piglet_74

Thanks for the replies. Actually she was smirking but I'll have to let her know about the bib overalls. The hammer was from blacksmith journal, made by Nathan I believe. I searched on it here before I bought it and people seemed to like it but I didn't notice anything about dressing it. It's a Czech style so it's very square which I couldn't find in places like a home depot etc so that's why I went ahead and picked it up. It looks fairly finished, in all but a few spots. Like you guys said though, I can take off material but putting it back requires removing more. Thanks again and it's getting late so I'll go ahead and put it in its PJs for the night Rob.

So my Jackpine 2.5lb hammer came in today and I opened the box while standing in the kitchen. I said to myself but also out loud "I wonder if I have to dress this hammer?" My wife standing by the counter says "Like with little pants?" Had me laughing good. Back to the hammer though, The edges look a little sharper than what I've been putting on my cheap home depot ones. I don't want to start a flame or anything, I'm just wondering if it's common knowledge or something that the end user must dress the hammer to their liking or should I use it and see how I fair. Thanks in advance, Rob.

Here was a reference I found in a google book. Home Life in Colonial Days - Google Book Search This was interesting too, not the reference I was looking for though: 4 JUL., 1682. Order Book, 1671 to 1691, Surry County, VA, in custody of Surry Court House, Surry, VA. Page 379 4 July, 1682 Daniell Regan having cut down and carried away one walnut tree and three timber trees from the Glebe Land of Southwarke Parish as by evidence and his own confession appearth. It is ordered that he the said Regan pay to the Churchwardens of the said Parish 1000 pounds of tobacco and caske with costs. The Churchwardens of Southwarke Parish having made complaints to Lt. Col.. William Brown that one of the houses upon the Glebe Land of the said Parish was burnt and the nails taken away and one Daniell Regan vehemently suspected for the burning of the said house and taking away the nails he upon the said complaint issued his warrant to the Constable to search for the said nails and to bring the person with whom they should be found before him or some other Justice who by virtue of the said warrant searched the said Regan's house and finding the nails caused the said Regan to go before the said Lt.. Col.. William Browne who bound the said Regan to answer the same at this Court. And the Churchwardens of the said Parish now petitioning against the said Regan for reparation of the damage the Parish hath sustained in the burning of the house and taking away of the nails. And it appearth to this Court by the testimony of John Watkins, Constable, that upon his going into the said Regan's house to search for the nails he very earnestly denied he knew anything of them but so soon as they were found confess they were the nails of the said house. It also appearing by very circumstantial evidence that the said Regan did burn the said house but not being sufficient proved. It is ordered that the said Regan pay to the Churchwardens of the aforesaid Parish 1000 pounds of tobacco and caske with costs and that the said Regan remain in the Sheriff's custody until he enter into bond with good security for his further good appearing. Daniell Regan appeals from this Order to ye next General Court which is granted giving security according to law. Daniell Regan in Court withdraweth his appeal. Descendants of Daniell Regan , Sr. Here it is: http://www.appaltree.net/aba/nails.htm

Yes please do! The next time I light mine I need to rivet up a pair I reworked and then get started on making a few pair so this is very timely. Thanks, Rob.

That is very cool. Could you post a pic more from the side? It looks like you chiseled two lines, one inside the other. Did you do that before you fullered it on edge? I think what appeals to me is that you used the mushrooming from the fullering as a design element. Rob

I wasn't sure if it's been post here before. Had some pretty interesting hardie tools in part 2. Here's the link: The Blacksmiths Manual Illustrated

I felt like I was cheating when I did that. I bought a couple bags of cowboy. Used one whole bag making a few little things. The fireflies were horrible and the blower could lift the pile. Then I bought coal and used a little charcoal to start the coal. Wow what a difference. I've been working on the same 50lb bag for a few days. I hear that the charcoal is good for forge welding though being that is a more pure carbon fuel. I've been trying to save my coke too. BTW Dale welcome. My Lowes carries the Cowboy brand charcoal about $6 a bag. One bag got me through an afternoon. The little fireflies bit the heck out of me and made me nervous around some dry leaves In comparison, the guild I just joined sells 50lb bags of coal for $7 or so and it'll last a few days depending on what you're doing. I'm still very new at this and I think any time spent at a lit fire is money/time well spent. Nothing beats experience. Good Luck! Rob.

Finally got a few pics of the Kohlswa. Body Face Here's the foot with the markings. I'll try to get a pic of just the foot.

I rent them through a place called smartflix. I think the Randy McDaniel - A Blacksmithing Primer 3 disk set with the book (which I got for Christmas), has to be the gold standard IMO. I've seen many but by far I liked his the most. Bill Epps also had a good tong dvd. Last but not least youtube is your friend. I've seen many tuts on there from building a forge to forge welding. I'll post some once I find the links.

Here's another pic for reference Blacksmiths Depot |Fire Pot with Tuyere and Ash Dump

Thanks for the replies. I forgot to mention that this is an indoor railing. As it turned out the place I get my steel from only had 1-1/2 sq. So I said go ahead and cut me some. I had no idea how heavy that was going to be. tube would have been better but I wanted to work the corners down on the post and the top and bottom bars to make a bevel. Hopefully it'll work out and I'll be able to post some pics. Thanks again. Rob.

Just found this post that kind of confirms it. http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/iron-fence-job-7364/ 1-1/4x1/4" flat bar with 1/2" pickets.

I need to put together a short railing quick for the house. About 60" long. I was thinking of using 1"x1" for the post/newel, 1"x1/4" top and bottom, and 3/8" ballusters. I'm wondering what would be "typical" though. I'm thinking I might need to scale up some and was just hoping someone who's done a few could say yeah or nay. Thanks in advance. Rob.

I think I paid that much for my large (200# I think) tanks alone. My Smith torch set was another 200. That was for Regs, flash backs, hose, goggles, torch body, cutting tip, welding tip, and rosebud. Is there a monthly fee for the rental or just a deposit?

I was wondering if anyone knew what to make of this: My mom bought me an anvil for Christmas. She found it around where she lives on craigslist. The guy said it was about a 50lb anvil. He was also selling one he thought was "about" 67lbs. Anyway, she bought the 50lber and when she took me out to the garage to see it, I saw that it was marked Kolhswa with the word Sweden directly under that. It doesn't appear to have a crown or anything. When I got it home I popped it on the bathroom scale and it was coming in at around 70lbs. When I tip it over so the name is facing up and the horn is to the left, the left foot has two markings, on looks like a 9 with a 2 stamped together and then a 3 next to it. The right foot has a 0 but there might be a 1 before it. If I get a chance I'll grab a few pics and post them. Thanks in advance, Rob.

I don't have a ton of experience but I spent two days on a setup like this but with a 167# double horn and two days on a 300# kohlswa on a stump. Working small stock around 3/8" and 1/2" square and round. Both setups seemed very solid. Neither made a ton of noise. I'm actually surprised at how little ring my 100# Trenton had once I tightened the turnbuckles. For the corners I used square drive deck screws. Hopefully someday I'll get a bigger anvil and need to lower it some I have another bar like the one on the bottom so first chance I get, I'm going to forge hooked ends on it and use it instead. Rob.

This is similar to what the BGCM classroom has for each of the eight workstations. I made this more rectangular just in case I get a larger anvil someday. Rob.

I think this is the article from the Mark Aspery website.

Hopefully tomorrow between demoing in the historic forge I can make another hanger like this for the mother in laws wind spinner. This is an example of a wind spinner. Disregard the crooked tab hook.

JWB Thanks for the link. I thinking I'll have to do something similar. Do both bolts thread in or does one go all the way through just to hold the position? Mulciber, I became addicted to looking at anvils on line. not sure why. My Gfs kid showed me something where ms live.com would give you 25% back on any buy it nows on ebay. Plus when it got here, there was an envelope from the guy who shipped it with $25. UPS gave him a break on the shipping so he sent it to me. ebay's mikesblacksmithshop. So it was basically free shipping otherwise I would still be using the RR track. That may become a treadle hammer (sp?)

Anvil: Stamp: Chips:

I picked up two things off ebay. A Buff co. blower for $50 and a 100lb Trenton for $275. The anvils pretty cool. Hopefully for Xmas I'll get my copy of Anvils in America so I can determine its age. There's a small chip in the face and on the far edge with the horn to the left. But nothing I shouldn't be able to work around. It looks like someone cut on the face too. The blower, once lubed, spins nicely. However the crank handle was rusted into the collar and counter weight. It was just about rusted through so i broke the handle off. I soaked the collar in Vinegar, then drilled larger and larger holes until I was able to mash and drive out the remaining pieces. I have to do the counter weight next. My question is how do these blower usually mount to a base. I've seen great pictures of champs but I haven't found anything good for the buff co. I was thinking a pipe through the two rings since one has a threaded hole. Any thoughts/pics would be greatly appreciated. Here's some pics. Thanks, Rob. Blower mount: Collar: Critters: