John McPherson

FlatLiner, that is not torch damage, it is chipping of the hard face from missed blows and working cold steel on the edges.

And yes, leaving it alone and using a square edge on another anvil, or making a hardy tool with square edges is the smart thing to do.

Actually, the formula is X + 1, where X is the number of anvils that you currently own.

I only have one wife, but that does not stop me from looking at other women. She says that the day I stop looking, I will be no good to her either!  

The hunt is part of the fun, maybe most of it.

If you go there in person, bring a file and a ball bearing, or small ball peen hammer.

If the file skates on the face plate, but cuts into the body: joy. If both surfaces cut the same: door stop.

75% rebound with the hammer or bearing in a rust and paint free spot: anvil. Less than 75% rebound, or dents from the test: Anvil Shaped Object (ASO).

Cade-O, those look like commercial pickets made by rolling bars thru or between dies to get the texture. Sell the hand-made appeal, not the cookie cutter catalog look.

JHCC is correct: you need two H20 molecules to add to each SO2 to get the 4 oxygens in H2SO4. There is some free hydrogen released in the reaction, just not noted in the equation.

Are you familiar with the term "art snob"? No such term for crafts people exists, to my knowledge.

Another central tenant is "Art serves no practical purpose." A craftsman never does anything without a purpose.

Cleaning the paint off of the face with a wire wheel brush, and a light wash with vinegar will reveal any welding done on the face.

C in  a triangle is a Columbian.

There are dealers in the US, one here in NC run by a multi-generational family of smiths that I know personally. They do not sell junk, and these are their mid-grade between Kanca and Peddinghaus. They are over $1000 at this time.

Not a face delamination, which would be horizontal, but a significant structural crack. Don't do any heavy work on the heel without getting it repaired. Or, just don't do any heavy work on the heel.

Could be repaired by a tricky welder without hurting the face heat treatment at all. After gouging out the crack, weld the anvil upside down in a trough of water, with 1/2" of the face submerged. It needs to be several inches deep and gallons of water to be an adequate heat sink, with the face supported outside the weld zone, not just a baking sheet.

The weight markings are 1 * 0 * 15, which translates as 1 x 112 + 0 x 28 + 15 pounds, or 127 pounds. Also known as 9 stone, 1 pound. Pretty close to 130.

(And if you think the hundredweight (112), quarter weight (28) and stone weight (14) system was bad, try making change in pence, farthings, shilling, quid, etc.)

caotropheus, the way I read that label from top to bottom is:

bending concrete reinforcing rod (rebar) 10mm,

shearing flat strip 12mm thick,

shearing round bar 18mm

shearing square bar 18mm

shearing T and angle shapes 50 x 50 x 5mm

45 degree notching T and angle shapes 40 x 40 x 5mm

Ray Clontz, the tire hammer guy, built a foot pedal actuated one from an 18 wheeler brake can. If you put more than a couple psi to it, it would crush anything in the jaws and warp the vise itself!

From what I can see when I blow up the pix, there is about a 3" chip blown out on one side. So it is safe to say the face is still there.

Call and agree on a price per pound or don't even get in the car, bring a scale, hammer or ball bearing and cash money, and be prepared to turn around and get in the car if he tries to renegotiate after you get there.

9 hours ago, Chelonian said:

I don't see much of a clear demarcation between the face and the body. Maybe that just means it's still well attached?

 

If you have any large trees near the building, the top of the chimney needs to be 3 - 4 feet above the top of the roof line to assure a good draw.

Look at any building from the 18th and 19th century when they cooked and heated with wood and/or coal, and built structures around the fireplaces and furnaces. Compare that to recent homes where the fireplace is an architect's cosmetic afterthought.

I appreciate it greatly. This is outside my area of expertise.

OK, let me try again.  Not how to do a demo, (which I do appreciate) but who is responsible for what and when, step by step site opening to closing procedures, clock-in/clock-out, time sheets, inventories, key issuance, alarm codes and security rules, etc.

Administrative oversight and guidance, in other words.  I need advice from the museum side of things.  Does anyone already have such a manual?

OK, hive mind, I need some help. A local historic home/museum that I volunteer at has recently built a demonstrating smithy. Now they want to write a guidebook for the rotating cadre of blacksmiths that show up to operate the shop for tourists and school groups. Shop rules, things to make. Things NOT to make.

Before we re-invent the wheel, does anyone have a document that they would be willing to share? A site online that has this already? My google-fu is weak on this one.

There was a book on restoring tractors that recommended an ammo can (or oil drum) partly filled with kerosene and two weeks in the back of a pickup truck as a parts cleaner & rust breaker. Mo' travel on gravel = mo' better results.

OK, so my high school German was waaaaay back during the Nixon administration, and little used since. You got me going, and I had to break out my google-fu skills. Not that there was a lot to find, and google translate does a poor job with dialects and idioms.

It seems that "Krumbiren" is a Swabian potato recipe, or perhaps a regional type of potato that only Swabians can manage to make taste good.

Yes we used to' use pure (green) tungsten, but we also used to put leaded gas in cars with carburetors that rode on bias ply tires. Time and technology change the answers.

Feed auger coil, I  have about 600 feet of the stuff from demolishing a turkey barn that was on my property. Makes good small knives and tools, heat treat like a file. (1075 to 10100 carbon steel)

The square heel is typical of English anvils used for horseshoeing and general work, many European countries prefer the tapered square heel for architectural work. There are examples of each style found in all of the western world. Most major anvil makers provided both in their catalogs. 

I can work on anything, but prefer a double pike. I recommend trying as many types and brands as you can when visiting others shops and attending hammer-ins.

The spring will work just fine once that bracket is mounted to a bench, and it has something to push against.

With any modern inverter unit, I find 2% Thoriated, Ceriated, or TriMix tungstens to be preferable for AC welding. Set the EP to no higher than 50% of your EN amperage, and set your balance at 75% EN. One second preflow, postflow on auto.

As stated, MIG wire is the same specs as TIG rod, and .035" is readily available in one or two pound spools to fit spool guns.

Just how thin of a metal, and in what configuration are you trying to weld? With any TIG welding, cleanliness is extremely important. Use new, degreased files and stainless steel wire brushes, virgin abrasive disks and polishing wheels made just for aluminum, and stored in ziplock bags. DO NOT use aluminum oxide sandpaper, ever! Same goes for sandblasting, virgin media that does not contain aluminum oxide.

Reagent grade acetone does a better job than big box paint shop solvent, or drug store nail polish remover. Sheared edges need to be filed or sandpapered smooth and free of burrs. After degreasing, aluminum surfaces need to be chemically or mechanically cleaned within 20 minutes of welding, or an oxide coating reforms. Welding suppliers will sell pint or quart bottles of aluminum cleaning solutions.

I would call that an oxy-fuel cut rough cut, that was then squared up with an abrasive chop saw.