Stash

I'll ditto on what Mr Powers and Mr Frosty said- just do it with some firebricks- set em flat, or on edge for some more depth. Get clay in the base and form the ducks nest, then set the bricks as desired. Besides that, I wouldn't want to cut thru the cast pan. I did the brick thing with my stamped steel pan Champion and it served me well. I've upgraded to a fabbed forge with a cast fp, but still go back to the old Champion. Steve

If you get back down there, give me a yell- I'm 15 min away. We can grab some coffee or whatever. Steve

Hey Stewart- congrats on the score. I grabbed a bunch of tongs from him and saw the hood still there (Sat AM) That thing was huge! Also saw the blower housing- pretty cool. I'd love to see it all set up and functional sometime. Did you take the coal off his hands?? Steve

Hey George- new web site is www.pabasite.org- much better than the old one. They also have a facebook page - go to FB and search PABA PA Artist Blacksmith Association. All kinds of current updated info there. You don't have to join FB to read the page, but if you want to comment, read further, like, etc, you do. Hope to meet you in Oct. Steve

Awesome anvil, but your little helper is even better looking! Congrats on both! Steve

Yo Doug- good to meet you too. Saw you jumped in on one of the demos- that's key- get involved and meet some folk. It's a good group, hope to see ya in Oct at Andrew's place.(No meeting in Sept- every other month) Steve

I've adjusted them 2 ways, both pretty simple. 1 On the handle side of the housing , on the end of the shaft there is a bolt and a lock nut. I loosened the lock nut, snugged the bolt a bit, pushing the shaft away from the inside of the housing where it was hitting and tighted the lock nut. 2 Remove the cover and shim the whole cover out with a few washers, as needed. Seal the gap with some form-a-gasket. This worked when the fan was hitting the cover side. Clean up the fan and the insides while it's open. Good to go! Steve

Plenty of people around here should be able to help you, but srsly- a picture or 2 beats the living daylights of a 1000 word description. Steve

I'll start out by saying that I have absolutely no idea. The book is fascinating, though. I borrowed it from my local group's (PABA) library and am in the midst (Mist?) of my 2nd read-thru. Lots of buggy fittings, running gear iron tires and axles. Lots of great info, though. All of this with the caveat that it was written via the IFI of the time, circa 1889-1891 or so. Lots of stuff wouldnt pass muster with OSHA, or even the insurance co. A definite must-read, though. Steve

Congrats Frank! And thanks for your contributions to this particular community. Steve

I would probably texture the whole handle - make the whole thing look hammered. The face and edges look pretty pristine. Steve

I have the same blower- I just carved down a wood plug and wiggled it in place. Works like a charm, there's a few spares just laying around the shop. Steve

I don't think that's a bad deal for a Vulcan, if it's in pretty decent shape. That said, I'd go and wave a Benjamin in his face and see what happens. Steve

Mostly my PW 179, then the HB 103 for detail stuff. Both are chained to a stump with a scrap of rubber pond liner between anvil and stump. Really knocks out the ringgg. Steve

I don't know, but it looks like he's flicking a piece of hot scale off his arm. No eye protection, either. I'm just sayin...... Steve

As far as the wood cracking- in whole log form there are 2 kinds of wood- wood that is cracked and split, or wood that is gonna crack and split. No 2 ways about it. Linseed oil won't stop it, nor will tung oil, Danish oil or used motor oil drained from your truck at the winter solstice. It's gonna crack and split. That said, you can wrap it with a steel strap, bolted together with some space so you can tighten the strap as the log shrinks. The advantage to the strap is that you can weld on some pieces of box tube to hold your anvil tools. I just let the crack and split happen- doesn't affect the stability of the stump. Steve

Look at the tailgating section. It'll be moved there shortly. Steve

Welding in a piece of HC stel into a mild base is certainly do-able and should work. As for me, I like to keep it simpler (the KISS method). Broken breaker bits (probably 4140 or so) are easy to forge down and work perfectly fine for hot work, without any heat treating. Like Brian said, for cold work you'll want to harden and temper. Spring steel, being 5160 or so is a little harder to work, but just normalized should work well too. Steve

I'm thinking you are right, with the weight being the 206/208#. I'm sure others will chime in with the born- on date. I think you got a great deal, unless the face is all muggered up. Steve

You still have a 100# HB! Nuttin wrong with that! Steve

I'm trying to wrap my head around the idea of the deep pan, then filling it up with dirt. I'm guessing the dirt acts to protect the bottom and to build a bit of a clinker pit/ ducks nest kind of thing. Can someone explain the reasoning for this? Steve

Recently acquired a new to me anvil, was finally able to get an ID. It is a london pattern, 168 lbs(marked 1-2-0). Stamped on the other side 'Lewis', which was confirmed to me by a guy who collects anvils, and already has a Lewis, and says they are rare. Looks pretty much like my 170#(1-2-2) PW. Anyone ever hear of this mfg? I've spent the last 1/2 hr googling and binging to no avail, so I thought I'd present it to the hive mind here. It's in good shape, pretty clean edges, flat face- I will either use it or move it along. I'm just curious. Steve

Take 'em now before they slip away, worry about what to do later! Put em in the stockpile or trade for some stock you can use. Steve

Oh yeah- we got the makin's for french toast- state law says we need to buy bread, milk and eggs, so we're set. Got beer, gas for the genny to keep the beer cold. Got the anvil tied down. No flooding issues here, so I'm just hunkered down. Steve

Awesome! Inspires me to want to finish building my prototype Swiss Army Shovel. Steve