Stash

To respond to George's questions, 1 I would turn the wheel from glued up quality plywood, and 2I would press a steel bushing into the center hole. Will the wheel be spinning on the shaft? I would press in a bearing. Steve

750# of bagged bituminous coal followed me home. It is nice having the supplier less than 4 miles from my shop. Steve

Tuna- I believe you're in the right ballpark age- wise. If it had "England" stamped under the PW stamp, that would have put it after 1910 (ish). Yours is probably 1885 to 1910. Good looking anvil. Not a bad deal. Steve

Ditto the above 2 responses. There is a surprising amount of slag in fresh bloom bits, especially from the outside. Getting them up to temp you will see the slag just boiling away. Steve

Ditto iron dragon. I had one of those hitches once. Went to Home Despot, came home, noticed the pin was missing and the hitch was halfway out of the receiver, but a tight fit and rust prevented it from going any further, I eventually got it out with a heavy manual swing impactor. Someone tried to steal it unsuccessfully. I got a locking hitch pin after that. Steve

Frosty- the exfoliating granite was used to my advantage for many stone masonry projects. Example - capping steps or a stone wall with granite or bluestone flagging often times had fresh saw cuts exposed to view. Wearing goggles and mask, gloves and welding jacket, I would spritz the fresh cut with water and apply heat from a propane rosebud. Little flakes would pop off and give a nice pebbly texture. I had that done on an 11' long slab cut granite diving board 3' wide, it came out beautiful, as well as providing a no slip surface for wet feet. It was actually more of a jumping slab, cantilevered over the pool edge. In the stone world, they call the process 'thermalling'. Steve

Go ahead and take it apart and give it a good brushing and cleaning. Welcome, by the way. Where do you make a shadow? Put your general location below your name- you might be around the corner from one of us, and we're not too scary. I've pulled apart and cleaned every vise I picked up. First thing is to pull and look at the screw and box threads- hopefully they are still square and not too worn. By the way, your screw and box don't look original, judging by all the shimming between the body and screw handle. No biggee as long as the screw is good. Then you will be able to see if the dynamic jaw is frozen. It probably is.. The last one I fixed was very frozen. I got the wedge out of the pivot pin out, but the pin was frozen in place. Gentle tapping and heat from a torch got that out, but it was still frozen. I ended up heating the whole pivot area in the forge and it finally worked free. Wire brush, clean, lube and re assemble and you're good to go. For me, the work going into putting a tool like this back in service is as satisfying as actually using the tool. Hope this helps. Steve

I saved a bathroom exhaust fan from a remodel and made it work. It is quiet, too. Steve

Too hot to light the fire today, so I fooled around with some copper, annealing with the torch as necessary. One piece forged, split and rolled Trillium flower, as seen in ABANA’s Hammers Blow a few issues ago. Steve

Sorry to hear that, Thomas. Prayers sent, anvil rung. Steve

That sounds kinda like Peter Brasspenninx (sp?) of Phyre Forge. He does some real mind bending stuff. Steve

You might also look into Blacksmith Bolt and Rivet Supply. They have the full line of all kinds of usable stuff. Steve

Ditto what Iron Dragon said. I have a Champion 101 and I can adjust from 1 to 3 teeth per grab with a simple adjusting screw stop mounted right next to the return spring. If I'm using a larger bit (eg 9/16") in thicker steel I dial it down to 1 tooth. Smaller bit , thinner steel bump it to 3. Generally, your shoulder will tell you to dial it back, at least mine does. If you can't maintain momentum dial it back. Steve

Hi Rian- welcome aboard. We don't really have enough info to properly answer your question unless someone is able to identify the press from the picture. You might be able to make a rough estimate of the force by measuring the diameter of the screw and comparing it to models available today at Old World Anvils. Other than that, ....... Steve

Late to the game here. Das- sorry to hear this. It's gotta be rough. You and the girls and SO are all in my prayers. May you have peace. Steve

I don't think he's too far out of line with his prices, compared with what I see for sale here in Eastern PA, and even what I have sold similar. Those prices will weed out the flippers, and be of more interest to newer end users. I don't know your market up there, though. I tend to price at the higher end of the market, and drop down as needed towards what I consider my bottom line. Steve

In my area there has been a recurring ad for an antique snowshovel. Also a vintage Craftsman screwdriver. Steve sighs deeply and shakes his head.

Looks kinda like a valve/hydrant key. Steve

I don't recognize the logo, but I'd sure like to lay my hands on a drill like that. It's a beaut! Are you going to get it? Steve

Yup. Another good one, about 45 min from me, so we tend to hit it once a year. Hopewell is cool- the huge double bellows are still working off the huge waterwheel. They do demo castings in Al of the stove parts they. used to make. Definitely worth a visit. Steve

I would recommend Thak Ironworks on youtube. He does a bunch of armor and repousee (sp?) and is a very gifted craftsman and artist. Well above my pay grade, but I do pick up lots of good info from him. Steve

Very nice work, Flgrl. You might be interested to know that Albert Paley started out making jewelry. Just sayin'. Steve

Good post, John - thanks. My daughter is in nearby Salem, so I've visited the site several times when she gets tired of us and chases us away. Last time was a year and change ago, with covid still breathing hot and heavy. It was midweek during the off season, and we literally had the place to ourselves. I wandered and rooted around all over the place till my wife threatened to drive off without me. It is one of the more laid- back sites of the NPS, and that is ok with me. Steve

Hey Dan- nice job. Wire wheel and scotchbrite is as aggressive as you need to go. Using hard discs or flap sanders on an anvil might cause a late night visit from masked folks in IFI logo tee shirts. Wouldn't hurt to wipe on some BLO (boiled linseed oil) or paste wax. Steve

Hey Jonny- I am in Quakertown., up north. Bucks is pretty big, but you're welcome to come and visit. Steve