Nobody Special

Think it might have been a saw maker's, might be one with the head and heel broke off. Either way, not a bridge. Pic's a little small. Kinda rough shape, faceplate's banged up pretty good and missing part of the hardface. I'd pass.

Aesthetics, that end is supposed to be a wax scorer, and makes it look vaguely harpoon like. On a lot of them I do, that bit is raised a good bit more and tapers down behind it so it sticks out. You can then flip it over and use it to scratch the wax on your "Vintage" beer or Makers Mark before peeling it off.. There's a guy that makes similar ones on the craft beer sites, but he's backed up something like a year or more on orders, and I kept having people come to me and ask if I could make one like his. I wasn't willing to do exact copies, but I modified it some, and they sell well. The only pieces that really put me in an ethical dilemma. His idea is cool, and sort of original, so it bothers me a little, but I don't feel guilty doing my version of a bulldog bottle opener or a bill epps style dragonfly, as long as it's my version, not just copies of somebody else's work. I dunno, but they sell faster than anything else I make.

Don't do serious work without money up front. Don't let your messy personal life stop you from forging. Do enjoy yourself. Do be safe. Do do the voodoo that you do so well. Don't engage with morons, you won't convince them, and you'll vex the moron. Also, thou shalt not throw the hammer, remember what happened the last time.

Run over to FB and ask Joey van der Steeg. He'll know.

Sometimes a good ear, or a good woman (or whatever you're into). Sometimes something physical that lets you disengage, for me that's running. Sometimes something that engages you wholly, in a different direction. Playing music works well for that. Sometimes just time. I've looked in the bottom of the bottle. While alcohol is a solution, it ain't the solution...with very, very rare exceptions. And sometimes it's the 90 percent perspiration and a willingness to screw things up before I get it right.

About .45 kilograms?

If ya don't like a pint's a lb, the world around, Frosty... Came in the railyard with some Mexican Kansas City Engines the other day (don't ask, I haven't figured it out either), and the main tower asked for a fuel reading. So I tie up a couple of handbrakes, go look, and tell them the first engine has xxxx many thousand liters and the second has yyyy many liters. Long pause..... The tower, where they have computers, and calculators, and google... - "ummm, how much is that in gallons?" Me - Well, my electronic devices are turned off and stored in an out of reach compartment in accordance with company policy and the FRA rules, but a liter's kissing cousins to a quart, so if you'll divide by four...." "Oh. Ummm, okay."

Ring is not necessarily a good indicator of an anvils condition (although a buzz in the ring can be a warning sign). Columbians are cast steel and usually will ring loudly, but a Fischer is nice and quiet and still an excellent anvil. Check rebound, but it looks purty. If that weight is correct, or even close, an excellent price. My little (90 lbs) Columbian is a great anvil.

Central Texas you should be able to find scrap sucker rod. That stuff is good for all kinds of things. Doing better than me, when I was at Hood all I could find was coke, and had to have that shipped. Couldn't find coal there for love nor money.

There's a number of processes, most of which are insanely complex. If you're talking about coming all the way from ore, it only gets worse. One of the cooler ways that it was done in the western world was the uber secret process developed by carburizing iron into blister steel, then cutting it up and remelting in a sealed crucible. It's crazy slow, inefficient, and needs to be carefully controlled, but it works great. If I remember correctly it was originally done to make consistent springs for clockwork, then stolen by competition in a very shady process. (the full dramatic story involves a weary traveler taken into the shop to rest, feigning sleep, and then making off with the secret in the middle of the night.) Carbon amount depends on the process, and the method used to add it, (or take away from if you're talking about burning out carbon from pig iron to remove it, although is that really crucible steel? meh.) The carbon ideally should not be oxidized, but exists within the crystalline structure of the steel, the exact shape of which is determined by the heat treating process. Generally the point of melting it in a crucible is to get a homogenous product and to keep much oxygen from getting in during the process. If you're thinking about homemade wootz, Ric Furer offers an occaisional class that walks you through the process. Expensive for a hobbiest, but well worth it as a one of a kind workshop. There's some video of it on youtube, as well as some of his other steel making, creating blooms and tamahagane. Generally speaking, making iron or steel is a lot of fun for the hobbiest, but fairly advanced and costs a LOT of time, effort, and/or money. I would strongly consider trying blooms and getting a strong casting background before playing with crucible steel.

What he said, plus it's a Korean dish that's not for everyone. Usually uses bok choi type cabbage, but there's literally thousands of varieties. Koreans eat it at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was a major staple traditionally because they fermented it in huge ceramic jars placed in the ground with just the lid exposed, and it lasted all winter. They eat it plain, in soup, on pizza and hamburgers, fried, mixed in dishes.... It has a few downsides, if you eat it all the time, you develop a characteristic smell. It's usually spicy hot. Westerns sometimes find their bowels ummm, immediately very regular, especially if eaten with alcohol (especially large quantities of Soju...but that's another story) until they've had it a couple of times. It's also become a classic euphemism used by G.I.s the world over. As in "Did you hear about Private Snuffy? He showed up late to p.t. formation, still drunk." "Oh man, he's gonna be in deep kimchi."

450 lb draw over 2 feet, moving a 7 lb ram, cobbled together out of burned up boards and a few pine and plywood scraps? Sounds perfectly safe to me.

Nothing wrong with haggis. Next you'll be saying you don't like kimchi...

I'll bite. What's olsupa? Looks like some kind of gruel with ginger and beer...All the pages are in Swedish and don't translate well.

Can't get it to post with the video, but found an anvil in a youtube clip of the museum where it was filmed, looks to be maybe 400 lbs.

I haven't seen the show, but I've seen anvils over 500 lbs. I know of at least two within a fifteen minute drive. (One's in a train museum, the other was for sale on CL a few months ago.) I've seen a couple in museums up to 700 or 800 lbs. Think there's a fisher at one in NJ about that big. Is there a specific episode to look at?

Nah, fairy rings are made of mushrooms, and besides fairies avoid cold iron like the plague. Usually more of a problem with aluminum or at cosplay events.

Possibly a decarburization zone, or accidentally created a hamon like effect from having the tongs on the blade and not hardening properly at that spot?

I like a light machine oil, touched up occasionally. I tried grease, and just like the curmudgeons said, it clogged up on me. I think a heavier oil would probably stay longer, but have similar problems. Besides, atf fluid is stinky.

Seen far worse for the money.. Probably want to clean out that grease and switch to a light oil. The grease attracts....everything really. Gets full of filings and whatnot and clogs/wears the screw box.

192 for $350? In that shape? That's a heck of a good bargain. I'd check rebound and take him up on it. You could resell that for close to $600 here all day long, and a lot of them would be tickled pink at that price. Hate to lose it over $50.

So many missing variables here. A little more info and a look at your setup would help. Could be type of metal, metal shape or size, what you're using to hold it, temperature, how your hammer is dressed, your anvil, technique...

Ah, gifting. I know why he wants one that big. Pretty sure Freud developed one of his pet theories that will remain unnamed by studying "anvil envy"....

Why so large if you're just starting out? A 90 to 150 lb anvil should do just fine unless you're planning to start with heavy ornamental stuff. But as above, if nothing else is available, a large piece of scrap steel from the junkyard will work fine, and much cheaper as well.