ironstein

Just received volume 2, volume 1 on the way. Mark signed volume 2. Great book, i am gonna start making some tools as he describes. The best blacksmithing book i have seen yet.

You can always rely on the predictability of stupidity!

you could also check out different suppliers, i was looking into buying bulk coke, i think it was $515 a ton delivered. That would last me a LONG time. If you could get a few people to go in on it with you it wouldn't be too bad.

you could try coke. I get it for free from a metalurgical analizing company. They go through so much, that they have to pay to have it hauled off. i pick it up for free, sometimes they even have coal. Research companies that analize coke for oil refineries.

thanks for all the kind words.

Thats partially why i didn't try it! That and the fact that i have never forge welded before. I figured if i attempted it, hammering the weld on the shank would have flattened out the texture.

No Pete, i didn't forge weld the shank. I filled in the space where the heel bands are bent back, right at the back of the heel there would be a void if not. I just mig welded the shank. Maybe in the future ill try forge welding it when i am more skilled. Here are some more pictures with the rowels installed. I will finish these when i get a belt grinder, its tough to get the finish i want with an angle grinder. http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=18320&stc=1&d=1257122100http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=18321&stc=1&d=1257122100http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=18322&stc=1&d=1257122100http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=18323&stc=1&d=1257122100

welcome! Glad to have you. Are you just starting out? Have you acquired any tools yet? This is a great place to be.Lots of wonderful, helpful people here.

Today i decided to make some spurs from a rasp. I found the pther threads about rasp spurs interesting. These are not finished yet. I think i need to hammer them down a bit, the texture seems a bit strong. They are one piece.
I did weld the shank. I used one half a rasp for each spur. Tomorrow i will make the rowels and rivet them in. The shanks are a bit too long for my taste as well. This is my first pair ever, and i really enjoyed making them.http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=18304&stc=1&d=1257038991http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=18305&stc=1&d=1257038991http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=18307&stc=1&d=1257038991attachmentid=18306&stc=1&d=1257038991http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=18307&stc=1&d=1257038991

nice job Mark! Thats awesome.

by the way Grant, i am always drawn to your posts. some thing in your humor that cracks me up. Best of all, you always throw down some serious knowledge!

since i'm just starting out, NOTHING is good enough! I know this thread is aimed more at the pro-smiths out there, but i couldn't resist.

mine are 32" high, on three sides of the shop. All the same so i can work on long stuff if need be. 1/2 inch plate table will be pretty hefty. Did you score one big piece or are you welding multiple pieces? i wish i had used heavier plate, i went with 1/4 and it warped a bit after using my propane forge on it, like an idiot i didn't put fire bricks under it! I managed to wedge it back to straight, but i think i may need to get a goo thick plate for my actual welding table, a nice flat stable surface makes fabricating sooo much easier.

nice set up jwb. Lots of stuff i'd love to have in my shop someday.

you could try wrapping a chain around the "base". Some people use a speaker magnet. It all depends how you have it mounted.

Thanks, i'll have to figure out how to downsize the pics. Thanks Clinton as well!

I tig welded the feet to the 1x4 tube steel. mig welded the tool racks to 1/4 thick angle iron, and tig welded studs to the 1/2 inch plate that sits under the anvil to keep it from sliding. Used wedges to lock the anvil down. Super strong, a la Brian Brazeal. his stands all have this similar design. She doesn't budge when i get to striking!http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=18181&stc=1&d=1256612445http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=18180&stc=1&d=1256612445http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=18179&stc=1&d=1256612445htthttp://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=18176&stc=1&d=1256612445p://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=18178&stc=1&d=1256612445http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=18177&stc=1&d=1256612445

very nice. Definitely accentuates the picture.

i agree with Mick whole-heartedly. Some thing to add being that i am a union ironworker that deals with reinforced concrete on a daily basis in the greater los angeles area (earthquake country). I would throw some extra rebar in areas that you think may be prone to cracking, or even throughout the whole slab. 5/8 rebar at ten or twelve inches on center would give you a seriously strong slab. I have worked on slabs designed to be used for material handling with heavy forklifts and machinery which were the latter. The final suggestion would be to saw cut the slab in sections to relieve stress, or add felt joints, this greatly decreases cracking, and gives you several independent slabs. if it were me designing my own shop, i would pour an elevated mechanical pad with horizontal and vertical rebar twice as thick as the slab surrounding it, and have a ramp so that i could place my power hammer (if i had one) on an isolated super strong, highly reinforced pad. Depending on your budget, you could go with post tension cables in your slab. These cables are stressed to a few thousand pounds per square inch after the slab is poured and in effect they "hold" the slab together and thus prevent cracking. That was probably more info than you needed but it is what i do when i'm not blacksmithing. if you need any detailed info pm me.

Looks like a good deal to me. That champion 400 blower if it is in working order is a great blower. The forge looks cool too, although i didn't see a fire pot with it. Check the screw on the post vise and make sure it isn't too worn. I wish i would have run across a deal like that when i was getting started. Good luck.

I know i'm no addict. Definitely not a quitter. I can stop anytime. I work four days a week, have three days off. Every week i use those three days to blacksmith, for at least ten hours each day. I can't seem to think of anything better to do with my time. Today i had a cut-off disc on my angle grinder jump and sink into my thumb, about 1/4 inch into the middle of my fingernail and into the tip of my thumb. Usually people would stop for a while if they were a quitter, not me. After cleaning up the blood trail and duct taping the thumb with some gauze, i hammered away for another five hours. Didn't feel a thing (Divermike understands this). Unfortunately it hurts to type, i can feel my heart beating in my thumb so i am gonna stop typing. I wouldn't want typing this response to get in the way of my blacksmithing. Gotta rest up the finger so i can hammer. No problem here.

Rest in peace Mike.

i think the line in the middle of the body is where the tool steel top half and wrought bottom half are joined. I have a tool steel top half hay budden, and i think they were made like that in a specific time period. Mine has what i originally thought looked like a crack in the middle of the body but someone informed me that this particular anvil due to the serial numbers is a tool steel hay budden.

awesome shop. i dig that euroanvil.

yep, The shop was built in the rv space along the side of my house. There is a short three foot wall in the shop because the shop was built into the wall, if that makes any sense. Then theres a wall behind at about roof level of the shop, i am on a corner, and my neighbors are uphill a little bit. I think it really helps with sound proofing. I have talked to my neighbors a few times and appologized for the noise, and they claim they havent heard a peep since we moved in a year ago. It keeps it a bit cooler in the shop being sort of built into a hill.