jj2k

I've made a scrolled base from the stem. Drilled a hole in a rock. Mounted one in a piece of cool driftwood. That one didn't last long.

Ya know what's wrong with those?..... They ain't mine! LOL nicce job

Ya done good nice idea to use a treadmill motor. I think a motor setup like that would do well in a tumbler application as well.

Will be watching your build with great interest as I am about to start my own. Good luck with your build and post lots of pictures.

He does it cold

Done a lot of time and motion studies of the stuff I make to sell at craft shows. Knowing exactly how long an item takes to manufacture is a good base to start with. If you are doing production work you can produce an item quicker when you are doing a bunch at once. My shop rate is $60 an hour. I figure the materials and the shop rate and THEN mark up a modest profit margin. I know exactly how long an item takes, how much material it uses, and what the market will bear. Sometimes an item will sell for much more than time and materials. I will ask and get that higher price to make up for the items that won't. Years of experience tell the tale tho.

A few years ago I was at a show and another blacksmith was there selling his stuff for the cost of his materials, (pretty much). I bought everything he had, cleaned up what he had done and marked it all up to market levels. He was a little ticked when he saw what I had done, but he learned an important lesson. I'd rather hang on to my product, (labor) than to give it away because someone else is to cheap to pay what it's worth. Never let a customer price your work. It's your work. The only thing you owe them is a good job for the value.

This item sold

I have a 1923 Trenton Anvil, 175 lbs.
The anvil is in decent shape and needs a good home.
I live just south of Ft Worth Texas. It would be prudent if it were picked up as the weight is greater than most shippers will handle without huge increases in shipping costs.

Selling price $400.00.

You can PM me with any questions or offers.


The Little Giant power hammer and the Trenton anvil have sold.

I purchased a Saltfork Craftsmen Swage Block. I use it at least once a week but often more. I use it on every leaf and candlecup I produce. I have built it it's own stand and can move it out of the way when needed. But I can't imagine my shop without it now.

This is kinda different, but i think it applies to this thread.

I am gonna have to have surgery here real soon and so I had to end my craft show season early this year. But I still needed a way to generate some income. So I rented a booth at a local mini mall.

Here are some pics of my initial set up there.
I bought the glass case at a local pawn shop and built the stand it is sitting on.

JWB,

Man that's awesome!!!

You can really tell you went to a lot of time, trouble and expense to make your rig look great. Thanks a lot! Now have to work just THAT much harder!
Honestlt though that is a realy nice looking booth.

jj2k

Christmas is coming?????????????

LOL

This year I am building my wife a bakers rack. I'll post pics when it is finished. Others in the family are getting inventory leftovers. No since paying tax on stuff I can give a way.
(grin)

Looks like it's coming along well. What changes did ya make? Let me know how it works for ya.

This thread has contributed a lot to bettering my attitude with those we'd like to strangle when doing a craft show demo.

We did a show today as a matter of fact. I had several walk up whose grandfather etc was a blacksmith. I heard the same joke about pickin up the hot horseshoe 3 times.

But we had to run the propane forge today because of high winds and so many vendors being right next to us. It was late in the day and I was TIRED! This one guy walks up and calls me a cheater for using propane. Told me I was to have coal and a bellows or a crank blower. I told him to stick his hand in there to see if the fire was hot enough. And did he really think that if they had had propane and gas burners back then, would those blacksmiths have used it? And finally I said with a big ole grin on my face, Can't you read the sign?!?
I have a sign posted on my anvil base that reads:

Please Do Not
Feed
Poke or
Tease the
Blacksmith

At which point I grabbed my hammer and said," Don't make me use this!" It was all in good fun, but I got my point across. Nobody likes to be called a cheater for any reason. Besides, I still swing that hammer just as hard.

I guess the rudest comment I ever got was, " My grandfather was better than you!".
At the first moment I realized what had been said, I got mad. But looking at the young man I realised how young he was and he was obviously trying to impress the girl he was with. So I calmed down and took a breath and said," Well when get to be as old as he was when you saw him in his greatness, I hope I can be half as good." He walked away, I and couldn't help thinking how small he must have felt. I politely pinned his ears back without being rude or a smartXXX. others standing nearby commented how well I handled the situation after he had left. And a few even bought a couple items.
Ya never know.

Here in Texas we don't get a lot of days where it is cold enough to need much extra heat once the forge is lit. However we do get a few days that require a bit more than just a flannel shirt with sleeves. I save all of the sticks from the trees in my yard and any other scrap wood that comes along through the spring summer and fall. I'll burn that wood in my cleaned out coal forge if I am not using it. I keep the blast low and the wood burns well. That'll raise the temp in my uninsulated shop a good 20 to 30 degrees. Makes it downright bearable when I am not in a forging mode on a real cold day. I have on occasion had to add just a bit of coal here and there to that wood and that makes a really big difference.

I always ear muffs when power hammering. Otherwise I don't wear any ear plugs. I don't like the idea of sticking stuff in my ear. (grin) I have suffered quite a bit of hearing loss over the years due to several activities that I have taken part in that have damaged my hearing. In some frequencies it has been quite severe.

I used Irns design to make my posts for roping off my forging area. I used rebar as the material for the posts because I had had a bunch given to me.
Anyhow I forged the points on one end and the loops on the other end.
On several of these, as I went to use them last saturday, broke at the loop. I was driving them into the ground and wasn't even hitting that hard. Is rebar just that brittle or do I need to handle quenching differently or what? I am gonna do some experimenting this morning but I was curious what other folks excperience with rebar might be.

Thanks,

This past Saturday we went to Cranfills Gap Texas. They had Septemberfest and a wild game cook off. What a hoot! We had a ball. Made some friends and sold a bit as well. This is how our booth looked with the my redesigned canopy. I had rebuilt the canopy over the summer and the wife made the canvas top. I used Irns design for the posts to rope off my forging area. (thanks Irn, they worked great!)

Well this year we entered a piece in the State Fair of Texas. And once again we received a Blue Ribbon for first place. Just thought y'all would like to know.
Here is a picture of this years entry.

Nice score Whitesmith. Bear and sdalcher got me thinkin I'm livin wrong. ;)

congrats to Genia and the mom hope all are doing well

tzonoqua,

I like your booth, but I love the gallery. It takes so much work to get things as you want them and to keep it all fresh looking. Nice work.

Nick,

You do some really good work there. I like your demo set up.
I'll be doing a show on August 11th I'll be sure to take some pics of the new booth set up.

John,

I REALLY like those.

Here are some pics of my demo/retail shop at the Beaumont Ranch in Grandview Texas.