Nolano

Whats the peter wright going to run you?

I also found it a bit odd, but he disliked radiusing the edges, which may have had something to do with it. If you do get it, make sure you radius the edges, and make sure you have at least half decent hammer control before you do much work on it. At this point, I am comfortable with my hammer control, but I really marked up my first anvil.... It made me sad.

Well, I use solidworks, but without some classes in it, you will be lost. Theres also the fact that its a multiple thousand dollar piece of software.

I have some painted ones, the paint burns right off lacking that highly toxic fumes that a powder coat has.

Indeed. Stainless is so bad a conductor, that unless your piece is extremely short "(less then 6" or so) you dont really need tongs. sometimes, you will find the outside getting hot, but on the inside it is not hot enough. If you are using a torch, you may be heating it too fast, so the inside is still cooler.

It would be better to consider things now, and be prepared, then to not, and regret it later. I would make sure there is a wall sturdy enough to put stock racks on, and also that your power grid can provide your shop with enough juice. What area of Eugene do you live in, Jim?

Regionalchaos, have you met Martin Gabbert? He bought a JHM competitor once. He said parts of the edge started coming off in chunks...

southeast, yes, but it still seems a little ridiculous to refer to the middle of the country as the west. I realize the term dates from back before the west half of the us was discovered and settled, but it still rubs me the wrong way. No offense meant to anyone, btw.

Hmm, I keep forgetting that a lot of people refer to the middle of the country as "the west" or the midwest, which constantly makes me think of the west coast, where I live

Wait, Corn as a fuel?

what area do you live in? I might be able to help.

Many places charge extra for sandblasting off powder coats, I know I would. They are an enourmous pain to remove with sandblasting. We usually stick them in a vise, bring the blower over, and use an oxy-acet torch to remove it, while the blower sucks up the toxic smoke. Not fun at all. Coil springs probably arent worth the trouble of sandblasting OR burning.

I get my coal from the farrier's supply in Monroe, OR. Its excellent stuff. I bought some from Vally Farrier, but that was utter junk. some limestone got in with the coal and produced clinkers like you wouldnt believe.

stove polish makes a nice blackened finish when applied to a piece of hot steel (a few hundred degrees, not much more)

coil springs are nice and cheap for things like that.

You paid a very good price, alan. Thats much less than I would expect one on ebay to go for.

You did say pennies in the video, but Im sure everyone realized you were talking about dimes. Nice video, I think I will try with a few quarters.

Well, Maybe sometime I will see you there. I dont go too often anymore, as I have a semi-well equpped shop at home now. But, if you are up for some work, the harvor freight 110lb cast anvil is a decent deal at $89.99(I think). The horn isnt a good shape for actual blacksmithing, so it needs some grinding work, I think. However, the hardness is not very deep, so you may wish to start with a railroad rail, as that will give you a nice surface to work on, until you get hammer control down.

Well Jim, I live in Eugene, Oregon as well. I havent had much luck finding an anvil, although at this point I have a 130# Hay budden, which I am content to stick with for a while, and possibly longer. When properly strapped to a log, it will take one heck of a hit with a sledgehammer without moving. This anvil I had to buy at a hammer-in in Jacksonville (about 10 minutes from Medford) for 265, and it was in rather sorry shape. Do you know Bear? He lives in glenwood, and nearly every thursday, he has an open forge where people can come work on what they want to. You might ask at one of them if anyone has seen an anvil for sale, because quite a few excellent blacksmiths gather there.

Alright, thanks. After looking more closely, I dont think its the same stuff. It was some wierd shaft someone brought to a hammer in for people to use. the owner wasnt sure what it was.

This is kind of old, but can I get a close up picture of this "sucker rod"? I made a hammer out of some of that once, I think. It cracked when I oil quenched it. It would have been a great hammer, otherwise.

Well, thomas, from the looks of it, that piece is maybe 3-4 inches long. I dont know about anyone else, but at that point tongs start to become annoying, and for something that short, it would be much easier to weld a handle on.

Impeccable indeed. I will be quite proud if I am ever even half as good as you are, JPH.

From what I remember reading about Wrights, is the anvil was made from scrap iron forged together, then welded together from several pieces.

and with all those nice knifemaking alloys, I'd imagine it will be quite hard as well.