Main Discussion Area > English Warbow
My first bodkins (pics)
SimonUK:
I was told to avoid anything galvanised as it gives off toxic fumes when heated. But you're obviously still alive :)
Despite the difficulty finding a suitable container for the fire, I'm encouraged that it's easy to get the metal hot enough to forge. Charcoal worked a treat.
SimonUK:
I made a forge out of eleven normal house bricks today - no mortar, I just packed them close together and left a gap between two for the air pipe. It worked ok and I managed to flatten the end of a 1/2 inch iron rod.
My makeshift anvil got big dents though. I need something better.
Kviljo:
Nice!!
Great fun playing with a red-hot "don't want to touch"-thing, aint it? ;D
SimonUK:
:D yes it's great fun. I could hardly believe it when I first took that glowing thing out of the fire.
I'm wondering if I'm not getting it quite hot enough. It's red, but not orange or white hot and it takes about 6 bouts of hammering to get it flat (could be my bad anvil). How long do you leave your rod in the fire? I leave mine about a minute between hammerings.
Kviljo:
When you heat it too much, sparks start flying of the steel. I try to get it as hot as possible, without starting the sparks, if I have a clear plan of how I'm going to hammer it.
A small piece heats quicker than a large, so I cut of the part I'm going to use firstly, and hold it with a plier. It saves some time during reheating I think.
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