Cory

The mouse hole you refer to is a handling hole. They would use bars or tongs like ice tongs to pick up and handle the anvil during manufacture and the quenching prosess. Most of this heavy work was done by way of an overhead crain system.

cooter, check with the garage door installers in your area.The springs that are used on garage doors are made in several different diameters.They may have a pile of used springs from damaged doors or upgrades.

Double D, to answer the question about dial-up for Tuesday night blueprints. I too have dial-up option only, it is a small price to pay for rural living and it has served me well for the year I have been here. Welcome and enjoy

Hillbillysmith, the info I have on the serial# shows the anvil was made in early 1913. The C and the 9 are inspection marks. A very nice find at a good price.

Henry you can weld a couple of passes on the bottom side of the plate, may take a few passes in both directions. When done grind the welds off. I used to work at a place that made boat docks here in Missouri and sometimes the help would forget to clamp in the jig and it would come out twisted, I would run a few passes here and there to straighten.

In my daily reading of other blacksmith forums I came across an interesting thread some here may find helpful,Iknow I did. forgemagic.com has had this thread going for a couple of days now. Anyone wanting to check this out can hit the long form tab at the top of that forum page and it will take you back a week or so. Also wanted to thank the few locals from this site for taking the time to post what information they did. If anyone has anything to add to that we could get the thread started here as well.

Richard, If thats the hammer the was on ebay awhile back that I think you ended up with, I was curious about that flywheel as well. I noticed the flywheel didn't have any lettering on it and wondered if it was even cast or is it a solid steel replacement? Does it have a counter balance on the back as the original would have been cast in one piece. I did look in the Power hammer book by Richard Kern and It lists that serial# is being made in 1900 #s ran from 108 to 191 that year. I am sure the people that own the Little Giant hammer business now could tell you about the flywheel.

I use boiled linseed oil on most of my indooor items, it holds up well and smells good. I also use this on all my stuff in the shop ( tools, leg vises, anvil, hammers) here in Missouri we have a bad humidity problem.In the spring when everything in the shop starts worming up I notice it the most. I also have beeswax but have not used it much. I don't like useing chemicals anymore than I have to but that may change when I get the shop all set up and start getting highend jobs over at the lake with ironwork that is outside. I would like to get some feedback on what others are useing on outside work, other than paint.

an addition to the above post: I also lightend my grip on the hammer ( quit trying to strangle the hammer handle) this in combination with a lighter hammer my help anyone with an existing elbow problem.

Primetech, I think you have brought up a good subject here. I made the mistake of using a much heavier hammer than I should have when I first started out 3lbs. and ended up hurting my elbow before I realized I had done so. I have about 20 hammers now ranging in size from 1/2 pound ball pien to 12lb. straight pien sledge with several cross and straight piens in between and a 2lb rounding hammer that I have not used much yet. I bought a pricey diagonal pien (1 1/2lb. at my annual conference last year that was worth every penny, it has a half in. wide pien and square crowned face and this is the hammer I use most. I find it to be a good all round hammer for general smithing. My elbow bothered my for about 6 months and I didn't do much in that time. When I started back I used a lighter hammer and made sure I kept my elbow as close to my body as possiable and have not had a bit of pain in my elbow yet.

Lorelei Sims was featured in a 15 minute segment on RFDTV the program was Heartland Highways, check RFDTV.com for schedule time . She also has a website blacksmithchic.com

Leah, The book I have shows 1949 numbers ran from 8018- 8288 that year. Sid had the original owners name and the delivery destination on my hammer in records they have. I can't imagine what this guy is doing with the wood wedged in that hammer, its would be nice if you had someone that could go with you to look that hammer over, not trying to discourage you here but it sounds like it warrants a good going over. Its hard telling what else he has riggged or what maintenance he has or has not done.

Leah, If you or anyone else would like to know the manufacture date of Little Giant Power Hammer, I have the Little Giant Power Hammer book by Richard R. Kern and would be glad to look it up for you, just need the serial #. CAUTION: Unplug the hammer before doing a hands-on inspection!! A few things I can think to look for: look to see if there is shim stock where the crank caps meet the main frame. This shim stock is removed for adjustment of the crank in the babbit bearing. Any excess slop in this area will lead to other problems. The 50# hammer I have had a rebuild shortly before I got it. It has varying thicknesses of shim stock to be removed as needed for adjustment. An easy way to check for this is to stand in front of the hammer, with the crankpin up ( Ram up) push up on the crank pin with the palm of your hand as if you were trying to tip the hammer over backwards. If the crank has slop here and has shim stock, there needs to be enough shim stock to adjust for that slop. Otherwise the hammer may need to have babbit redone. Sid at Little Giant has everything to do this. Something to think about when it comes down to value. I would also look at the crankpin where it passes through the flywheel making sure it's not loose there. The hammer I have has a real nice brake and a removeable spring guard that slips over the wrap around guide. This is a safety feature to keep the spring and any other parts that may come loose or brake from making bodily contact. There may be a BP here if there is any interest.

Just a word about safety. I noticed the end of the knife looks like you may have used a grinder with a hard stone, if you did this is a very unsafe practice. The wood will clog a gringing stone up causing it to overheat in a very short time, this in turn causes the stone to expand and come apart (blowup). I know this beacuse a good friend of mine lost his thumb and index finger when grinding a spikemaul handle flush with the maul head before putting the wedge, in needless to say he never got to use a maul again at least not with his right hand. He was useing an angle grinder with a thick cup stone when this happened. I have stopped other guys that I have been working around that were about to do this and told them the same story, I think it paints a real good picture of how dangerous power tools can be.

Archie, could you please tell us what the plan is with the topsoil and perlite. I must be missing something.