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journey333

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Everything posted by journey333

  1. I picked this straight peen hammer up at a "junk" shop and was curious what the intended use was. The hole goes all the way through the head. The hammer weighs 3.5 pounds.
  2. I am in process of building an outdoor smithy up here in Central Oregon. Of course, that means that my ability to work will be limited by the weather quite a bit, but it is better than nothing. Eventually I will build a lean-to over the majority of it. But first I am building an earthbag wall between me and my cranky neighbor, hopefully keep the noise down and the peace up. Also, because I want to have a fence to keep people from just waltzing in to my shop/yard from the alley. There's the beginnings of it. 1st course laid--bags filled with gravel. I like the idea of cob, but our soil is too sandy. Hard work, but the dirt is free, and most of the bags were free too, repurposed feed bags I got by posting on craigslist.
  3. I arranged to go over there in a couple of days and pick it up. I also just emailed him and asked if he has any other tools that might be of interest to me. We shall see what he comes up with, if any. Thanks for the perspectives...I figured it was worth the drive.
  4. I feel like it is a good deal, but want to know what you all think. He wants $50, and I have a free day this week. He says that the action is good, the jaws line up and the jaw width is 5 inches. Thanks in advance for your perspectives.
  5. I built my anvil stand this past weekend. It is ugly, but will be put to good use. I still have to actually mount the anvil, but that will have to wait a few more days. Glad to have this thread to get ideas from.
  6. I picked this 14" Makita Mitre saw up for $60 at the Habitat For Humanity ReStore the other day. I immediately went and got a metal blade for it. Then I went home and built myself an anvil stand out of re-used 4x4's. Getting closer to having a working smithy...
  7. That is sweet, I have never heard of Hephaestus before. I would hang a copy of this in my shop (once it is built...).
  8. Here is how I post images on this site. Go to imgur.com and set up an account. They are free and easy. Or use any site that hosts images, the main thing is a site that will assign a unique web address for the image. Once you are signed in to imgur, you can drag the photos from your finder or computer window and drop them on the imgur window. Or on the imgur window you can hit the upload button and follow the prompts. Once they are uploaded, click on the one you want. It will first bring up a view sort of overlaying the previous window. Double click the photo again and it will take you to that photos own page (unique web address)--you should only see your photo. Copy the web address for the image and go to the IFI post. Then on the IFI post, click on the little photo icon. It should bring up a popup window asking for a URL. Paste the web address in there and hit enter. That should put the photo on the post.
  9. Daniel, That is one beautiful stand. I may steal the leather idea for my stand. Even if I do, it will not be as good looking though. Here is mine, just finished building it about an hour ago. Will mount the anvil in a few days, once I have another free minute. The longer 2x4's will have holes or slots in them for tools. All of the materials I have collected for free or close to it over the past couple of months.
  10. The one on the right is the way to go. Good score on both of them though. Glad to be of help, DCM.
  11. Maybe it was like the old sailor's anchor tattoo, and shows it crossed the Atlantic 3 times. B)
  12. How thick is the rubber, or does it matter? I have access to some hard rubber that is about 1/2" thick. I plan on mounting the anvil onto a hardwood stump, so I am also wondering if the wood alone is enough. Thanks for the video, as I am in process of building my shop and want to keep the noise down so my neighbor has less reason to dislike it.
  13. Today, this was in a free pile a block away from my house. I am building an open air shop and this will be perfect for locking my tools away, just under the lean-to shed I built for this purpose.
  14. Bentiron, I will look into different dies. I was considering making some of my own. I do some leatherwork as well, so that was the main thing in my mind when I bought it. Phil, I wish tools had a memory card I could access to see what they had been up to in previous work. Thomas, my Buda hand crank is a bit hard to turn, so I will be opening it up and looking inside. Hopefully it just needs to be greased.
  15. Thank you, Sask Mark. After reading through this thread, I want a copy of AIA as well.
  16. I have recently had a few things follow me home. This hammer I found at a thrift store for $2--it is a sledge that must weigh 10 pounds on a short hatchet handle. It looks more costumey than functional to me--I imagine it as an accessory for a Thor costume. (At least, I couldn't swing it one handed for more than a few strikes.) Also at a thrift shop, I found this heavy winch--no idea what it was for, but it weighs over 20 pounds: I do not know what I will use it for, and the chance exists that it will not get used... Then there is the grommet press that I found at a local antique shop that always has an abundance of cheap old tools. Paid $5 for it. The same shop also had this hand crank grinder. I wish I could find more information on it, but the google force does not seem to be with me: It has a metal plate that says Buda Hyduty Special Grinder. I gave $27 for it, even though I don't really need it. It had been collecting dust there for at least 2 years, so I figured to give it a home. I saved the best for last: my first anvil, which I posted yesterday to the Hay Budden list: I paid $200 for it yesterday. #144 Hay Budden in great shape. The guy who sold it told me his wife's grandfather found it "in the dirt" and had owned it for 50 years before he passed. It has sat on the step grandson's workbench ever since, and he decided that he could use the space better and the cash more. Glad I check craigslist almost every day. The little hole in the corner ( and in the diagonal corner) is how his grandfather had it mounted--I will be making a much beefier mount than that. All in all, I have had some pretty good luck and am happy to give these a new home.
  17. Hey guys, I just picked up my first London pattern anvil. It is stamped Hay Budden #144 on the side and 218927 on the front (I believe). There is also what appears to be 045 stamped on the back side. The 0 may be just random wear, though. Would someone be willing to check the date for me? Here is an album of photos of it, for those interested http://imgur.com/a/GMB1g.
  18. Hi Dalton. I grew up in Springfield also. I wish I had known what I wanted to do when I was your age. When you decide if you want to go to college, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale has a Metalsmithing program that includes blacksmithing that may be of interest to you. (I took the blacksmithing class, but wish I had taken the whole program.) In the meantime, someone mentioned the Hammer In--see if you can contact that group and maybe they will know of local classes you can take. You might also look into a visit to New Salem State Historic Site, they used to have the smithy running on a regular basis. As someone else said, the biggest thing is to practice and I would add have patience and perseverance as well. Good luck.
  19. Hi IronWolf, I am in Bend on the High Desert side of the Cascades. Calsmith looks like a good organization, thanks for the info.
  20. Norseman, thanks for the heads up--andirons, could have seen that if I had ever used andirons before. I see it now, and the pitting is obviously from a lot of fires. I will probably use Ridgeways advice and use this for the time being, always keeping my eyes open for something better. And I will stop by the local steel yard and see what they have.
  21. Hey there, my name is Jody. I recently found IForgeIron, and have been lurking a bit. By way of introduction, let me say that I have not had the pleasure of heating and beating iron in over ten years. I took one blacksmithing course at Southern Illinois University back at the turn of the millenium as an elective and loved the feel of working metal and now feel the need to get back into it. As the bug just won't let go, I am in the process of putting together my own backyard smithy. (I am sure my neighbors are going to love it, too.) I have been collecting tools for some time now, whenever I come across a serviceable tool I grab them up. I have a rusted post vise that a friend gave me, a small handcrank/forge setup, a few hammers, chisels, files and tongs and various other bits and pieces. Just yesterday I came across a beat up old RR rail anvil, it will have to do for the time being until such time as I can find a reasonably priced anvil. The face is pitted and rusty--can anyone spell out what it will take to bring life back into it...or if it is even possible? I only spent $18 on it at an antique store, so if y'all don't think it is worth the trouble, I will trust that you know better than I and use it as is. I am including pics of the rail anvil and my final project from class 10 years ago--unfortunately I never got to the part of finishing it, so it is a bit rusted. Glad to find the site and look forward to learning from such a wellspring of knowledge as I see this group has. Cheers.
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