Stash

Very nice work, C-1. Congrats on the certification. It is always good to see skill being used to have some fun. Y'all seem to be having some fun there. Steve

Our local group recently was the benefactor of an entire shop- anvils, vises, swage blocks, machinery etc, on down to the little bits and bobs found under benches and in dark corners. They advertised ahead of one of the regular meetings and set the big stuff up as a silent auction, the smaller stuff was set out individually or small lots as appropriate for the 'Iron in the Hat" style auction, and a few random pieces set up as door prizes. Everyone went away with something, with the receipts going to the group. This was actually the last meeting we had, in Feb. Everything else has been cancelled, including the Aug. regional meeting we were going to have at CMA in Johnstown. Grrrr... Steve

That seems to be the going rate these days. There is a guy in the nearby CL (Reading PA area )that has a fleet of anvils for sale that is in line with the prices you saw at the auction. I'm sure you've seen the listing. Also a 300# Hay- Buddy for $2500. They have been re- listing them for a while now, so seemingly not everyone is willing to pay the price. I'm glad I got mine before the sillyness started. Steve

Re the ratchet pawls, they need to fit loosely in the hole, with an bevel on the end mating up to the teeth in the wheel. They also should have a small compression spring under each pawl to keep it engaged to the wheel with some light pressure. Easy enough to make, and the springs should be available at McMaster-Carr or Grainger or some such supplier. When I rebuilt one a while ago, I pulled the two pieces apart, and all the springs and pawls went 'BOING'. That's probably what happened to yours. Hope this makes sense. Steve

Condolences, Thomas. Praying for you and your mother. Steve

Hey Josh- my copy came in the mail today. Looks great. I'm looking forward to some quality time with it. Thanks. Steve

No pix, but the mail lady followed me in my driveway with my signed, dated and numbered (#108) copy of "The history of Fisher&Norris Eagle Anvil Works" by Joshua Kavett. Initial perusal looks pretty good. Thanks Josh! Steve

Welcome, Freddie. In my previous life I spent a lot of time at the nurseries in your area- the garden spot of NJ. I bought a lot of plants. Enjoy the new passion. It gets in your blood. Steve

Great looking shop, RP. Way to make a lady happy. Steve

Looks good and seems to be complete. How are the threads on the screw and box? That's the heart and soul of a vise. Steve

At 350 smackers, I would just keep looking. Maybe something not gold plated. Steve

I knew a guy who ate himself out of an F16. He became a statistic. Steve

Hey- depends where you are in SCPA, if you are anywhere near Reading, go a little east to Moses Glick, in Fleetwood PA. He has all kind of treasures and sells them by the pound. Worth a road trip, if he's open. There's also a yard in Lancaster, but the name escapes me right now. I can search it out if you want. Steve

Hey Daniel- there is a sticky for finding proper anvil height, I tend to have it roughly knuckle height, I have one anvil a bit higher for more detailed stuff. Experiment a bit- adjust the height with wood and work it for a while, to see what works for you. 'Radius the edges' simply means to round them over. Get a piece of 1/2"round stock- that will have a radius of 1/4" Use different stock sizes to give yourself a hands- on visual reference. Like Frosty said. make each edge a different radius, and leave some of an edge sharp. You can do the radiusing with a grinder and a flap disc, or do it old- skool with a file. Steve Anvil height, how can you tell if it is the right height

Yeah I have a list of stuff to make/improvise/find to get the best use of this tool. What is huge for me is the large, flat and dead- level surface. I've been improvising for years, and this will make my life easier. Everything else is gravy. I spent my last 2 days of shop time re arranging things around the new addition. The forging area stayed the same, but the rest of the area has a new and more efficient flow pattern. Thanks for the advice. Steve

Hey Dave, I have 100# and 103# anvils- I'll trade you for 1 even up. Steve Well, it didn't follow me home- it just showed up. Steve

Yeah I got the e mail this AM, cancelled my hotel and spent the day generally bummed out. I think quad state is going to be a go for me this year. The next meeting on my agenda is late April at Center for Metal arts, in Johnstown PA . It will be a combined meeting of the eastern and western PA groups, as well (I think) as a MD group, and maybe OH. I have a feeling that one might be a bit touch- and go also. Steve

You know what we say here- pictures, or it didn't happen. Steve

May you have peace. Blessings Steve

Caplet on the base and weight (200) on front foot seems to make it a Trenton. Looks to be in good nick, with minor edge damage. You have a great anvil, and she’ll ring like a bell. All you need to do is polish the face with hot iron. Enjoy it. Steve

Good on ya. I'm happy with mine. For general purpose work I have 36#, 60# and 120#, all ceramic. I would expect for knife work or finer tooling you would want finer grits. I got my first batch from Amazon. I later used the sources listed in the suppliers folder in the knife- making section of this site. That is probably your best bet- tried and tested suppliers. I think I saw starter packs from some of the vendors with a few grits in multiple grades. Steve

Mark Aspery does talk about using a bull pin for a hammer eye drift in his second book on leafwork. He just flattens it down to an oval shape, no specific thickness mentioned. Probably just a nice even taper the whole length. You weren't dreaming. Steve

AnBello- thanks for the link. It it now bookmarked for a rainy day! Steve

You asked for it, so"attaboy 'P-nut! In all seriousness. Keep up the good work. Steve

No, that spring is aftermarket, and if not completely useless, then pretty close. It is simple to whip out a proper spring from some flat stock- I've even done it cold. The other issue is the missing mounting bracket, that usually holds a spring in place as well as mounting to your stand. Again, mounting brackets are no major deal to cobble together- lotsa threads here on doing it. The screw doesn't look to bad. If that is in good shape, I wouldnt pay more than $40- 45 for that vise as-is. Complete, $110 is in the upper reaches- where I would be selling it after a proper fixup. Steve