Dutchmancreek Posted July 29, 2007 Share Posted July 29, 2007 I read on the "Show me your anvil" thread about putting a tennis ball on the end of the anvil horn. That's a good idea but I never seem to hit the horn even though I move between the forge and anvil to get to my swedge block. The problem I have is leaving the vise handle or arbor press handle sticking out...I'll run into it every time. In my previous life as an engineer, I insisted that all the inspectors and lab guys keep those handles in a verticle position when they were not being used. The handles were also painted flourescent orange for visibility. I need to paint mine here, but it just wouldn't seem to fit in the smithy.......I'll probably change my mind when (not if) I run into a handle again. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 My problem is that the anvil is right in the middle of the shop, and the horn is in the most dangerous position. So no matter what I'm doing in there, the horn is just waiting to stab something. The worse case is when I'm at the workbench, all I need to do is back up a little too far and I'll get a very memorable goose. I found a red tennis ball some time ago, so when the yellow one wears out, I'll have a Bozo nose of the correct and proper color to replace it As for vises, my biggest problem is not the handle, but the the vise jaws themselves. The shop is small enough that just leaving the vises open gets in the way. I kind of get used to where things are, so when I move around the corner, I don't expect a vise to be sticking out, and get some bruised hips. Got to remember to close them when done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutchmancreek Posted July 30, 2007 Author Share Posted July 30, 2007 My problem with the vise jaws is that I sometimes forget that they get hot and I rest my hand on them. It's the handle that gets me. I also generally leave my hammer on top of the anvil and on occasion have knocked it off when doing something else....glad I wear safety toed shoes. I also keep extra pairs of safety glasses in a cabinet and make anyone in the shop when I'm working wear them. By trhe way, they don't always work...I was doing a bit of chainsaw wood carving (a six foot tall tiki/indian for down by the gate) and I was wearing safety glasses with side shields anda full face shield. I still ended up in the emergency room with a wood chip in my eye Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 I have one extra issue. The tubing from my insulin pump likes to get caught on things and having it rip the set right out is not fun. This is compounded/helped by it needing to stay cool during hot weather so the pump is in a fanny pack with cold packs. Helped as I coil all the extra I can in the pack to keep cool, compounded as the fanny pack makes my "personal space" different from when the paths in the shop were established. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Ouch! This falls into the "loose clothing and hair in the shop" catagory. Getting tangled in machinery is no fun, especially if it's moving machinery. Shirt sleeves/tails, suspenders, long hair, jewelry, anything attached to you and hanging loose can catch on something and injure you. Getting caught up in rotating machinery is frequently fatal. Just catching a glove in a wire wheel can cripple you and is guaranteed to REALLY hurt if you're lucky. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Machinery? I'm still trying to get *electricity* in the shop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLMartin Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 you dont need electricity to get a finger or shirt caught in a flywheel of a crank forge, drill press, or flypress. and let my tell you, those little gears on the old drill presses hert! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutchmancreek Posted July 30, 2007 Author Share Posted July 30, 2007 Electricity just makes it happen a lot faster...and the light makes it easier to do first aid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutchmancreek Posted July 30, 2007 Author Share Posted July 30, 2007 Ouch! This falls into the "loose clothing and hair in the shop" catagory. Getting tangled in machinery is no fun, especially if it's moving machinery. Shirt sleeves/tails, suspenders, long hair, jewelry, anything attached to you and hanging loose can catch on something and injure you. Getting caught up in rotating machinery is frequently fatal. Just catching a glove in a wire wheel can cripple you and is guaranteed to REALLY hurt if you're lucky. Frosty Not too long ago my beard was reaching the "ZZ Top" range but Ive trimmed it down to a reasonable length now. I gave up on the pony tail look because the bald spot on top. Come to think of it, I kind of look like the avatar...even including the jug. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny99 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Thomas. Why not get one of those fishnet vests to wear over the hoses, and contain them? Shouldn't ad much weight or get to much hotter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrous Beuler Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Machinery? I'm still trying to get *electricity* in the shop! Electricity? If it doesn't jump up as a "gotta have it need" why fix what ain't broke? Once upon a time we were ALL amish. My shop 'neath the starry skies has what it needs, forge, post vice, slack tub, tongs, hammers, drifts, punches, the rest is imagination and gettin' dirty doin' it (and learning as I go) No need so far for wonderments of newfangled moderns like electric. Seriously though, ironworking has been around now for a long long time and for good reason the basic tools and approach has not changed. No need to fix what aint broke, and sure a shop with lights is nice but not required. Look at Irnsrgns pic elsewhere on this site of the guy in the third world setting using the "spanish bellows". Need I say more? Dan:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Gee Thomas you don't NEED electricity to make machinery go after you. I know I was more than able to hurt myself just with a tricycle. I used to wear my hair fairly long Steve. Then buzzed my head when a friend went in for chemo. She's lived a couple years longer than anyone thought but I'm still buzzing my head, it's WAY cooler in the summer and you wouldn't believe what I save in shampoo! Johnny: Good idea about the mesh vest. You can get them with lots of handy pockets too, including a surveyor's vest with a large through pocket in the back for carrying maps and stakes. It'd be near perfect for an insulin pump or similar device. The only downside to a surveyor's vest is the color international orange or high visibility green, with retroreflective strips. Actually I carry two safety vests in the Saturn just in case I have to change a tire, stop for an accident or walk for help. You simply can NOT be too visible on the road. I know, I spent 30 years dodging motorists working for AK DOT. Dan: It's all really a matter of taste and desire isn't it? The real tradition of the blacksmith was to do the job better, faster, easier and more profitably. It's one of the very few professions to sucessfully develop itself out of existence. Oh sure there are still quite a few blacksmiths around but most of us are doing it for the fun, very few are needed industrially. Even farriers are dependant on a luxury market in our portion of the world. Seriously, Miller and Lincoln were multi-generational smiths looking for a better method of welding. Hobart invented the acetylene torch because hauling a forge to a site, uninstalling a bent or broken piece of hardware (usually a bent gate) getting it into a forge to heat was just too much work. How about visegrips? The drill press, lathe, rolling mill, press, etc. etc. I'm not taking issue with your preferences, heck, I blacksmith and try not to be a hypocritic. Today's blacksmith can operate in any period s/he wishes and best of all doesn't have to worry about it being the "RIGHT" period. I prefer "period" to "tradition" but that's just my preference, I can do most of them. Besides after enough years electric lights just mean you can work past high noon. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ten Hammers Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Primitive shop is nice really. I spend a fair amount of time at camps under a fly. Forge and shop is just outside the drip edge of the fly. If it rains, no forging ( vise is out there too ). Electricity and the modern stuff ( welders etc ) are necessary for me to make a living with many things but not absolutely necessary for many things. I frequently visit Amish shops. Their ( local ) use of motor plants and pneumatics/hydraulics give me ideas frequently. Setting here in air conditioned calm in front of a puter ( cooling off after a 45 minute gas forge session this morning ) before I shower and head to the day job is nice. I enjoy a mix of both worlds ( primitive and modern ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 May I point out that a single person blacksmith shop is not historically accurate! If I had 3-6 apprentices, journeymen, strikers, etc I could probably forego electricity. As I do not I would like to use my triphammer (used by smiths for over 1000 years now!), electric lights---so I can do good work in the shop after my day job is over, a Fan for the 100+ degF days in my sheet metal building, my arc welder so I can build my treadle hammer, and my Bader so I can finish off knives much *MUCH* faster than by hand. I've been smithing without real power to my shop for way too long and now that I am hopefully settled I WANT IT! Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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