russell_smith93

if you could get several extra feet of rail, take 2 pieces equal length, weld them back to back upright,& the weld a 3rd shorter piece to the top. wouldn't that give you bouth a larger striking area, & lots o mass under it?

the local blacksmith club ordered a semi truck load from a coal mine in Oklahoma, I bought 2 tons for 300. for those who use coke, or would like to , do you have any oil refineries around you? coke is also a byproduct from refining you might be able to get some from them

warning:Zombie thread now that some time has passed, how is the hedge working for the hammer handles? I need to rehaft some hammers,& I am not really fond of some commercial handles, not to mention you could go broke buying them from the hardware store. as I am in Ks hedge is also very common here,& is hack berry.

yup, you can blame me Sha-ul btw I have passed your site onto the local black smithing club for southern Ks as well.

zombie thread!!!! what was your conclusion on the southern steel anvil? I do have one, it is a farrier's anvil, I am guessing it is 90-100# the hardie hole measures 7/8,& the horn is wider than the face.

Fwiw the black gunk you find on sucker rods is generally Iron sulfide, aka b.s. it can build up quite deep in some oil field equipment such as gun barrels, heater treaters, water knockouts,& stock tanks. some wells produce a lot, others produce almost none.

I stumbled across this thread looking for something, but there is a lot of good info here. Jamie, you might want to update this thread with your newer designs;) regards Sha-ul/ Russ

I know I am coming in late to the conversation, but have a look here. Polar Bear Forge he has laser cut tong kits that you just need to do some final shaping, slitting, or other minor work for $8,& $10 he posts on the armourarchive a bit, he may be here as well, but I couldn't tell you

I am acquainted with frosty from the maf, I noticed this thread& wondered if they were the same person, and it looks that it was.... I am sorry to hear of his accident, but I am happy to hear he is improving.

Grant, how far did you draw out the taper before driving the piece into the hardie hole? also how long of a piece did you use?