oof

cadmium....be careful. mark

should be cast iron. mark

not just there brother. here's the one i use, picked up last year at a yard sale. mark

i use fishing leader or used guitar strings to make small springs. mark

that's the best description i've seen yet. don't know what they used. i remember reading somewhere that the mold was broken down and the anvil quenched then left to self temper from retained heat. mark

http://www.google.com/patents/US189892?dq=patent:189892&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jGfkUM3lBsbnqQGY_YDADg&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAA found this. mark

looks like a post vise/cider press hybrid to me. mark

a proper steel is not meant to remove metal, but to realign the edge. mark

at least they're not painted pink and sitting in the flowerbed. i just hope i'm there for the yard sale when they redecorate. mark

i'm with larry. if i see a forgotten something and i want it, i first offer to get it out of the way for them. mark

looks like a firefighter's hand axe to me. i've seen a few french models sell at auction. my google fu is week and i can't seem to find an example online. mark

frosty, i used white foam beads mixed with dense castable 2:1. then a 1/2" of noxram over it to protect it. some guys use 3:1 but it seemed too weak to me. foam beads burn out and leave nice little round air pockets. mark

sevin dust after dark works like a champ. doesn't take much, just some around the entrance. as they die others drag them in to be eaten, and in turn die. usually done by the time i remember to look at them the next day. no muss, no fuss, no stings. mark

picked up a few vises over the last few months. i got the 2 1/2" columbian along with a welding helmet for 2 whole dollars at auction. the 4" morgan i picked up at a neighbors yard sale for 8$. i thought it was the columbian's big brother 'til i flipped it over. stopped at a barn sale last weekend and picked up this 5 1/2" indian chief. i haven't pulled it apart to check the screwbox, but it feels o.k.. the price started at $50, but i talked them down to $40....'til i opened my wallet and was a couple of dollars short. for 38$ i couldn't pass it up. the jaws are parallel, but offset 1/2". mark

5-10% or so, much more than that and it becomes brittle. too much and it will shatter like glass when dropped. use aluminum wire, it's the easiest/cheapest/scrap pure form of aluminum. melt the copper first with a charcoal cover then add the aluminum. mark

thanks quint. the plate on top is 12"x12" 1.5" thick, and the beam is .5" thick. it weighs right around 100 pounds. right now i just set some lead ingots inside to help calm the ring. the chain and magnets don't do enough on their own. mark

you could use it to make one of these. mark

that is one exquisite mud bug. mark

turning it to negative is a pretty good idea, i fiddled with a few adjustments and couldn't see anything. don i think you're right in there. a search with that name turns up some very similar ones. thanks fellas mark

td, there are two pieces of steel shoved into the handling holes front and back that hold everything up. no welds, feels surprisingly solid. tp thanks for that info, and yes it's in ohio. i'll have to try and clean it up some, but part of the stamp is covered by the repair. if it helps any there is a handling hole in the bottom, and a 1 stamped right in the middle of the front foot. i couldn't see any dots between the weight stamps. mark

stopped at a sale last weekend to look at an anvil that was listed on craigslist. the horn was broken off, but repaired by someone a long time ago. i got the guys # and went home. needless to say it ate at me while having breakfast so i jumped back in the truck drove back and bought it. it has a name stamped in it but i can't quite make it out. also got a pair tongs that are 45" long. it's stamped 1 0 21 so it should weigh 133 pounds. with the added strap it weighs 140#. no ring 'cause of the horn, but it has nice rebound, good hardie/ pritchel. i picked up both for $80. mark

lost foam casting and aluminum. mark

you could use it to degas an aluminum melt. mark

o.k frank that led to some interesting info, including that hoover did design an anvil....but i can't find a picture of one that says hoover. apparently he either designed the g.e. anvil or they were based on his design, and those look remarkably like the anvil that my friend has. anyone have thoughts on this? mark

a friend of mine got this at auction, and we're both curious about it's lineage. he says it weighs 132# and has a good ring. any info would be greatly appreciated. mark