John McPherson

About a page back, dealing with 'peasants'. Just keeping the fires lit when you can't be everywhere.

A straight line is a terrible thing to waste. Just ask Frosty, or half a dozen others around here. The thrill of victory is getting there first, the agony of defeat: someone already posted what you were going to say. There was a very short-lived sit-com TV show called "When Things were Rotten". Lots of gags like the one I blatantly stole, plus "Peasants! Hold your tongues!" and they all oblige by sticking out their tongues and grasping them. Lots of poor-but-proud dirt farmers and lint-head textile mill workers in my family tree, just lucky to have some with a knack for the trades that passed it on to me. The closest we get to royalty is naming the dog Duke, or Rex. I was casting no aspersions on anyone, and I hope that no one was offended.

Excellent sketches of woodworking and many other tools, with how they were used, in Eric Sloane's "A Museum of Tools".

Yes, yes they are aren't they?

Yup, early '80s bailed out of Wichita, after selling our high school rings for gas money for the Uhaul to get back to NC. "Will the last person leaving the oil patch during the bust please turn off the light?" "What is the difference between an oil man and a pigeon? A pigeon can always make a deposit on a new 4x4 pickup."

Or you could just consider yourself lucky to have found an anvil that dumps the scale on the far side of the work, instead of in your socks...... Seriously, some great smiths like Bruce Wilcock used anvils just like that to great effect for a lifetime. Many old anvils were off kilter, either fore and aft, or port to starboard. You simply adjust. Don't let a machinist's mindset take over and ruin a perfectly usable blacksmith tool. More anvils have been ruined by well-meaning people trying to "FIX" them than by neglect. A bubble level is only used by a blacksmith for product installation, never on his shop tools. Shim the base with a wedge if you have to, in order to sleep at night. Or build a stand that compensates for the angle.

Also, skin contact is different on different parts of your body. Hands and feet tend to be callused and less sensitive. But with the rise of Concealed Carry permits in the US, many folks have found that a wooden grip on a pistol, worn against the skin instead of outside the shirt, caused contact dermatitis. Which may lead to staph infections and other nasty problems. Once you are sensitized, it only gets worse. Several knifemakers can't even walk into another maker's shop due to the presence of traces of cocobolo dust. And if its your shop, you may have to pay someone to clean it thoroughly before YOU can go back in. Heck, horse people will tell you that a tiny trace of walnut sawdust in the stall will cause havok.

As Thomas said, Quad State is the best event of the year, (I will be driving from the south edge of NC again this year, with luck) but lots of other events go on there year-round. The SOFA web page will have other listings. That said, you would be hard pressed to find a weekend without something going on somewhere. How far are you willing to drive/carpool with a group of like minded individuals? There are several active ABANA groups within 4 hours of you, a ton within an 8 hour day. As far as gas forge advice, Mikey Price wrote the actual book on that subject, and he chimes in here in the gas forge forum. You can do a lot of heavy sledge hammer work over the supported face of any well mounted anvil. The smaller the waist, the smaller the sweet spot, and the greater potential for damage out on the horn or heel.

In my 40+ years of examining thousands of anvils, the presence of a lip on an unmarked casting almost always guarantees that it is an ASO. Caveat emptor. If you think education is expensive, try auditing ignorance!

It is cast, but cast what? Iron or steel face? Be prepared to get back in your car for a long drive with your cash still in your pocket if it fails the ball bearing or hammer test. (You do know what those are and how to do them, and how to interpret the results, right?)

I now own 4 different swage blocks, from 6" x 6", up to 18" x 18", and use them as regularly as any other specialized tool. For some things they are indispensable, they rest of the time they are a hazard to foot traffic. I see this design as still crowding the corners with arrowhead shapes, making them prone to breaking. Both from mis-handling and heavy hammering. Personally, I would like to see just six half rounds in 1/4" jumps starting at 1" up to 2", then 3" & 4", and a large arch, either simple or increased gradient like a french curve. More hex shapes on the edges, and more square and rectangular thru holes replacing rounds. My two pennys worth, you decide if they are silver, copper, or zinc.

Gergely, use the citric acid in the electrolysis bath instead of nitric acid. And make sure to tumble the parts first to break up the shell of scale.

Citric acid will work as the chemical bath, and is available in bulk at home canning suppliers.

Used with a powdered flux for oxy-acetylene flame repairs of cast iron: seriously old school. Seldom seen outside of specialty repair shops these days. About $25/pound on Amazon, up to$85 at a welding supply.

Dillon, you do know about NC-ABANA, right? About bi-monthly meetings around Raleigh, about how there is a major player named Amos in Wilson, NC? A December meeting in Clayton? http://www.ibiblio.org/nc-abana/regional_groups.html

What if boils** down to is: don't heat anything with chlorine or fluorine compounds listed on the label. ALWAYS READ THE LABEL. What you don't know can kill you. **Or is that Boyles' Law in this case?

8 meters is almost 3 stories in the air. Without some sort of external support every 2 to 3 meters, this would have to be a very stout system to convey 500 Kg safely.

I do believe that I can make out "......OOD" and ".....RIDGE", which would make this an Attwood anvil from Stourbridge, England.

In North Carolina, the liquor stores are state operations, with limits on purchases, high prices, and low selections. Just over the South Carolina line are booze supermarkets, fireworks stands, and cheap gas.

There were only a few female Master Smiths in the American Bladesmith Society a dozen years ago, but they got together at the Blade Show in Atlanta. One of them opined that for them, ABS stood for Asbestos Bra Society. I have had welding students set fire to themselves quite often over the last decade, and have had to offer spare aprons and jackets to preserve modesty. One particularly slow learner insisted on doing overhead flux core welds while seated on a stool, instead of standing. Lets just say that the ladies in the class had no doubts whether he chose boxers or briefs....... The door to my office is always open to students. Aloe gel is in the fridge door, bandaids in the kit on top. Don't make me fill out paperwork for stupid boo-boos. If I have to bust out my EMT kit, the whole class gets to take a break.

As for myself, I just bring popcorn, and pull up a comfy seat next to the greasy spot where the dead horse used to be...

JHCC is right, The Trow and Holden catalog lists them as stone trimming hammers, used by being swung, never struck. (My experience with breaking rocks only applies to getting them out of the field so I can use a tractor, so YMMV.) You can sell them, or re-purpose them into something more useful. Or, take up building dry stone walls in your spare time.

KB: Yes they are, the maker has come to this forum to ask questions of real anvil users before he started making them as a tiny sideline to his industrial casting business. Also yes, comparison shop Fontinini, Nimba, or Peddinghaus for brand new, state of the art anvil prices.

Google books has an 1875 German language toolmakers directory with "Imhoff & Lange" listed on page 55. FYI, I just typed in "Imhoff &" on the standard google toolbar, and this came up on the first page. There are also lots of folks dealing in Imhoff & Lange tools on FleaBay, if you want some idea of their range. Books on Google Play Industrie-Lexicon von Rheinland-Westphalen. ... Nach amtlichen ... Quellen ... aufgenommen, etc