nett

If there is a blueprints of one, I can't locate it. They are sometimes called the Friedrich's cross. Hope this helps.

cross

Dimes to donuts says debris that fall through the smaller holes above will not fall through the larger lower holes (visualize pushing Mike and Ike's through the top holes then guess why they will not fall through the lower holes). Garbage will become trapped and will rattle around like, well, a baby rattle and reduce you airflow. Can you access the lower plate and remove it? Oh, if you remove to top plate to access the lower one, drill more hole to achieve a better airflow, it won't hurt anything and you won't regret it.

Other then my concerns, you're go to go!

Diamond is kinda like the Chevrolet or Ford of hammers. It's exactly what you see, and will get you there.

If you're willing to drop some big bucks, there are a lot of smiths selling custom handmade hammers, some are even members of the forum.

If you're interested in a foreign model (continuing with car analogy), Bruce Wilcock will make one to your specs for

Romex! Great idea. Another substitute for clay is lead. Bruce Wilcock starts his apprentices off making tongs out of a cold chunks of lead.

Ouch! I was thinking Vulcan, the other cast iron anvil. The fact that Fisher anvils were made in Trenton, New Jersey trips me up every time.

What damage? That anvil is still being broken it. Remember, the step is cast iron and will chip horrible so don't use it for cutting. The face looks as fine as my Fisher, but yours looks heavier that mine. I'm envious. Cool beans.

I busted the motor mounts on a ShopSmith

Spark test. It's a subjective test, but if you have known steels to compare spark patterns with, with you can guess pretty close.

Interesting. After you earlier thread asking for information on etching, I looked around a bit, too, your results look promising. I don't quite understand how the stencil was applied for each test space. Do I understand that the stencil was just used to mask out the edges? Do you plan to try cutting pattern stencils in the future? Would applied hot wax do the same job as scotch tape for stencil material? Interesting possibilities.

Is california cost mesa near La Mesa, California? La Mesa has a really cool open air Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum that has a nice blacksmith shop. The last two weekends of this month (June) they have their Threshing Bees and Antique Engine Shows. The blacksmith shop will open and have people that can hook you up with the best smithing coal to be had in Southern California.

I have no idea why you can't find a local supply of coal in British Columbia. Have you looked in your telephone book and make any calls? Did you think to ask steveh what the skinny was about local coal? Do you still have his number? Many questions....

Perhaps, without having to re-setup for each stage. I might suggest the anvil would facilitate perfecting asymmetrical items that are paired, left and right; moving the Hardie tools from one side to another might be quicker then stepping around the anvil.

Double Arch Anvil. They are relatively rare anvils. These were probably used in a factory situation where a horn was unnecessary.

Reference - anvilfire FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

I believe I saw the same program, a PBS series called Battlefield Britain. Father and son team, Peter and Dan Snow. I seem to remember Peter and Dan demonstrating the pilum(crossbow) that shot bolts (spears) very accurately at plywood targets from some distance, and explained how the soldier carrying the shield was effectively taken out of battle, leaving a hole in the ranks that could then be exploited.

On edit: Matt87 correctly identified the weapon as a pilum, not a ballista, a siege weapon.

Hammerkid, that's solder flux, not welding flux. Zinc chloride is the active ingredient in most solder fluxes.

Muriatic acid is an accepted way of removing zinc from iron. It's fine for small objects, but gets to be a problem with large objects. I have no desire to have a acid pickle vat around that is larger then five gallons.

After removing the zinc the acid turns into zinc chloride which can be used as solder flux. That's assuming you saturate the pickle with enough zinc. I was taught to make made flux this way many years ago. I would a cut zinc mason jar lid with tin snips and toss small pieces into the acid. When the acid stopped reacting, it zinc chloride - Flux.

Cold chisel. High school. No power tools were allowed. Cut the stock with a hot chisel (we were teamed up for that step). Forge was a natural gasser. Heated and pounded, heated and pounder - I suspect I did more packing than moving the steel, but it was fun nevertheless. Annealed in lime. Filed by hand (tough work when a huge floor model power grinder was a few feet away), then harden and tempered it. 3/4 inch, I still use it today. It's my favorite.

Compasses, scribes, and dividers are basically the same tool, only the points are different. A compass requires a pencil and a fine point. Dividers need two steel points. Scribes require the pencil and a round side on the other leg. Because the side is used rather than the point, scribes are often made from compasses by bending the last inch to better sweep the scribed surface.

You just picked it up? I'm impressed, I would think some engineering would be involved in moving those things. Did the front wheels come off the ground, or is this '78 Chevy another story? Don't hold back.

The heck with the anvil, I covet that acorn table.

Seriously, what's the story behind it?

Oooo, I like the lead idea. Maybe a 70/30 alloy would have more holding power, like the stuff that was used in auto body work. Still, getting that mass up to heat would be a bear of a job and that tin of Bondo

If the face is serviceable, I wouldn't do anything to it, although after seeing the photo, I realize the Bondo

Original post was edited and my response became moot.

Is there a photo of the anvil we should be seeing?

Irnsrgn has the dope on repairing anvils and posted a fine blueprints on it:

BP0101 Anvil Repair

How would you heat treat the steel plate after you brazed it on?

I wonder if there is a space age epoxy that would hold up to heat. All the epoxies I've used melt around 160

Yes, five. Picky, picky, picky (In my best Pat Paulsen voice). LOL

A pair of small clean rivets, small carriage bolt, and wingnuts would be the way I would go, too.