[TheForge] Re: Minimum Tools (RE: [blacksmiths] Hi, and so it begins.)
Andy Vida
[email protected]
Fri Jan 23 13:35:00 2004
Ehud Yaniv wrote:
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andy Vida [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2004 9:47 PM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [blacksmiths] Hi, and so it begins.
>
> <snip>
>
> Well, almost 20 years ago I had to choose between buying a
> house or an airplane. I should have bought the airplane. :(
>
> Best wishes and good luck. You don't need a lot of tools
> for silversmithing. You can do an awful lot with a small
> toolbox. Less true with blacksmithing, but not so much less.
>
> <snip>
>
> Well then, can we talk about tools?
>
> What is the minimum tools needed for blacksmithing and possibly
> bladesmithing. That is, of course, aside from the anvil and a couple
> of
> good ball-peen hammers?
Let's make the list as complete as possible.
Safety glasses - no eyes, no smithing. Are we clear?
Anvil - doesn't have to be a large one. Doesn't even have to
be a traditional anvil. I will let others chime in about what
may be put to good use there.
Hammers - note the plural. Depending on how you're built, the
main hammer can be of almost any weight, within reason. I can
swing a 2.5# hammer until hell freezes. Up that to 3# and in
under 5 minutes my arm is coming off, or so it feels. I have
no idea why this is so, but it is. I'm a pretty small guy, yet
I know guys smaller than I, such as Tom Latane, who can swing
a 5# single jack for hours. Go figger.
Forge - this can be gas, coal, or charcoal. I am fond of coal
and charcoal, but gas forges are a lot more convenient and can
be tuned to provide very good performance. You can buy or build
your own. Building requires more time than anything else and
can serve as a good learning experience, but that is up to you.
Post vise - the means by which hot and cold work can be fixed in
place for various operations such as hammering and filing. Do
not make the error of trying to use a machinist's vise in its
place (the familiar bench-mounted vise) because they are not
designed to be hammered on the way a post vise is. You can pick
up good post vises at on the net, at flea markets, at blacksmith
events, garage sales on occasion... prices vary from just about
stealing them to the extortionate. If you can get a good four
inch vise (measured breadth of the jaws) for $75 I would say
you have done OK. Less than that and you're doing better. More
and, well... What to look for in the vise: they should be
more or less straight, i.e. the leg should not be significantly
bent. SLight bends can be easily fixed. The jaws should
meet parallel to each other, i.e., one side should not close
before the other. If this is within, say, 1 mm tolerance you
should be OK. More than that and the vise may need to be straigtened,
but that doesn't mean you should not buy it. As a blacksmith,
you will learn to fix just about anything. Make friends with
local smiths (where in hell are you, anyway?) and you will learn
a valuable set of attitudes and skills about being mechanically
adept, of being non-wasteful, and of giving freely of what you
know to others. It's all just too cool for words, I promise you.
Tongs - for holding hot work. A great exercise lies in making most
of your own. You should be able to find some old ones fairly
easily. From there, you learn to build your own. Another good thing.
Punches & Chisels - These you can buy a couple of, but mostly you
make your own. These are for cutting iron mostly in the hot state;
punching holes of just about any configuration imaginable, slitting,
parting, etc. They are not that difficult to make and their
manufacture will greatly improve your skill as a smith. Besides
that, it's a lot of fun and VERY satisfying to see a rack full of
tooling that issued from your own hands. It is a wonderful thing.
Slack tub - for quenching hot iron. This can be any container. The
larger the better, but I would say a five gallon bucket should be
just about minim um size. If you can find a half barrel (oak) at
some flea market or other source for cheap, that will be just about
the best. It will be perhaps 30 gallons capacity (about 120 liters
if you're a metric sort) and they serve admirably, not to mention
that they are viewed as being somewhat traditional.
Files - files are indispensible to the production of finer, more
precise results such as fitting a tenon into a mortise or doing
white work. Don't waste your time and money buying new files.
Go out to garage sales, flea markets, etc. and buy up as many old
files as you can get your hot little hands on. Old Nicholson
files were absolutely superbly made and are pretty abundant. Many
will be worn out. Don't let that stop you. They can either be used
for other purposes, or you can actually resharpen them, either
by yourself or you can have them done commercially.
Soapstones - for marking
Silver pencils - for marking
Dividers and compass - for layout. Proportional dividers are also
very useful, but can be expensive. I have found a source of good
quality ones from the fromer Soviet Union. Got a set for my daughter
for something under $40, which is very cheap as these things go.
My Dietzgen Federals are worth perhaps $500. The Russian ones are
simple, but very well made.
6" Square - layout
Calipers - inside, outside, hermaphrodite
This is a basic list. Folks, what have I missed? It looks larger
than it really is.
>
> And, if a little more off-topic is allowed, what is the minimum needed
> for
> silvesmithing, Andy?
MH = MUST HAVE
NTH = NICE TO HAVE
Safety glasses. - MH
Files, the more the better, including rifflers which are
indispensible. Filing will be one of the most important
skills you will learn as a silversmith. The significance
of this ability cannot be overstated, yet filing is treated
as an afterthought by many books and instructors. I have
yet to see a text that treats the subject as I would have
it treated. A competent smith can file to 0.001" tolerances
with no trouble, though with a lot of care. If your soldered
joints are not precise, the appearance of the work will
suffer greatly, especially when the work employs graceful
and sweeping motions. The humany eye is extremely precise in
its ability to pick up irregularities of form. The simpler
the geometry, the truer this becomes. Learn to file with
great skill and precision and you will ahead of many other
smiths. I am utterly amazed at how underappreciated this
skill is. MH
Shears and jeweler's saw for cutting. Don't go cheap on the
saw blades. Get the best such as White Line. Crap-0 saw blades
are not worth the money. They will make your life miserable.
Trust me on this one. MH
dividers, compass, scriber - layout MH
Proportioanl dividers - nice to have, not necessary. NTH
Dial or Venrier calipers for measurement, also available inexpensive
NTH
2" and 4" machinist squares - layout. If you can afford only one,
get the larger if you think you will ever do work larger than, say,
6 inches in any dimension. NTH
0-1" micrometer - measurement perhaps $20 MH
Calipers - inside, outside, hermaphrodite - not very $$. Check
ebay. MH
Pliers - chain nose, square nose, round nose, vise grips MH
Soldering pick - make one from a wire coat hanger. MH
Prick punch for marking centers MH
Gas torch for soldering. Add solder to that, and flux. Smith's
"little torch" is the standard these days for jewelry, but tends
to be too small for larger work. A traditional gas-air torch is
very good, or a Prest-o-Lite torch will give excellent service. MH
Hammers - chasing, raising, planishing... if you develop good
blacksmithing skills, you can make a ton of hammers for yourself
and have exactly what you want to whatever degree of quality you
desire, and save a load of cash in the making. MH
Gravers - for engraving and fine cutting. You can do some things
with gravers that you cannot readily do with files. Unless you
are doing engraving, you don't need many of these. NTH
iron wire for binding parts together for soldering MH
engraving block - not necessary, but nice to have. They tend to
be pricey, so this is a back-burner item. NTH
Pitch bowl and pitch - performs same function as engraving block
but is far cheaper and more versatile. Downside is that removing
pitch from the work is a nasty business. NTH
Lead block - having a good 30 to 50 pounds or more of lead on hand
is a good thing. It serves a similar purpose as pitch in the
raising of forms and chasing/repoussage. NTH
Wooden blocks - usually with various depressions for raising forms.MH
Shot bag - leather pillow filled with lead shot. You can make one
easily and cheaply enough. Go to gun shop and buy, say, ten to
twenty pounds of #6 birdshot. Get two leather disks, the leather
should be soft but on the thick side. Sew or find someone to sew
them together, save for a small-ish opening. Pour in enough shot
to give a thickness about 1/5 to 1/4 the diameter of the disks and
sew the hole shut. This is another excellent tool for raising
hollow forms. NTH
Stakes - these are expensive as hell. If you can find them cheap
at a garage sale, grab them. Otherwise, develop those blacksmithing
skills and make your own. A stake bench is also a good thing
to have on conjunction with this for holding the stakes in place
during use. This is another back burner item unless you intend
on doing some serious raising operations right off the bat. NTH
Stones - for sharpening. A crystolon stone is common and inexpensive.
Ruby stones are $$ but VERY good for polishing gravers and other edged
tools. A hard arkansas stone is also superb. MH
Abrasives - wet/dry paper in meshes from 150 down to 1000 is highly
recommended MH
Pickle pot - a $10 - $20 Crockpot for keeping pickle hot. You can
probably pick one up at a garage sale for $5 or less. MH
Pickle - #2 Sparex is an absolute necessity for removing flux and
firescale MH
Steel block - as an anvil. MH
Rawhide mallet - non-marring means of correcting errors in form MH
Wooden mallet - another useful raising/correcting tool MH
Deadblow hammer - same as above, NTH
Nylon mallet - excellent raising tool, NTH
Goat horn mallet - excellent for correcting errors where minimal
marring of the surface is desired, also good for work hardening
a finnshed piece without marring. far gentler than rawhide,
which can in fact mar fine finshes if used with anything but the
greatest delicacy. Go to a Greek butcher shop. They
usually have fresh goats, you may be able to get a horn there.
shape the striking face convex, bore an eye through it and put
in a handle for a chasing hammer and set with a brad through
the side of the eye into the handle. Very NTH.
Flexible shaft - not necessary, but very useful. About $300, give or
take, but if you can afford it I would buy one, but only after all
the other items are had, except for the stakes and engraving block. NTH
high speed polisher and various polishes. The polisher is not
absolutely essential - silversmiths did their work beautifully
for centuries before there was electricity, but this device is
nice to have. You can make your own. Find a few old motors
with the right diameter shaft, install tapered screw mandrels,
mount to a base of some sort and you are good to go. try to
find 1750 rpm motors for this. The polisher is THE most
incredibly dangerous tool in the shop and you should learn how
to use one before trying to do so. A polisher/buffer can kill
you or cause severe injuries if you are not careful. I'm am
indeed trying to scare you so you will never approach one of
these devices with anything but the utmost caution and respect.
There are a few, easily learned techniques for operating these
machines that will greatly reduce your chances of being hurt. NTH
Low speed polisher - take an electric motor, put a TINY pulley
on it. Buy a spindle (or make one) and put a pulley ten times
the diameter on it. Mount them to one another via v-belt. The
1750 rpm will be reduced to about 175. This is excellend for
low speed work, which you will find indispensible for certain
types of work and finishes. NTH
flat steel plate - for use as a lap. Place abrasive paper on
it and use for lapping pieces flat by hand. I am a strong
advocate of the slow and steady school of material removal
in most cases. Slow translates directly into CONTROL and
when you're doing precise things such as fitting joints to
within 0.001" by eye, slow is the way to go. In the end it
is well worth the time and patience spent. If you can find
a piece of 1/2" thick stainless steel plate, 12" x 24" and
dead flat, you will have one of the most useful objects in
your shop. You should build a wooden box for it and treat
it as if it was made of gold. I'm very serious about this.
It will provide a reference surface as well as a working
surface that will enable you to do some highly precise things. MH
Surface gage - for use in conjunction with the plate - used
for precise layout. You should be able to find one cheaply
enough. Check flea markets and ebay. Should cost no more than
$20 used. The important thing is that it isn't all buggered
up with rust and that the bottom is in perfect flatness. MH
I'm sure I may have missed a thing or two, but this list will
certainly keep you busy for awhile.
Best wishes,
-Andy