Mainely,Bob

That was one of the points I had drilled into my head early on (it started in HS shop class); NEVER leave a sharp edge on anything. I quickly got into the habit of not letting anything leave my hand if it could potentially cause an injury another person. If it couldn`t injure someone else then it wasn`t a danger to me either.

Wal-mart Ironwork anyone? It`s cheap enough you can afford to replace it every 5 years as fashion changes or it rusts out,whichever comes first. :rolleyes:

Before everybody gets started with all the preheat and post heat and nickle rod instructions here I`d like to invite those folks up to Maine to see first hand the cast iron vice I welded back together with 7018 rod using an AC machine that is still going strong despite 20 years of hard use. That 20 years included use by 2 teen age sons. I say ,go for it David. The worst thing that a few tack welds might do is break off a small area of cast iron from underneath. The resulting extra clearance MAY cause your bottom tools to wobble around a bit though. :o

Nice work. Interesting texture on the base.

Quite a few of the hydraulic rods around here are hard chromed. If you have one that`s chromed you won`t want to be forging it.

The problem with a piece of a fork is you`ll either have to have to hand it off to a machine shop to put a hardy hole in it or anneal it to drill ,square up and finish the hole. If you have a forge big enough to heat the entire block you could always drift the hole to square.

Some would say that if you cause the work to be done by way of operating a lever (or treadle) or hitting a switch then you are not even a fabricator,you are a "machine operator". :ph34r:

My approach to a tool that doesn`t do what I want it to is to make something to replace it that does work. If you like that anvil for everything except using bottom tools then make something Like Brian did to hold your tools. The idea of a jury rigged fix is that it will always be a half way solution and never completely acceptable. It will always be a thorn in your side till you get fed up and make either a striker`s anvil (like Brian`s) or a dedicated leg vise (like Brian`s). If wobbling tools are a problem then perhaps the vise would be the most sensible and direct permanent solution.

MAN that`s nice! Congrats to ya on your new bit of gear. Glad it went to a good home.

Want a big chunk of steel that`ll give you various surfaces to hammer on? Go to the closest RR repair yard and ask about a coupler knuckle. It`s one of those BIG chunks of carbon steel that couples two cars together. Heavy,good steel,lots of useful flat and non-flat surfaces to try. If you are dead set on an anvil then get an anvil,you won`t be happy until you do. If you want to pound iron then start getting your mind around the idea of using something other than an "anvil" to beat on and look in RR yards,heavy equipment yards,mining and pipeline yards,etc. IME rural folks have a better chance of finding large,useful chunks of steel than most urban dwellers. You ended up with that big chunk of SS didn`t ya? That`s a rarity even here on the Maine coast.

Using an English wheel to make metal thinner is like using a jeweler`s hammer for heavy forge work,ain`t gonna happen. The smart thing to do is to use the right tool for the job,either that or get the appropriate material to begin with.

What I would do would be to either follow Steve`s advice and stick with what the man who developed and refined this particular machine suggests in his instructions or do some in depth research on appropriate alternative bearings for high stress/load,low RPM applications. Reinventing the wheel without the appropriate knowledge is a sure way to get left broke and unhappy by the side of the trail. Ball and sintered bronze,permanently lubed bushings are not the way to go here.

Mike,you are an absolute WILDMAN! Don`t let anything stop you buddy but please be careful. Those are some big chunks of iron and We`d hate to see one of them turn the tables on the operator.

Whatever hammer is in my hand is the one I tend to use most. I have a pretty good array of hammers that I`ve made/modified as I find that the ones I already have don`t quite fit the bill. On any given day I can be doing anything from stone work to carpentry to copper work to forging and I can`t think of any one hammer that I`ve ever come across that will do it all. My personal approach is to pick up the nearest hammer that looks like it may work and try it. If it doesn`t work as well as I`d like then I at least have an idea of what may serve me better. If the rack doesn`t hold something closer then I make something that does. The one thing that I`ve found to be really helpful is to leave my handles on the newly made hammers oversize. As I use the new hammer I can then cut and shave them down till they`re exactly the fit and length I require. Yes,the rack does hold multiples of the same hammer head but if you look closely you`ll see that the handles are different.

That right there is the key for me. All I ask is that the person who is asking the question be as motivated to find (and absorb) the answer as they expect me to be in supplying the answer. I`m more than willing to share anything I know how to do but you have to meet me in the shop. I don`t do room service. Another sore point for me, the easiest way to be ignored is to argue with someone who`s actually done it themselves and is trying to supply a helpful response.

Don`t forget the baling wire! :D

Art with an edge, Thanks for sharing it. I look forward to pics of the finished knife. They are bound to a joy to look at.

For me personally I want to open doors rather than close them. If I see something different I want to try it rather than dismiss it as wrong. If it works for the person doing it them it isn`t wrong for them and it may be an improvement for me too. I`ll never know unless I try. Only after I give something an honest go will I decide what is "right or wrong" and then I try to keep in mind that the right and wrong of it applies only to me. Too many times to count I`ve had people tell me "You can`t do it that way" at a job and when asked why they reply "THIS is the the way WE do it and always have". By the time I left that job and moved on to the next one of two things had happened;either I had learned a new technique I could apply at the next job or the people I was leaving behind had a new way of looking at things. Either way somebody tried something "new" and learned something in the process. Those shifts in thinking are the kind of things I enjoy about life and I have never found them by wrapping myself in the idea that "different is wrong". What is "right" for one application mat be "wrong" for the next project.For me flexibility in both thinking and action have been the keys to growth in my life. After a few trips to the operating table you learn to be flexible,do things differently and in new ways. Age will do that for ya too.

Gloves around grinders are an invitation to lose digits. That heat you feel is a signal to slow down and take your time. If you don`t like the heat then cool the material or use files. This is not a race it is a journey,enjoy the lessons and sights along the way. To paraphrase an old saying; "haste makes the scrap pile grow".

Beauty here Boss! This says FIRE,come dance in it with me! I see it as a dark Phoenix ,pointing to the balance between the dark, cold iron of it`s physical presence and the heat and light of it`s birth. I feel the same elemental energy and potential in this piece that I get from Larry`s (Smithy 1) forged face elements. They are primal and carry far more energy than what you can take in with a picture or quick study. The size of this piece also takes it to a different level and gives it a presence that cannot be denied. I would locate this around a corner in a city, park or gallery and then put up a camera to record the reaction of people when they first see it. I bet you`ll be surprised at how strong the reactions will be.

Two things I`d change about my shop would be to inbed tubing in the floor (do you see a pattern developing here?) and to add a few I beams I would pick up at the scrap yard flush with the floor as anchor points. If you have the anchor points spaced properly for the type of work you want to be capable of then it`s a simple task to just temp weld any jig configuration you need and build off the floor. Once the job is done you can cut the jig loose and move on to the next task. Think of you floor as a heat source and work surface and make that floor as versatile and adaptable as possible. For me the most useful thing was stout I beams tied into the rebar net and flush with the floor. Advice from one fabricator to another (I checked you profile). I also have 3 drains in the floor and wish I had pitched the floor toward the corners and added a fourth drain. When you bring those snow and ice covered jobs in the door the run off is going to want to go wherever you have stacked all the stuff you wanted out of the way. Trust me on this.

In my neck of the woods that`s what`s known as a "Wicked good deal"! Sounds like everyone involved benefited from the exchange. Hard to beat that kind of thing.

Next time you make it up this way let me know. I would like to meet you and maybe sit down to a meal together(We haz much fresh caught lob-stah!). Liberty Tool is a semi-annual trip for me and my brothers and about 90 minutes drive from the coast. I`ll take you around to some of the more friendly blacksmiths in the area. Doug Harley and Pete Brown are just two who live out on our end of the peninsula.

I`d just use 309 wire Larry. It`s a fairly common rod as it`s what most people use for dissimilar steels. Like welding mild to stainless. Should be easy to find and I never had any more problem running it that I did 316 . Good luck with it.Sri Lanka thanks you. :^)

Really like these Mike. Gonna put a pair of the smaller ones on the end of your handlebars? B)