Blacksmithing Project - Forging a Bickern. A bickern or stake anvil is a small anvil that fits into the hardie hole of a larger anvil. Patreon link www.patreon.co...
I like your channel because you're not all vain and prideful. You have tools that function and you have made as affordably and with as little effort as needed. I argue all day on FB groups about how spending 2 days making a tool is a waste of time when you can just simply the concept and get on with a worthwhile project. People were giving me grief for using a hatchet in my vice to cut a HOT 3/8 round bar for a rivet for tongs. I mean... If it works, it works.
Denis, I am a retired mechanical engineer with hands-on inclination probably inherited from my great-grandfather who was a blacksmith. I am impressed by your experience and talent to explain and teach blacksmithing. Your tutorials are a seamless extention of mechanical engineering and metallurgy in to an important branch of practical applications.
Son of a cobbler here and I spent a lot of my childhood early teens in a shop making clogs and foundry shoes. Most all the hammers we used were passed down directly from Denmark and had been used for over fifty years. All of the handles were shaped in the same manner as the ones shown in this video. Very nice work DF. Keep it up.
Thanks, Denis, for showing off your stake collection even if they're rather sketchy in your opinion. I appreciate the different materials/methods used for their construction and will be utilizing if not out right copying them since they're simply that good. Love your forging videos since I'm encouraged by them. Those of us who have a bit more life under our belts need to stick together and encourage each other. Keep forging!
I just got a hold of a welder and will be utilizing these sorts of weld ups you do. I want to do sheet metal work and various stakes would nice to have. If you have some time on your hands, I'd like to see more fabrications like this.
Here a few videos where I've used them ua-cam.com/video/_gzF2cL5y2M/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/FcNG_JoNesI/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/s_Sc1ibxk_c/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/hGPTV0qT8A0/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/T3NNb_SzbTs/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/LgNwe3FE2fc/v-deo.html
Thank you, Dennis. I was just about to send you an e mail to ask you to make a video on forging bickerns/stake anvils. Great minds do think alike.... LOL
That bent piece of metal looks like it was a hand crank for... something... farm or engine related... maybe... I dunno. Definitely a hand crank though... just missing the free spinning wooden grip on the handle that let's you rotate the handle easily. Edit: 4:25 see, this is what happens when you comment before you completely watch the video; you end up looking like a fool and say things that have already been said. Let this be a lesson, lol. Anyway, it was likely used for something involving a lot of weight, like a pulley system or winding large rope or heavy gauge cable. Mayhaps it had some industrial or maritime use?
Great video denis how about making a tredell hammer that can be converted to and automatic hammer eventually. It would be helpful for those of us that would like one. Thanks in advance, Martin
I can't help but notice the Bickern you show at 2:02 has a tiny hardy hole of its own, does that mean you have a cute little mini-Bickern for in your Bickern?
Actually I did intend to use that for a small cold chisel but .... I won't tell you how it ends - here's the video.ua-cam.com/video/LgNwe3FE2fc/v-deo.html
When I built my first shop I couldn't afford to put in a concrete pad so I used gravel. This is a crushed gravel so it packs down pretty hard but it isn't hard on your feet like concrete. The main disadvantages are that it's harder to move stuff around because you're not on a smooth surface, it can take a while to find a small drill bit if you drop one and of course it hard to sweep up.
Gravel or dirt floors are typically preferred over concrete as they require less maintenance, are easier on the feet, don't absorb and reflect heat as much as concrete (for open-wall/outdoor smithies), it's easier to dig holes to add posts for new anvils, post vices, or what-have-you, and they don't crack. The only think about dirt floors is that they sometimes get dusty when dry (depending on the type of soil) so you have to wet it to prevent that, but other than that, you can usually pack down whatever material you use enough for it to be dense/hard enough to feel like concrete anyway.
Good fabricating project,but it has nothing to do with blacksmithing or forging.First i thought you will show the way to forge a bickern from one solid piece of tool steel.Then after you showing welded stake i decided it will be assembled together using forge welding,but it turned out the only forging you performed was straightening out the old tool.Kinda disappointing...
I will be covering different approaches in later videos. This video was to give people who are starting out options for getting their tools together so they can learn the skills they need to tackle more involved projects. I don't have any problems with fabricating tools if I feel that is the best way to go about it.
you are rigth it takes too much time to forge everything, we all need to make our tooling from wetever we can find and with different types of prossesses that will saves us time
Pedro, sure it takes much time to forge everything, it does indeed. Although, the title of this video suggests that bickern will be forged, not fabricated. We all do learn much from these videos, but this one should be titled fabricating a soft bickern. No offense DF, most of your videos are worth to watch.
I like your channel because you're not all vain and prideful. You have tools that function and you have made as affordably and with as little effort as needed. I argue all day on FB groups about how spending 2 days making a tool is a waste of time when you can just simply the concept and get on with a worthwhile project. People were giving me grief for using a hatchet in my vice to cut a HOT 3/8 round bar for a rivet for tongs. I mean... If it works, it works.
Thank you for sharing your precious insights into blacksmithing Denis.
God Bless you.
Denis, I am a retired mechanical engineer with hands-on inclination probably inherited from my great-grandfather who was a blacksmith. I am impressed by your experience and talent to explain and teach blacksmithing. Your tutorials are a seamless extention of mechanical engineering and metallurgy in to an important branch of practical applications.
Son of a cobbler here and I spent a lot of my childhood early teens in a shop making clogs and foundry shoes. Most all the hammers we used were passed down directly from Denmark and had been used for over fifty years. All of the handles were shaped in the same manner as the ones shown in this video. Very nice work DF. Keep it up.
Big thanks for taking the time to record your work. Great for us beginners. Keep em coming
You are an eclectic blacksmith, an artist and designer. Wonderful videos!
Thanks, Denis, for showing off your stake collection even if they're rather sketchy in your opinion. I appreciate the different materials/methods used for their construction and will be utilizing if not out right copying them since they're simply that good. Love your forging videos since I'm encouraged by them. Those of us who have a bit more life under our belts need to stick together and encourage each other. Keep forging!
I just got a hold of a welder and will be utilizing these sorts of weld ups you do. I want to do sheet metal work and various stakes would nice to have.
If you have some time on your hands, I'd like to see more fabrications like this.
Nice, I make my Tin tinsmith and Blacksmith stakes as weldments. Quicker to make for me and my limited free schedule. Thanks for sharing!!!
Dennis You are so AWESOME!!!!!!! I'm going hake a bickern today for my shop
Good video again as all ways
Thank you Sir
You gave me some ideas. Thank you for sharing.
as a beginner it would be nice to see some practical applications for those hardy tools, thanks, I find your videos very helpful
Here a few videos where I've used them
ua-cam.com/video/_gzF2cL5y2M/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/FcNG_JoNesI/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/s_Sc1ibxk_c/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/hGPTV0qT8A0/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/T3NNb_SzbTs/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/LgNwe3FE2fc/v-deo.html
Fantastic! Very Good!
Thank you, Dennis. I was just about to send you an e mail to ask you to make a video on forging bickerns/stake anvils. Great minds do think alike.... LOL
i guess they do.
That bent piece of metal looks like it was a hand crank for... something... farm or engine related... maybe... I dunno.
Definitely a hand crank though... just missing the free spinning wooden grip on the handle that let's you rotate the handle easily.
Edit: 4:25 see, this is what happens when you comment before you completely watch the video; you end up looking like a fool and say things that have already been said. Let this be a lesson, lol.
Anyway, it was likely used for something involving a lot of weight, like a pulley system or winding large rope or heavy gauge cable.
Mayhaps it had some industrial or maritime use?
Great video denis how about making a tredell hammer that can be converted to and automatic hammer eventually. It would be helpful for those of us that would like one.
Thanks in advance, Martin
I am planning on building a treadle hammer but I never thought of making it so it can be converted to power. I'll have to think about that. Thanks
I can't help but notice the Bickern you show at 2:02 has a tiny hardy hole of its own, does that mean you have a cute little mini-Bickern for in your Bickern?
Actually I did intend to use that for a small cold chisel but .... I won't tell you how it ends - here's the video.ua-cam.com/video/LgNwe3FE2fc/v-deo.html
Is there any good reason your floor is dirt or gravel? I know the concrete floor in my shop kills my feet after a while so I stand on a rubber mat.
When I built my first shop I couldn't afford to put in a concrete pad so I used gravel. This is a crushed gravel so it packs down pretty hard but it isn't hard on your feet like concrete. The main disadvantages are that it's harder to move stuff around because you're not on a smooth surface, it can take a while to find a small drill bit if you drop one and of course it hard to sweep up.
Gravel or dirt floors are typically preferred over concrete as they require less maintenance, are easier on the feet, don't absorb and reflect heat as much as concrete (for open-wall/outdoor smithies), it's easier to dig holes to add posts for new anvils, post vices, or what-have-you, and they don't crack. The only think about dirt floors is that they sometimes get dusty when dry (depending on the type of soil) so you have to wet it to prevent that, but other than that, you can usually pack down whatever material you use enough for it to be dense/hard enough to feel like concrete anyway.
Jim, I have a 7" Milwaukee grinder if you want to borrow it.
Good fabricating project,but it has nothing to do with blacksmithing or forging.First i thought you will show the way to forge a bickern from one solid piece of tool steel.Then after you showing welded stake i decided it will be assembled together using forge welding,but it turned out the only forging you performed was straightening out the old tool.Kinda disappointing...
I will be covering different approaches in later videos. This video was to give people who are starting out options for getting their tools together so they can learn the skills they need to tackle more involved projects. I don't have any problems with fabricating tools if I feel that is the best way to go about it.
you are rigth it takes too much time to forge everything, we all need to make our tooling from wetever we can find and with different types of prossesses that will saves us time
Pedro, sure it takes much time to forge everything, it does indeed. Although, the title of this video suggests that bickern will be forged, not fabricated. We all do learn much from these videos, but this one should be titled fabricating a soft bickern. No offense DF, most of your videos are worth to watch.