand the answers let alone sift out the answers from folk with little more knowledge than you have now. Seriously, by the looks of it you've turned a simple maintenance job of replacing old bolts into a job of repairing serious damage. From just taking a sharp cold chisel to bolt heads one at a time, driving the old bolt out and replacing it with a new one. Now you have to either weld, braze or replace the pickets. I'm not trying to make you feel bad, dumb or whatever, I'm just trying to put you on a path to success. this isn't some philosophical quest for understanding, it's a skill to learn. Come ON, a microscope?! Would you send soils samples to the lab before you filled a pot hole in a path? Really, that gate is probably not 50 years old, certainly not a century. This is a home fixit project. If you want to dress it up have it sandblasted and powder coated a nice semi gloss black, it'll look terrific. Frosty The Lucky.

Heat or a too sharp a shoulder top my list of probable causes. Off the top of my dented head that is. Inconsistent steel is next down the list, after a couple few tries you ought to be able to figure out the working temp for whatever you have at hand, or that it just isn't forgeable. Learning the feel of steel is an acquired skill as is failure analysis so you can tell what's going wrong or right. Therre is a lot of forged steel that isn't forgeable at our level, say rampable, controlled atmosphere furnaces, REALLY hard hitting power hammer, press or forge roll, etc. some metals are just too specialized for the home shop. Failure analysis; I've been trying to figure out what went wrong with that one all my life, just part of the game. <wink> Frosty The Lucky.

Pretty creepy, nice but creepy. <shiver> Frosty The Lucky.

Nice ladle, Jim brings the Rolaids I'll bring corn bread. Cutting the blank out of sheet isn't cheating, you don't really think a "traditional" blacksmith would forge the sheet out of bar stock if s/he didn't HAVE to do you? Well done Stephan. Frosty The Lucky.

Sounds like a youngster wanting the "perfect" tools for the job. It's a very common misconception we're all probably guilty of at one time or another. This is the link to an anvil I rebuilt for a young man this summer. Sorry, these aren't my pics, I would've been able to show the damage better. There are a couple pics of it as finished in the Alaska club section. I also list the rod I used, how, why and what I think of the results without having had the opportunity to put a few days work on it. As welded the Washington Alloy-700 didn't dent and I gradually upped the power of the blows to moderately hard. It will work harden over time but not a lot. Steel on rock rods are one thing but steel on rock crusher rods are a class of their own. They are high impact moderate abrasion resistant rods that can be laid in thicker passes. Steel on steel hard facing is generally very high abrasion resistance usually high manganese and not something I'd use on an anvil. Manganese hard facing was a special, day long class in the hard facing "schools" I attended, I ended up auditing and leaving after a little while. We didn't use tools or equipment you'd find manganese alloys in so . . . This looks to be a more harm than good on all levels, there's not a thing wrong with that anvil. An experienced smith would just put it to work. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Daryl, glad to have you. A really good start for someone needing to research the craft is to pack a lunch, something to drink, pull up a comfy chair and start reading this site. Almost anything you're likely to ask has been covered several times like the list of questions you just asked. Don't think this is some kind of blow off it most certainly isn't, this site is here for the free exchange of information and we generally LOVE getting new folk addicted to the craft. The thing is the language of blacksmithing has a purpose as do most technical jargons. WE need a specific language so we know what the other guy just said and we can respond to good purpose. Like any jargon it'll take a little time to pick it up enough you CAN ask good questions and understand the answers. A good place to start learning the craft is the "A little knowledge is dangerous" stage. Frosty The Lucky.

Mucduc, if you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised at how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance and check the regional organization section for a club near you. Those are monkey wrenches, not scrolling wrenches, handy for twisting and turning nuts/bolts. They differ from a pipe wrench in the hook jaw (the adjustable one) doesn't shift in to tighten on the work. Learn to stay out of the plane of rotation when you use power wheels, grinders for sure but wire wheels and buffers most definitely, those will grab the work ad launch it at HIGH velocity. The plane of rotation is the path it will throw things. You've seen the mud on a bicyclist's back yes? That's the plane of rotation, learn to stand to the side and it can't hit you with grabbed stuff. Learn how to adjust the rest properly and it may jam a piece of steel between the grinding wheel and the rest but it's really unlikely it will throw it. Still, stay OUT OF THE PLANE! Looks like a nice score, all good stuff for a basic kit. The bit of rail is more suited for a hand dolly than an anvil. Dollies are for backing light gauge stock and sheet as you hammer on it. Dollies are by definition anvils but not what a person would normally think of in a blacksmith's shop, auto body shop you betcha, I have a bunch of those and Deb loves the for her chasing and repousse musings. Use them well. Frosty The Lucky.

No Nank, it's just fine. Lots of us have been trying to get people to stop thinking ring is a sign of a good anvil. The REAL indicator is rebound, that's how hard your anvil is hitting back. the tech term being "incident of rebound." Measure rebound with a bearing or light hammer. A bearing is preferable as they're HARD so it has a higher incident of rebound and will measure the anvil's better. Hammers aren't necessarily all that hard, especially the new breed. Like Thomas says, if it ain't broke don't fix it or worry about it. I don't recall hearing anything bad about William foster anvils and if there's any little glitch folk here WOULD be talking about it. Frosty The Lucky.

A 70lb. anvil will do for lighter stock it's a bit light but it'll work. Keep your eye open for ANY large piece of steel, a flat spot is nice but not necessary. You can straighten work on a wood block with a mallet. Straightening on the anvil is harder in fact, takes practice to straighten without forging it. Just something else on the learning curve. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard twisted guy, glad to have you. Thomas was referring to putting your general location in the header. YOu'll be surprised at how many IFI guys live within visiting distance, maybe better than that we'll stop bugging you about it. <grin> Did you smith professionally, semi-pro, hobby, etc.? I've been at it for a few decades mostly as a hobby but occasionally taking a commission or selling things. I do some tools but mostly decorative items. Mostly I like playing with fire and hitting things with hammers. It's a Gooooood thing. <grin> Frosty The Lucky.

That's a very nice gate, I'll bet the customer is doing a happy dance. The bird is most excellent. Two years ago at the state fair there were a bunch of art pieces made from flatware, by kids from middle school to college. I've been watching at yard/garage sales. Well done, in spades. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard Andy, glad to have you. Check the IFI regional organizations section there are quite a few your side of the pond. There are a bunch of IFI members in England as well, hang on a few I have no doubt they're be chiming in to say high and get you hooked up. Frosty The Lucky.

I just calls em like I sees em Mike. They look better than my second pair and lets not even talk about my first. Keep them so you can go back and look at them as your skills improve. It lets you see your progress and is very reassuring when you're up against a tough one. Frosty The Lucky.

Oh that is just WICKED COOL! Have you named it? Frosty The Lucky.

Borax is water soluble and pretty proof against most other intuitive choices of solvent. Try a high pressure washer, maybe your next trip to the car wash. Even though there is a prominent sign at the local car wash saying NO parts washing it didn't say a word about power hammers so that's where my 50lb. LG. got it's thorough hosing after a gallon or so of solvent and brushing. Cleaning borax is a job for water and cold it isn't enough of a base for acids to do much. The few times I was worried about it seeping out of joins I warmed the piece and dropped it in cool water. I figured capillarity would draw the water into any place large enough to hold borax. That's a version of how I flux really tight joints, warm the piece and put it in a bucket of a near saturate solution of borax. It's a trick I got from a jewelry making metal head friend and it's served me well. And didn't THAT turn windy. <grin> Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks, I'll bookmark the site and take a gander. Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks John. One is me laying the hydronic heat lines and the other is the day they poured the slab. Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. You live in a much better place for finding blacksmithing tools than a lot of the country so just be patient and keep your eyes open, it'll all come to you. Frosty The Lucky.