Unforgivun

24th Batson Bladesmithing Symposium & Knife Show 13-15 April 11 Check in and Demonstrators Dinner is Thurs, 13 April 12 Click Here for more details Map Camping Information for Tannehill State Park

Stewart being that I am 29, I feel like I am probably a part of the basic generation of which you are referring. I can tell you that when I went to my first interview, I did not wear a suit. I did however have on dress slacks, shoes, and a tie. I was taught by my parents that spending the time to dress yourself helps show the employer that you are willing to go that little bit extra to get the job done. I also will end a conversation if someone calls me at the store when I get into line. Just like Sask pointed out. Its all learned behavior.

I find this site to be VERY informative. It has helped me a ton to be able to see so many step by step solutions and projects. For the people stating that it is the Smiths responsibility to spend their time answering the same question over and over again is sorta gimpy. I believe it is the responsibility of the student to pursue that knowledge. In that pursuit should be a level of respect and gratitude that often is not given across the internet. Many people are misunderstood on the internet because there is no intonation, No face time, and no face for that matter. Its just a picture beside a name. This is a problem across the board with forums, internet chat, and even when you call your bank or customer service. Its a bit of detachment. I have seen first hand people come into chat, ask a question, get an answer they didn't like, and therefor direct that question at one of the other people in chat that either gave them a different answer or didn't answer at all. I've seen people get mad at certain answers. I've gotten upset with posts to questions, ideas etc. In the end, more often than not, it still came down to a misunderstanding of what the question was, what was expected, or a lack of etiquette/respect for something. For the people that comment that Rich Hale, Steve Sells, Thomas Powers etc etc are gruff individuals that are hard to deal with, or mean to newbies, I disagree. They are, to me, some of the most helpful people on this site. Not to say that there aren't many many others that help and that I look up to, just that I have seen them spend large amounts of time, THEIR TIME, explaining answers to questions or pointing someone to a thread. I don't know how many times I've asked something in chat or in the forum to be answered with a thread link. When I read through that link, if I have any questions about what I've read those guys are more than happy to fill in the blanks. At the end of the day the old saying comes into play "Everybody has to be somewhere". You're never going to make everyone happy. If you feel you should spend your time answering every question you know the answer to even if its been answered elsewhere, go for it. If you feel you should not, I don't feel that's a big deal either. Its your time, spend it how you will. Its all about perspective. I am still amazed at how much information is freely available on this site. Its still growing. To say its a good resource is a huge understatement. Enjoy it, respect one another and respect the fact that we're all different.

So far I don't have a stamp and the only mark I've used is the back to back B's with a date. Thanks for sharing that bit John. Kinda shows the importance of marking and time stamping the things we make. Also speaks volumes to your character and honesty that you made sure to have them on there, even without affecting the asthetics of the piece.

In the past I've designed 1 or 2 touchmarks for different smith's here and there. That was before I was ever into smithing and before I knew anything about it. It was just an image to me at that time. Now touchmarks have come to mean something else to me. For some people, it is quite simply a way to identify who made the piece. For others, its an extension of there personality. Sometimes its fun, sometimes its serious. They are themselves just as varied as the people that they represent. My goal with this thread is to get our bearings and find out how YOU feel about touchmarks. Do you think it should be strictly professional? Do you think it should reflect the smith? Do you think it should simply be an identification mark? Etc. Personally I find myself drawn to the touchmarks that are somewhat artistic. Sometimes its the fun ones, sometimes its a very clean bit of art. Richards is great to me. Its fun. Its friendly. And it seems to fit his personality. Well, if you can picture a guy of RT's size and stature dressed as a frog dancing on an anvil.... This is quite nice to me as well. Its not a mascot, but it isn't just a generic stamp. I like it. It has personality. This is the image I've created for myself. My Initials being BB, the back to back B's just made sense. Then I decided to have fun with it and make an actual Bee because my wife said it looked like a B's wings. If I didn't post your touchmark here please don't be offended (umm, please don't be offended if I did), I simply picked a few that I really liked the look of to give an idea of what I think a mark should be. That is, to me, a touchmark should be a reflection of the smith and the type of work he does. If you're a professional smith, and you think your mark should be just a logo and nothing else. That is just fine. That in itself is a reflection of you. I don't think there is a right or wrong way on this, I just want to hear everyone elses thoughts on the topic. Would also be nice if some of the people that actually make touchmarks could weigh in. What are the different sizes recommended? If someone can only afford 1, what size should they get? When having artwork done, or a logo converted, what image format is it that you guys prefer to work with? Considering most of the people who make touchmarks are smiths as well, what can we do before hand to make your life easier?

Whatever you do I like it lol

Sorta reminds me of this http://www.blksmth.com/tong_article.htm but with a power hammer :) Good Job on those, I really like the one for flat bar.

John, someone posted this video into chat last night. I thought it was great. Please make more, and keep posting. Thanks for sharing.

Hate that I couldn't make it, glad to see the pictures though!

Also worth remembering is that people list things on craigslist for a price normally expecting someone to offer them less. http://bham.craigslist.org/atq/2835407165.html So thats an anvil we have for sale. I'm asking $250 because I'm expecting to be offered less. If it was a smith that was going to use it and not someone looking to resale it, I would take considerably less. It all depends on the "vibe" I get from the person interested.

Not only is he a pretty face, he's also a good teacher. :D Bare in mind that this still has to be cleaned and soaked to add the patina.

1/2 inch is 12.7 mm

Got to see this anvil on sunday. Its a very nice looking anvil. Plenty big. You got an excellent score with this one Mike.

Good Score Mike! Apparently its similar to the Sodefors... I wonder why you like it.

I believe the benefit of the rectangle "ish" handle is that when you have a flat on the handle you always know the handles orientation in the hand. Whereas the oval shape can be off slightly without notice. I think it is supposed to make hammer control easier to learn.

What he said I'm fairly new to this so I can only speak of a handfull that I've used. My rank would be Hay Budden, Peter Wright/Fisher, mousehole/arm and hammer, vulcan. the slashes are brands I would consider to be even. But that is my limited experience also on a very small selection of anvils. Just like anything else you're asking for peoples opinions and opinions are like a belly-button, everybody has one (nice version). Personally I REALLY like the way the Hay Budden works steel, but its also the anvil I have the most hammer time on (which isn't saying much). Timothy is a MUCH better resource to listen to. But thats my .02 :D

I enjoy the commercials. I find them ammusing and I am guilty of being the one who posted them into chat the other night. "LIQUID GOOOOLLLDDD!" just cracks me up :)

640x480 is a good resolution for pictures for the forum.

I am not sure of the actual reason an anvil has rebound (what causes the rebound not why its desirable) but I would think that your idea of it being a result of the hardness would be very reasonable. Rebound is desirable because it saves the smith energy. Energy that would have been spent lifting the hammer back up for the next blow is returned by the anvil and the hammer lifted for him. Until you've worked on something that has NO rebound, you don't really appreciate this. The ring is a product of the body of the anvil resonating the vibrations produced by the hammer strike. The ring has nothing to do with identifying it as a quality anvil. For example, Fisher anvils have a very good rebound, and very little ring and are considered by some to be the best option as a result. It has been suggested on here that you may be able to braze or solder a steel face onto a cheap cast iron anvil (you can- hot face with low temp solder will do the trick). The problem with that is that you've just used a LOT of expensive solder on something that by design is still going to be inferior. You can't however really WELD a hardface onto a cast iron anvil I've learned because cast iron doesn't like to be welded to, it just sorta melts and puddles up. I would say if you don't have anything to beat on and all you can get is a cast iron ASO(anvil shaped object) then it may be your best option until something better comes along. Some would say to save that money for when a real one comes along, its up to you. My personal experience was with railroad rail as a starting anvil and then with a steel plate stood on edge. Rail is generally pretty easy to find. I asked around a bit and before I knew it had 2 pieces, 1 that was already cut like an anvil and one that was just a smooth cut section.

Were haybudden's marked in the 3-2-11 format? So far the only brands we have to compare it to are Haybudden and Peter Wright. We were leaning in the direction of PW based off of the shape of the feet. The HB we have (granted its only 133lbs) is a gradual taper right to the edge of the feet. The PW's we have (99lb, 153lb) have a bit of a deffined edge to the feet. Very similar to the one in Knots picture up above. None of that means anything, but as of yet, the only markings we've been able to find are the 3-2-11 weight markings.

Ok then Looks like we have a plan. Thanks for the information Brian.

And this is where my complete lack of experience becomes way to obvious Demensions wise, how far would you recomend having the hardy from the edges? Maybe move it in 1.5" instead of 1"? Should I leave it there and just move the pritchel either to an opposite corner or maybe closer to the edge itself? Thanks again for the time on this.

Something more along these lines? Or actually pretty well centered?

Ok. This idea has come up for me. Currently I have a 2" thick 6"x14" plate. My question is, would it be feasible to cut it in half and make 2 small striking anvils, 6x7" and 2" thick? Would look something like this I know its small, but it would leave you with a 5" by 6" area to work if you take out for the hardie hole and pritchel hole. That's with leaving 1" buffer on either side of those. Thoughts?

Not to mention Tiny. One might even say they're Teeny Tiny.