Tom Allyn

Good info, 781. Much appreciated. Do you know how the jacks were used?

I'm think they're for tapping something like head bolts or some other high strength application. Whatever they were used for, the user was counting on all the threads taking load. Maybe holes for pressure vessel bolts?

I recently acquired an old cut devil. My question is, is it a hot cut tool or a cold cut tool? How where they used and by whom? This one has a railroad stamp. What would have been it's likely use? Any comments are welcome.

That piece should weigh about 1320#.

Don't apologize. These are exactly the kind of stories that keep me coming back to this site.

Craigslist has gotten whacky lately. People are asking at least $4/lb for even the crummiest anvils. It's insane. There are a couple here in my area that have been listed at those prices for months. Not surprisingly no one has jumped on them.

Just be careful working around sharps sticking up out of your stand.

They're only 'misery whips' when they're dull or when the rakers are proud. Properly tuned they can be a lot of fun.

I've taught myself to do a number of activities left handed including hammering, sawing, shovelling, raking, pushing broom and swinging picks/axes/sledges. It's a good idea just for the benefit of building both sides of your body symmetrically. You'll have less back issues, too. When I'm learning a new activity I will study closely the way I've been doing it right handed. Body position, arm position, hip angle, etc..... It all goes into the work. For learning to hammer there's nothing like a few boxes of nails. Start with some 8 penny nails. Drive a couple dozen every day for a few days. When you're starting to get comfortable with those then go to 16 penny nails. The 16 pennies will require harder blows and you'll start to gain power in your off-handed blow. When you're comfortable hitting nails then start swinging at things on your anvil.

Is that granite?

Just what I was going to suggest. A good doctor will understand that you need to keep some on hand. The prescription stuff may also include a pain killer - I think benzocaine. It's been a decade or so since I've used it but it works well.

Sweet deal! Show us some more pics when you get it.

A similar device called a log dog is used in hewing timbers. The tips of a log dog are typically formed perpendicular to eachother so that each tip penetrates the wood in line with the grain. See link. http://www.fhwa.dot....ge21.cfm#fig097

You win, Boilerguy. That's the most beat up anvil that is still recognizable as once having been an anvil. What a mess!

Yeah, but they used 'Structural Bondo', right?

I like it. Bet it's pretty solid, too.

This is interesting for the do-it-yourselfer. It's from a rocket stove website. There's a section on home made insulative ceramics (page 27). I wonder if they would hold up to blacksmithing work. http://www.repp.org/discussiongroups/resources/stoves/Pcia/Design%20Principles%20for%20Wood%20Burning%20Cookstoves.pdf

One of their selling points is that they use fuels that others have already passed over, twigs and dry grass and such. They use about 1/3 the fuel of a 3-stone fire so much less fuel needs to be gathered. In deforested areas that's a big plus.

Insulating the combustion chamber is a key element in the Winiarski rocket stove. It causes the chamber to burn hotter and more efficiently, producing less smoke. http://www.bioenergy...Principles.html Scroll down to the 'Principles' list. The main idea is to extract the most heat energy possible from the fuel and deliver as much of that energy as possible to the pot. Recall, the rocket stove is a cook stove. A rocket mass heater is used to warm buildings. Similar principles but entirely different execution.

Nice shop. I wish I had one like that. All concrete slabs crack over time. Rebar or remesh will control the cracking and keep the pieces together.

I built a rocket stove and use it from time to time. It's a cook stove. I wouldn't want to use it as a heater because it requires frequent tending, advancing the fuel into the fire chamber. Mine is made out of a propane tank and some 3-1/2" electrical conduit. CAUTION - electrical conduit is galvinized and the galvinizing MUST BE removed before using it in a stove. The stove body is insulated with wood ash. I've also built a shroud to focus the heat energy around the pot. The shroud attaches with magnets. The fuel is fed into the stove on top of the flat shelf in the intake. Combustion air flows up through the lower half of the intake. I generally use handfuls of twigs as fuel. This stove will heat one cup of 50° F water to boiling in 2 minutes.

Wow! Sweet deal.

Thanks, John.

Now THAT'S a skookum air nozzle!

I've never found them in 24 grit at my local supplier. OTOH, 24 grit sanding discs are always in stock. But I'll defer to you on the availability in the UK. Of that I have no knowledge.