philip in china

I was thinking if a manufacturer was making vices why make both sides the same? Other than it looks right and that is how it has always been done. Yes the price is very high although I got a very big discount but the shipping costs weren't funny! I had little choice, though, as there are no leg vices here at all. I suppose eventually somebody will start making them here but I can't wait that long. I use the vice a lot so the actual cost per item forged is very low.

Without knowing what sort of anvil you have got it is impossible to say. So how about some photographs? The usual answer, however, is unless it is absolutelyunuseable don't reface!

A good timber preservative is old, used engine oil. Does your Euro have an upsetting block? My Vaughans does not so I flame cut some heavy plate to the diameter of the log and the footprint of the anvil. That holds the anvil in place and doubles as an upsetting block for me. The 2 pieces are held in with spikes I forged through holes in the plate.

Mine is a Star of David inside an outline of an anvil. Itwas from www.incandescent-iron.com I must say I am 100% happy with it. I don't remember how much it cost as it was a few years back. My friend Sean got his from the same place and is equally satisfied. they also used to give a discount for ABANA members.

I make quite a few coat hooks here. I have found that an easy way is just to form them by forging them round the shape of the vice. It gives a nice curve to them and enables me to make them fairly consistent. It did occur to me that if the two sides of the vice were different shapes it might be useful. It might look odd- an asymetrical vice- but could be better. Does anybody have any thoughts on this? BTW my vice is a Vaughans- see www.anvils.co.uk for a picture.

Those who know me should know that I never mind telling a story against myself! I had been burning whatever I could find in my little portable forge because since the move I didn't have a source of coal or coke. I had even sunk to the level of BBQ charcoal! Last week the school finally got me 500Kg of coal. Today I tested it. I must have forgotten quite how good forging coal can be. So I burnt straight through a piece of 10mm spring steel. I need to learn to watch things more closely again!

This has all spurred me on. I must make a stand for mine. I have a block from www.incandescent-iron.com They look a bit like the salt fork blocks but are cast in steel. They are also about 65 pounds. So I don't know- stay with the stump, use some big timber or fabricate one? Of course one option here is make one in lighter wood and just get it cast.

Two words together guaranteed to start an argument are "Czech hammer". I bought up Blacksmiths depot's entire stock of czech hammer heads. I didn't need handles as I have a box full here. I wanted several hammers for my students here. They seem a very good hammer at a reasonable price. I got a couple of Big Blu slash peins- a right and a left and am very happy with those. I think I would say try as many as you can lay hands on and see which you like.

I think all steel has the same amount of bend. Spring steel simply can go farther and still recover. For the small amount of bend in a leg vice I should think pretty well anything would be OK.

I used to have a couple of tiny "Record" anvils when I was in UK. I never weighed them but they weren't much bigger than a packet of cigarettes. They were a promotional thing but were actually quite hard. My boys used to mess around with them hammering paper clips flat etc. I don't know whatever happened to them. (The anvils that is. I know what happened to the boys).

He could have got a new anvil of known quality and a guarantee for that price! Crazy. When I was in my teens a house in our village was auctioned. Two "determined" women were going to outbid each other. Eventually the one who got it paid more than double the value. I just don't understand why people go crazy at auctions but there is no doubt that some do.

I had to add one more post to this thread. Recently I moved my shop. As my Vaughans leg vice was actually welded to the bench top in the old shop the easiest thing to do was simply to unbolt the top and transfer the whole thing to the new place. In doing this something got disturbed in the spring mechanism of the vice. The jaws close OK but I have to push them to open them. I contacted Vaughans this week. I got a query as to what the exact problem was anhd one of their technical people has mailed me and asked for photos so he can adise me. For service I think that takes some beating.

I used the same temper for the jaws as I use for hardies and they seem to work OK.

My shear mounts to the top of one of my anvils. I had only used it on upto 10mm rods but on Monday actually put it through some hot 12mm x 15mm hot spring steel. I didn't expect it to go through but it sliced it like cutting a carrot.

Steve, Where could I read up about salt pots? Why are thye so dangerous?

Does anybody have any thoughts or designs for a salt pot- mainly for knife blades or other small items please? I was thinking maybe about a stainless design with a quickly removable lid.

Very humid here and everything either rusts or rots. So I paint the sides of my anvils and then grease the top. BTW for "protection" against other forms of attack- mainly people who don't know what they are doing bouncing hammers oss my anvil- I have rigged up a cover for mine. It also incorporates a shear. I suppose I need to start another thread for that and try to post a photo or two.

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news but- Vulcan are the lower end of the usable anvils at the best of times. That one is fairly heavily used and abused so realistically don't expect very much for it.

I am having a good time now getting the new shop into shape. One idea I had seems to work well and is SO simple. I have been forging big hooks to go on the wall. I punch holes through them to take a fixing bolt- what I would call a rawl bolt the expanding ones which the Chinese actually make very well. So I had the idea why use an anchor bolt when, for the same amount of effort I can use a hook? So I have my forged hook held in place by a hook. For example I have one of my hooks with my chain hoist hanging on it, the smaller hook which anchors that to the wall supports the endless chain. Only took me 54 years to come up with that idea!

Don't blame me. I didn't vote for him.

Put me down for 4. I did have 5 but gave 1 away. Do swage blocks count. REMEMBER I have said before: never store all your anvils together. It makes it too easy for your wife to count them.

I can hardly believe the amount of correspondence that this has generated! I always wear a hat outdoors and always wear one in the smithy. Usually either a baseball type cap or more often a bush hat. I keep both sides fastened up and always have a pair of plug ear defenders in the creases. Try a look at this site if you would like to see more: http://www.kphats.com/

One source for small amounts of tool steel of known specification is, of course, www.incandescent-iron.com A source I use for small orders of tool steel here in China is..... tools. Worn files, spanners etc. are a useful source. I think all the other sources such as vehicle springs, axles etc. have already been covered.

I use coil spring a lot as it is one of the few decent quality steels I can get here. I don't cut it up, though. I straighten it roughly and leave it as a long bar and make stuff on the end of the bar. That way I don't usually need tongs to hold it which makes working it that much easier.

Does any body have any advice on making bone handles for knives please?