whitebear

i didn't intend to upset you Doc. I didn't mean you were gonig to sell it, or that it was a true collector piece. simply that the colector value had gone down. and i underatnd that you mean to use it. i've dressed anvils so much so i can use themm it's not even funny. it doesn't bother me so much that you did it. as it bothers me that the previous owner hadn't taken care of it at all. sorry i took me agresion out on you. don't worry i'm an old fart i'll try to to upset you to much becasue i know with out a doubt you could put some hurt on me. Son Daughtry

Doc i think all peter wrights have a factory made blunt ended horn on them. all the ones i have are like that and all the ones I've seen/used are like that. not to say that your horn now looks bad it's just not a true peter wright now. Sorry to get testy. it just irks me a little bit. do a little bit of research and find out. if you find out that a peter wright has a blunt end i would by all means grind that sucker back down. Because if I'm correct...which i believe i am...what you did took at least 30%-40% right off the resale price.. Son Daughtry

i only wear gloves if i'm worknig a very very large piece with a relativly short "handle" if my hand is 4 feet from the heat then i don't bother with gloves at all. if my hand is 6" from the heat then i wear a leather glove of my right hand. (i'm left handed so i hold the metal with my right hand) so much of the time i don't use gloves because 1. they get in the way and they inhibit my artist and craftmanshipish feel for the steel. and 2. i have long enough tongs that i don't need them most of the time. Son daughtry

i wonder how that would work for quenching a tool steel. quenching in beer or some other alchoholic solution. it's flammable, but then again so if oil. i'll have to try it one of these days...thanks for the idea easilyconfused! Son Daughtry

that's what i was thinkngi Thomas!! i thought everyone did that!! Son Daughtry

I bow to you as well Frosty. good on you. good to know you.. Son Daughtry

i agree move off the deck. if i were you. (unless you like the whole priaml forge idea and breaking your back gonig from forge to anvil and bewing cratched down all day) i would try to find a way to raise the forge up so it's about at your waist or at least the hight of your anvil. looks good. more sophisticated than mine was when i first started. mine was a hole in the ground with a camping blow pipe as a air supply. *i could weld in it though* Son Daughtry

Bless Me... Bless the little man he's the one learning the trade. And takeing to it very well. thank you though. i aprecciate it. i'm trying to get a camera so i can show off him amazing work. Son Daughtry

i don't know guys. jonah is a hard worker but to see some of these pieces of equipment y'all are comnigup wiht is making me alittle jelous...no i'm only playing. good on all of you guys for making the scores. i'm happy with jonah he's pulled his weight is the shop more that once..heck he's pulled it mroe than 400 times. he's a helper that's for sure. and he's a quick learner!! which is good because it's getting to the point where i can tell him i need something and he can go figure out how to make it and then make it with no help fro me at all. he makes all his own tools. (i heat treat though) all he asks me is what material to use. it's very helpful when i've got my hands ful with clients. again good on all of you. Sonm daughtry

about 6 years ago i was walking home from the Sunday morning service. and a young boy was following me. he literally followed me home. as it turns out his mother was a widow and fairly poor and wanted to send him to a boarding school but didn't have the money. so she wanted him to come live with me. so now after 6 years Jonah has been my apprentice and like a son to me. i love him to and would give him anything. that's my story. a boy. no tools, or equipment. when it comes to things like that i have the worst of luck... Son Daughtry

get you a piece of maybe 3/8" or 1/2" coil spring. straighten it out. and useing small chisles and punches kind of carve out with you want. becasue it's steel it takes quite a while and there are probably faster ways. but that how i do it. when your finished let it anneal to reliave stress then heat to non-magnetic and quench in warm oil. Son Daughtry

oh ok that makes sence. i'll go try one right now. Son Daughtry

how do you make a creaser like the one shown in BP0154 Son Daughtry

this is probably wrong and immoral, to some. but i get all the money up front. that way they are 100% bound to getting it. that's jsut me. Son daughtry

than kyou glenn. i compelty undreatnd what you're samying. thank you ery much. i am faily proficeint and fast at maknig normal small sellable things for fari and stuff. i can make 3-4 nails a minute. an "S" hook with a scoll on both ends and a twist in the middle in 2 heats. a tack hook in 2. some larger peices take a stricker which i have. my wife jsut doesn't believe me that we have our own language and can work wit equal if not greater proficiency and ocntrol than a power hammer. i've been training jonah as a stricker for over 6 years now. so he's very good. i undrstand what you're saying about steed for normal work and old techniques for show. btu my wife still wants power runing out to the shop. so i need to get that done(it's for the best) any commects are helpful. thanks again glenn Son Daughtry

ok everyone. for those of you that know me and or know how i work. i do things in my smithy the way it was done in the 1600's and the 1700's no power tools. almsot everything is wrought. one of my anvils was shiped from london. the other one i made my self with my past apprentice welding gigantic pieces of steel together. but i have been convised after much talkngi and debating. that i mast at least try to make myself a power hammer. i have a treadle hammer but my wife thinks we would make more money with me using a power hammer. my question is... are there plans andor build-alongs for a small maybe 15#-25# power hammer i can build alone for less than $100 in scrap iron and stuff liek that. many thanks Son Daughtry

i jsut saw the other picture you posted. the larger one on the left in the picture of the two take anvils the one on the left is definitly a nailers anvil. an american nailers anvil. Son

it may very well be a european style stake anvil. oft. called a stump anvil/post anvil. to me it looks somewhat french. weighing at 125# is quite heavy for a traveling smtih. now that i really think about it is may be a european nailers anvil when nailer where a specialized craftmen all to themselves. it tok some wor kto mount it to a stump but once it was there it was there. a old nailer would normally be sitting. to you anvil is the pefect hight for anailers anvil. when a tree was cut in old europe the stumps where left to rot. about 4-6" was left. and a normal european nialers chair was about 17" at the seat. that would mean with the anvil you have set into a 6" tree base. the face would sit at around 27" and with the nailer sitting in a 17" seat this would but him at the perfect hight to work nails. the square hole made me think a bit. then i remembered that in europe hardy cutters where starting to be made around the 1780s time frame. and to make nails a hardy cutter is extremely helpful. so if i had to make a very educated guess i would say this is somewhere between 1780's and 1830's i say 1830's becasue that is around the time that the regular ol' blacksmthi started takeing over the nialers job and nailing was no longer a specific trade in and of itsself. the blacksmith had his own anvil his own hardy cutters. everytyhing he needed. the nailer was no longer needed. so i would guess it was made within that 50 yaer time frame. again i'm not the most knowledgeable person on this subject i jsut know what i know. and again fantastic find hope all this helps Son

how'd you do it? I've been looking at making charcoal for my blade forge. but it seems like it would take time away from my day...time i most definitely need. Son

i would say probably around...1850s to 1890s around the civil war time becaue i know alot of batallion blacksmthis carried stake anvils with them for easy mouting options becasue you can mount it in basically any stump. that would be my guess. someone may and probably does know better then i. i've been searchnig and searching for a stake anvil for over 20 years and can't find one worth spending money on. great find Son

thank you very much is there any need to worry about where the tongs are. like should i dip it the move the tngs then dip then move etc. or not worry about it and jsut dip and pull as you said Son

so i was correct in my retellnig of the proccess? i will try it tomorrow. Son

i always use beeswax to finish my smaller products like hooks and such. but i just heard of hot dip in vegetable oil. get the piece to a black heat then submerge it in oil bring it out and let it cool then wipe off the surface. i have not tried it yet. has anyone done this and had good results thanks.. Son

i jsut watched it and man was that the cgreatest program i've seen in a long time. right no the money too. makes me want to make one. i hope y'all got the chance to see it. it really blew me away wit the skill involved in making and using one of those magnificent tools. Son

DO NOT USE CEMENT!!! CEMENT AND CONCRETE BOTH SPALL AT HIGH FORGING TEMPERATURES. IF YOU WANT TO USE ANYTHING JUST USE SOME SLIPPERY MUD MIXED WITH STRAW. BUT STAY AWAY FROM CEMENT sON