ThomasPowers

Does this mean you will be at Quad-State with one?

I expect to see smithing equipment about once a year at the local fleamarket; usually abused and over priced. The population out here was pretty much zilch back in the height of smithing days. Now I know all the mines must have had shops but it seems like all the portable stuff was scrapped. I keep hearing tell of folks finding smithing stuff up in the hills (I'm down in the valley; at only about 4600' elevation); but I have never managed to talk them into taking me or bringing back some of the equipment. Remember that factories all had smithies as an adjunct to their tool and die shops! (I know of ones in a sugar refinery, glass manufacturer, shoot even a hospital had an orthopedic smith during WWII!) Logging and coal mining both supported smiths.

Wow I didn't think my wife was going to let me back into the house after our first was a 9 pounder! Good looking kid! Just remember birth weight doesn't strongly correlate with adult weight---our 9 pounder is 26 and she weighs about 120# now...

Temper with a forge, tempering tongs, charcoal fire, Pizza oven,.... lots of ways. Will you be doing a differential temper

I'd go with 5160; but if you have to ask this question you are probably not ready to make a sword yet---keep working on the knives! 1095 will hold a better edge but be more brittle.

Carport/pole barn over the slab with sliding barn doors. OldnRusty is right though but *anything* not built of heavy masonry is pretty much subject to hurricane modifications---so build it cheap! Building out of steel helps with fire worries but doesn't help with sunload. Steel roof with trees planted is a good idea. Our local electric coop will give used power poles to it's members so when I extended my shop I got two and cut them in half and put up a two bay pole barn. Used old metal trusses and hail damaged/surplus propanel for the roof and walls and so had a stout, 10' tall at the top of the wall, 20'x30', *CHEAP*. Forge addition. No problem punching a hole for the chimney as we get so little rain I didn't worry about making a rain tight pass through for the pipe.

Yup; when I first got out of college I worked in the oil patch as a mudlogger 12 on 12 off 7 days a week; gets old pretty fast and hard to have a social life---OTOH I talked with a lot of folks in small towns and started buying smithing equipment---my first 50# powerhammer I bought for $250 under power back in the early 1980's!

Forgot to add; when a seller asks *me* to suggest a price I always start with $1 a pound; you can go up if necessary; but I've bought several that way. Also do the ball bearing test to check for hardness of the face.

Price: well I'm anviled up---was very lucky buying anvils where they were very reasonable---Ohio, USA, only purchased one since I moved to New Mexico, USA where anvil prices are much higher. We don't have a clue where you are so it's hard to give a basic price. BTAIM I would think that US$1 a pound would be a great price and US$2 a pound a livable price if you are really needing an anvil and having trouble finding one. Above that I would want it in much better shape to even consider! Now this is me; others will have other opinions (and may live in other places...)

Seems like it was the last time tripods came up. I had to do one in trade for some vet work; the vet wanted to be able to suspend a 10+ gallon pot of beans over the fire for long periods of time and we were afraid that the regular pointed legs would sink in too far on one side causing a slight problem. So I bent out the last 6 inches or so of the leg and pointed the tip and bent 2" of it down and then flattened the piece between the point and the main section of the tripod leg. In use you set it up so the bent flattened section is parallel with the ground and then step on the flattened part to drive the point into the soil---so it won't slip on the flattened foot. This prevents the tripod from being re-used as in the spit/pot holder format; but folks that need a heavy duty tripod set up usually have a dedicated pot for it---and generally I can sell them a "transformer" version as well! (actually it's usually the other way around: they get the regular version from someone and then complain to me about having it sag during use with a heavy pot and I make them a heavy pot tripod and they are happy!) I'm overdue to make an Oseberg tripod but now I have some reasonable wrought iron for it...I will make it with the top bends offset so they can nest for transportation. I once made the prizes for an SCA cooking contest held during an SCA event. The team got a variety of down hearth cooking equipment; but they all wanted tripods after they saw the one that was part of the set and so I cranked out another 3 of them and still see them scattered around various camps at SCA events. It's *good* to see your work in use!

The flats on the front and rear feet do look *very* PWish. Does it have an indentation on the bottom; if so what does it look like? (and I don't mean a handling hole---though how many of those does it have and where are they?) What does the under side of the heel look like (one brand is known for leaving them rough from the steam hammer)

I've never paid US$600 for an anvil in 30+ years of smithing and I general pick up ones with a great face and crisp edges. This includes anvils I have gotten in OK, AR, OH, and NM. It does not include any found in newspapers, conferences, and only one on the internet (112# PW, Albuquerque NM, $150, 2010). I did spend $600 for a #1 Champion triphammer last year though. Most of my acquisitions were inside city limits of Columbus OH in the 1990's. So by going around talking with people I have managed to find great anvils in your quality and size range that required NO repair work whatsoever. I'd go for a better deal on an anvil and sink the rest of the money in a good swageblock and a cone---I assume you have a good postvise already.

Welcome; there are a number of us with an interest in the history of the craft who are very happy to see you here! I'm very interested in the progression of construction techniques over time. Do you happen to have a copy of your thesis on computer that you would be willing to share? And perhaps you might be able to help me" I once ran across a copy of a work in germany about the contents of iron age smiths graves "durch die Alpen". I lost the cite due to a disk crash and have not been able to track it down again. In your studies did you ever run across anything somewhat like this?

Have you considered that when you are doing a wrap and weld eye for a hawk you automatically get a teardrop shaped eye. And wrap and weld was the way they were made back in the day. BTAIM I use a hammer handle drift on mine as it's easy and cheap for me to find hammer handles under $2 a piece and Hawk handles tend to be much more pricey. I also don't like a slip fit and wedge them in just like a hammer handle. This is for camping hatchets made from farrier's rasps.

Ok Folks; take a deep breath and repeat after me "The internet is often NOT the best place to find an anvil!" asking around locally usually will turn up good anvils far cheaper than the internet does and being local you avoid the often quite high shipping charges. (I do keep an eye on CraigsList for them as it's "local"; but have only found *one* that I would buy for a bit less than US$1.50 a pound and lots in terrible condition that they want $6 a pound for.) Now if you are willing to spend several hundred dollars just to not speak to you neighbors, friends, post a notice at the feed store, etc; well good for you!

I love finding metal! Out here I once found the rotting remains of an old boxcar out in the desert and got about 100' of 5/8" wrought iron rod that was used as bracing for it. Mainly involved pulling the rods out of the pile of rotten wood and watching out for rattlesnakes. Just be careful of those great white birches out there---french kissing them is definitely not suggested!

That stand *IS* a work of art for that anvil. "Old School Industrial to the Max!" Think about doing the next one in more of a "dirigible airframe" pattern for the cutouts for a "Victorian SF" look

Pennsylvania is the closest oil producing state that I know of, though surplus sucker rod shows up at scrapyard and fence builders' yards.

Ahhh that "idea" has been in common use for over 40 years that I know of and I would not be surprised to find it goes MUCH further back than that! Did you read of my suggested modifications for use in soft soils or with very heavy pots?

I'd recommend the wood that goes best with the blade. Or a sort of "Yes". I've used quite a few woods in my time and am currently hunting some bog oak for a pattern welded blade I have in process...

Having had my first anvil, a beautiful 199 pounder stolen from my back yard in the middle of OKC I would suggest a more secure arrangement. And I'm on the don't breath stuff you don't know side of the argument.

1: can you return it for $$ or credit? 2: If not can you work it into projects as a piece that doesn't get forged?

That is seen on European anvils as are the double horn set up. It was used to forge on...

Ahh what is your skills and equipment. What might be easiest for one person might be impossible for another.

Wow I live in a small NM town and I can buy propane from 3 different places at 9pm on a Sunday, you must really be out there if briquettes are the only fuel available! (It's why a lot of smiths have moved to propane forges---too hard to get good solid fuel!) Commercial coke does burn very clean and very hot but it needs an electric blower and is a lot harder to start.