von Paul Vos
Tools for the one smith, made by a lone smith by Carl West
The new year has already been underway for more than a month and a half, and we started with good intentions. One of them is of course organizing the Treff. Carl talked about tools for the blacksmith that he can make himself.
A few examples:
The hardy hole is used to fit many accessories.
For example the hot cut hardy. You can have it in a forged form, a welded form, but also a folded form from a sheet of high-carbon steel or of leaf-spring steel. If you make one, make sure the length extends through the anvil so you can easily remove the tool from the anvil.
Bending Fork
An u-iron for the vice to bend workpieces is quickly forged from tool-steel. Markings to be able to bend the workpiece horizontally are placed approx. 1 cm under both ends. The notches allow for easy guidance of your workpiece.
A spring to the handle of your leg vice to prevent it from falling too hard is very handy. Your finger will never get caught.
The more S-curved twisting wrench is brilliant for turning torques. Make sure your hands are in line. You can also use a regular adjustable wrench with an extra lever welded to it.
If your attachment does not fit into your hardy hole with suction, you can easily fold hardy hole adjusters from thin steel plates. This will secure your attachment nicely and stable.
For the chain-stay-place, use a flat chain so that your workpiece is clamped properly and not damaged.
Another important tip. Make sure your homemade tools - especially the monkey tool - are hardened. You can easily do this yourself with the so-called super-quench-method.
To do this, visit the website http://www.prospecthillforge.com/ for information.
Or use the recipe below from one of our very experienced Treff visitors.
Super quench:
5 gallons of water → 19 liters
5 lb salt → 2.268 gr
Medium bottle of Dawn dishwashing liquid (or Fairy)
Large bottle of dishwasher anti-spotting liquid.
And there are several useful examples to be seen in the YouTube recording of the presentation.
A passionate and inspiring presentation with useful tips to quickly and easily make your own custom fittings/tools.
From beginning to end were 26 very engaged listeners from 8 countries with whom experiences were shared and questions answered.
Thanks to our cooperation with ABANA we will be publishing the recording of this Treff in not too far future.