Thomas Dean

Jerry, Susie and I are Praying for Garrett and his continued recovery as well as all of you. PRAISES to Our FATHER, HE is on HIS Throne!

When I have extra anvils they are saved for students that are looking for a good/decent anvil. I charge what I paid for it plus gas/time involved in getting it and cleaning. I have never sold one to a collector...and quite honestly, I will not sale to one knowingly. Get what you can but remember that you were once in the position of needing an anvil...and that hasn't been all that long ago either. If you want the best price you can get put it on eBay and let the buyer set the price. Good, clean, and oiled anvils go for a premiun there. All that said, a 75# anvil is perfect for a demo anvil. Easy to move and still looks like an anvil. If it were mine that's what I would do with it.

Thanks Stewart! At least I'm not alone in doing stupid things. I consider you good company. :P Man, that looks like it hurts. Hope it heals quick.

Yeah, us too. "Lock out - Tag out" . They even have designated smoking areas and don't get caught liting up anywhere else but in that little roped off area! Fortunatly that is not a prob with me. I will check with our resident OSHA guy and find out what the 'law' is in regards to bottle carts. We go to church together so won't take too long to find out.

Luck you! All of ours have to have them, either inside or off road. We have several that we pull behind our trucks here in the plant and then those that we can cart around the shop when needed. Even the staionary ones in each of our welding stalls have the partition. Granted, it may not be an OSHA law but they seem to think so here! I work for Eastman Chem., a rather large company and they problably have made the requirment but we are told it is OSHA....Whatever the case we have them

My first thought on this was " So, it's an Oxy/Act cart, big deal" THEN I read your text and saw that YOU built it. Very nice job, actually better than 'store bought'. The only thing is that to get by OSHA you need to have a partition between the 2 bottles that extends above the highest regulator. And I think it needs to be 1"---that can be fabbed with 1/8" matr'l.

Have you considered using a bronze bushing instead?

Heck, I will always try to talk down price on an anvil, but not so much to insult them. The worst they will say is no. But then that's just me.

Appears to be on the underside of the anvil and most likely was there from birth. I wouldn't worry about it, been there that long with no problem.

mid to late 1890's

Ok, found this http://vintagemachin...il.aspx?id=4794 although it is only the blower this is the type of mechinism that powers your blower. At least that's what it appears like to me

Good ideas on fixing the firepot Phil. but this forge does not use the ratchet, no gear on the shaft. Definitely a big project to restore but I believe Phil's ideas along with what I suggested may eliminate some of your grief.

I believe this used the 2 leather belts that are fastened to the shaft and then fastened to the arms that work it. (Pic #3) The piece with the eye bolt is the arm piece I am refering to. That is connected to the lever by a rod with eyes on both ends and then another eye bolt at the end of your lever. I have seen several of these in action but for the life of me this is the best I can explain it. You are missing the turye and the 'ducks nest' that the blower connects to as well. The ash dump is on the bottom of this. Once you get it restored you will have a nice forge. I strongly urge you NOT to try to weld any of the cracks up...you will only frustrate yourself. Drill 1/4" holes on either side and bolt a 1/4" x 1" x whatever length you need. This fix is so much faster and does the trick. On the far side of the forge (Pic #2) you can do the same with a wider piece of 1/4" flat stock. either bend a lip on it to fit under the bottom or weld a couple of tabs to bolt on, then match drill holes across the bottom and 2 sides. It really is an easy fix and doesn't look bad either...Much better looking than a bunch of weld metal that will most likely end up cracking out anyway....and look worse!

Why thank you Pardner. Been over 40 yrs since I was through Utah. We would go through there on our way to Seattle to visit my Mom's side of the family. Drove from central TX to Seattle with 6 kids and a dog....Mom and Dad had to been Crazy! There are a few smiths in the Denison area, check out the North Texas Blacksmith Assoc. http://www.ntxba.org Also give Chuck Stone a call, his # in on their web site. Chuck is a great guy and just good to be around. He will also know who the guys are in Denison and maybe give you some contact info.

And doing so "comando"!

So where the heck are you located! I met Amit at the ABANA conf. in Memphis, TN 2yrs ago. Great guy, you will enjoy working with him. I trained with Tsur at Tom Clark's school also. If you are interested in the Ozark Pattern Anvil I have Bob Alexander's phone #, send me a PM and I'll send you the #. The anvil is 275# and is a fantastic tool. I have used them and they are great to work on, you would do well by owning one. Also good for you to come across this shop with all the tools!

Fastest hand forging I have EVER seen! :lol: Good job. Only thing I have to say negatively is to move your cutter from the hardie hole when forging, you'll loose fingers eventually.

Cool Beth! I like the way you are working the edge of the stock. Randy, I just got that book last month at the Lee Brothers little shindig in Bryan, TX. They did an auction with donated items, both BS related and non. This book came up and I liked the cover, seemed interesting to me and started bidding...got it $67.50 later! the back shows it at $14.95 at the 1985 prices. I figure inflation and all I got a good deal. Very interesting book, no text, just photos of plants with the name of each plant! For those interested; ISBN 0-486-24990-5 copyright 1985 Dover Publishing, Inc. amazon.com has 1 copy at $10.21

Met a man this evening, he had an anvil for sale of which I purchased but that's another story....OK, it was a Vulcan and will make a nice starter for someone.... He has asked all the old folks at the coffee shop what it is. Everyone he works with, anyone that MIGHT know and still has no real good explaination as to what it is. I asked if I could take a few pics and post it to see what I could come up with so here tis! There is a piece that slides down the tube that looks like it was intended to push whatever was in the tube out the end.(see last pic) The overall length is 16-18" and about 1 1/4"dia. There are small dents and dings in it but other than that it is in great shape. He thinks that it was possibly used for taking cheese samples and I thought maybe taking samples of grains. So, what are YOUR ideas of what it is????

There was a whole hour show of the annual event (I believe it is in NC) this past fall on the Discovery Channel (I think) I do remember watching the show and these guy are serious about it. And I agree with MacBruce, I don't think the even know what a forge, hammer, tongs or anything else blacksmith related is about.

Me too Frosty. He said it is one of his 'long time' projects...maybe in 6 months! something like 4ft dia. and 4-5ft long. I think he found someone truck farming corn. It will also do chickens and whatever. Once it is complete he said he is bringing it out to the plant and cooking for the crew, and the guy can cook. Thanks all for the kudos.

These are a few pieces I have done since my STUPID accident. Hope you enjoy. These are the handles that are now on the corn roaster. Here is the "Dreaded Latch" also on the corn roaster. I hope to get pics of the completed roaster when it is comp. This Cala Lily is from a piece of 3/4" x 3" sq. I think it is wrought iron, sure moved easy! And one more copper rose. Have 7 more of these to make, hopefully this weekend.

Pan needs to be clayed. The holes in the side are for a wind shield, just about any kind of light sheet metal will work, and should go only a couple inches past the outside holes. (a piece of drum barrel metal is great) Careful on the bolts holding the legs to the bottom of the pan, over tighten them and you can break the casting. I have repaired several that were broken like that. (broken before my time!) Some of the wobble can be eliminated by putting new bolts in the braces at the bottom and tighten good or you can get everything lined up real good and weld the braces to the legs. (I have one that some one did this to many yrs ago) As for a new wooden lever, they are easy to make or you can use a handle from a post hole digger or an ax handle, seen both and both work real well. I will loosen the belt on mine when not in use, just a habit.

You can make some fairly nice spurs using these ends. ...just another idea

I would be concerned if the glass met the safety codes for handrails. Nice job