oakwoodironworks

Good Job ! Sorry to hear of your loss. What a nice way to remember someone

In George Dixon's book, A Blacksmith's Craft,The Legacy of Francis Whitaker,, It states, on pg. 5, "that thee face of the step is not for cutting. Chisel cuts chew it up and dressing it is not practical. A cutting -saddle, made of mild steel flat stock, is placed on the anvil's face when chisel cutting is done. I have seen to many anvil steps messed up by chisel cuts that could have prevented in the first place

There was a real good description on taking apart and fixing Champion blowers at Practical Machinist awhile back. You could probably go to that site and search for it. Hope this helps you

Will put Tom in my prayers. Tom was always willing to help and share his knowledge. A great blacksmith and friend to the smithing community.

I had a Home Depot gift card and bought one of the large mouth canvas tool bags with lot of pockets. Easy to carry and lots of room.

Great Pictures! I live about 24 miles North of Macon and next time I'm in Savannah, I'll have to go buy and see the museum.

I made a couple of axes a while back and needed something to wrap my steel around to form the eye of my axe. I was in a hurry, so I took a 3/4 and 5/8 inch rod and welded them together to form my drift and then folded my plate around it before forge welding the axe head together. Worked real well!

Our local blacksmith group gives 2 scholarships per year. But you have to be a member for 1 year before you can apply for one. Then your name goes into a hat along with everyone else and hopefully you get drawn. It took me 7 years before I was lucky enough to be picked. I know the blacksmith group in NC has scholarships, but do not know their requirements for applying.

A friend of mine is giving me some 1"x1/2" wrought iron that he found while tearing down an old farm house. I have never forged any wrought before and was wondering if anyone had any ideas about unique projects to use it for. Thanks, Mike

Every time I see a building like that in the old western movies there always seems to be a rattlesnake hanging around! Good Find. It is always fun to see pictures of old shops like that.

Anvils have a way of showing up when you least expect them. Ask everyone you know if they know where you can find an anvil. Often times, you can find one right under you nose. As an example, I ask a guy I know who is out and about as a tractor mechanic, to keep his eyes open and let me know if he ran across any blacksmith tools. He showed up at work today with a 150lb. Swedish anvil in pretty good shape (pritchel hole messed up by torch cut but real good face)and asked me where I wanted it. The funny thing about it was I asked him to look for tools, not go on a buying spree. He bought a couple of welding tables, engine stand and a floor jack and got the anvil thrown in for good measure. I have another friend who works for a welding supplier and he was given a 200lb Arm and Hammer anvil just because he asked what they were going to do with the anvil sitting in the corner. I looked for a long time before I found my first anvil, so don't give up. Right now, I know where a 275lb. Peter Wright anvil is sitting in an old garage under a couple inches of dust and bird poop (owner can't make up his mind what to do about the old tools and tractor parts), an almost brand new 300lb. Fisher anvil and factory stand sitting in a shop waiting to be rented out with the building (dosen't make sense to me) and a friend who has 500lb. Hay-Budden anvil sitting out in his yard as yard art (he didn't want to sell it because it belonged to his grandfather, but did say I could borrow it when I first started blacksmithing. Didn't take him up on his offer because I couldn't see trying to move it around just to borrow it). So keep looking. You never know what you might find