Timothy Miller

This is why I should not post after I just woke up.

I highly recommend the the Robert Lorash Fire pot. Not sure if the spelling is right. I bought one last year. The price is better than the blacksmiths depot and it is a super heavy pot. I think i paid about 270 with shipping. This should save you some money and leave with more money for anvils.

Looks like a very serious forge. It is a lot nicer than what I use on a daily basis at my shop. Mind you I'm a professional smith with 15 years under my belt. My only criticism is and this is very minor is that you used aluminum clips on the door. These may soften or melt at some time in the life of the forge. Other than that I should be asking you for advise on gas forge building.

I blow out my welding machines every 6 months or so. I have never had one give me problems from dust. My welder repair man showed me years ago at my metal working first job about 15 years ago. There is an amazing amount of dust that accumulates in those machines. But I think welding machines are probably engineered to handle a bit of dust. I cant speak to induction machines as i have no experience with them.

That's a very crappy thing to do to a person. I would fire you if you did that in my shop.

fugetaboutit, I'm from points further east.

I have never had trouble finding blacksmith vices. But I have had trouble finding complete working vices. I have become somewhat skilled at making the some of the parts though. I rather push my forging skills than my fabrication skills and take the time. It is a tool I use every day and it gives me a lot of pride to know that I fixed it right. Also I get a lot of satisfaction knowing that I put a very old tool back into service. I have forged leg vice springs, washers, the keyed pivot bolt at the bottom, and mounting plates. My next project will be to forge a box with a brazed thread.

I have a don't ask don't tell policy about the orientation of my anvils.

Thanks Sam. I made up that little forge A few years ago to save on fuel. I had a lot of nails to forge and I wanted to use as little fuel as possible. I can take a 100 lb propane tank I had used up on my 2 burner forge hook it up to this little forge and work for several more hours. It is a sheet metal box that is lined with ceramic fiber board. the inside is a 6" by 6" cube. I used an old NC forge burner I had laying around. I use it a lot in the shop with out the wind blowing It will get to welding heat. I had a bit of trouble getting enough heat that day because of a constant sea breeze. But I think it caused me to work slowly and really develop the forms of the spears well. It also kept me cool for those of you that don't know Long island can be very hot in the summer and yes Brooklyn is on Long Island.

308559af2a49e4ce73c75f4825417836

cant seem to get the photos to upload I keep getting an error message. IMG_0265.jpg Upload Skipped (Error IO)

I got a call on Tuesday of last week. It was a representative for an event called the Spartan race http://www.spartanrace.com/. He asked me if I could forge two spears at the event. These were to be given out to the winners of the race. I don't really do demos anymore because I'm not portable. But I said what the heck this sounds like fun. The race was on Sunday I had shop work all week so I whipped up this stuff on Saturday. I made a base for my #102 hey budden anvil after all I was in working in Brooklyn. I also made a stand for an old English leg vise that was in particularly good condition. It is a light vise with 4" jaws it looked like it had been lightly used. I found leaned up against my friends barn in up state NY. The screw was still silver inside the box when I found it. It needed a new mounting plate, spring and a wedge so I forged those. I also forged a hardie for the anvil out of W1 tool steel. I did this all in one day. it took me 12 hours and I used drops and scrap that were hanging around the shop.

I shall surmise my argument. I feel that the older anvils should be preserved in as close to original condition as possible. I would classify this sort of anvil as a wrought iron bodied steel faced anvil or a cast iron steel faced anvil and some of the later solid steel forged anvils like later hay-buddens. The anvils are made by processes that will never be reproduced. The factories, skilled workers and know how that produced them no longer exists. In the case of wrought iron anvils the materials used is not really available any more. Furthermore the workers sacrificed their health and safety making them. They produced tools that have lasted 100 or more years. These anvils represent the core of our craft. They have been handed down to us by the generations of smiths who preceded us. When they were new they were just tools but I suggest that after generations of use they have become more than that. I feel we should use them with respect and care. I am not saying put them in your living room. If you feel you can properly repair a trashed anvil worn out from years of hard use I say do it. But don't willfully damage them by doing shoddy repairs of unnecessary modifications is in my opinion just sad. Its like tearing down a beautiful old building because it had a good location. I also think certain anvils should not be repaired in anyway and not used. I would classify these as extremely rare trade specific anvils like cutlers anvils and the like. Very early hornless anvils and colonial anvils. Anvils of very rare makes like my Samson anvil. We should just leave these alone. Now I feel that what Youngdylan did is just fine because his anvil has little or no historic value. It being a mid 20th century cast steel anvil of a brand that is still made.

I shall surmise my argument. I feel that the older anvils should be preserved in as close to original condition as possible. I would classify this sort of anvil as a wrought iron bodied steel faced anvil or a cast iron steel faced anvil and some of the later solid steel forged anvils like later hay-buddens. The anvils are made by processes that will never be reproduced. The factories, skilled workers and know how that produced them no longer exists. In the case of wrought iron anvils the materials used is not really available any more. Furthermore the workers sacrificed their health and safety making them. They produced tools that have lasted 100 or more years. These anvils represent the core of our craft. They have been handed down to us by the generations of smiths who preceded us. When they were new they were just tools but I suggest that after generations of use they have become more than that. I feel we should use them with respect and care. I am not saying put them in your living room. If you feel you can properly repair a trashed anvil worn out from years of hard use I say do it. But don't willfully damage them by doing shoddy repairs of unnecessary modifications is in my opinion just sad. Its like tearing down a beautiful old building because it had a good location. I also think certain anvils should not be repaired in anyway and not used. I would classify these as extremely rare trade specific anvils like cutlers anvils and the like. Very early hornless anvils and colonial anvils. Anvils of very rare makes like my Samson anvil. We should just leave these alone. Now I feel that what Youngdylan did is just fine because his anvil has little or no historic value. It being a mid 20th century cast steel anvil of a brand that is still made.

As long as I don't upset anybody I would prefer to go on. I love to have my ideas challenged this is how I learn things it helps to expand my understanding of blacksmithing/metalwork.

A trained MIG welder will produce excellent quality welds. I have MIG welded steel, copper, silicon bronze, stainless steel and cupro-nickle. You will find that in industry almost no one uses arc welders anymore. Arc welders advantages are they work well, they are cheap you can weld outside and if you know what you are doing the welds are as strong as a weld can be. I am sure they hold there own in certain specalized niches. But they are slower to use than mig ,require more skill to use and require the flux to be removed after each pass.

There is a big difference between a post vise and a power hammer. I feel that a an older post vise if it has all of its parts and the jaws line up is a better tool than a new one any day of the week. But it is a hand tool not a piece of machinery. In general the quality of non-powered hand tools has declined not improved. Machinery on the other hand has evolved leaps and bounds in the last 100 years. A self contained air hammer has so much more control than a most if not all mechanical hammers. I would would agree that Clifton Ralph has done some modifications that made his hammers equal to the versatility of an air hammer. But Clifton Ralph is an exceedingly talented and experienced blacksmith with few equals. I understand we as blacksmiths have a lot of romantic notions about old machines but when you have got to pay the mortgage as a blacksmith you need every advantage you can get.

If mechanical hammers are so great how come for the exception of one company in India no one makes them any more? I love old tools old houses and old trucks I just don't have the time to fix stuff all the time. Its hard enough making a living as a blacksmith why put the extra burden of all of the additional maintenance on your back. I buy the best stuff I can afford new or used. Just so you know I grew up in a house that was built in 1790 my first car was a 68 dodge van in 1992 I have owned a #75 Fairbanks a #50 star and a #40 Bradly helve and many other old machines. I see it as sort of like the difference between arc welding and mig welding. Arc welding works well and is the best way for some jobs but if you said it was better than a MIG for general fab work I would question your intelligence.

You are a master of power forging. Most of us are not. I worked on mechanical hammers for years. I am tired of making parts, buying springs, messing around with flat belts that stretch wen the weather changes remembering to oil 15 different places adjusting brakes and clutches and so on. Not a good way to make money I say. Buy a new air hammer plug it in and get to work. If a 200 Lb Bradly compact or other like industrial grade hammer in super condition were to come my way I might put it in the shop but that's about it. Still It would be my second hammer.

The past is gone all that is left are the artifacts. That's why they should be preserved in as close as original as possible. So people can understand it as it was.they cant really get the idea by looking at a bunch of weathered junk and wondering how these people could have used this stuff. I have worked at two museums I also studdied anthropology in school for a wile. I have some understanding of preservation practices. I have also done a bit of work on historical buildings.

I don't really think a professional smith has any business messing around with mechanical hammers. Having owned three and now the proud owner of an air hammer. If you have nothing else they are better than working by hand but once you get your hands on an air hammer they look like quaint old machines. It is the owners progrative what they do with it.. But unless you are very knowledgeable about hammers any modification is likely to reduce its functionality not enhance it. If the hammer is particularly rare I would hope they would painstakingly restore it and when they were done with it whey would find a good home for it. I really don't think it matters how you power it. Back in the day they used Steam power, water power, gas diesel and electric motors. Unless your goal is to reproduce a historically correct shop.

As a museum it is their obligation to preserve the artifacts in their collection. That anvil also known as a stiddy is made form wrought iron and blister steel as far as I understand. Fortunately those materials stand up to the weather quite well. If I were running that museum I would bring that anvil inside. I think they would want to preserve their collection so someone 200 years form now could have an understanding of what working conditions were like during this time period. Like I have said before these things are no longer made and are irreplaceable. When people see rusty worn out tools they don't really understand that these were useful productive things. They just think they are old junk.

It actually has very little real value to me its 70 lbs making it too small for me to use. I really just think its cool I found it. Ideally I would like to sell it a hardcore collector. I have not met that person yet. it may go up on eBay or I might auction it off at sofa one year. The money will go towards some piece of equipment that will make me some money.

I hardly think a cast steel brooks anvil from 1952 is historically significant. But I hold the older wrought iron anvils and fisher type anvils on a different level. If you find an one that is used up with face all chipped up and horn worn out of round why not fix it. But if you find one that is in usable shape I say leave it alone even if it has a few minor problems. Do your homework and make sure its not rare or historically significant. If it is keep it as is or if your not into collecting sell it to some one who will enjoy it. Then take the money and buy some tools you will use. There will never be anymore of these kind of anvils made period end of story, why abuse them? You will be only one owner of a anvil that probably has had more than a few. What other thing that you own or can buy is like this? An anvil, if properly used can last several careers.