Lucas

My experience in pricing art work out are more in calligraphy, as I'm just getting into blacksmithing, but one of the best advice I've read/heard is this. Price things out for how much they are worth. So $30-$50 an hour or whatever the going rate is (those are the "standard" rates for calligraphy). If you don't think the client will bear that price, and you are just getting started/it is your hobby etc. let the client know what you would normally charge or what the price should be. But tell them since you know them, or they are like a patron, or they work with you, or whatever your reason is, that you won't charge them that much but will only charge them $40 dollars, etc. because of these reasons. This accomplishes several things, first it builds a good relationship with them and they understand that they are getting a tremendous deal. Second they don't EXPECT a low price every time. Third, it doesn't create customers with expectations of the industry you are in of finding cheap things. AND it doesn't make professionals as mad at you for undercutting their work, because eventually you will charge the same, but for now you are charging people "hobby" rates for patrons. For example, in the work I've sold I charge about $15 per hour plus materials (at least $30-70 per project) instead of $30-50, but I let people know they are getting a deal. One, I don't feel bad about charging them that hourly rate and tracking all of my time as calligraphy is my hobby and I might not be as fast as a professional, and it compensates me at about my day jobs hourly rate. Just my two cents about the whole pricing thing. Lucas

Welcome!

Here are some better images of the anvil, and a picture with my daughter in it for... scale, yeah that's it. Any recommendations for smoothing the edges/building them up/leaving the darn thing alone and just using it, are always welcome. Rebound on multiple points from 10 inches with a marble was 8.5-9 inches. it weighs 145 lbs. by our bathroom scale.

Just FYI... Mercuric acid - no such thing Hg(OAc)2 is Mercuric acetate or the mercury salt of acetic acid. If I remember correctly Muriatic acid from Lowe's is 37% (33-40%) which is concentrated hydrochloric acid, about 12 molar. If you get percentages molar conversions aren't too bad. Electrolysis in salt water (sodium chloride) will generate chlorine gas, so be aware of that. Might post more later, got to go for now.

I'm going to go look at it after work today (yesterday wasn't an option as it was my wife's birthday, "Happy Birthday my dearest, I love you very much. By the way we are going to drive an hour one way and buy me an anvil for your birthday. That sounds like a good plan, right?"). If I decide to buy it I will post better pictures of it.

Just found this anvil on Craigslist in my area, about an hour away, do you all think it is worth it? How much do you think it weighs? http://roanoke.craigslist.org/tls/2060631635.html

Awesome, that's quite helpful, I think I'll apply a sharp edge and a large, medium, and small radius on my 4 corners of my "anvil" probably more work than it's worth, but it should be fun!

Thanks for the reply about radiusing. That's what I suspected radiusing was but couldn't find something that confirmed it. I'll have to put those books on my Amazon wishlist with all my other blacksmithing books.

Alright one more stupid question before I start banging on my hunk of metal. What precisely do you mean by "radius" the edge (I'm picturing measuring the diameter and dividing it in half, and that doesn't seem very useful at all)? I searched the internet and can't seem to find an explanation.

Hmm... that's interesting. So, until I start smelting my own iron....(it will probably happen one day) Just admit that I have a lump of modern steel that needs something more. Is finding somewhere to weld on a hardenable plate an option, or even worth the effort? Is allowing it to work harden and learn on it for a while a viable plan before I can afford an actual anvil and reasonable option or am I being dumb? I would love to see a thread on historic iron/steel and methods etc., but I'm a nerd like that. :)

So I'm trying to make an anvil from a lump of low carbon steel. I know this is less than ideal, but seemingly low carbon steel was all that was available back in the day (WAY back in the day...) Anyway, I have a 4x4x12" piece of A36 steel. As far as I understand (and that probably isn't very far) the surface will eventually work harden, but is there a way to heat and harden the working surface to start with. (usually you need a higher carbon content right?) The goal is to use it up on end so having a 4x4" working area. Does anyone have suggestions? Any luck hardening A36 to any degree? Thanks!

Something to remember in line with everybody mentioning that it was Iron, not steel. This technology of smelting was possessed almost solely by the Philistines in the ancient near east. It was not until the reign of Saul and David that Israel gained the technology of smelting iron from the Philistines (Scholars tend to think that David actually stole it when we was a fugitive from Saul living in a Philistine town raiding other Philistine towns). Just a fun bit of history that goes with this topic.

That's actually the technique I've used to make felted berets, as well as how my younger sister (who weighs half what I do) ended up with a couple of my felted sweaters. lol.

I don't know anything about this book but had found it in my looking for information on centrifugal blowers. http://www.amazon.com/Design-Build-Centrifugal-1987-publication/dp/0917914600/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1289490768&sr=1-1 Also from the pictures it looks like you go from a 6-8 inch diameter gear to a 1-1.5 inch diameter gear which turns another 6-8 inch which goes to a 1-1.5 inch on the shaft that drives the fan. So lowest ratios are is 4 to 1 and 4 to 1 (which is 16 to 1 total?) and the largest is 8 to 1 and 8 to 1 (which is 64 to 1?). This assumes tooth spacing is the same and that I can eyeball the sizes right and that I actually know how to calculate a ratio. So that gives a range from 1 rpm gives you 16 rpm or 1 rpm gives you 64 rpm. From a physical standpoint, I'm assuming you can turn the hand crank at like 60 rpm, which with the low gear ratio would be translated to 960 rpm and with the high calculation gives you 3840 rpm. The second value seems ridiculous to me. Anyway, I had fun doing math, I don't know if it helps at all though. :)

Well, I am sure I will be doing a rebuild of a smaller set of more efficient bellows before too long, but as of right now. I had already stapled the canvas to the whole thing (one of several issues). Anyway, I have sealed the whole thing with Elmer's white glue. (fyi, you DO NOT need a gallon to do this, I have 3/4 of it still left, lol) Anyway it is a little stiff, but still flexible enough to work and the canvas is sealed very well.