jeremy k Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Mark - in that case - you did well, I was not referring to you personally - the picture reminded me of many demos Ive seen that the demoer has their back to the crowd and talking away from them - which makes for a hard demo to watch and hear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Well not exactly today, but over the last couple of days while visitor numbers are low (too hot), I have been giving the forge area a bit of a work over. The floor was very uneven with a build up of ash and charcoal dust from the last five years or so. Not good for the back to be standing on uneven ground all the time while turning the blower. I found a heap of old clay bricks to make a better floor. Trouble is, the floor was already a bit high, and adding bricks would make the anvil way too low. The build up had been slow over the years and I hadn't really noticed it much. So we had to do some excavation - about four inches of hard packed ash first which had to be broken up with a pick. Then about the same amount again to make up for the additional height of the bricks. And then a bit more. The result is a level floor with the anvil at a comfortable height. The first demo with the new floor was great - nothing to trip over and much more room after shifting a few things around. I'll be sure to sweep away the ash every few days. Here's a pic after the work was completed. I ran out of solid brick and had to go find some holey ones to finish the job: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 ausfire - In my mind you are the Man.. No smoke stack which means the smoke, soot and ash just fall all over the place.. You did a great job cleaning up.. I personally would rather take a punch to the face than work with no stack.. Unless working with charcoal.. Then it doesn't matter.. But soft coal.. Uhggg.. 13 hours ago, littleblacksmith said: as mentioned earlier, there was no way to make everybody happy. No matter where I stood I would block somebody. During public demos I will turn my back to the crowd when forge welding as then my apron will shield any spatter that is heading their way.. During blacksmithing meets I don't but any demos outside professional realms I do.. I now have plexi glass drop downs in the demo trailer as something flying off into the crowd is never a good thing and over the 30+ years I have seen many a by stander get hit with slag and other things.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 1 hour ago, jlpservicesinc said: ausfire - In my mind you are the Man.. No smoke stack which means the smoke, soot and ash just fall all over the place.. You did a great job cleaning up.. I personally would rather take a punch to the face than work with no stack.. Unless working with charcoal.. Then it doesn't matter.. But soft coal.. Uhggg.. Exclusively charcoal I'm my forge, jlp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 1 hour ago, jlpservicesinc said: I personally would rather take a punch to the face than work with no stack.. Unless working with charcoal.. Then it doesn't matter.. But soft coal.. Uhggg.. I don’t have a stack over my JABOD, and I’m burning rice coal (anthracite). There’s very little smoke (except when first starting the fire, and that’s usually from the kindling). I’d never do it with soft coal, though. Uhggg indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HammerMonkey Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Nice looking work space Aus! I really like the brick floor and stone forge. I may build something similar in my expanded shop this spring. I gave up on coal, and also burn lump charcoal for my current solid fuel forge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Short paper towel holder == spare toilet paper roll holder. And you don't have a guard for your lights? I get ones with a cheap plastic diffuser in front of the bulbs. It usually keeps them from breaking unless I am really trying my utmost... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfeile Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Thomas Powers Yeah, I can probably salvage something out of it, and it took me 5 years to actually get around to putting lights in there. Don't be getting needy with the covers already. Although in the long run they may be cheaper than the bulbs. Doesn't help that my rafters are only about six and a half feet off the floor, so it doesn't leave much room to hang a shop light from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mtnstream Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 ausfire, Is that a slab workbench against the back wall?...looks to be 4 inches thick. That alone says "days gone by". Great looking shop!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rojo Pedro Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 I made 4 of these........ And did this with them......... I'm really happy with how it turned out It took a couple hours and I consider this my first "tool" project. I used my post vice to bend the corners and cleaned up on the anvil. It was the first time I used the vise to forge. Fun! My forge thanks for looking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranchmanben Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Built some tooling and started to relearn how to make tongs using the newly made tooling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Ranchmanben - That's real nice work, Ben! If I may suggest: shorten the cutter tool for the power hammer. A tool that tall can be very dangerous. You don't need more height than 1 1/2" - you can cut through 3" thick bar with it. I use this one, it's made of the equivalent of AISI L6 hot working tool steel, it's 30mm (1 1/4") tall: John Rigoni has a great video on youtube about the how to. Bests: Gergely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 8 hours ago, Mtnstream said: ausfire, Is that a slab workbench against the back wall?...looks to be 4 inches thick. That alone says "days gone by". Great looking shop!! No, just a big lump of 4 x 8 which I use for a shelf for things I need to keep handy: wire brushes, timber mauls, borax, drink bottle etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranchmanben Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Gergely - thank you, Something about this told me it wasn’t right. I’ll check out the video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 John Rigoni's power hammer videos are pretty awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranchmanben Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 1 hour ago, JHCC said: John Rigoni's power hammer videos are pretty awesome. That’s an understatement. Watching his videos added quit a few items to the “to make list.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Sawicki Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Made an anvil! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HammerMonkey Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Tiny anvil... or REALLY huge split trees? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Sawicki Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Tiny anvil less than half a pound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Cute. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Sawicki Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Thanks! I forgot to add that it’s made form two pieces top piece is some breaker bit and the bottom is just mild steel. Stick welded at the waist. Hardened as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-1ToolSteel Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Nice job! I tried making a keychain sized anvil (forge-welded at the waist) once, and the base piece got away from me and worked its way down to the bottom of my firepot... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Sawicki Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Yeah that’s why I just decided to stick weld it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Great little anvil. Well made! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveGas Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 Rolled 2 rings for a chandelier project to keep the wife happy. PS: the centerpiece made me happy. I didn't have the capability to roll steel this wide so I used angle rings as a bending jig and with a little heat I think it worked out. Larger is 30", smaller is 20". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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