VaughnT

If you look at a store-bought cross peen as the "standard", you'll note that the flat face side of the head is significantly more massive than the peen side. This is perfectly fine as long as you're using the flat face to hammer, but when you switch over to use the peen for any length of time there will be a lot of wiggle in the hammer because the weight's now above the handle. The Hofi and Habermann hammers try to minimize this by shortening the flat face side while making the peen thicker and with a larger radius. It's not perfectly balanced, but it's a sure sight better than most commercially-made hammers. If you do a lot of peen work, you'll note that your wrist isn't as sore afterwards and you don't have as many off-hits where one corner of the peen hit before the other. This is because the balance is better - giving you better control. That's been my experience. I'd love to get a Habermann hammer but I don't think anyone's making them nowadays. The Hofi-style is everywhere, but I want mine to say Habermann just to be different.

The edges look decent, minus that chipped area. And there's no noticeable sway to it. A light anvil that's easy to move around -- very desirable and quick to sell. If you can get it for $200, feel good about it and get started hammering metal.

I've been in a bowl-making mood lately and will likely continue that through Christmas. They make wonderful gifts because everybody seems entranced by them. I'm using one for myself, conscripting it into desk organizer duty, but they work well for holding fat candles or just setting on the mantle as a decorative piece.

Thank you. Works on square dishes, too. 6"x6"x.125" The corners come up about 1.5" -- depending on how I'm feeling at the time.

You start with a circular piece of steel and hammer until it starts to cup. Then you following that cupping to get the curve you want. It pays big dividends to start with a weld-on pipe end cap that's already got some curve to it, but you can easily do it with flat sheet if that's all you have. Nope. You've got it backwards. The hammer marks on the inside are caused by the hammer and what you see on the outside is from the anvil. Hammering from the inside gives the dish "visible" ambiance that customers like. That's the part they see and feel all the time, so that's the dressy side. I use a selection of ball-peen hammers to create different divots depending on the size of the bowl and where on it I'm working. It requires lots and lots of hammering, but that hammering hardens the steel as well as giving it a pleasant texture. The result is a dish that rings beautifully when struck.

On hammers over 2.5#, I prefer a thick beefy handle. As such, the easiest way for me to get them is to buy a sledgehammer handle at the hardware store and whittle it down to my preferred shape. I can get three good handles from one sledge handle, so it's pretty dang economical. I'd like to try some Spotted Gum one of these days just to see what it's like. The most important thing in handle making is to orient the grain properly. I see so many people ignoring the grain direction, or shaping the handle so there's a ton of run-out at the neck. Never have understood that!

I love threads like this. I've got a Wilkinson anvil that's been ground down past all the cracks and delam and bad welds where someone tried to "fix" it ages ago. I still haven't gotten up the nerve to try welding on it. Looks like I'll have to do the entire face as well as a goodly bit of the sides if I want to get the ol' girl back in action.

I wouldn't be uncomfortable having a competent welding grind out the crack and backfill with good rod. Pre-heat and post-heat would be advised, and I'd be sure to have the anvil upside down on a metal table so there'd be no chance of damaging the heat-treat of the face. Lots of anvils were made in two parts, top and bottom, and then welded together at the waist. Of course, if it's working right now, there's plenty of forging you can get done before the weld fails completely. Use it until the last possible moment.... then repair it and continue using it. As a family heirloom, she deserves nothing less.

That's Bogdan Popov. Not sure what his handle is here on IFI, but he's a member and quite skilled. His anvil and stand are pretty brilliant. Here's a link to an article he posted over on the Bladesmiths Forum where he makes a traditional axe and talks about his equipment. http://www.bladesmithsforum.com/index.php?showtopic=25866 I've been wanting to get one of his hammers for some time.

Thank you, gentlemen. Aus, I'm currently using Minwax paste floor wax in lieu of the more traditional Johnson's PFW. And I think I might like it better in terms of how nicely it goes on and what it looks like once cooled down.

I've been on something of a kick lately and have been hammering out some dishes. Half the fun is playing with the temper colors to see what kinds of patterns I can come up with. My biggest, to date, is just over 9" across and about 2" deep.

As I understood it, MB has only been in business for a few years. It's the father in the show that started the shop and has his kids working for him - an attempt to create a legacy for his family, but no legacy from past generations. Would I allow some contrived drama? No. Of course, it's easy to say that since I'm nowhere near being in that situation, but I do feel confident in the answer. "Contrived drama" is just another way of saying "Lie". If I allowed them to twist me around like that, I'd be lying to the viewers of the show and myself. Because the show is billed as "reality" there is an expectation of truthfulness, in my estimation. Maybe I'm too rigid in my world view, but I can't find any reason to sell myself for the cost of a new power hammer when they're already paying me to be on the show as the main talent. The legacy this father has chosen for his kids is as some kind of circus sideshow freaks, and that's where I really have an issue. Seems to me he made a deal with the devil and put image, integrity and dignity on the chopping block. Definitely agree about their running around the shop, jumping on each other's backs and doing generally juvenile stuff. There'd have been some whipping going on if that had been my shop. Way to easy to get hurt around a shop and zero tolerance for anyone increasing their odds with blatant stupidity.

I think this is a good illustration of what I see as wrong with a lot of society today. While it seems logical and reasonably, the end result is, basically, something akin to moral relativism. Firstly, a 'gateway' drug that could possibly maybe pique the interest of some homo sapien in the future? So that justifies the actions of the writers, producers and actors in the show? If that's the case, anything is acceptable because you have no idea what might catch someone's eye and inspire them to research further. Nobody is saying that the show needs to be a hard-core documentary like PBS does. It's not an either/or proposition. Secondly, and this is admittedly a pet peeve of mine, we don't need "aspiring blacksmiths". I've heard this for as long as I've been into smithing and I've never understood this fear some folks have. Blacksmithing isn't going anywhere. It's not a dying art. With the advent of the internet and youtube, there is more information available now than at any time in the history of humanity. We don't need to coddle newbies on the forums for fear that they might go away and never smith again. It's just not going to happen. There will always be people interested in smithing and they'll generally find information and inspiration just like people were able to do back in 1980..... only it will be far easier because it's just a mouse-click away. Theatrics have their place, but so does honor, integrity, self-respect and honesty. If we throw those to the wayside, what's left? I have no problem with the crew at MB wanting to earn some more money by getting on air, but problems start cropping up when I see them acting like they are.

Latticino, when I first got the fan, I tested the blades for free play and they spun just as nice as you could ask for. I checked the oscillator's gearbox to see if it was jammed up with old grease, but it was clean as you could ask for. When plugged into the wall socket, there wasn't a hint of sound from the motor to suggest that it was trying to turn but was somehow jammed. I reckon the best option right now is to try bypassing the switch like you suggest. I wouldn't think this it the problem going by the seller's description of it slowing down and finally stopping, but I'm game to try anything at this point. A new switch would be a sure site cheaper than getting the stator rewired!

Look for other pedestals around. The chances are good that you're not on the borderline between two phone companies, so the pedestals on the next street over should be for the same company. Companies generally use the same style of ped unless it's been a few decades and a new style is in vogue. If you see another that looks just like yours, the chances are really good that it's the same phone company. And, yes, I spent far too long as a utilities locator! Ugh!

Any electricians in the house????? I snapped a photo of the wiring of my fan so I could think about what I wanted to do, but I'm not an electrician and don't know that I'm understanding things correctly. Does it look wired properly? If I understand how this works, there should be two leads coming off the stator. These are spliced to the head wire that goes down to the switch... which is wired to the plug wire. I would have thought both of the wires coming from the stator need to go to the switch so when the switch is in the off position, none of the electricity is flowing through it. The way this thing looks, you've always got electricity going into the machine. Doesn't that build up heat to some degree? Isn't the stator always going to be 'hot'? Is that right? The wire the guy used is "old fashioned" two-wire, cloth covered stuff that looks dang sexy. But that means that there's electricity flowing from the wall all the way up to the stator. I thought it was supposed to be stopped at the switch, isolating the rest of the mechanism from any electricity until you close the 'gate'. The switch appears to be OEM and original to the fan. I peeled back some of the shrink wrap tubing on the one connection just to see if it was solid. It appears to be, but I think a better job could have been done. If I plug this thing into the wall, I get no sound from the stator/rotor to indicate that it might be wanting to spin. I polished up the face on the rotor, but haven't taken the stator out to clean up its surface. Maybe that's the problem? Carbon buildup might interfere to some degree, right? Do I want to check for continuity with the thing plugged into the wall socket?

Is your phone main aerial or underground? If it's underground, there should be a number on the phone pedestals you see along the roadside. That number should get you to whoever is responsible for maintaining the U/G cables. I'm not saying they'll respond quickly, but if you tell them that there's a damaged line that gets drenched every time there's a hard rain (indicating that water is getting in the system), they'll usually send someone out to double-check everything in that area. At the very least, they'll be able to tell you if the problem is in the main or in the house line coming from the pedestal. Most problems occur in the service line because it's shallow and easy to damage, or in the connections at the house junction or pedestal.

Mark Aspery's books. Tools are great, but they're a very personal thing. Knowledge.... that's priceless stuff and Mark's books are a solid investment because the skills in there can be applied towards a lot of different projects.

Like everyone else, I've long been using Johnson's Paste Floor Wax to coat the stuff I make. I never really had any reason to question it, and buying a little tub of JPFW was sure easier than trying to brew up my own concoction. You can imagine my displeasure, then, when I went down to the store to get a new tub and was quickly informed that they no longer carried it. To say that I was a bit miffed would be an understatement. The fellow at the counter pointed me to this new-fangled stuff called Minwax Paste Floor Wax and told me that it was pretty much the same thing. Looking at the tin of the stuff, I marveled at the similarities between it and the Johnson's I'd come to appreciate. Even the color scheme on the label was the same. The only real difference between the Johnson's and Minwax was that the latter came in a taller tin. Resigning myself to my fate, I purchased a tin of the Minwax figuring to give it an honest assessment.... or at least to tide me over until I found some more JPFW. Low and behold.... dare I say that the Minwax seems to do better than the competition? I'm honestly impressed with this stuff. It seems to dry a bit harder than the JPFW and I like how it behaves when at heat. I did find some more of the Johnson's wax and will soon do a side-by-side comparison, but I think the Minwax is going to win.

Yep. I stopped watching MB after the second episode. Stopped watching I&F after the first episode. Only watch FiF if I record it on the machine so I can fast forward to the end and skip all the BS that goes into every other part of it. MB and I&F really irk me because the people on it are allowing themselves to be portrayed as imbeciles for the sake of a paycheck. If you want to be a clown, join the circus and preserve your dignity.

Been there, friend. I took a solid 12 years off and didn't do anything really hands-on. I dropped smithing and building things, sold off all my kit, and got a job that required me to work 12 hours a day and commute 2 more hours! Then life smacked me in the head, hard. After a bit of time in the bottle, I decided to try smithing again with the idea that I could bring in a little extra play money by selling stuff. Wow, what an eye-opener. I was never a Samuel Yellin, but I wasn't a greenhorn, either. Looking at my work the first time I relit the forge, you'd think I had just graduated kindergarten! It's taken me about two years to accumulate a decent selection of tools and find my groove again. Funny how life works out. I might be poor as dirt, but I'm content.

I would agree with that wholeheartedly. These hollywood types don't have much respect for anything outside of their own little world, but I just can't understand how someone that is outside that little world could so easily be persuaded into selling their reputation and dignity. Yep. I've been seeing that a lot on commercials now, too, and it doesn't have to even be the 'trash' portion. Personally, I'm getting more and more into watching youtube videos. With people like 'workingwithiron' 'Rowan Taylor' and 'Joshua De Lisle' doing beautiful videos that actually teach, I get quality content without commercial breaks, proselytizing, false drama and the like.

I gave up on MB after the second episode. Simply put, whether it's scripted or not, I think folks should have more dignity than that. Putting your family into the limelight to showcase your craft is a good thing, but then to allow your family to be portrayed in a negative light for all the world to see..... nope. My personal belief, sure, but not something I'm comfortable watching and therefore condoning to some degree. That young son would have been fired the instant he mouthed off and got off the forklift. Period. End of story. And there's no coming back just because the forklift "miraculously" malfunctioned and he seems to be the only one capable of fixing it. Overall, what little fabrication and smithing they are doing is not nearly enough to overcome the negatives of the scripting. No father, in my opinion, should allow his family to be shown like that, even if it is truly how they are. Airing dirty laundry, or acting unprofessional, for the whole world to see is simply a no-go for me. FIF is still watchable, but I prefer to record it so I can fast forward through all the garbage. I can usually winnow it down to 10 minutes of quality viewing, and that's mostly the last portion when they're at their home shop and working to win the big money.

Hope you get it before someone else shows up with cash in hand. That's a dandy of an anvil and you'll be well served by her. Nice clean edges, no sway in the face, the horn's minty.... you really don't get any better than that. If you take good care of her, you could forge on it for the next thousand years.

Beautiful work. That's a great idea for an electrolysis tank and I just might have to steel it from you!