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how to make hardy tools?

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I have to anvils, 1 hardie is 3/4 the other is 1 1/2 inch, any suggestions on hardie tools to fit both.

Pipeliner32


how about a stepped shank - small bottom half and bigger top half. You would then need to make a steel plate (like a square washer) that fits the smaller shank diameter and provides a nice big shoulder so as not to damage the anvil. (if difference in shank width is small and hardy is well chamfered it might jam)

You would have to check this idea out with a more experienced smith first.

Heres a quick sketch.

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  • Author

bobjs that is a really good idea. that wil be useful later on (when there is more then one anvil nearby0 :)

i wonder, is there a way to make a guotine without welding? that would be a really cool tool. thanks for the replies.


have you checked out the The Smithin Magician from the BLacksmith Journal
Blacksmith's Journal
  • Author

that looks great jimbob, but i do not have an oxy torch or $100 ( ran out of cash getting an anvil). thanks for the idea though.

it looks to be four small welds to hold the up rights to the base a welding shop would no doubt do it for a small fee ...maybe you have a friend with a welder...

it looks to be four small welds to hold the up rights to the base...


Which could possibly be replaced by angle iron and tapping holes (or even nuts and bolts if you dont even have taps and dies)

Where there is a will there is a way - its not always about having enough money to buy the perfect tools.
  • Author

i think i do actually. thanks, although now i have to pay off my mom for the anvil.;) i will totaly get that thing asap

Which could possibly be replaced by angle iron and tapping holes (or even nuts and bolts if you dont even have taps and dies)

Where there is a will there is a way - its not always about having enough money to buy the perfect tools.


Even counter sunk rivets !
  • Author

i can do rivets! i can even copy the idea and make my own guiltine out of scrap metal plates. thank you all should i normalize a hardy tool or temper it to dark blue?

Edited by new guy

  • Author

i normalized my hardy cutter today as i was forging up a knife ( a little baby skinner). i thiink that i will quench it and temper it to a dark blue. does that sound about right? or should i normalize it?

  • Author

ok i will have photos asap. it was still hot and cooling off when i edited my last post. all of the things i mentioned were actually still hot. i think i can have photos this afternoon.

Edited by new guy

Images of hot an cooling things make great pics too!! :D

  • Author

yeah that ought to be edited. sorry pics are in the pipes.

No edit necessary :) I just meant you don't always need a table-top back drop. Straight out of the fire, smoking at the end of the tongs, or just after the scale is brushed off. Work in is raw state makes some cool pic if done right. I take my camera to the forge/shop every visit :D

  • Author

ok yeah still a good image though and here it is along with my little baby skinner. oh yeah and somehow i really don't get alot of scaling in my forge. i burn alot of wood with a little blower. :P thanks for the posts

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I just thought I'd throw this in: Not all hardie tools need be made from carbon steels. I have a set of swedges I made a few years ago that are made from heavy mild steel and they have held up nicely :) They will certainly last longer the harder they are. Of course, I also have a big anvil with a 1" hardie hole and therefore a pretty thick shank...I dont think Id trust a 1/2 " shank in mild steel at all though. I dont know how well it would hold up under any use. Who knows?

Edited by Reid Neilsen

Older anvils tended to have smaller hardy holes and they were using soft wrought iron as well.

You probably adjusted your working methods to your equipment's capabilities just like nowdays...

I have 3 anvils that have a 1.5" sq hardy hole and that's a heck of a shank in cold steel!

Since many people use hollow sq tubing for hardy tooling shanks I think that they don't get as much force on the shank as you might think.

  • Author

actually i lied about the weight. i just guessed how heavy it was when i picked it up. there is a 1-8 on one side 180lbs! thanks for the posts and the hardy is 7/8ths! darn spacial perception! i also just remembered it is not in hundred weights but with the last number omited. i will weigh it asap for those of you who care about how heavy it is.

Edited by new guy

Do you have any pics of your anvil? If you can get any markings off of it I can look it up for you. The 18 may be part of the year. My mom knew I was into smithing and found an anvil for me for Christmas. She said it was pretty small like 50lbs but the guy she bought it from said it was good. When I saw it I realized it was a Kohlswa. I thought it a little heavy for 50lbs so I hopped on the bathroom scale with and without the anvil and it turned out to be about 70lbs. :-) Anyway, let me know and congrats on the find.

Rob.

  • Author

the fisher norris anvils (i think) have the weight with only the first 2 numbers cast in. and i doubt i can find them again. oh, well. i will see if i can take pics. i may or may not be in the pics. but if i am i am 6'2" and, is this the right term(?), well built. and thanks. and congrats to you to rob. i hear kohlswa are great anvils. and this things was at least 120. but yeah 18may be part of the year. and this puppy is hefty hefty hefty. well pics and an actualy weight may be on the way, but honestly i don't care about the weight enough to unspike it form my anvil. yes i did hold it down with 4 rr spikes. although, i do love my anvil. man your first real anvil is a memorable experiance. good luck with all of you rsmithing ventures.

Edited by new guy

Thanks, yeah actually I didn't know she was getting it for me so I went and bought a 100lb Trenton a few months before. It had the serial number on the base and I liked the idea of knowing the age so I asked for the book from my wife. It turned out to be from 1924. It's almost like knowing the age puts a face on it or something in my mind I guess. unfortunately the Kohlswa only has the name and a faint marking. I may have to try Frosty's idea for anvil forensics. He mentioned using strong light from one steep angle and then the other and photoshop them together.

Shoot with one color from one side and another from the other for max contrast.

Congrats on the anvil.

Frosty

Ahh thanks. I forgot that part. I'll have to use red and blue and see if those 3d glasses I've been hanging onto work. :rolleyes:

  • Author

ok wil do. i just have to get home from school and finish my homework. but, all work and no play makes you a dull boy :D

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