matto

glad you are ok. after you changed your pants and got every thing cleaned up and back in order and sat back and thought about the day, bet you wish you would of asked your buddy to come and HELP. that is a problem i have to, but i'm working on it. many hands make light work. also help with multi-tasking.

it looks like a good heavy vise. if the screw is good and the jaw face is good everything else is simlpe and part of the fun of getting and having old things. as for the price $50 is not that bad. buying a new post vise with out all the soul and charactor would cost you $500 to $700. i'd get it, matto

i found the info i have a forge like yours. the QM Museum @ Ft. Lee has some material on calavry forges. and a friend of mine got 30 plus pages from the museum director at ft. Riley Mr. William Mckale. leroy's forge came from Ft Carson Colorado, the mule pack howiter groups.

in colorado in the early 50's the army had travel forges like that for there mule teams used in training and moving heavy equipment and supplies in the mountains. they are a great little forge and pack up nice. tricky at first to get everything into the forge box.

hello aral, i have made fire pots out of 3/16 steel plate (on the small side for a travel forge) but for a shop forge it would be better to use 1/4 to 3/8 inch plate. if you need more ideas go to www.blksmth.com then to his "how to" page. he has plans for welded steel fire pots. i don't weld or fasten my pots to the forge table i let them "float" helps to save the thinner material of the forge table. my shop forge has a 5/16 plate fire pot and still looks new after 2 years daily forging.

mark aspery's first book goes through the process of facing new hammer heads and handles to your liking. with great step by step pictures. would be a great book to get your hands on. "Mastering the fundamentals of blacksmithing vol. one"

thanks all matto

was hoping to get some feed back on how i am doing. here are some pics of my work. the roses were for my wife and a friend. the spike knife was for a friend.the bottle openers were for a library auction and the bells were done with grant at the clear creek history park candle light walk for christmas.

i think i have the picture thing figured out. and thanks agian for all who have given info.

hopefully my pics come through. like i sed i work with a hammer and steel not a computer. this reply goes with the one from 12/09/09 with my prices.

kohlswa 155# b36 2009 $900 with a nc calvary stand and 18 hardy tools friend and mentor was worth every penni shape prefect vulcan 150# 2008 $375 great condition 123# trenton 2008 $90 painted in industral green guy thought it was junk had good face and rebound. cleaned it up to find out it was a 1898 trenton centaur swedish farriers 125# 2007 $300 great condition came from a farriers school near colorado springs 55# harbor freight free, yard art now

thanks for the info. i think i will file the hardy hole square. i'll keep you posted on my progress.

i have just bought my friend and mentors b36 kohlswa anvil i wanted to honor him by keeping his anvil alive. plus it is the best anvil i have used. my question is the hardy hole is not true 7/8 and a very little out of square. can i grind or file it to square (how and what to use) or will it be easier to adjust all my hardies to fit. all my hardies fit well in the hardy holes on my trenton and vulcan. as soon as i figure out how to put pictures on i will show some. i work with hammers and steel not computres

hey the bugs are great!! they would go well at 16th and van dorn with the mantis from the gentalemen from lincoln plating.

as far as i know there is not much anthracite used. to hard to get. like most blacksmith coals (metallurgical coal) comes from under ground mines. as for most power plant coals come from strip mines (wyoming). power plants do mix different coals together but bottom line is when you go through 110 rail cars a day at 100 tons per car. you are going to look for and use the stuff you can get the cheapest and fastest. ($12 to $20 per ton (fob: freight on board) from the mine)

one other major factor is that power plant coal does not have a good coking ability. were blacksmith coal does.

most all blacksmith coal is bituminous (hard coal) very little ash and moisture content high btu out put. power plants use lignite (brown coal) it has very high moisture and ash content. power plants also use sub bituminous a little less ash and moisture than lignite. anthracite has the highest carbon content almost no moisture or ash contentan great btus. only thing is it is hard to get and is costly, it is also the closest to coke. if you want all the tech stuff on it Dr leroy jacobs has written many articals on coal. mark aspry's book and the rocky mountain smiths forge facts have some of the articals.

the bottle opener is great. next you can start doing church key openers. " if you don't need an opener for your beer you need to buy better beer" matt o

what kind of hammer head tongs are you useing to hold hammer head? did you make or can you buy a pair? i'm starting to modify some hammers and be fore i go to the power hammer i want to be able to hold on to my heads. matto

most all steel building builders and ironworkers also weld washers to the c clamp locking pliers. it is a great help when putting down steel decking, roof sheets, and wall sheets that are super long.

morlock, i hear ya, where are the railings and hardware

i was an iron worker for 10 years and a foreman for 6. we always bought milwaukee for general steel work and high iron. we always used metabo for railing and other fine work. the metabo gives you some adventage in tight places. both metabo and milwaukee (for us) out lasted all other brands. but are a little pricy. home depot usually has a sell on dewalt where you can get 2 for the price of 1. which is nice you have a back up or you can keep a flapper wheel on one and a grinding disk or cut off disk on the other.

thanks for the info matto

hi i have a hammer question for everyone i found a 2.5lb straight peen hammer that has a 5/8" hole drilled parelle to the peen on the peen side of the hammer and was wondering why it is there. maybe for more head weight? the marking that i can read on the hammer is "BELL SYSTOMES" matt o