PeteH

Probably would work. Carnauba's got a pretty high melting point, compared with beeswax. And it's hard, so it's possible the coating may show whitish where things rub against it. BTW, my grandfather (B. 1884) used a homebrew that was sorta like that formula, for cleaning/refinishing wood. Mixture of turpentine, linseed oil, alcohol, and some beeswax. The stuff would separate on standing, so he'd shake it, and then rub it into the wood with fine steel wool. Let dry overnight, and buff with a cloth. Did a nice job. Warning: If you try this, be sure to wet down the used steel-wool and rags with water, and dispose of them safely; Spontaneous combustion is REAL.

Thanks... that early offering was one of the few that turned up on a search. I see he never posted prices -- or at least not yet. No urgency in any case -- I wouldn't likely be doing anything much with it before Spring. I hadn't considered the other sources. Kind of embarrassing, since I worked for Otis Elevator for a few years. --Pete

You also can get pure carnauba wax flakes from some Amazon vendors -- probably elsewhere too. Not cheap -- about $22 a pound.

This probably has been beaten to death already, but a quick search didn't turn up much, so here goes: Where do you get small amounts of steel cable ? And how can you tell what the composition is ? Spark test ? If it's used cable, what do you do to get rid of the grease and crud, besides just fireing it up ? Thanks... I've never used cable before and I'm thinking about it. Pete

A possibly - oddball suggestion, based on my own experience in carpentry, not ironwork. Do you perchance have a hammer with a fibreglass handle ? A long time ago, when I was doing a fair amount of structural carpentry, I bought one. I'd been using a regular wooden-handled hammer, and the fibreglass one was the same head-weight and the same length but it had a rubber sheath on the grip. Well, after a day's work with the new hammer, my arm was killing me. Day 2, more of same. I gave the fibreglass hammer away and went back to a wooden one.

OOPS. :unsure:

Also called "Polish Milling Machine", back in my days at Otis Elevator Co., where half the guys in the shop were Poles.

Well, Juniata's in Pennsylvania, out around Harrisburg. That may be a starting point.

This turned up on Craigslist, described as a "blacksmith's bench". I tend to doubt that, but I wonder what that little spike anvil would be used for. Any ideas ?

What's the name of that neat jig in the opening, where you're walking out of the mist ??

I'd read somewhere that people shot anvils for celebrations when they didn't have a cannon to shoot. No idea if that's true, but it sounds plausible. Certainly it's more spectacular than firecrackers !! I'm with the folks who say "watch from a distance". And I sure won't risk either of my anvils doing it.

One suggestion as to why some filings work, and some don't: Most of the metal we work with today is STEEL, not pure iron; and it's possible (I'm a chemist, not a metallurgist, so I say POSSIBLE) that the carbon and other alloying elements can interfere with the iron's adding to the weld. "Back in the day", plain iron was more common. I've never been very good at forge-welding, but last year, I made up a home-brew of 90% borax and 10% (40 mesh) laboratory-grade iron filings that I got from Fisher Scientific. Measurements are by volume, btw. It works like a charm, and I haven't screwed up a weld since (and clearly, the NEXT one will be a disaster!) I haven't tried it at low temperatures, though.. just at normal welding heat. But if I get it on the surrounding metal, I have to file off the resulting iron granules. If I can score some iron powder, I'll try that too. Ooops... I see that I've repeated what someone else wrote. Oh, well...

Cream Puff !!! Congratulations, you lucky dawg !!!

Great video !!! A reminder that EVERYTHING made of metal used to be that labor-intensive. Me, I'd be crippled if I hunkered down like that for a half-hour !!! PeteH

If you DO use oil, be sure to have a cover handy -- with all that heat it may be enough to light off the oil bath.

Thanks, guys... looks like I'll do this one myself. The coilspring works, just looks crummy. Glad to hear that mild will have enough bounce for the job.

Is anyone selling replacement springs any more ? Couple years ago, there was a guy on FleaBay selling them at a reasonable price... there weren't anything fancy, a relatively low-carbon steel I think, but he claimed they worked. Reason: I have a nice old vise which is missing the spring - someone put a coilspring around the screw long before I got it, and it works, but it would be nice to have it look right as well as work right. I could make one out of an old leafspring, but that would take time, which I don't have right now. Thanks... peteH

Sorry about the photos... I'm not used to re-sizing images, and most of the forums I'm on, require "e-mail" or "bestweb" size. I guess I missed. Let's see whether I can do better, without spreading it out too much.. BTW, you're right, the thing has very little wear evident. Still looking for a more realistic size, 100-150 lbs, for serious work; I know there are plenty around, but I keep hoping for a bargain. Or at least not a hosing. Pics:

A recent acquisition, a "bench anvil" to replace the piece of railroad track I've been using. No markings, no hollow in the bottom, and a radiused section on the tail, as well as the usual one just rear of the table. Hardy hole is just under 3/4", pritchel just under 5/16". It has an area on the side that looks like it may have had a nameplate (or something) welded on. It weighs 33 pounds; that's a six-inch rule on top of it. Has a nice clear ring all over the face, and bounces a 3/4" ballbearing somewhere north of 80%.

Oh, man, did you see the "bottom view" on the new listing ?? If that ain't cast iron, I'm a monkey's uncle.

Those Harbor Freight horiz/vert bandsaws are cheap and cheesy, but with some twiddling they do work. Bimetallic blade is the way to go - and you may as well get a good one like a Starrett (Enco has them on special every so often). If you're going to be cutting thin stuff, remember you need three teeth in the cut all the time -- so if it's 1/8" stock, you can't go finer than 16 tpi.

I use borax with about 5% iron filings by volume. I happened to get a 5# jar of pure iron filings (laboratory stuff) a few years ago. Works pretty well, but sometimes some of the iron sticks to the outside of the workpiece, so I have to file it off. Some people add a little white "beach sand".

Thanks, all... I checked again for numbers (red-faced, they were there, all right) and on the front (horn-side) foot, I see 50 (the weight) 1 (blurry) and then 64694. I used this one for about 10-15 years, then circumstances forced me to stop doing this stuff. Now I'm gearing up for it again. Nice to confirm that it's a good one. Thanks again... PeteH

Here's the bottom view -- it's the anvil on the left. (The one on the right is the ugly Vulcan I'd asked about a week or two back.) Hence the "Beauty and the Beast" caption. Thanks... PeteH

I've had this one for about 40 years. (I bought it in northern New Jersey.) No makers' marks that I can see. Weighs 52 lb., rings like a bell, powerful rebound. You can see in the one pic where there are four rivets that probably held a nameplate. It was missing when I got the anvil. Any idea what make it is ? Thanks... PeteH