David Einhorn

Welcome, it sounds like you are doing a great job at your school.

Excellent! Good job.

Something like that could have been a one-of-a-kind bench made by someone for a perceived need/use. one-of-a-kind items can only be guessed as to their purpose. We may never know.

Fraternal greetings Past Master. Welcome to the world of blacksmithing, it is a wonderful opportunity to learn to make your own tools, and to express yourself creatively.

It looks like it has possibilities. It's good to experiment. Please keep us informed on how well it works.

Thank you for the update, I am very glad to hear that you are doing better. Dave

Welcome, sounds like you are off to a great start by associating with such great people and taking course(s). :D

Welcome! My advice is: #1 priority join a local blacksmithing group #2 if you have the money take some blacksmithing courses #3 try the equipment of other folks before you build or purchase equipment #4 start a blacksmithing library on your bookshelf.

It looks like you made an excellent purchase.

Yes, many thanks any prayers for those who serve. Happy Thanksgiving day, Dave

One of my greatest regrets is not taking Brian's hammer making class when he was in the area.

I laughed. I was getting ready to reach for my camera when I saw your photograph. :D While I already have enough vises, I would seriously consider participating in a workshop to forge vises just for the learning experience. His blacksmithing group, sounds like a great group of folks.

I can't imagine living without a copy of Sonn's book. I consider it a must-have on any blacksmith's reference shelf.

The good news is that folks here have given a lot of good advise. The bad news is the requirement of the exterior of the building sounds like you are in a location that may have more than plan old code requirements but also have additional *covenanted* restrictions. When I built my shop the code enforcement officer was very unsure about a number of code issues. The end result was that I overbuilt going beyond National Code. I even tore down a 16 foot section of a garage door opening and rebuilt it because the enforcement officer could not tell me if that section would pass final framing inspection. I framed the building with treated lumber (termites, carpenter ants and powder beetles ate the previous shop building), so when the building was done the code enforcement officer told me that it was a good thing that I used galvanized coated screw-shank nails and that I did not listen to an engineer that recommended using regular nails, because if I had listened to the engineer the enforcement officer would not have passed the building. I also used hurricane ties, and had to explain to the enforcement officer what they were. ;-) You might wish to find out if your housing area has *covenants* before you do anything. Best wishes, Dave

Most likely the anvil was forged with the body made of wrought iron with a steel plate forge welded to the top. It appears to be in very nice condition.

I informed an orthopedic doctor that if I need to have an MRI, then I will need to have xrays of my eyes first because I do metal work. Guess what the doctor wrote down, "patient refuses to have MRIs"

It looks very nice. At which museum is the building located? http://www.nebraskahistory.org/museum/locals/museums.htm

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A bunch of years ago I took a pattern-welding knife making class with Rob Hudson where we used a 25pound Little Giant for all the forge welding and drawing out. The way I heard it, it is not how hard you hit but the type of strike, a thud blow or a sharp rap of the hammer. With a sharp rap, the layers can bounce apart. With the Little Giant, the blow is a thud strike and does not bounce the layers apart. At least that is how it was explained to me.

Very nice, thank you for sharing.

If you had a bunch of them you could use them as cross bars in a: - cooking grate - hammer/tong rack - rack for short pieces of stock With one you could incorporate it as the: - vertical section of a lamp - flatten and make into various hooks - cross piece in one or more towel racks - cross support at the back of a computer table to support and organize cables.

The only other option that I can think of is to ask around to see if anyone is driving in that direction, by posting the approximate points of origin and destination, and letting people know they would be helping a teenager. Places to post include pet rescue forums because they sometimes form rescue trains to pass pets from one end of the country to the other, and might be able to accommodate the anvil as an additional passenger if they are going that way anyway. Although, a 254 lb anvil might be too much for them... The best bet would be a smith that happens to be traveling that direction. More or less it is at the same time making the attempt to assist while at the same time setting a boundary. Describing what you can do, and then letting him come up with other options if what you can offer is not within what he feels is appropriate.

I would suggest inviting him to visit your shop and maybe even spend a day or so visiting. Or offer to drive a distance north, whatever is comfortable for you to meet him, and leave the rest of the driving challenge up to the buyer. If he wants it badly enough he can take the initiative.

Or you could use it to make a heave hammer or two. :D

I would humbly suggest considering orienting the bottom board and its attachment points vertically so as to reduce the likelihood of people bumping their legs against the table support.