Doug C

Congratulations. Now add coal and repeat, about 20 more times, so you really get the hang of it. Glad you finally got it done.

I am inspired. Nice work

up here in Boston I've seen them from 75 bucks to $150. Paid $75 for mine. Cheaper than new post vice..

Dick,
I kid from Northhampton, Ma bought everything except a leg vise and a a real nice big blower. I bought the blower and boy is it nice. Turns smooth and puts out quite a blast. The guy who sold it is a heck of a nice person. Sad story though. His son just died three weeks ago which may explain why he did not call you back.

The rating system would be based on the number of thumbs up or thumbs down that a post gets. Each thumbs down is minus one point each thumbs up is plus one. You would get to see pretty quick which answers have merit and which one should be ignored. As for "the best" answer, the site I was referring to allows the person who started the thread the ability to say which answer helped them the most.

Maybe we could reward folks who give the most good answers each month with an IFI tee shirt;)

I use a site for software developers that has a simple method of dealing with the quality of a post and with redundancy of posts. All posts are posed as questions so the format is a bit different.

1) As you create a thread / ask a question, a search is done automatically that shows other threads that may already answer your question.

2) Registered users get to vote for a post via a thumbs up / thumbs down sort of method. Each post is clearly marked with the "score" so you can quickly see what is worth paying attention to. High scoring posts to a thread rise to the top.

3) The person who started the thread gets to choose the answer they liked best which always floats to the top of the thread.

This would take some of the burden off of Glenn, Steve and all the others who troll the threads pointing folks at info already in place. It would allow us, the users, to rank answers not people. The big win there is that there is less debate about what is right, less meaningless stuff posted and hopefully good info. Your vote does the talking unless you have something to contribute.

Anyone else seen anything like this? Does it sound reasonable?

I called the gentleman who put this add on Craigslist and am headed out there tomorrow evening if all works out. He has not used the equipment in a year and a half. Already sold 4 of the 6 anvils. He actually had a request from someone in Texas to ship the entire shop to them. Can't wait to see what he's got.

Thanks for the heads up. This is about 45 minutes from me. I will be making a phone call tonight.

Excuse my ignorance but what is the benefit of a flap disc over other kinds? Does it have a particular purpose? I have looked at the pictures on various sites but have been unable to figure out why I would use one over a regular disc.

Thanks Frosty. Now I just need to build the skills to make the sign really mean something!!

My son the graphic artist just made this sign for me as part of his Senior project at college. All that money paid off.:D

Wagonmaster take a peek at this for some visuals of the process. Also here. Mark Aspery does a good job of describing all this. In one post on the site he mentions that you should not waste your time with a beehive, just get a good deep fire going. Watch the metal and when it gets lost in the fire your ready to go. Check out his youtube video on welding as well.

Get it hot, tap it together lightly, bring back to welding temp again and repeat. After a few heats it will withstand heavier blows. Keep at it and you will prevail.

Back to the original post is it possible that the 'strange' markings might just be a manufacture's mark per Thomas Powers earlier post...
http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f14/rail-road-spike-5182/index2.html#post46705

Until you can get a smaller hammer choke up on the handle, same as if you were swinging a baseball bat that was too heavy. Remember that the hammer is a simple lever and the longer the lever the more tension you are applying to your muscles, tendons and joints(especially your wrist). As many others have stated just because your young and strong does not save you from injury.

Sweet. I know what it is too. Art!!!! So how much prep work did you have to do? Haw many did you make before you got to this one looking so good?

Looks nice. Do you have step by step photo's? I would love to see the whole process.

Justin, I am going to miss the spring meet, one of my sons is graduating college that weekend another one the weekend before. If anyone is withing driving distance the New England Blacksmiths spring meet looks to be a good one Dan Nauman is the main event and from all I have heard he is a really good smith.
NEB Spring Meet - 5/15/2009 through 5/17/2009

I spent the day at the New England Blacksmith's open forge and got lucky. Bob Menard of Ball and Chain Forge in Portland, ME stopped by and gave a lesson in forge welding and cage twists. The results are below: my first cage twist.

Jeff, Your hook does not suck. You tried something new and learned some stuff along the way. It may not be pretty but it taught you a few things along the way. That is beautiful. every one you make has that same beauty. Sometimes it is an inner beauty because it taught you something and other times it has outer beauty because you put the lessonms to use. Just keep doing it.

These look really nice. Made my first wrapped hinged last weekend. Looking at that pintle I know what I'll be doing this weekend. Did you wrap the pin and weld or punch a hole, insert the ping and weld?

I made a nice looking hold down from an old tire iron. Shaped real nice. Fit the pritchel just right. First use i put the stock on the anvil, hit the hold down and it broke in two send half the hold down and the hot steel off the anvil. Lessons learned... Don't quench unknown steel. It can get brittle. Test tools made from unknown steel on something cold first!!! Fortunately the only thing hurt was my pride.

Mark,
Once again you offer great advice. I would never have thought of looking at the problem that way. Thanks.

I would take a slightly different approach from the one Frosty laid out. I would build the temporary stand a bit on the high side and then stand on varying thicknesses of boards until I found the right height. I tried shimming my anvil stand and ended up with an unstable anvil. Also it is easier to add a board under where you are standing than it is to get one under a 200# anvil!!

I present baubles, shiny baubles with little stones in them. Nothing fancy or expensive (need to save the money for smithin supplies), just unexpected. Apply flowers to the above but not because you did something wrong, just because;). Now when the holder of the purse strings is in a moment of romantic weakness mention that you need that (insert item name here) real bad. Usually this works though a second application of baubles or flowers may be required.:D