Workhorse247365

hello all ..just wanted to share a couple pics of the arm amd hammer anvil i had posted in the it followed me home section last month or so ago. it took a while of looking on the sides of the roads and peoples yards to find a stump i liked enough to mount this beautiful anvil to. in not sure what type of tree it came from because i found dumped on the side of the road . it was bleached out and most of the bark was gone. what remained was very smooth almost sanded feeling. when i started cutting it had a strong smell of eucalyptus or camphor but the lil bit of bark that was left looked more like a pine .. a arborist does not a plumber make lol

I did try to keep within a triangular set up though the way my garage is layed out with doors and such has made it a challenge. At this point my anvil is pointed toward the forge and offset of center toward the right of the forge cart. When said your anvil is turned toward the outside of the triangle , do you mean that instead of being pointed directly at the forge, it is at an angle way from the forge? Say at like 22°

Frosty: Thank you for the great info once again. as this is not the first post that ive made that you have helped with. Ive went back and have fudged this around some more to get the two step pace as close that i could which is about 7 foot or so for me. Doing that has definetly opened things up and also forced me to rethink some of the "big" tool locations such horizontal bandsaw etc, also trying to leave some room for some larger items id like to get such as a power hammer in the future. Thomas: Thank you...I also took your advice and worked around to each piece with an 8 length of stock swing vertically and horizontally at each station...killed two flourescent light bulbs over head, and knocked a half full can of dr pepper plumb across the room but other than that it went well...theres no tellin what i will be making but i know it will not be limited to one thing such as knives so im planning on just a all around general work.

Wow Jim!!! ....gotta hear more on this one!! brilliant design!

hello guys ..I was wondering how much walking room/working room some of you guys have left around or between your equipment or tables and such... for example lets say the edge of a layout table to a post vise mounted on a post or stand...ive been trying to use a 36" minimum circumfrence around all mine except for things that have tbeir back to a wall, and the anvil has a good amount of breathing room. It has been a challenge to say the least. i have a two car garage i havent measured much sq footage but i would guess it to be in the 630-650sq. ft range...just kinda wondering if im doing to much or to little ..figuring some of you have crossed this bridge. im at the point of redheading everything down. any help would be great!

Thank you jim. I have 4-5 books coming today or tomorrow hopefully and i still would like to 3 others so i will add this book you recommend to my "get" list. I have also read on here the Dr. Batsons book on forge presses is a must read and is on my next book order. Maybe i can get them both ay the same place. Thank you for your response and the book recommendation.

Very cool!!

)))))))...crickets chirpping...((((((( haha

Love the tripod set up!

I recently picked up a manley press. I believe it was originally a H press but somewhere down the line it was converted to a side by side set up with arbor press and mounted on a pedestal. The pressure gauge seems original to the press and its 0-30 tons psi. The number on the tag which i think is the model number reads 3-44 , i dont have the serial on hand at the moment but i do know it ends with a B if that is any help at all. So that said i have some questions about this press that i hope you guys can help me with. Is there a way to convert the from manual to powered or air fairly simply or is it worth the effort? What type of forging applications would this best be suited for, and what should i avoid asking of this press? Should i not even use it due to the conversion from the original design?...though it seems done well and i removed most of the paint and all the dirt and hyd fluid looking for cracks etc i also know a weld can hide a multitude of sin. Would the tooling design ive seen on the site apply to this style of press?

Thank you :) ..Man i tell ya im so happy about this deal! Im still in shock... Just the 3" plate alone i came up money on ..scrap steel here is @ 75 cents a pound!!

I finally stumbled haphazardly into a awesome score after many many months of searching and talking to anyone that would listen. One such person i talked to sells used tools on sundays at the swap meet and he always has the not everyday items for sale. I asked him if he ever comes across anvils and items of a blacksmithing nature he replied quickly with a nah ...oh wait as a matter of fact there is a guy selling out a rock cutting facility right down the street he has one in one of the buildings down there...hes only there on saturdays, he drives from los angles. Let me tell you it was a long week waiting to go meet this fella from La, but my patience paid off in spades i think!! I showed up with a pocket fulla money but only needed to bring 200 bucks and my cutting torch!! ...heres what i got the plates on bottom of the stack are 3" thick x 18" wide x about 26" long...the press is a manley 3-44 as it says on the tag. Someone has converted it from a H to this stand set up, will be posting some question about this press in the presses section later...the anvil turn out to be a arm and hammer 150 is stamped on the front foot the horn has two lil nicks from a smack with a claw hammer heres what they look like with some love sprinkled on em..

Wow im very impressed with you!! Great job!! Your enthusiasm and love of what you do shows and is a good motivator for others

http://www.msichicago.org/scrapbook/scrapbook_exhibits/leonardo/models/12_model.html Never tryed to post a link before hope it works... I saw this while looking up striking anvil pics and thought it was pretty cool. Sorry if this has been posted before. Enjoy

Lol out here we call electricians the "other" plumbers ;)

Hi frodo and welcome!! I to am a plumber and i think youll find that the trade comes in handy in blacksmithing.

Thank you for your response frosty. I had hoped youd chime in. I followed your suggestion and ordered the book from amazon today and paid the extra to get it here tomorrow. I did go pick up the regulator and hose today also a gauge. I did intend on building your T burner and have searched on it before hand... And your right on another count i believe i built the zoeller version.

Hey guys, I built two burners this week after work. Both are 3/4". One is a Ron Reil style with the mig tip mod. The other is my interpertation of a hybrid style ...except not as nice ...or as good functioning but I did it anyways lol....What i would like to get is some opinion on flames of each burner. I know what i think but i am curious to learn what others see. My goal here is education for myself and being able to build the best burner that i can. I am also open to any suggestions or critiques. I do not have any psi info on the flames in question because i have them each running on a small 1 lb propane cylinder.Though i will be making a tractor supply store run this week. Also you may note thay the hybrid type does not have a choke sleeve on at this pic but it does have one...Thank you in advance for any and all input. P.s excuse the mess ..the maid is on strike, something about labor laws and my mom? Not sure couldnt hear her over the drill press

Thats cool....kinda tiki-ish, i like it

Its things like this that sometimes makes me pretty envious of you fellas back east lol. Good score!!

i like it. very cozy looking. cant wait see it finished.

I love this!!! Very nice work

I have a 112# NC. its pretty decent.

I have a old wheel barrel in my junk pile i have been eyeballing to use as a hood for mine. Might work alright with some work. I see themat yard sales and such pretty regular.

I dont really intend to use it. I had recently picked up a small columbian bench vise of about the same condition so i was going to make them a set and keep them around.