clinton

I am all loaded up and heading up to Octoberfest first thing Friday morning. Driving the VW bus I should get there around noon (Slow vehicle)
There are a couple of other IFI members going that I know of, I will try to get a head count and some photos

The idler needs to be on the outside pushing in to work best, the rotation is right

If you need a pulley these guys will make whatever size you need
http://www.paperpulleys.com/pages/home.html

You could modify the mount for your motor so that it faces the other way then you have reverse rotation.
Thanks for clearing that up for me Grant, that is how it was explained to me by my brother. I have seen people try to put the idler on the wrong side and it does not work well

I got my flat belt from this place and it is holding up nice I have many hours on it with no problems
http://www.hitnmiss.com/index.html
With the slack belt system you need to have the idler set on the driven side (The picture that Grant posted the hammer would be going clockwise rotation) This maybe why it seems like it runs better going one way- it should not matter which way it runs. You should be able to tell which way it was running by a visual inspection of the babbit main bearings.

Did you use the jack shaft, or hook it up direct? The rpms look pretty close to where you want to be, I bet a 1 hp motor would do you fine, you should be able to find a used one

Some pictures of the anvil can help to identify it.
Is it a forged anvil? It will have handling holes if it is forged (usually 3 of them one on the bottom of the anvil, one on the front foot and one in the back side under the heel)
It is possible that your anvil was made by one of the big manufactures and the marking is from a hardware store and their name was displayed.
Is there a marking on the front foot?

Clinton not all saws can be flipped. Some saws have a device to relieve down pressure on the blade for the return stroke.
Better check yours out before you try.

Thanks for the heads up on that, I do not think my saw has that. I just picked it up on Friday its a small craftsman 14 inch blade saw. I cuts very slow 10 min to cut 3/4 inch bar stock and that was a new blade 10 TPI. I want to try a 14 TPI blade but I need to order it

So it is good to say avoid using galvanised material. Also as I tried to make a point of is avoid using rebar for anything other than what it was intended to do- reinforce concrete

So it is possible to flip the blade on these saws? I will try that on mine

http://www.centaurforge.com/Tail-Gate-Shear/productinfo/TGSHEAR/
A tail gate shear can do bar stock nicely
I just scored a power hack saw but it is slow 10 min to cut 3/4 bar- brand new blade

You are talking about rebar? Lots of different types of rebar, some can not be welded, it it manufactured to do a specific task and may perform in strange ways when you try to do something that it was not designed for.
I had a foreman tell me to bend some rebar for hooks to attach a man basket to- I told him no way you get the proper equipment. He was quite intent on using rebar to do this and got a bigger rod saying that it was more than strong enough for the job- I told him he could get my check before I would not do it. He went and got some shackles and we were able to get the man basket up

That was my thought also = it does look like the Japanese bladesmithing hammers

I think I got it resized had to try to remember how.
This was Shawn Lovells hammer I have a few more pics if you want to see how it was set up

I paid 10 days wages for my Tom Clark Ozark Pattern in 2004. That is a new anvil with stand, hot cut and bending fork.
I bought a used Arm & Hammer 84 pound anvil for around 1 1/2 hours wages.
I also found a used Trenton 410 lb anvil for around 2 1/2 days pay.
There are deals out there if you are quick and lucky

One of the advantages of drawing out the reins is that you can make you tongs using spring and they will be lighter and feel much better in your hand. They also work better, they will hold tight without bending.
Half hammer face blows far side of the anvil or use a bottom fuller

Looks like you all had a great time, and learned a great deal as well. Looks cold over there, nice job on the pictures LDW

More like a planishing hammer than a power hammer, all he does is peck on that thing. Maybe he spent too much time with the chickens

I have lifted every anvil in my shop. Don't use it unless you can lift it! 400 pounds is a FEATHER! LOL

The guy that I bought my 410 lb Trenton from had a guy bet him that he could lift the anvil, they each gave the bar tender thier cash to hold. The guy could not lift the anvil, quick $100.00.

Impressive but what is more important than how fast you can make a hammer is the quality of the finished product.

Tom Clark Ozark Pattern- there is no need for a wide face when forging.

Yes the fishing was good, we took a party boat out of Moss Landing. 2 1/2 hrs in rough sea down to Point Sur. 22 fisherman with limits or near limit (10 fish) I saw at least 2 Ling Cod the others were a variety of rock fish. I had 17 pounds of fillets, some of the guys had up to 25 maybe 30 lbs (bigger fish)

Nice score- You are lucky that you found it before me, I search daily, it must have been the day I went fishing. That is a smoking hot deal!

I tried to buy a Hay Bud around that same size and price- in real good condition, but the guy did not want to take half down and the rest in two weeks. I was a little bummed out until I found a 410 lb Trenton for $1.22/ lb it has a repaired edge on one side but it is 410 lbs

Not sure that I would want to spend two days making something that I can buy for around 25 bucks.

Very nice- I mave have to give that a try