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I Forge Iron

ThomasPowers

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Everything posted by ThomasPowers

  1. The Buel (sp?) patent anvil had a hollow to allow for more through hardening of the face as I recall. (That doesn't look like the one on their patent application though.) Note that many farrier's anvils have tried to lighten the weight to be carried about---even a modern one with an Al base to it! May I strongly suggest you see if you can ILL a copy of "Anvils in America", Richard Postman at your local library---then you will have as much info on weird anvil variants as most of the rest of us!
  2. Looks like a top that never got forge welded to a base to me. That story sounds "off" as by the time they were using that style of anvil there were a bunch of small anvils available for travelling that would be lighter and work better than that. The nailholes might be a retrofit.
  3. Hole in the ground and a couple of animals skinned out in a tube? (I assume that severely old fashioned would be before the romans?) I mainly do Y1K stuff with a couple centruries slop to either side when I go old fashioned, smelting iron from ore in a short stack bloomery Anyway if you do not have power tools there is a limit to what you can do without massive ammounts of time. Clean the twists with round files then take dowels wrapped with SiC paper and start cleaning up what the files left. When you get to around 400 grit you can then buff with a sisal buff and black coumpound and get a shiny surface. Start by soaking in vinegar to remove the scale as that eats files and abrasives. (and rinse afterwards of course)
  4. You ask *everyone* because anvils were everywhere! Car repair places had complete forge shops back in the 1900's, Sugar refineries had smithies, *hospitals* had smithies (I once got to talk with a WWII orthopedic blacksmith, great stories!) Those anvils could be anywhere including in an unmarried great aunts flowerbed! Seek and ye shall find!
  5. Depends on the location quite a lot; anvils where I live now are about US$1 a pound higher than where I used to live. I would guess that back east, USA if that anvil was in decent using shape it would go from $2 to $3 a pound (so $300-$450) As it is I would give $50
  6. Up to you, The MOB once took one of those anvils and drilled it out and made a propane stove out of it. Destruction is easy, creativity is hard!
  7. JohnB we tend to get a lot colder over here especially in the northern parts. Probably have too much problem with the system freezing and breaking -30 degC is fairly common---why heating the shop is of interest. They would definitely need to either drain the system after use or have another heater installed to keep it above freezing when not in use. I live in the far southern parts of the continental USA and we get a lot of people from Canada who winter here. It being cheaper to shut down their houses up north, drain and freezeproof the plumbing and move south for the winter rather than paying to heat their northern houses.
  8. New roach-prufe is 98% boric acid and 2% colouring agent. Old Roach-Pruf was 100% boric acid. I get mine at the old fashioned hardware store in town here.
  9. Put the 1/2" contact wheel on your bader and clean up the inside of the twists is one way; but spending a lot of effort on an inferior knife steel seems a waste to me.
  10. Chemical smells or odd residues are a strong warn off to me when scrounging!
  11. Generally a large number of postvises at Quad-State, two QS's ago there was a dozen of them for sale at $40 or under---I counted.
  12. spring steel is not required, mild steel will work for that low stress application!
  13. I have an issue though when folks suggest an inferior way when a better way may actually be faster and cheaper to implement. Like buying a cast iron ASO when a large chunk of steel may be faster and may be scrounged for free---why settle for less than you could have? This comes out of belonging to several living history groups and having folks tell new people that being correct in kit takes too long or is too expensive and then suggest inauthentic stuff that takes longer and costs more than the real stuff! It's a personal quirk, feel free to ignore me. Engine block hammer: Look at the catalog of "User built and JYH (Junk Yard Hammers) Hammers" off the anvilfire.com powerhammer page
  14. Divermike the issue is not with cast iron bodied anvils with a tool steel face. It's with the all cast iron ASO's. Try a HF all cast iron ASO for a while and watch it dent from hitting hot coil spring on it---not from hitting it with a hammer, but from the hot steel denting the anvil! The all cast iron anvils are the ones we are trying to warn folks away from. When HF had the cast steel Russian anvils most folks were happy with them as an entry level anvil---but as soon as HF found that they were usable as a tool they discontinued them and went to straight cast iron ASO's from China. We're trying to not confuse folks; but we all like Fisher's with a cast iron body and a steel face (and most find Vulcan's ok as well). I have a 515# Fisher that I love as my main shop anvil and have the 410# Trenton as "back-up"; but having used an all cast iron anvil I would not have one in the shop save as a doorstop!
  15. I know you know this but for new folk: If you are running *any* kind of forge except for an induction one you must have massive ventilation whether you smell anything or not! CO is colourless and To heat such drafty space IR heating or in floor heating is suggested. Now if you need heat in the garage for non-forging uses you might look out for a small wall furnace on the used market, (saw 2 for under $100 on craigslist out here last week...) Have it professionally plumbed and just turn it on when you will be working out there. Be SAFE folks!
  16. My main shop anvil has 1.5" hardies, (yup 2 of them), and I have take a piece of sq tubing and slit the corners with a hack saw and heated and bent out the tabs, drop in in the hardy and you have a smaller hardy! (Actually I had to do this twice to get down to a size I can use "regular" hardy tools on) Another trick was that I traded for some top swages and forged the area the handle went through to fit my large hardy holes---I can always drift them back out again if I change my mind! (Used my large screw press as they didn't have to slim down much and it made for nice parallel sides)
  17. Remind her to be sure to list the details of the estate sale here! Pretty much the first decision we made as a couple---before out marriage even! was that I should buy an anvil we were looking at at a garage sale (165" PW great condition $100, 1984 AR) She says I have a "Harem of anvils"
  18. Of course Hay-Budden's don't have an oval depression in the bottom. HB's have an hourglass depression. I'm guessing it's a Trenton; but would need to check AinA to be sure and I won't have time to do that till Monday---I load for a 3 day demo after work today.
  19. I've never paid over $35 (and that was for a new propane regulator).
  20. I think mud dauber's nests was mentioned in "The Fox Fire Book" vol 5 (6?) one on ironworking. Clean quartz sand was a traditional flux for real wrought iron. There is a point where borax has done all it can and get's "crusty" and needs to be removed and fresh stuff added. Black crap oozing from inside of cable can be tar/oil/grease/plastic used inside cables. Dr Hrisoulas once published this flux recipe---he calls it "steelglue" "Flux mix is as follows: 5 parts anhydrous borax 2 parts powdered boric acid 1 part powdered iron oxide (the real STUFF NOT the concrete dyes) 1/2 part Flourspar 1/4 part sal ammoniac This stuff sticks most anything together"
  21. My advice is to learn to forge *first* and then get into knifemaking when you have good control of your fire, hammer and metal! Makes for much better knives, a lot less frustration making them too!
  22. Since Roach-Prufe is 98% boric acid I somehow think it must work on roaches (as well as other pests)
  23. Tree surround for a garden? (but then it would most likely be cast iron and show signs of weathering...)
  24. Well I've noticed how most folks that use power hammer, treadle hammer or screwpress generally use handled tools or ones that can be held in a holder or tongs....
  25. Most of those questions require more information from *YOU* to be answerable. What will you be doing and how much of it? Do you like to build/tweak stuff and do you have the skills and access to tools? How will you be working? Etc like me asking you what car I should buy without telling you if I have to tow a trailer or will be commuting 200 miles a day. Sure we could all spend time typing in answers that may have no bearing on your situation but why waste *our* time?
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