Great video and a clever use for what would have otherwise been scrap! I continue to be impressed with your videos and your teaching. Good practical down to earth stuff without all the fluff and nonsense. Really well done!
John, if a person is starting in blacksmithing, and is not rich, he simply study all your videos and so, he can make all his tooling he needs; good way to learn and save.Thanks.
Every time you set the holdfast I have a vague urge to advance the filmstrip one frame...lol! Thanks for the most comprehensive blacksmithing school in cyberspace. I’ve grown so weary of watching guys forge items just to prove their prowess.
Very good explanation! You have given me an idea for the bent over bar bolster. Take a long bar and bend it over, back and forth, as many times as you want. Make the spaces between each bend different sizes. You now have a multi-bolster. Not only will it take slotted punches, but square and round ones too. It will also look like a tool, not a piece of scrap. A hardy shank is also an option. Thanks for the video...
You might be able to make the best of both worlds if you use the bent rod twisting bar he's shown before as a multi diameter punch bolster as well. Just a suggestion.
Ok John i learned the importance of a bolster plate trying to make a hinge from one of your videos today. I guess its time to watch this video and make. Thanks
Made a bolster for the slot when making slot jaw tongs, I notices I the metal folds down as I'm drifting the hole. Had it quite hot, did a bit more to it just before, left the punch in the hole while dressing the sides, looks ok, but the side there is a nice sharp sides on it.
Good Evening , John This is one of MY Better Videos ! The reason being , is that I have had this problem , to much lately ! And you came to the Rescue , With the answer to my Problem ! Thank you so much , I have had my problem answered A many a time , from watching Your Videos ! Take Care and Be Safe ! Keep Hammering !
I just love tools John and can never collect enought, I'm just taking up smithing at my age of 66 and find your channel so educational. I'm bent on trying to make so many tools you teach us how to make even if I never use them all to produce Iron work...If I can make a collection maybe someone who deserves them will inherit from me and put them to practical use..I guess I just love to be creative...Thanks for all you share with us
Making that slot bolster by bending the bar stock was just really slick!!!! Great, such a simple but effective idea! I had considered drilling several aligned holes, filing and cleaning them out to make a slot, etc....way too much work. I make a lot of bottle openers with the slit for a hole end starter and have to work to clean up the slot when opened/drifted over the hardy hole. Gonna go out today and make one like your bent bar, thanks!
I have not used an anvil since school fifty years ago, but I love watching your videos; you show the techniques in a non-patronising way and talk a lot of sense in general. Woodworkers use things like bench-hooks and fences to constrain their timber. I am surprised that you don't have something similar to limit the movement of items too small for a hold-fast, or where speed is essential. Not to hold down, but simple stops to restrict movement of the piece, at least in one or two directions.
Frequently I will work against the step of the anvil much like working against a planing stop or even drop a swedge or other tool in the hardy hole for a stop
At least you can reuse that piece of square bar as your bolster for all kinds of sizes to save on scrap. I guess it'll get beat up over time, but if it can last for making 5 or 6 sizes of bolster plate it's better than 1
Almost didn't start in this after looking at cost of tools...then I thought wait a minute blacksmiths made theirs and everyone else's tools. So there's my short story on how I found this channel. Loving every minute of these lessons...got a nice little set started and many more to go! Love when my wife asks so how much did that cost and I tell her nothing but time and she says "ah, been watching John again...good deal" I'm sure she appreciates your efforts as much as I do!
John , Thank you for the clarification of the 2 terms... but I have a hard time believing you would throw away that temporary bent bar bolster plate.... just because it's bent ! ... it looks like scrap means it gets used for some other purpose...not that you would throw it away.....your not fooling me ! hahhahhah ! I have that problem in my shop....i make a tool, use it for the purpose it was intended for then set it aside and may never use it again... so I frequently Re use tools I have made to make other tools and in the heat of the moment just about anything in the shop is fair game ! inevitably 3 months later I will be looking for that tool I made way back when...... but used it on something else.... LOL....i guess that's just how it goes when metal is in short supply ! .... Bob.......
Thanks for another very useful practical video. When heading rivets, do you use different thickness header plates to accommodate different length rivets so the rivet heads come out symmetrical? In other words, how can you support one unheaded (new word) end of the rivet so it doesn't deform, while you are forming a dome head (e.g.) on the other end, and making sure the shaft doesn't bind up in the header plate? Jerry
Since the smithy is cold and the anvil is also cold, would it make any difference to warm the anvil with a rosebud? Does it make any difference? Thanks for the lesson.
I noticed your comment about the Anvil not being very warm yet, I was wondering is there a trick that you use to warm up your Anvil without damaging its heat treatment or do you just start cold and rely on it warming up as you work?
If it is real cold I heat it with large chunk of plate that are hot from the forge. Ni real danger of softening the anvil, it would take lots of effort to get it that hot. Otherwise i just let it heat up as I work. I talked about it some here ua-cam.com/video/Z2sjVom0hEo/v-deo.html
Hey John I was going through some of your older videos because I'm a new subscriber. I noticed in this video you had a tool that held down the metal to your handful. I think I have seen those in woodworking videos, but I don't know what they're called. I would like to make one for my 7/8 in Hardy hole.
I have made them out of several different materials. I like the ones from S7 the best but 4140 and 5160 make good tools as well, you just have to cool them more often.
Very educational for a beginner blacksmith like myself
Great video and a clever use for what would have otherwise been scrap! I continue to be impressed with your videos and your teaching. Good practical down to earth stuff without all the fluff and nonsense. Really well done!
Thanks
Awesome demonstration! :)
Good stuff.
Awesome bolster!!
John, if a person is starting in blacksmithing, and is not rich, he simply study all your videos and so, he can make all his tooling he needs; good way to learn and save.Thanks.
Every time you set the holdfast I have a vague urge to advance the filmstrip one frame...lol!
Thanks for the most comprehensive blacksmithing school in cyberspace. I’ve grown so weary of watching guys forge items just to prove their prowess.
Good video. Thank you.
Very good explanation!
You have given me an idea for the bent over bar bolster. Take a long bar and bend it over, back and forth, as many times as you want. Make the spaces between each bend different sizes. You now have a multi-bolster. Not only will it take slotted punches, but square and round ones too. It will also look like a tool, not a piece of scrap. A hardy shank is also an option.
Thanks for the video...
THIS is a fantastic idea! (and the Missus can use it as a trivet when you're not needing it, lol)
You might be able to make the best of both worlds if you use the bent rod twisting bar he's shown before as a multi diameter punch bolster as well. Just a suggestion.
This video was very help full Thanks again John' :)
Great info, John. Thanks.
I learn more every video sir. For me your videos are invaluable. Thanks again.
Thank you for making the time to film all these great videos.
Thank you for the really good job you do in explaining blacksmithing in terms that make sense and are readily understandable. You easily demystify it.
Ok John i learned the importance of a bolster plate trying to make a hinge from one of your videos today. I guess its time to watch this video and make. Thanks
Thanks John, another good video.
Made a bolster for the slot when making slot jaw tongs, I notices I the metal folds down as I'm drifting the hole. Had it quite hot, did a bit more to it just before, left the punch in the hole while dressing the sides, looks ok, but the side there is a nice sharp sides on it.
Heard you joined Forging it forward. So glad you did.
Good Evening , John
This is one of MY Better Videos !
The reason being , is that I have had this problem , to much lately ! And you came to the
Rescue , With the answer to my
Problem ! Thank you so much ,
I have had my problem answered
A many a time , from watching
Your Videos ! Take Care and Be Safe ! Keep Hammering !
Glad to hear you enjoyed it
Nice. Simple and efficient
Poetry in motion. Thanks
Thanks for showing us these tool very helpful.
Very kind of you. Thanks a lot. This is clear now. Have a nice day.
Pat from Belgium
You are welcome.
I just love tools John and can never collect enought, I'm just taking up smithing at my age of 66 and find your channel so educational. I'm bent on trying to make so many tools you teach us how to make even if I never use them all to produce Iron work...If I can make a collection maybe someone who deserves them will inherit from me and put them to practical use..I guess I just love to be creative...Thanks for all you share with us
Great video and explanations John! Guess I know what I'm doing after work today...Thanks for your time Brother!
Making that slot bolster by bending the bar stock was just really slick!!!! Great, such a simple but effective idea! I had considered drilling several aligned holes, filing and cleaning them out to make a slot, etc....way too much work.
I make a lot of bottle openers with the slit for a hole end starter and have to work to clean up the slot when opened/drifted over the hardy hole. Gonna go out today and make one like your bent bar, thanks!
I have not used an anvil since school fifty years ago, but I love watching your videos; you show the techniques in a non-patronising way and talk a lot of sense in general. Woodworkers use things like bench-hooks and fences to constrain their timber. I am surprised that you don't have something similar to limit the movement of items too small for a hold-fast, or where speed is essential. Not to hold down, but simple stops to restrict movement of the piece, at least in one or two directions.
Frequently I will work against the step of the anvil much like working against a planing stop or even drop a swedge or other tool in the hardy hole for a stop
Спасибо!!! Вы показываете простые вещи позволяющие делать сложные проекты.
That was good John, gonna make one of these and others for round holes.
Great tips is always John. keep it up!!!!
Really good tip. Yep I have seen Peter Ross video, he just kind of waves the material back and forth and bang, he has it spot on. Me not so precise.
Yet another thing I need to make..
Thank you! I need to make one of these and a slot punch!
I love this instalment to ur feed. Especially since my last name is bolster. Hehe.
Thanks
At least you can reuse that piece of square bar as your bolster for all kinds of sizes to save on scrap.
I guess it'll get beat up over time, but if it can last for making 5 or 6 sizes of bolster plate it's better than 1
Love to see how you made that holdfast
nice work
Thanks for another very useful vid! I know you get a ton of requests, but I would like to see you forge a nail set. Thanks again.
A nail set as in used for driving finish nails? Or do you mean a nail header used for making nails?
hello. great job. lots of learning for me. what is super quench? have a nice day.
I can see jewelers using a bolster plate with the series of holes for drawing wire into smaller diameters
If your viewers have been working with you, they will have good starter set of tool as by now.
There is that "if"
They might want to catch up. That's a lot of good tooling they be missing.
Almost didn't start in this after looking at cost of tools...then I thought wait a minute blacksmiths made theirs and everyone else's tools. So there's my short story on how I found this channel. Loving every minute of these lessons...got a nice little set started and many more to go! Love when my wife asks so how much did that cost and I tell her nothing but time and she says "ah, been watching John again...good deal" I'm sure she appreciates your efforts as much as I do!
I'm afraid if I had such a precision tool, I would only line it up with my chisel half the time!
John , Thank you for the clarification of the 2 terms... but I have a hard time believing you would throw away that temporary
bent bar bolster plate.... just because it's bent ! ... it looks like scrap means it gets used for some other purpose...not that you would throw it away.....your not fooling me ! hahhahhah ! I have that problem in my shop....i make a tool, use it for the purpose it was intended for then set it aside and may never use it again... so I frequently Re use tools I have made to make other tools
and in the heat of the moment just about anything in the shop is fair game ! inevitably 3 months later I will be looking for that tool I made way back when...... but used it on something else.... LOL....i guess that's just how it goes when metal is in short supply ! .... Bob.......
Thanks for another very useful practical video. When heading rivets, do you use different thickness header plates to accommodate different length rivets so the rivet heads come out symmetrical? In other words, how can you support one unheaded (new word) end of the rivet so it doesn't deform, while you are forming a dome head (e.g.) on the other end, and making sure the shaft doesn't bind up in the header plate? Jerry
I haven't, but only because I rarely make rivets from scratch. I have seen it done that way and think it is probably the ideal approach
Dirt dobbers. Same here i have cover my air tools with tape
How about case hardening powder for making bolsters more durable?
I think that would work. But I'm not sure how necessary it is.
Since the smithy is cold and the anvil is also cold, would it make any difference to warm the anvil with a rosebud? Does it make any difference? Thanks for the lesson.
I generally pre heat by heating large pieces of scrap in the forge and setting them on the anvil while i prepare my tools and materials for the day.
@@BlackBearForge Thank you John. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Hey guys don't forget the "👍" button! (I'm the worst at remembering that) just noticed over 2k views and 375 likes.
Thats pretty typical with any video on UA-cam
I noticed your comment about the Anvil not being very warm yet, I was wondering is there a trick that you use to warm up your Anvil without damaging its heat treatment or do you just start cold and rely on it warming up as you work?
If it is real cold I heat it with large chunk of plate that are hot from the forge. Ni real danger of softening the anvil, it would take lots of effort to get it that hot. Otherwise i just let it heat up as I work. I talked about it some here ua-cam.com/video/Z2sjVom0hEo/v-deo.html
Thanks I was thinking that could work but it's good to get confirmation from someone with your level of experience I'll check out the link!
So that punch your using to make the bolster. Is that hardened??
Yes, but it isn't real hard
Hey John I was going through some of your older videos because I'm a new subscriber. I noticed in this video you had a tool that held down the metal to your handful. I think I have seen those in woodworking videos, but I don't know what they're called. I would like to make one for my 7/8 in Hardy hole.
Its called a holdfast. I have a video on that and other ideas here ua-cam.com/video/1Edt7QGj3fI/v-deo.html
@@BlackBearForge thank you John. It also answered another question I had. It was that metal stand with a u shape on it. Thanks a lot
"very nice clean hole" ? John I thought you said this was a family friendly channel!
What’s the ideal stock size for a 7/8” holdfast. My half inch effort was a fail👎. Yours is looking more like 3/4
Generally 1/16" undersized
what is the tool you were using to hold the stock on the anvil
Thats a holdfast you can see the video on those here ua-cam.com/video/1Edt7QGj3fI/v-deo.html
John what is your slot punch made of??
I have made them out of several different materials. I like the ones from S7 the best but 4140 and 5160 make good tools as well, you just have to cool them more often.
Ok thanks John, would spring steel be ok?
Sorry, I meant nail header. Thanks
I guess I should have read the new comments before i replied. I will add that to the list