Tim McCoy

Martensite Thanks - the one that is shown lately on ebay has a flat face ... love to give one a try. Tim

Martensite - Thanks for the comments - does the width of the head interfere at all with seeing your work? As far as collectors go, I guess people pay what they pay for older used stuff without regard to actual value. Too bad it hinders getting good used tools without having to pay more than retail. Another good reason to make your own tools. Tim

Bentiron's link to the Mokume Gane Video (from Germany) was most interesting at the last when the smith started "hammering" - they used many light taps spread out along the length of the pieces being welded. No smashing or banging, just taps. I am guessing that is what Glenn is speaking of. All parts heated through and through and they stick together, once hit.

In searching the net I have seen a couple examples of Cats Head Hammers. No such hammers discussed here that I can find. Some have flat faces, some faces are cupped; a farriers tool I'm told. Has anyone used one and if one had a flat (properly edged) face and a more radiused pein why would it not make a "suitable" blacksmith hammer?? Seems like having the larger percentage of weight at the "center" of the head would make it function better ... more mass behind a smaller face increases the force per square inch doesn't it? Hofi's hammer seems to have a similar arrangement for the mass used with the widest part of the head being verticle as opposed to horizontal like a cats head. NOT looking for a universal hammer, just wondering how this one doesn't get used or isn't popular? :)

Well done. They actually look fragile/delicate.

Great looking work. How is the copper ring attached to the cross??

Red Green, Just took a break from ffinishing the first wall of my tiny smithy and found you still here hammering things out ... Got a couple of quotes for you; "Nobody can be so amusingly arrogant as a young man who has just dicovered an old idea and thinks it is his own." sidney J. Harris "Put the argument into a concrete shape, into an image, some hard phrase, round and solid as a ball, which they can see and handle and carry home with them, and the cause is half won." Ralph Waldo Emerson Seems like maybe you are stuck in between the two. Several people have shared some ideas about what to do, how to do it and even offered you encouragement. On the other hand, some of us have said that what you propose, as you put it in your very first post, costs too much or won't meet enough people's needs. None of them are wrong. May I suggest again that you build one, even if you gotta do it with cardboard. Then let it set a while, walk around it and then see if somehow you can make it better, then do it again. Trust me and the others here when we say we wish you luck in your endeavor, but try to understand that just because everyone doesn't find your idea interesting isn't to suggest that you stop. If and when your ideas get some kind of movement you will still meet resistance. Most of the senior members on this site are easy with sharing their insight and often are just a bit stern with us new guys and more often than not, are right about what they say. Ignore whatever/whomever irks you and engage with those that seem to be willing and able to help you move your ideas along. You do not have to respond to every posting. It is a forum and therefore it is a place where ideas can be shared and hopefully without rancor or sniping; a place for honest comments and hopefully thoughtful suggestions and queries and yes, opinions. Some of those opinions are going to be contrary to what you want. So what?? Well, my break is over so I gotta go. Good luck Red Green. Nakedanvil is right - time to close the door and go play elsewhere. Tim

Great looking knife - resembles a small scimitar.

Biggun Great to start the fire again - your Dad will always be with you, standing nearby with a sledge, waiting to strike with you. Lost my mother 8 years ago, she holds me in my dreams sometimes and I know that she will never leave me. Hammer on! Tim

Just one last thought, then I gotta go to the tools section and learn about how to make the things I need. Anyone can make, beg, borrow or buy what ever they want for a place to hit hot things. Rocks, hammers, old/new, it makes no difference 'cause we all need different things. Few of us need what a farmer, wheelright, farrier or worker in a steel mill needed. Many of us just want to heat it up and see if we can master our hand-eye coordination enough to make something pretty and/or useful. Percentage wise even fewer of us hope to do this to make any money and almost none of us "have" to do this, thank God! I am a firm believer in not trying to re-invent the wheel so I stand on the shoulders of those who proceeded me and steal their ideas and listen carefully to what they say. I need to increase my knowledge base while I increase my skill. After seeing the Pexto stake plate I have found the base I need to be able to do almost anything ... can't afford one, but I bet I can make one from some metal I have in my yard or that I can get from the steel yard cut pile for about 50 cents a pound. Then I can go on over to the tools section and find out how to make what I need in the way of bickerns, cutoffs, fullers and so on. It has nothing to do with the past or a failure to understand the joy and mystic pleasure in creating an idea or finding a tool that meets all needs, at least not for me anyway. It does have a lot to do with $$$ and time. No money that I can commit to tools and never enough time for what I am afraid is becoming an obsession. So, like I said I gotta go now and see if I can understand how to forge weld a hardy post to a piece of 4" box channel to hold my hardwood spoon forming thingy 'cause I aint got no gas/arc welding stuff ... have fun and good luck Red Green! Oh, by the way, the base you may want to consider is here: http://www.blacksmithsdepot.com/Templates/cart_templates/cart-detail.php?theLocation=/Resources/Products/Anvil_Tools_and_Swages/Stake_Plate If the link doesn't work go to Blacksmithdepot.com and search for "stakePlate" ... holds many tools that many others offer for sale and/or you can make your own :blink:

Harley - well done! Whatever goes around, comes around!! You set a good example for all of us.

In my humble opinion - It seems that the suggestion to build a mock-up is a good one, limited costs shouldn't be an issue. Use wood for your design base. Scraps abound almost anywhere and modification/design changes shouldn't entail a lot of $$$, just your time. Many a wonderful tool started out as some plywood and nails first until something workable could be fine tuned. During the discussions that went on with Nakedanvil's universal thing there were many different ideas about what could work ... those of us watching had the priveledge of seeing his work in progress (to a point) and it really helped to understand where he was going. If we were all together we could get some paper, and over some libation we could try several ideas quickly. Short of that it seems that we are trying to figure out what it is that Red Green is actually striving for. A base for holding forms/tools that will allow adaptability when hammering hot stuff. Something that will be "affordable" for those with little or no money that at some point many (thousands?) are in possession of and who once they have the base need attachments ... yes/no? Most tools start with the end users driving manufacturers to make'm cheaper and faster. Any student of metal working has found that in developed countries anvils, post vises, swage blocks and their ilk work fine. In undeveloped countries the adage about something hard to hit on with something hard to strike with is a fact driven by abject proverty. Neither of those extremes are dead ends, just folks living within the realms of reality. So, who's this thing for??? Like many other stubborn people, I chose to find a way to make my own stuff for as little as possible from whatever I can find. It pleases me to no end to find that I can take tin cans, some found pieces of no-hub black pipe, a few scrounged up clamps and the motor out of an electric leaf blower and craft a very fine blower for my forge - thank you very much. I wish to God that I had the skill to weld together 1-200#'s of some steel and cut holes in it and somehow convince a "manufacturer" to offer me some parts that would do more than provide a flat surface. Synclastic curves anyone??? Take the bait and build a mock up using your drawings, from whatever you can find that will represent the shapes you want ... put it up for everyone to see. I really do believe that the major obstacles you face has been asked a couple of times; who is it for, who has the stuff to build'em with and what is a ball park figure for getting it built? Take it from someone who understands marketing, first you define your end user, then you find out what they need, then you find an unfilled niche and try to fill it. The people who make tongs, hardy tools, blowers, power hammers and the like have done that homework first. I continue to wish you good luck in your pursuit - Tim

Red Green, Sorry you are having such a challenge sharing your idea ... your original post listed two metal blocks 2x18x33" ... A36 in a block 2x12x24" lists for $285.04 at Metals Depot online. Your base seems like it would end up being too expensive ... before any "milling" to create mounting features for tools. Maybe I am missing something here, but metal still costs a lot unless it is found laying about. Does your base have to be that large? From what I have seen at IFI, anvils end up being like other tools. People buy what they can afford, make their own or convert something that is tool-like to match the task. Some folks have the best and latest, say a Nimba anvil, others of us go get a hunk of metal and try to make do with that. Either one is okay and actually beyond any criticism ... I think that a lot of us can sympathize with your desire to find a solution. That's why there was such an outpouring of comments about Mr. Sarver's idea. I, for one, would love to see you or someone create an "anvil in a box" with serious adaptability - and at a price point that avoids any discussions with significant others about "where'd you say you spent that money, honey?" No tool meets every need - even the Leatherman pocket tools and the so called Swiss knives have shortcomings. But, people told Col Sanders that he was wrong to try to sell chicken too - don't give up! I think that sharing your idea in any forum is brave and I commend you for hanging in there. Keep at it!

While this is a fun exercise, Sarver may have been spot on. Just because a design works, doesn't mean it is marketable to enough people to make it worthwhile to manufacture and sell. A 10# stump anvil or a 3x4x10" block of any metal is a wonderful thing. Easier to find or create in more places and sufficient for most of the worlds metal crafting needs. The search for the universally appealing anvil is, and may remain, endless. My Dad told me that if I always carried a pocket knife and a handkerchief I could do almost anything ... he was right. Basic tools, even in the hands of an unskilled person, make all of us geniuses. Perhaps our universal anvil exists right here on IFI ... it's the shared mindset and knowledge that we see everyday. Endless opportunities to delve into the enthusiasm and knowhow of so many is part of the "teaching a man to fish thing ..."

Great video - I wonder what they do with the "drop" when they trim the tanks?

Grant, Like many others I am saddened to find out that $$$/profit/reality stands in the way of what seemed like a workable idea. It has been great fun to watch the brainstorming and to get some good ideas for our own tooling. Is there a chance you could share a final view of what you have done in it's finished state at the shop?? It would make many of us happy to see your Omniversal under a hammer ... thanks for sharing! Tim

My very small smithy floor is made of a combination of 6 x 18" concrete block wall caps used as pavers and blocks made of asphalt roadway ... found a pile of those in the desert here ... someone had used a cement cutting saw to cut a 4" wide channel into a roadway for something. Layed the asphalt blocks on their sides with a smooth side up. All parts laid with a 1" space and that is filled with sand ... durable and all parts followed me home Tim

Sorry, but I can't stand this waiting! Has anyone got a cigarette or some chaw???

Biggundoctor, Rained in Vegas almost all night and day ... had snow and sleet in the western part of town at around 3:30 pm for about 30-45 minutes ... my back yard is flooding and will have to move the tortoises in the AM ... more of the same for tomorrow they say. Funny, when it all stops, I can go out back to my steel pile and see what rust really looks like. Tim

In Las Vegas; scrap yards are getting 25 cents a pound and at Curtis Steel their drop is 50 cents a pound unless you bring gaterade and then you get a discount :-)

Really tastefully executed ...

Dancho, Thanks again for your response ... I understand how it works now. Tim

Dancho, Great anvil - would you please share your thoughts about why convex face is magic ... I am finishing a 4.25 x 27" round bar as an anvil and was considering a flat face ... thanks in advance. Tim

How about "Universal" ... because that is what it is, the Universal Anvil - fully adjustable, user friendly, works in any situation, etc., etc. Tim

Great work - how's the cross attached to the base - tenon??