KYBOY

Ive found this to be very true..I was in an industrial smiths shop a few years ago and he had several nice swage blocks. He said he never used them but would not sell them(don't blame him) and I remember saying "well if you got them out from behind that 12' long lathe you might On a side not he had a 5' solid floor cone that he turned on that big lathe. It was a thing of beauty if it did weigh 500 pounds..

Im going to try some belt lining for now. I knew when we made it that is was just for demos and I was afraid this would happen when it was moved in the new shop. Its just temporary there anyway. Replacing the flat bar with angle is easily doable. Probably a very good idea to do anyway..Might go ahead and try that too..That anvil is actually a bit too small for what's being done but we cant move the main anvil in until the power hammer is moved and that wont be for a couple months probably..Theres no ring, its just that dang vibration LOL

I was thinking of trying something like that. I have some belt lining that should work..Does that work well for you?

hey guys, made this anvil stand several years ago for Lisa's traveling set up..Has always worked great on grass,dirt etc..Well mounted it to concrete floor in new shop until we move the rest of the old shop in..So big anvil is still in there with power hammer and block..Anyway the stand legs are made from 3 1/2" x 1/4" angle, fairly heavy..Braced all around. the plate is 3/4"..Well its solid but this thing has a decent amount of vibration on the concrete floor..There is one inch of plywood between anvil and stand now and it helps some but when you have to "get on it" the vibration is noticeable..Its more of a aggravation than a problem. The stand is pretty heavy and put together well..Im thinking maybe its because the legs are angle instead of tubing..What do you think?

The above vise is not the biggest but one of the largest bench vises Ive ever seen. That's a 200 pound anvil its setting on..

Ill go against the flow here and say we would not be without ours..We have three and use at least one every day..As swages of course, then one for making spoons and shovels and another industrial type for drifting and we do a whole lot of drifting..Also has a mismatched hardie holder..Know how you never hardly see hardies for sale that fit your anvil, chances are they will fit one of our blocks(no need to make collars) They just make life easier in our shop...I know we could do everything we do with ours in a different way but the blocks are big sturdy and I just like them..LOL

We have a new shop..Metal 20 x 22..Worked in metal shops all my life and I know what happens. You heat a metal shop that's cold and condensation sets in and it rains if you have a bre metal roof..Around here anyway. We have giant,rediculous temp swings..People don't think of Ky as cold but last winter it was down to -26° several times here in the mountians..Not the usual but it gets pretty dang cold in these deep hollers..So you have huge chucnks of metal in your shop, they get cold..then you warm them up and they sweat..We buy wd40 by the gallon..This shop is getting 2" of closed cell waterproof spray insulation on the ceiling Not to mention if you burn propane your putting more water in the air so its also getting a couple of ceiling fans to circulate air/heat with... What do you do to combat the condensation problem?

I understand, Ive been there myself..being from Appalachia Im a very plain spoken man..Too much so and very NON politically correct my Captain use to tell me..Ive found that over the years the less you worry about what others think the happier you will be..Not saying don't be nice, most consider me a nice person but they all know not to ask me an opinion if they cant handle the answer..I guess the simple point is that I know its hard to look over guys like that but you will be a lot happier when you do.. I also want to add that I try and be very respectful of teachers and demo-er's..Even if I know what they are teaching is wrong Ill usually just keep my teeth together and walk away..

Would make dandy bolster blocks to forge hardy's in..Or small swage blocks either one..

We hae had that same forge for about 7 years. Ours dosnt have the choke plates..Welded in it many times..Welding pressure for us starts at about 15psi...Usually burn it at about 18psi to get up to temp and then even it out. Lisa likes it better than coal(Im the opposite) and its been used a lot..On its third lining in fact..Get your self a piece of kiln shelving to save your floor..Flux is bad on the brick.

Practice on some joints friend..V joints and flat joints..What rod you burn'n there 7018?

Im just curious, we are looking at this appx size bandsaws right now..Id love to find a nice Johnson,ellis etc locally used but most machine shops etc in this area have choked out with the coal industry..Been looking for some time with no luck..You know you can only wait so long..The Griz is on sale right now. I have not read and bad things about this particular model saw of thiers but I thought Id ask..Also if you have any comments about Grizzly saws in general feel free to add them..Thanks

Ive noticed on a few power hammers, most notably the KZ100 that use stacks of vertical 1" plates for the anvils instead of solid rounds..Just curious if anyone has used a hammer with anvils like this? From what Ive seen they seem to function great but I have no personal exp with them. Im going to build a tire hammer(would like to have a dedicated drawing hammer) and one thing I wont skimp on is the size of the anvil..Let me know what you think.

This is a hot topic in the bladesmith/knifemaking world..Styles of knifemaking are a lot more evident than say bottle openers. Overseas copying is rampant in the knifeworld as well.

We have a local scrapyard that has a contract with the RR for their spikes so Ive never had problems getting them when I wanted. That and family that works for the RR. Around here the RR guys use to let anyone take used old spikes(all you had to do was ask) but in the last few years the scrap thieves got so bad that they had to tighten down and adhere to the rules. Another thing this is coal country so you could also buy scrap off the coal companies. They had their own tracks and such. their spikes were fair game.

Buddy, run don't walk and get that anvil..Its a steal! A wire cup and she'll clean up like a new penny and with a little forging that face will shine.

I would not mind spending 4500 on a good C frame press..

Good tongs make work easier and more njoyable, trust me friend..Been there,done that .Got the scars to prove it..

yep, you can see a pic of them on his website. Awsome machines. love those tabletop sized dies.

keep us updated. Love to see pics when you get it

Google "Sam Salvati tong making tutorial" Sam uses a technique that I used in this batch of tongs..Its starts with 3/8" thick x 1" wide if Im not mistaken but I jump welded the reigns on some of the tongs in this batch. I also want to agree with everyone else in that good tongs are not what I would call a "beginners" project..

The xpress forging press was a C frame and everyone loved it. Its no longer made and I think it sold for about 5K..

H13 is tough, tougher than 1045. Let me ask though please, what size are the dies and what hammer and what size is it? thanks makes a difference..

That's a fine job, we make ours just about like that too..Good work.

Have not psoted in a bit so heres some stuff.. First off a Viking style carving axe..Mild steel head and W1 cutting bit.. Adze.. Crook knives and a bowl gouge..