aessinus

That's how I'd go, with the caveat of upsetting the corners good & square on the outside to maintain the crisp lines.  Upsetting tiny stuff  tests your patience; 1/4"square might be a tad easier.  For keeping the heat localized it's sometimes less frustrating to break out the OA & a little brazing tip.  Just my 2 copper

Try turning your cypress on end & jst see if you can tell an addition to rebound.   Where are you?  Might have to try your scrapper.

I used Brownell's OxyphoBlue on one blade for sure, for my young lad.  As a cold blue, it's a touchup, but I kept heating it in boiling salt water each application and polishing with steel wool.  Ten applications, at least.

For old tools I've restored, I've used a phosphoric acid etch also, then regular cold blue to (steel hot as you can stand) in multiple applications to get the tint and consistency to suit.  

Hardware store phosphoric, muriatic and cider vinegar are my goto store-bought etchants.  They sometimes yield quite different results on a given piece of steel, even more so with different alloys.  Home leached tannic sometimes works when nothing else does.  It always seems to turn into a chemistry experiment.....

Go outside, use PPE & stay upwind.

2 hours ago, Charles R. Stevens said:

 Honestly have any of you seen a Belgian mule, much less tried to shoe one of those beasts?

Charles, I worked them when I lived in PA.  Lovely animals, and the power is amazing.  I'm a mule-man myself....

Yar, anvil forging videos!  Glad to have you.

For the sake of myself & the other "experienced" members, please add your country at least to your profile.  (user settings)

If you ask or answer a question, the resulting series of posts may be location specific.a question.

12 hours ago, Frosty said:

...stabilize: wood, bone, horn, antler, moose turds, etc.

on a forged blade with impregnated manure from the neighbor bull..

Would that be a real BS blade?

Try putting paper on the anvil side & do a charcoal rubbing.  I swear it looks like there may have been raised letters there once upon a time

4 hours ago, JHCC said:

In my stand, at least, shims aren't a bandage: the bits of rubber that level the anvil also dampen vibration. In other words (as the computer programmers like to say), it's not a bug; it's a feature!

Same here.  I bed the anvil level in caulk.  I can't say zero vibration, but the one in my living room is quiet enough to watch/hear a movie while I'm working

1: jar lifters

2: yep, milking hobbles

3: anvil stake for a sawyer's anvil

4: wrench for a buried valve, (forged crowfoot )

Thanks for the link.  I might make one of those for the shop at work,  We have a short, heavy 6" there already, but could stand another taller one for filing & oddball shapes.  That vertical looks pretty adaptable, just not super robust.  This one should fit the robust need at home pretty well.  Got the hitch ball drilled  & handle 50% done; planning to upset one end tomorrow at lunchtime & maybe thread a ball for the other.  I'm still on the prowl for a big bushing that's already drilled for the bottom hinge.  Carrying all the parts around in my truck, just in case I get some spare time to work on it.  

Only thing I have is grandpa's posthole diggers.  Schedule 80 pipe handles & 3/4"square bar for a box hinge.  Forged grader blades for the shovels.

Those things will dig thru pure shale or limerock, no problem, but you'd better have your big-boy britches on.

Tongs - repurposed end cutters

Is it flexible enough to ignore any anticlastic?

38 minutes ago, Derek Melton said:

That's the first time I've ever heard that. Interesting perspective.

Feel welcomed, you just got pranked.

On ‎1‎/‎4‎/‎2016 at 4:45 PM, Jakesshop said:

Here is another Soderfors I have in my shop right now. 334 pound North German style made in 1925. The previous owner sand blasted it and painted it all black to "make it look better". I removed the offending paint and only put some boiled linseed oil on it. Kinda wished I hadn't oiled it so it would get that nice patina again.

Was in reference to his last sentence....

Oh you can make money.  Get hammering!

If you can find one the Porter-cable is what I have for home.  Trigger-lock & I can clamp in my 4"post vise.  

Dewalt at work, no trigger lock but I fabbed a wedge on safety chain.  Has a built-in hanging hook that we can clamp up vertical for little stuff

23 minutes ago, Rayman1975@hotmail.com said:

...  Some high and low spots.I'm guessing don't worry about having a machine shop take some off?

Please.Do.Not.Machine.The.Face.  You should buy a lottery ticket.

Add your location to your profile under user/settings.  There might be a few members around that would like to see a 15 cents/lb anvil

Just.... wow

7 hours ago, arftist said:

I saw a black oxide finish on s.s. that was awesome. Anyone know how?

What alloy?  If 300-400 series, maybe hot caustic soda and some salts, depending on alloy.  Danger, danger, Will Robinson!

Fume hoods, ventilation, PPE are in order...  

Anvil ringing, boss

On 1/4/2016 at 6:01 PM, Frozenforge said:

Wash it with tide powder detergent (caustic) with as hot of water as you can, rinse with hot water and also get the anvil warm with the hot water. Wipe the face and horn with grease where you dont want it to start aquiring patina.  Rinse the rest with some muratic acid and place it in a warm humid place and it will start to rust quite quickly. 

Bleach/hydrogen peroxide applied to the warm iron will patinate, as well.

One of my buddies scored me a ball hitch that's 2 5/16; mounting stud is within 0.050" of the acme minor diameter, so welding should be fairly straightforward.  Have to clean, anneal & bore it for a handle.

32 minutes ago, arftist said:

Wouldn't mind seeing an 8 or 10 inch jaw from some of the multiple cwt hammer owners.

As it stands, the jaws are 4", however, I could modify them to make them wider...  I have a scavenged EDM machine way, 3/4"x 3"x16"long that is hardened.  Could be cut to about 8" jaws and left unhardened.  I would have to anneal and check for air-hardening alloy of course, but I'm not in any particular rush on this dude.  Reduce some current jaw length (2"right now) & weld in place.

Jaw width opinions?

Welcome!   If you put your general location in the header (user/settings) you might be surprised how many Iforge folk live within visiting distance.

The search engine here is weak; use google with "Bradley strap hammer iforgeiron" as keywords.

What are you aiming to do in a smithy?

6 hours ago, Bmallen77 said:

 I am an idiot and definitely made a mistake John b please  feel free to  kick me in the xxxxxx if you ever meet me .  Just realized what he is saying and you are saying about the chuck.

1 hour ago, John B said:

No offence taken, not knowing your experience and also trying to help others at the same time,  it was not my intention to upset anyone, I try to start at basics and then work onwards.

Knowing how to use one, and knowing how they function and make tooling for them are two entirely seperate experiences, 

I often find it is so easy to overlook what becomes the obvious at a later date, and a fresh set of eyes is of enormous help,

Looking at your own pictures will no doubt also give you a new view of what we have been trying to point out. Like they say a picture is worth a thousand words (Unless it's a picture of me, and then there is usually a good single word or two for it, just those that can't be mentioned in polite conversation)

Having got past this, good luck and you do have a great little tool there, especially as you come to terms with it and it's capabilities.

Have fun and enjoy

 

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen?   Well done lads.

34 minutes ago, Frank Turley said:

Is there such a thing as a vise aficionado? I am he. I have a vise similar to the one in the Zoffany painting, which I show in the three submitted images.

I hope it can go to a museum or collector some day.

Frank, is the mounting tang mortised through both the fixed jaw and the spring?  If so, I am going to rethink my DIY plan.  Drifting through liuft forks would be tough on my smaller anvils, but I have access to a mill & carbide mills.  This may qualify me for some overdue vacation.