Chinobi

Alec, i want a photo of this forged toilet holder! (i cant bold inside the quote box :( )

no markings that i have seen yet other than the quikwerk logo, bathroom scale said 60 and change.

i just recently bought my first vice in Ventura CA for 140$, 5" QuikWerk in pretty good shape. pic's and spec's here: http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/32645-first-vice-may-need-some-repairs/

i saw that one too and decided to pass on it because the face looks like there might be issues, and its way out in bakersfield or something isnt it? (too far for mediocre for my purposes)

ok i keep seeing this come up and i made a point of chasing down a non-wikipedia reference for it this time. the United States penny officially changed composition from 95% copper and 5% zinc (the 'solid' copper version, though there is still zinc content) to 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper (the copper plated version we all hate melting) in 1982. Coins of both types were minted in 1982 and as there is no month or day entry in the mint date the only way to verify a 1982 penny's composition is to weigh it or cut it open and look. i used to always think it was later than that too but due to recent confusion i had to look it up and verify. this link is to the united states mint website article covering the chronology of the composition of the cent. http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/fun_facts/?action=fun_facts2

not sure what happened to my edit post button, but there was somebody that got in just ahead of me and snuck away with it :'(

i have an outdoor concrete patio myself, so this is all here-say, but you could put down a layer of hardybacker (concrete backing board for laying tile) on the ground to cover the entire hot work area and grind the lip at the edges to reduce the toe-catch. similarly you could nail down a 2x4 border and fill it with sand. if you are more concerned about building an entire masonry structure for your forge over the wood floor i would save yourself some effort and make or get an iron table and brick that up as a liner. i have seen a number of nice coal forge builds from other members, take a stroll through the other postings and see if any of them strike your fancy.

glad i decided to check craig's early today :) just spotted at 162# hay bud in my home town plus 4 hardies(pictured) for 425! definitely more manageable :) i really hope i got in there fast enough! looks like the hardies are a cold cut (very thick cutting edge, at least thicker than hot cuts typically seem to be), half round swage, either a smaller half round or a V swage (its on its side and backwards so hard to see), and some kinda T/mushroom swage. spec's from the add serial no: 171702 Measures 26"length x 11" height x 4"width Base = 10" x 4" Top excluding horn = 14 1/2" x 4" Horn = 11" 1" hardy hole 9/16" pritchel hole includes hardy tools $425

well, i went ahead and passed on the return offer. i am pleased that it came back at a fairly reasonable price, seller said the appraiser couldnt ID it either and marked it up at $3/lb. i was offered $500, but for the increased logistics of trying to make a shop class anvil into a portable, the general 'mystery meat' nature of it and the loss of the truely irresistible price tag i had to let it walk. i hope it has found its way into good hands already and will be put to good use. for me the search continues.

when it is done finding a new home in your lungs, perhaps :)

better question: is there a coating of some sort (chrome?) on that which looks like a computer fan grate/screen in that pic? did that piece make it into the final build?

ah, thank you for the clarification :) is your 12x in line or 3x4 box or 2x6? is that something your students would be expected to do in one class, two, a week? might be fun to do a birthday candle sized version as well :)

Buggeration! seller is backing out, saying that it is significantly heavier than he had estimated (216 vs 150) and is pulling it off the market to have it appraised, which means its going to come back at 'antique vintage value' at probably $1200, get picked up by a collector, and never again know the sweet caress of hot hammered iron. :angry: :angry: :angry:

some call it a gift, others a curse, pretty much comes with the territory :)

Thanks for the reply Colorblind :) good info! i have seen Ariel's work and it is truly stunning. i envy your copy of Midgett's book :) im almost fed up enough to buy the German translation for 40$ and beg/plead/pay my girlfriend to read it to me :D i bought Ian Ferguson's book, its much more brief, but it covers the basics pretty well. http://www.amazon.com/Mokume-Gane-Jewellery-Handbooks-Ferguson/dp/0713661569

excellent writeup and great job on the project :) thank you for sharing! how do you go about drilling into the point of something like that though? i would be more inclined to use a small cutoff disk in my rotary tool.

Yea, thanks Swede, i will address that question on friday when i get to feel it up in person, im just trying to get a feel for what *it* is before i do :) it will certainly be an improvement over my 55# ASO!

not inspiring me with a lot of confidence here guys :) but thank you all, im going to meet the seller this friday and see what i can see in person. ill bring a ball pein and a file, but i cannot for the life of me chase down a bloody ball bearing! @frank: are you referring to the shadow-looking line in the first photo? the whole face plate has an almost too-well defined line, which is a bit unsettling. i will investigate. @VaughnT: by the sellers eyeball its 150#ish so just shy of 3$/lb, by the dimensions given compared to other typical anvils i place it closer to the 200# mark, which would be just over 2$/lb. and the market in my area bloooows! which is why i wanted to do a little extra legwork and make sure i wasnt getting unduly excited... and unless the thing punches a whole in my car (i will bring lumber!) i dont think i will need to worry about shipping, maybe just the chiropractor's bill after the fact... are there any makes in that size/shape category that would be something to watch out for (good or bad) if i am able to make out any markings on it? something to smile inside about because im making a killing, or to back away from because its known to be problematic/poor quality etc? hopefully its worth the effort! Thanks again for all the input :)

Thanks Knots, depending how this pans out i may get ahold of you for a pic of your Z-clip design :) i got a few more photos from the seller, who 'thinks its around 150 pounds' and says that there are no identifying marks on it, but it looks 'antique' (really beginning to hate that word...) it seems pretty strange to have an anvil that size with no markings (to me at any rate) it seems to have a very distinct top plate as well but only covering the face, not the table and horn, at least not visibly. i think i will definitely have to make a pit stop to check this out when i head to los angeles this weekend :) edit: jiggled to get pics to post

Thanks for the quick reply Pulse, that cast steel is gonna ring like a bell though >.< they didnt leave a phone number so only thing i could so was email them, gotta wait for a bite =/

Hey all, Time to poll the collective wisdom again, i saw this thing on craigslist and while i see a few features that are familiar from keeping up on many of the other ID threads, i cant say with any confidance what the make of this anvil is, and from the dimensions given (28"L x 12"H x 5"W) i would guess it to be something in the neighborhood of 200 pounds. asking price for the anvil - $425 i emailed the seller asking for more info and possibly additional pics of markings etc. can anybody shed any light as to what the make might be on this from what is shown? the deeply swept heel makes me think HB but it looks too thick, and the spread feet seem atypical too. for the size and price its on the high end of 'shut up and buy it' but i am *really* bent on getting a fisher because they are significantly quieter and i live in a pretty residential neighborhood and i do not want to be 'that guy'. :wacko: Thanks :) attached pic for posterity

its a Pitch Pot, frequently used to hold small and oddly sized parts, or pieces for engraving, repousse and the like. there may be other names for it as well.

i wonder if that could be modified into a combo anvil/induction forge in some way, that is if you can prevent it from just arc welding the workpiece to the face and anvil as soon as you strike it :D

very well done! i really like the shape of it and the basket is very nice! my guess would be that the basket was left open enough on the last heat to let the bean slip in and then twisted back together cold (it works on small wire projects, i dunno how well it would scale up to something that size in steel no less though...) Alec's mig weld theory might hold water too, the weld on the bottom does appear a little different than the one on top. i think the next one should be done with a kernel of popcorn (unpopped!) and then we can keep guessing :)

i find that you can counterweight a vise on a flat tri-leg base just as easily as the flat base, and from the flat base vises i have worked on i notice that they have been more wobbly than ones with legs. i have to put more effort into bracing myself against the vice when its on a flat base because after a while they tend to get dished and then are able to rock. but this is based on student type equipment, YMMV.