metalmangeler

If you have a thread that only states what is for auction and people state that they are bidding on such and such item it could draw to the auction and if someone did not want to bid against someone else that is thier perogitive. Seems like it could go both ways. Normally the more people that know about an auction item the higer the price will end up.

I think that the reference to nails is how many penny weight they weigh per nail. I am sure that it does not completely corrolate now as it seems to only be a reference to length now.

Hi Dave I haven't been around for awhile, but I just saw this. You should have a regulator between your compressor and your hammer normally just before your oiler. If you adjust the pressure to less than your compressor kick on presure you should get consistant blows rather than having hard blows when your compressor is fully charged and weaker ones just before it recharges. When this is adjusted that way then your roller can be adjusted to the right hight as it should be consistant unless you are drawing and exceed the capabillity of your compressor. Maybe this will help some. I am glad to hear that you are using your machine some, if it were here and I were making S hooks from anything from 3/16 on up I would use the air hammer. You can make a wedge and draw a consistant taper on that small stock. That wedge can be held in place like I showed you with the tool holding dies or you can just trap it in a box and hold it under the flat side of your combination dies. Flat dies are much more versitile than comb dies.

Hey Teeny if you work off the far side of your anvil the hardy will not be under your hammer hand and it will be safer. I am assumeing that you are working on a London pattern anvil. Show me a few nails at our next meeting. Mark

Right the advantage being that instead of buying a chunck of toolsteel 2-3 inches thick for $$$$ you can now use a much thinner chunck which you likely can find lieing around disguised as a truck axle, or what ever. Shoot if you had crossed the road at a worse time you might have some extra ones now. Though I must say I am glad you don't have those particular ones available. Become a friend of the heavy equipment repair guy or the farm implement guy and you should be set. Some junk steel really needs no modifications only weld it on and go, and of course the reason I brought it up to begin with you can weld it on to your base at whatever angle you like, I just would prefer to add to my tools rather than sacrifice one to get another.

Hello Dave after looking back through part of this post I see that you have combination dies on the hammer so you certainly did not get one turned around. Sorry I just was not paying close enough attention. Anyhow here are the pictures of basically a booster seat for putting very short dies on the advantage is that they are much less expensive to make and you can weld them to a different angle if that ends up being what you deside to do in the future, you can make the booster from mild steel. make it as large as is practical so that you can make your mounting holes more spaced out. I will also attatch a picture of a few die ideas.

Hi Dave after reading through this I am wondering if your die alighnment could be corrected by rotating the top die 180 degrees like John said? If you deside that you want to have your dies at an angle reather than square to the machine I would think about making a base that you can make dies for that bolts on to the present mounting system that way when you are finished with your work you end up with more options not just different ones, if I don't forget and I can remember how to post pictures I will take some tomorrow so you can see what I mean. This system really only helps if you are doing fairly large runs of the same item rather than one offs.

I rarely stamp my work as it takes time, but the idea of useing this as a way of advertisment might make me change my mind.

You might be a blacksmith if when your friend gets a new truck you ask for the axels if he wrecks it or something. You might be a blacksmith if you would bother to read this.

When I have a tool that I don't use and I want another different tool I make the one that I want, then I have 2 tools you may find that a fuller like the one you have is just what you need 2 weeks from now. Now if you have a bucket of fullers that you don't use......

You will likely have some time in this especially as a beginner it would be dissappointing to make a tool that is junk. For that reason I would try to use the steel that is most apropiate for most jobs.

Hinges always seem to take longer than I would think when I think about the process, and making them large makes them take longer also. The sag issue will go away a lot when they are used together on the door as then the distance beween hinge points increases enough that it takes out most of the wobble. The customers will like it to feel tight though. Nice job.

Great anvil even greater or more rare a great thankfull attitude. :D

Well I took a stab at this and it did not work so I'll try again. Here are some items that I have sold, and continue to carry.

Hey gang, this is Frosty. I'm at Metalmangler's showing him how to attach photos. . . Well, I was learning how to make a pair of tongs earlier but that's not what I'm doing right now. Anyway, this is a pic of a door knocker Mark made on commission a while back, not that it's a current piece, heck, it sold a long time ago but it's the pic we clicked on to try posting here. Hopefully this is just the start, Mark has lots of pics. Frosty the Lucky at Mark's.

I think that here in Alaska we have less anvils than in other states, but the reason that people cann't find one is that they don't want to spend what one is worth new. Buying new ones really increases the oppertunities of future smiths. So if you really want to help the future smiths each of us should buy at least a half dozen new anvils to be sold at our estate auctions. Then die before me. I am a little light on my 1/2 doz so I can't die yet.

That clinches the deal.

I think that the Iron Kiss is the hammer to buy. If you deside that you don't like it send it to me, so it won't clutter your shop. I thought that I remember you saying 'I don't need no stinking power hammer.' There is a differece between needing and getting I guess.

Hi Kerry, I haven't been here for a few days. I found an old price for a Bull 125. They came with one set of dies and you needed to supply what ever filter regulator oiler, or they would sell you that for additional $$$$$$$$. Any how the sheet that I am looking at says $6,950 it is stapled to another sheet dated Jan 1 1999 so I suspect that the price is about that old. Maybe that helps some. I have a list of some of the dies that they sold with prices, if you find that he had several die sets I might be able to find what they sold for at about that time frame if it matters.

I went to an estate auction last spring that had a Bull 90 for sale, I was planning to bid up to $4500 for it, but got it for less. I think that the Iron Kiss is likely a harder hitter, as it has a larger cylinder. It should maybe go for more. I have another Bull 90 that I got in 01 I think, they are good machines, they don't seem to hit as hard as the selfcontained hammers but I think that they are easier to do certain things with, so they have advantages and disadvantages. If it has an assortment of dies it may be worth more. Obviously it is larger than the 90, so that should add value, but most likely you are in a place with more options than here so that may subtract some value.

No one has mentioned the method I use so I will, I have a very large pot I mix half paraffin half bees wax and dip, after it is totally melted, (use a double boiler), then pullout after the metal is hot enough that the wax does not build up. It takes a lot of wax to use this system and it takes quite a while to get it all to temperature to use but when you are set up it is the least time consuming to do a large quantity that I know of.

The pricing has always been a difficult aspect, some people have very high oppinions of thier skill and get big $$$$$$$ for it others don't charge enough, IMO, and then you get stuck in there with them. I try to not price according to hours as then as you get quicker the item that you used to get $10 for is now worth $8 even though it is executed better. That said you will find that some things take more time than you will ever get paid for so they need to be dropped from the items that you carry. I try hard to bring things that look like they took longer to make than they did then I get paid well for them. Some day maybe I'll get Frosty over here to show me how to post pictures here. He has helped me with that sort of thing before. I like your TP holder, good thinking to use the 1/4 x 1/2 for your countersink, you can use round stock for a different look in the same way.

Hi Bryan and Frosty I am sure glad that Frosty is still functional, even if it is currently at a lower rate than we expect for the future. I hope to meet you at the meeting Bryan. It looks like you both had an enjoyable time, Frosty does have a nice shop you can even find the floor in it. More tongs and dies are always a good idea.

Some other items that you might want to consider that we sell are hinges and hasps these don't go away in large numbers but they are interesting to the customers and keep them there a little longer. Door knockers also fit in this same category. Completing your fireplace sets is a nice touch, but you still want to sell those pokers separate. I normally also bring suffolk latches and door pulls. putting animal heads on some of your hooks helps sell them, pick an animal from your area, if you are in Tex. long horn cows, in horse country horse heads on a horse shoe made into a hook, etc. A few trivets might work, the problem is time not ideas. I like your necklaces if you made some small leafs and added hooks you could see that same girl ear rings as well.

Mostly I make my tongs as I need them now to do some job and it does not take long to make them. We rarely see cheap tongs here but I have seen some from time to time, with other blacksmiths drooling or biding on them. I have been given a couple pair that I never use personaly I thought that they were junk. To heavy didn't look to me like they really fit anything. If I were to buy some now I would buy Off Center for thier lightness and fit, but it would not be likely as I don't plan ahead enough to buy tongs. I have some Tom Tongs and they fit the work fairly well but I like the ones that I have made better as they are lighter. When someone makes tools to sell they have to be able to withstand what ever abuse the unskilled can dish out so naturaly they will be heavier then the more skilled craftsman would like.