Stash

Well, I think I’m all done with Christmas gifts now. Production mode yielded a bunch of icecicle ornaments and I finished a few more tray- dish thingies. Today I’ll wrap things in tissue paper and hand- deliver the goodies. As we say in the Philly region, Merry Christmas to youse and yours! Steve

Hey Fratty- welcome aboard. Wow- that looks like a real challenge, but also a lot of fun. If I was in the area I would surely want to be part of the project. Obviously, the first phase is moving and restoring the structure and salvaging anything blacksmith- related. Lots of info on this site although not as much from the time period you are aiming for, but it might give you a start. It would probably help to visit old restored or recreated forges to get an idea of the setup ,for example Sturbridge Village, Williamsburg and places like that. The people there might also be a good resource for you. Anyway, those were just a few initial thoughts. Please keep updating your progress, and if you find something you can't identify, reach out to us. I'd enjoy watching this project come to life. Steve

I can't answer your age question, but I will say that is a beautiful anvil, and a good size. And welcome. Steve

That's a real head scratcher. Looks like it might be cast? I see stamped weight but other markings seem to be proud of the surface. I'm not seeing the star you mention. Definitely a steel face- it's mushroomed, not chipped. It has some similarities to a Samson I saw this past weekend with the blocky feet. Can't explain the pins in the side- probably not factory issue. I'm drawing a real "Huh?" here. Do some wire brushing on it and see what you can find. You certainly can just use- as-is but it is still fun knowing what you're using. Steve

The original homestead of my 7th great grandfather is a historic site now in Lancaster, PA. I went to a PABA (local abana affiliate) event there and tried to reclaim the family anvil, but they wouldn't give it to me. Steve

Kinda looks to me like the 'pounds' number is 17, and the 7 stamp was placed upside down. Or my anesthesia hasn't worn off yet. Steve

Interesting- I picked up a #1 earlier in the year that has some differences. I have a capped babbit bearing on both sides of the pulley, both topped with a grease zerk. I'm guessing they might have replaced the original oiler ( or maybe not?). Is your pulley flat? Mine is slightly crowned. I also don't have that doodad you have at the end of the shaft- play adjuster? Anyway, it is cool how simple and effective those blowers are. Looking forward to what you end up doing with it. I'm a bit backed up on projects right now, and have already a good supply of working blowers, so my belt drive blower setup is not a priority right now. Steve

Tailgating today at the PABA local gang's meeting, one of the oldtimers was starting to clear out his shop. I went home with some ( as he called it) 'aught wrought pure iron' in 1/4 x 3/4" and 1" sq. Also got a nice piece of brass sheet 14 ga. A buddy who went with me scored a nice complete 4" Columbian post vise. Steve

Nice. That's one way to warm up VT. this winter. Steve

I made a hammer from 1045- a simple carbon steel and it has done well for me. I did it in a class taught by Nathan Robertson, and at the time, was the alloy he used for all his hammers. Steve

If you're just starting out from scratch, you might do well to look in the improvised anvil thread. You can get a perfectly good, usable anvil for as little as scrap price or even free. Just a lump of steel is what has been used for the bulk of the time we bipeds have been beating on iron. You have great ambitions and plans right now, but what if you got a nice Refflinghouse and decided smithing isn't for you? (Well, you can sell it). Start with an improvised anvil ( yes- it IS an anvil, even if it doesn't look like something Wiley Coyote would drop on Roadrunner.) And it looks like Biggun beat me to it using less words. So that's 2 votes so far for improvised. Steve

I’ve been playing with a small dish idea, something for keys and other doodads. Starting stock in steel is 4x4” +/- in both 3/16” and 3/8”, the copper is 4x4” x 1/4” worked cold and annealed as needed. I used the cross pien hammer as well as heavy fullering on the press. Front right dish is the first I did, now I’m starting to play a bit. I’m also thinking of scaling it up some. We’ll see. Steve

Hey Sam- looks like 1921. Lets see some pix! Steve

I agree with your possible Hay Budden ID. The numbers you highlighted are where HB puts the serial number, you just might need to find 1 or 2 more. On the 'flat 'bottom I can see indication of a rim 1/2- 3/4" wide or so, giving a slight hourglass indent. My call here is HB. I see a line indicating a steel plate on top, so probably pre 1910 or so. I'll have to look up when they switched from plate to top half of hardened steel. Looks like a keeper to me. Steve

Yup. Happy Bird Day to all. I'm blessed and very thankful. Hope everyone enjoys the day. Steve

"Banging on metal" is basically what I do too. There should be a few more numbers for the serial number- I forget- maybe 6 total +/-. It took a few years before I figured mine out. I wire brushed but couldn't see anything. Then later (much later) I shifted the anvil a bit for a better angle, and the sun caught it at an oblique angle, and there it was. Mine was born in 1906. Dusting it with chalk or flour sometimes helps, or use a flashlight from different angles. There are certain construction details that can help narrow things down to a general range of dates. I will have to look it up. Steve

I got my message thru a PM, and was alerted thru my email contact info. She certainly had some interesting suggestions. Steve

I'll go along with Irondragon about the Hay Budden possibility. They will have a hourglass shaped depression the bottom, and serial number on the front of the foot under the horn.If you can find that, we can tell you when she was born. "Score"indeed! Congrats on being able to use a tool with family history. What did your GF use it for? I'm called 'Poppop too, and would love to pass something like that down to my GS or GDs. Steve

I like the new one, but the old one is no slacker either. Show us more of the Rover, too. Steve

Our local group had a silent auction during a meeting about 2 years ago. A long time member passed and willed his whole shop to the group. They needed another bid sheet for a similar sized mandrel, it finally went just north of $800 USD. You've got a nice one there. Steve

Looks good, merlin. Between the black goop and the bolted straps, that anvil ain't goin' nowhere! Steve

That looks pretty cool. There was going to be a pour at a nearby artist space, but then April 2020 happened and the world shut down. Steve

Actually I think that is the actual weight- the middle number in Cwt only goes to 3. It looks American made- Hay Budden. I can't find anything Black imp...(?) in AIA about it, but Postman only listed the names he had at the time of vendors that HB made anvils for. This might be another obscure one. Steve

A buddy works at a beer distributor and set me up with a few goodies from his catch-all area in the back. Got a few kegs, a cart missing a wheel and some pallet racking. Looks like there is one more truck load to get. What I can’t repurpose I’ll scrap out and buy usable stock (or maybe beer). Steve

When I started out, I was a fair- weather smith. I had a rivet forge mounted on a small 4 wheeled wagon dealie thing that I simply rolled out of my shed to use. I rocked out the anvil and stump to the mouth of the shed and went to work. Next phase added a hood and short stack to the forge, which then took up a semi permanent location under the shed roof overhang. It was tarped over after cool between sessions. The anvil situation remained the same. Once I decided I was going to get serious about it, I got a larger forge and moved it inside, and built a Hofi style sidesucker and flue stack.The rest is history. The point here is the first forge (or even the 2nd or 3rd) doesn't have to be the ultimate be-all end- all forge. Work with what you have and what you can afford right now and just get forging. Be safe and smart about it and you will start to see where you want to go from there. Opportunities and materials will come your way , often very unexpectedly. Just get forging. Steve