macbruce

I've heard them called ''tool makers anvils'' before, like for straitening buck saws. The space? Well, it would make em lighter..................?

The reconstructed fort was opened in 1976.............What you see is all there is, made in 1975. They're probably considered antiques by some at 36 yrs old........not unlike the makers at 63 ............ http://en.wikipedia....l_Historic_Site edit::: I don't mess with blades much any more.......ornamental, and sculpture mostly

Me and a friend of mine, Jim Fleming, got a commission from the NPS in the mid 70's for 20 pipe hawks, 25 ''squaw'' hatchets and 25 tomahawks to stock the store at the newly re built Bents Fort, in Colorado........A huge commission at the time. Never done so much filing in my life!........According to the nps people the hawks were not traded with handles included, hence, no handles.......mb

I was reviewing this thread and noticed ''carved to mate hardwood''...........what is this???........thx,mb

Great idea!!, Now after I've fallen I can at least find my beer.............:wacko:

THAT is such a gorgeous tool and piece of history......May your luck hold!

Safety glazzes?, he don gots to wear no stinking safety glazzes!!.....B)

There is never any harm in using a starter. my general rule of thumb is 3hp and below it's ok to run without (depending on the frequency of starts and how much load it's under when it starts).........5hp and above absolutely . It gets costly....I know, burned up motors hurt$$......mb

No anneal, pre harden/temper, and pre heat?.............Work hardened steel needs annealing to re stableize, in my humble opinion...mb

I wouldn't say don't use a mag starter, It's the correct method.............But a 3hp motor, depending on how much it stops and starts will work fine without one, I've done it often enough..........5hp no way......Ebay has starters.........mb

I's coming along......getting the body line and rump to look right are a noogie.......On one hand it's supposed to be very grotesque and on the other it has to meet basic anatomical parameters .......Harder than I thought, especially given the material

Stormcrow, I was wondering..........Did you fully anneal and re harden/temper that die before fabing it? If not I reckon that's sure fire recipe for cracks. Old RR track is work hardened allot .......... Heat treating dies after fabing is a mistake in my view......too many different forces at play. After heat treating the die, fab it in stages, letting it fully cool between eash one, that way the whole mass doesn't heat up too much........Hope this helps......mb

Another good source that is practically unlimited for knife blades and can be had for next to nothing, is lawnmower blades...mb

I still would have bought a lotto ticket........................Remarkable how good a shape it's in for so old.....a beauty....mb

There's free and then there's too good to be true..........should have bought a lotto ticket that day........:D

Thanks for the comments all ! Don't know if the client will like the macho addition, but I'll gladly torque em' in, no extra charge...:lol:

A good friend and client of mine has been coveting a sculpture at the Denver Art Museum for some time by Deborah Butterfield.........A likeness of a horse made entirely of trash sheet metal........But didn't want to spend around $40k.......He asked me if I could do something like kinda like that for his garden..........Sure I said, thinking on one hand, If is screw this up my friend and client might not be so after this project or cripes I really need the work........Well It's coming along, and it hasn't been easy but the client is cool with it so far......... http://www.google.com/search?q=deborah+butterfield&hl=en&prmd=ivnso&tbm=isch

I remember quenching in below freezing oil once and my piece cracked.......Warmed the oil and no problem.......................

Inconel.........???

HW, Those round rod supports really do it to it, that pipe you bent looks as good as one done in machined dies..thanks again....mb

Reminds me of how they catch monkeys somewhere in se Asia. They put a coconut shell on a rope....make a hole large enough to pop a nut inside.......... the monkey puts his paw in, grabs the nut and tries to pull it out, which he can't cause the nut has enlarged his paw by holding the nut.........They won't let go of the nut, so the trapper calmly walks up and.........;)

Cold? I'd need a 700lb hammer to do that cold.......The piece in the hammer was a bit misleading I guess.........

Spears, if you can sharpen a 1/16 drill bit on a ped grinder you're a better man than I.......I sharpen bits all the time but after 1/8 I toss em'

A fair amount of smiths still flatten and file to achieve their finishes, but they most likely aren't doing modern architectural fire place surrounds and such........ My friend who came up with the die had like a 5gal bucket of em.......His scrounging skills are even more tenacious than mine......and I'm no slouch at that. I still got a coffee can full.... Form follows function with texture and all other dies, I also have a set with very deep, wide grooves for doing tree bark. They being an apple and the plow bolt dies an orange....... I remember those feather dies and they were great!.........mb