Stash

Looks almost to be the twin of mine, but mine has the roller on the ratchet arm. Mine still has original paint on the mount board, it has 'Model 101' still visible. That's all I got. I just use it 'cause it works. Steve

When I first started to investigate an O/A setup, the first co I went to charged ~$5 or so ($US) per month per tank. 2 other companies the same distance the other direction let me buy outright, and trade for a full one when empty, so guess where I bought? Steve

The concept will work fine, but watch out- the vise might be cast iron and you'll likely make a mess of things trying to weld to it. Weld a plate to a shank and drill the plate to mount the vise to. When you do have space for a bench or vise stump, the shank won't be in your way. Steve

You got it- the arm rids a cam on the main shaft. The little flappy thing on the top of the arm advances the top gear, which drives down the chuck shaft. It then ratchets back- there should be a compression spring to push it back. There is also a small thumb screw to adjust how far back the arm is pushed by the spring. I can dial mine in so the ratchet backs up from 1 to 3 teeth in the gear. 1 tooth is minimum return for larger bits, up to 3 teeth for small bits. It is a fun little toy in my shop- people are fascinated by how effectively it works. I am pragmatic, though and also have a new fangled drill press with an electrical motor. Finding parts could be tougher- post a listing in the tailgating section, for starters. Steve

Looks like you got yourself a Fisher- cast iron base, tool steel top and horn. I understand the top can be pretty brittle, but we're looking at a break and de-lamination. What is left gives plenty to work with, as long as the top isn't loose. Tap it with a small ball pien and listen- if it's coming loose, it will rattle or sound hollow. Fishers don't ring, so don't expect that. If the top is good, you did an ok deal. Clean it up with a wire brush and polish the top with hot steel. You should find a date on the back under the tail, and usually a weight on the front right foot- if it's 150# the stamp should have 15 on it. ( Actually not a stamp- it was stamped into the mold, so it will be raised). I usually put some boiled linseed oil on mine to keep it purdy. If the top is sound, you'll have a great anvil to work on. Steve

I've told my family to not get me tools for Christmas or birthdays. I tend to have very specific needs, and don't want to have to ask for something like that, of someone who has no idea what I'm asking for. My wife tried, got something from e bay that was listed as a blacksmith tool and wasn't. It was still a nice gift, but didn't fit my needs. Like Glenn said, books are great- there's a lot of good stuff out there and I never get tired of reading them. How about a gift cert for a weekend of lessons? Membership in the local group? You could ask for a bag of coal or a tank of propane. If you know of something specific you need, give the details or item number. I used to circle in crayon what I wanted from the Sears catalog. I still think books are best. Steve

You can fuel some of the people.... Steve

Yeah, I saw that on CL a few days ago. Maybe a little spendy, but if rebounds well, not too bad a deal. Try to get him down a bit. I was tempted- I might have it's slightly bigger brother, at 122# but missing it's horn. Steve

Welcome Dave- I'm just up Rt1 in Concordville. Give me a yell, we'll get Nick and Marcy over and beat on hot stuff. Steve

I was taught the same, and wasn't given the 'why', and always did it that way. Then I look at the gas saver rigs that will relight your torch with a acetylene pilot light, so I dunno. Doug- you out there? Steve

Oh yeah, a good time was had by all. I hope my parole officer doesn't see this- I'm not supposed to leave the county. The piece Andrew made today wasn't planned out ahead of time- he took a few minutes to sketch it out before the demo, and figured it out as he went. Start to finish in about 6 hrs or less. Thanks for documenting our fun, JW Steve

I had one a few years ago, couldn't find anything in AIA. Listed it for sale, had a collector call, said they were pretty rare. That is the extent of what I know. Seemed to be mid 1850ish compared to some of the other English anvils I had or had access to. One of the many companies making anvils around then and there. Steve

You can get all the broken bits you want if you ask the right people. I rent a lot of equipment and when I return it, I talk to my buddy at the desk, or the guys back in the shop. They will point me in the right direction, even walking out there with me and helping me load my truck. It helps to provide coffee, donuts or some kind of liquid refreshment every now or then. Calling cold won't get you anything. You need to meet and get to know the people who have the real power. Steve

Make sure you have a name tag on the next time I see you, so I know who I'm talking to. Hope you've been well. Steve

During my tree climbing days, when we were about to cut something from high up, we would yell 'HEADACHE'. Everyone knew what that meant. Steve On the ground, and very happy about it.

No pix, but it's pretty simple to do. Cut a hole in some sheet- 10 ga or whatever you'll use for the table, so that the pot drops in and the lips on the left and right are holding it in place. They will be above the table. Then just weld on a few pieces of angle underneath to close up the ends. Eezy-peezy. Steve

Don't guess or speculate or extrapolate from known data - put it on a bathroom scale. You can list it here in the tailgating section ( Photos are mandatory) or put it on your local Craigslist. Steve

That's a hacksaw to be proud of. Nice work. Now, tell me about your hammer- did you do the diagonal peen by grinding, or forging? Steve

Yowzers dude that looks ready to go . Shame to get it all dirty with that coal and fire stuff. Make a fire and start smacking some steel. Nice work. Steve

Not only is the top in great shape, it's level, too. Grabbit! Steve

I re-did a similar unit a few years back.It was a Champion, and did the wind- un wind thing Matto described. I was lucky enough to have the dried bits of leather, so I could figure that side of things. You are correct in the thought for the need of a ratchet mechanism. What the Champion had, and what I suspect you have is a mechanism inside the hub with a fixed gear on the shaft with a loose bearing (not sure of the proper term) around it, with 3 milled slots, each slot had a loose pawl beveled on the end. On the power stroke the pawl on top would drop by gravity onto the gear and power forward. On the return stroke the bevel on the pawl would simply ride over the gear teeth until it was time for the power stroke, drop down etc etc. I was missing one pawl- just filed a bevel on a piece of 1/4" square, or so, and fit it into the slot, freed up the other 2 pawls, wd40 on the whole thing, and put it back together. Worked a treat, pure simplicity, very functional and simple to figure out and fix. Looks to me like you pull the whole shaft and big wheel off, and carefully disassemble the hub, clean, free up and lube, put it back together. There were no boingy fly- aparty things for me- I just took it slow. Good luck Steve Now that I thought about it, the gear was in the outer diameter of the hub and the 'pawl bearing' rode inside.

I would be a little hesitant to drive 3 hrs without having seen any pix, or without having any idea what ballpark he is in price-wise. A local guy lists anvils with the 'best offer accepted' statement, turns out he wants $6-7 per pound, but won't put a price in the ad. A PW in real nice shape could tempt a guy to ask for the moon, especially if he researches his pricing on ebay. I agree with Thomas with the $2-3 per# price- that is generally my max range but there are some crazy numbers out here. Steve

Yo Seth- there was a Hay Budden 150# for $400 in the Lancaster CL, the guy is in Berwyn PA. Looks good from what I can see- check it out if it's still there. Steve

Taking a tack to the portside. My wife learned do cook defensively. Her mother could burn water. She went the usual route- 'Joy of Cooking", Julia Child, and some of the other classics. She followed the recipes to the letter. She got pretty good, and that was one of the things that attracted me when she was in charge of commisary at the local theater I worked in. Fast forward 32 + years. She still uses recipes- cookbooks, interweb, tv, whatever. But now the recipe is a suggestion. The basic concepts still apply- the chemical interactions, the timing, etc. Anytime she presents me with something new from a recipe she found, she will always say "but I changed this....." Her experience has allowed her to make any recipe her own, and she does it almost intuitively. My waistline is a testament to her abilities. Yesterday she tried some no-bake cookies, but for some reason everything went pear-shaped. She thought a minute, realized that she had pretty much the dry ingredients for a baked cookie, made the rest up from experience, and we now have a batch of what she calls "Failure is an option chocolate cookies". I'm a lucky lucky man. As I type this I'm smelling her version of some kind of slow roasted pork butt kinda thing. Steve

I made a hot cut from a chunk of breaker bit- forged below the collar to fit the hardie hole, made the working end above, and it works a treat. Discussions on this forum have placed breaker bit from 1040 to 1050 or so. I forged it, and just normalized it. It will mark my (sacrificial) hammer with a mis strike and mugger up the edge, but a quick stroke with a file and I'm good to go. Steve