Marc1

You are right, it seems the moving jaw is slightly bent, but not as much as the gap. One thing that is obvious is that the jaws don't match. The stationary jaw is way thinner and has a thinner pad. (?) may be it is a Frankenstein vice? I got nothing. personally I wouldn't try to heat it and bend it back for fear of making it softer, but maybe my fears are founded in ignorance ... don't know. If I was stuck on a island and this was my only vice and I had zero chance of buying another one ... I would start with building up the stationary jaw to match the other one to start with. May be that is all it needs.

Thank you Anachronist, your nome de plume was irresistible Hi Thomas ... if the question is addressed to me, you pose a genuine concern, but my opinion on the subject was only giving in passing as an illustration of a differing point of view and not as an indication how things should be done ... or not be done. And it is not the first time I say so. Since you teach the craft, you are better equipped to say how someone should learn to make knifes. So we are talking the practicality of teaching a special subject, rather than "should a beginner start by making knifes without attempting any other task". Considering so many do start by themselves and make blades from scrap somehow to later branch into other pursues it seems that when perhaps not ideal, it is clearly possible not to mention historically true. Your example of the surgeon is interesting. My brother in law is an orthopaedic surgeon and when we were both young he used to ask me to assist in doing hip or knee replacement because I have a steady hand with the drill. Obviously I am not a surgeon but wiht minimal training anyone can learn a particular narrow area of surgery ... or blacksmithing for argument sake. I have to say once more I was completely taken by surprise by the number of replies that show interest in the subject. How folks find interest in blacksmithing, what does a beginner perceive blacksmithing is, and what blacksmith think of their own activity. Most important is to note that the art of shaping hot iron evolved for centuries and took many forms in many different countries. It has many commonalities and many differences and as such, there is no right or wrong, but only how and why. The questions we pose ourselves today in relation to the origins of other people's interest, is more philosophical then technical and as such should have a philosophical rather than an insular approach. In my opinion only of course.

Your anachronistic attempt at antagonising with an absurdity worthy of a better cause is amusing and noted ... but ignored. Better luck next time. anachronistic: belonging or appropriate to an earlier period, especially so as to seem conspicuously old-fashioned. antagonizing: cause (someone) to become hostile.

Judgement?

Tha'ts right ... google Brian Brazeal Hammer. Plenty on offer but not cheap.

You are all wrong ... it's a compressor

You deserve a hug just for your intention.

Probably out of shape from working on it. A picture would help.

Das ... your display is scary! The roses make it friendlier though

George ... what was the intention in stripping that much off the face of the anvil? How is one supposed to use that shape?

Frosty has the ability to make me laugh with one line. And in my hazy line of thought I was alluding to the loss of the art form. What came natural to the blacksmith of old ( and to the bricklayers too apparently) seems lost today. Or may be not. After all the artist in a person is there ... hidden ... waiting for a way to come out. Through his pencil, his hammer, his vocal cords or his brush it does not matter. Yes Rockstar attempting to recreate daily life objects by forging them may be too big of an ask. Today's market for the blacksmith is not making forks and spoons or hammers for that matter but do dive in the nonessential, the discretionary, like a garden sculpture, or a practical item like a gate or a grill or a bed head, and why not a knife ...but made like no one else can. Sure, a sculpture rusting away in someone's backyard will not be useful to skin a deer nor will it save its owner from that boar attack ... however, it may save the life of it's maker by giving him a purpose for a few weeks ... or month. Now I am getting soft ...

My instinct says forget it, but the price is what some may ask for a piece of rail ... A pity to do that to such an old PW. May be a good first anvil that will soon be superseded by another bigger and better?

Love all the replies. Didn't expect that many! To clarify ... I don't believe that any goal, be it making knifes axe, swords or toothpicks is 'wrong', so no tut-tut from my side. (I learned a new expression by the way. ) Tut-tut for Steve however for taking the personal approach. Who is this outsider telling us how to make knifes? I don't need to make knifes to know that historically knife making was a trade and people made knifes and learned the craft without necessarily making anything else. Same with locks and guns. Sure it was another time. Today if the instructor tells the student he must first make hooks ... well, that is what goes right? But if you think about it, it can be done either way. The funniest part of this debate is that lately it is working the other way. People start making knifes, then decide that perhaps there are other things they can make. But back to my original thought. What did we do wrong that no one want's to become blacksmith, everyone wants to be a blade smith and no one knows the difference? Edit Ausfire's museum activity is invaluable to show what can be achieved with the most basic of technology, no electricity (and only a bit of kero), but I dubt that he or anyone else would think it is better to do it that way than to use the aid of whatever is at hand to achieve the same result. Growing up in a workshop full of European blacksmith, the thought of making a knife or shoeing a horse was alien to me and all the rest of the crew. So to me this things have always being separated by a country mile. Admittedly there are country differences and today in Australia (not the country I grew up in) ... hardly anyone has a forged veranda railing or window grill or gate. It costs too much and lets face it, hardly anyone would know how to do it. Conversely in the US if you have the money you can get things done real nice by real artist in the trade. So why is it that everyone in the US (Correction ... not everyone ) , wants to make knifes and not learn something practical that can bring the bacon home? Is it easier to sell a knife than to make a custom made gate? Perhaps. Or perhaps what we hear is only hobby, sort of part time entertainment after a 9 to 5 job in IT? Possible. I don't know. The explanation that the knife is more macho than a steel rose ... well that may be the case. A knife can save your life? I suppose so. I have a collection of knifes some I bought, some gifted to me. They fulfil a more practical and pacific role in the kitchen and at barbecue time. May be my life is too boring. Having survived a war I tend to count my blessing and don't think in preparing for another one. Still, in the back of my mind is this nagging thought. We made all this halo of mystery and antiquity around a metal working trade that is not a martial art, but first and foremost a practical activity to make or fix everyday metal objects using the most basics of methods. What I see is that what used to be a necessary part of blacksmithing, and that is the artistic side, is almost lost. I can still see my tutors spending hours drawing in pencil over large sheets of copy paper, free hand perfect scrolls and even art nuvo creations I thought I could never equal. Not that making a knife does not require some aesthetic skills, and you only need to see some of the knifes made by professionals here to recognise the artistic talent of it's maker. Still ... I remember my mother's comments reminiscent of her years of living in Rome as a german expatriate. She used to miss the way bricklayers sang whilst working, singing some opera aria over and over. May be I am getting old

A man after my own heart ...

Yes, Ausfire, clearly it does not. And we have only ourselves to blame ... in a general figure of speech of course. The part were I believe "we" are at fault ... and don't get hang up on words here ... is when "we" obsess with the old, as if we are curators of a museum. Funny I say that to you Aussie, but I mean nothing personal if that is what you do, good for you. I mean rather the home shop, the hobby blacksmith, even the one getting started, most will have this obsession of doing things the old way ... rather than ... DO things, anyway you can. When I was a kid, the blacksmith was just what we would call today a metal worker, no mysticism, no black magic, no sulphur under the anvil, tradition was just a word. You needed to make stuff that sold to pay the bills. The artistic side of things a necessity in order to sell. No talent no business. No one would have wasted a minute in pondering the year of manufacture of his anvil, or the history of it. You either had a good anvil the right size or it was a dud and you find another one. It was just a tool and not an object of veneration, and the same goes for all the other tools. Talking about your hammers the way some do here, would have been the object of ridicule for a week. We have turned blacksmithing in some form of theatrical play in period customs, were the form is more important than the content. No wonder everyone wants to pretend to be Vulcan forging the sword to slain the dragon ... or whatever it is that he is supposed to have done.

As a blacksmithing forum that spans a long time, it stands to reason that a lot of people who for one reason or another want to try their hand to blacksmithing will post here, share their plans and ask questions. So I am probably right in assuming that the "newbies" post here, are a representative sample of the larger newbies population ... so to speak. Well ... I did not keep tabs but if my memory serves me right, 99% of self confessed beginners, start their post with ... I want to make knifes (or swords but let us not go there). The one percent that do not, are those from the UK or eastern Europe. Now from someone who does not "make knifes" and has no intention to do so, I believe that making a nice usable knife must be an attractive project if you are that way inclined. Not easy, a challenge but feasible. Why on earth would this be the almost exclusive goal of almost everyone that wants to start this craft is beyond me. I don't subscribe to the idea that ... if you want to make knifes you must first learn to make hooks ... principle. I believe that it is a specialty within blacksmithing, like lock smithing and gun smithing used to be. So you can ... with the right instructor ... make blades without ever making a gate or an ashtray. My point is .... what did we do wrong that no one wants to be a blacksmith anymore and everyone wants to be a blade smith and no one knows the difference? Just saying.

Ha ha ... hum no nut left? I assume the nut is worn, out of shape, rounded off? A picture wuld help. One solution. tack weld a socket to whatever is left of the nut and apply the rattle gun to it with extreme prejudice. Or weld another nut to the other nut ... If you have already removed the nut, and the fan is rusted to the shaft, you need to apply some heat with an oxyacetylene torch (small one) and use a pulley extracto to pull the fan off. Very carefully. Too many ifs ... post a pic pleeeese.

Aah the memories ... my first car was a 1928 Buick built in Canada. Just like this one only burgundy :

I say it one more time. Impact wrench. Any attempt to jam the gears in order to apply a radial force to the nut is dangerous. Those gears are not designed to take such force. An impact wrench works using the inertia in the shaft and fan and hits the nut with a radial impact rather than a static force. No need to jam up the gears at all. Just use an impact wrench and a socket, nothing else.

Too much information in the replies and none in the question. I would say, e-bay US is a good source of cheap gas forges.

The inquisition would have killed me for sure ...

I remember a chainsaw I had with the repairer and he kept on telling me he could not undue the clutch and that he had it in wd40 for days and bla bla. I took the chainsaw back, and built a contraption that had two lugs to go in the two holes in the clutch, welded a nut on it and it came apart at the first go with the impact wrench.

Welcome back BTL ... on your name the plume theme ... it is easy to idealise the 'ol days' as the times were things were slow and easy going and ideals were high and we made tools and machines to last. The fact is that stress to make ends meet was as high as ever, security non existing, occupational health and safety a joke, pollution rampant, disease had free reign and ignorance and superstition was as popular as social media. Would you have liked to live in those days? Most likely not, but anyone born back then would have known no better and adapted or died. There is a lot to be admired from those that came before us, the simplest thing was a hard slog to make or to achieve. The one thing I don't desire is to be born before my time. If anyone ever achieves time travel, going back as a tourist would probably be interesting but coming back a necessity. Hypothetically speaking of course.

I agree with Glenn ... the original post was a bit scant of detail. The OP wants to understand the requests from his customers. "I want a small anvil for my son" The short answer is, have plenty of small anvils for your customers who want small anvils for their sons. As for young people in the workshop, it all depends upon their size. Over 40 kilos, is an adult, under 20 kilos a child that will not do any work, only play. imbetween ... depends of age.

Ha ha, fair enough. I recently built a stand for a Peter Wright vice that is not a post vice but a parallel vice or bench vice and I do use it for forging smaller stuff no problems. In my case the hammering goes into the sliding part of the vice if you hit the moving jaw and not into the screw and the jaws being all forged can take a pounding. i would venture that you can forge on your vice if you use lighter hammers around one kilo and use common sense, no problem.