ironrosefarms

I have now placed my poor baby anvil in a nice semi warm garage with locks and is heavily guarded by my sentry St Barnyard dog (usually known as a St Bernard, weighing in at 287 pounds he heavily guards anything he is near ) ever ready who stands guard to protect smithing equipment oh yeah and family too... Anyways, if you came and got it I would have to chase you down... and that would be a privilege as I would have to stop off at one of my favorite places on earth, Philmont near Cimmaron, NM...

I have a couple silver necklaces that have an anvil on the clasp end. I looked today but due to wear can not tell the entire company's name. Above the anvil was a name that I can no longer read, under the anvil says "Silver Smiths". My wife says I purchased them in Brown County, Nashville, Indiana at a small jeweler that is no longer in business (she has been there since I have...). A friend of mine says the anvil marking on silver jewlery is not an uncommon marking to signify it's silver content, but I have not had time and luck to verify this idea. However, I did find a website of makers marks for silver articles Silver markings. They also have a section to request assistance with identifying a mark. Here is another possible lead allexperts answers If I find out any more, I'll add it here. James

I have felt guilty all night here at work. I unloaded the little mouse hole anvil yesterday, but couldn't get the garage door up do to a broken spring. So I set it down in the drive way behind the Scout troops trailer. That poor little thing is out in this cold Indiana weather all alone... and my wife is a supporter er enabler of my habit as well...

Thanks for sharing those pictures. James

True story, the mousehole anvil I just purchased was from a co-worker. He had it at the far end of the production center and another guy gave it a couple wacks with a hammer. I instantly knew it had to be an anvil and went to find the source. You know you have been bitten by the bug when you can identify the ring of an anvil over the noise of all the machinery and conveyors of a production printing facility... James

I've sat here for quite a while flipping from picture to picture and this bowl draws my attention. I must say I'm impressed and would love to know of the inspiration for the design work. Details on materials and what you used to form the bowl, are also questions that have come to mind. Everything appears to be riveted except one piece? Do you have a picture of the back? Nice work...

Welcome fellow Hoosier, if the blacksmithing bug has bitten you'll find great comfort here at IFI. As you look around be sure to have tall cool glass of your favorite beverage and a sack lunch as you could be here a long long while. Look forward to hearing more from ya... James

Thought of that, I put the anvil in and then slid the passenger seat up wedging it between the seat and the firewall... I know it won't guarantee it to stay put... but I've also seen what an anvil in the back of a pickup can do. I know a guy who put a 300# Hay budden in the bed of his truck. Someone pulled out in front of him he hit his brakes. The anvil turned and went horn first through the front of the truck bed, then through the cab wall, you could see the pucker of the horn pushing the bench seat forward just 3 inches from where he was sitting. As it is the anvil will come out this morning and I'll try to take some snap shots to post. By the way, I'd almost be more concerned of the two hammers I have laying right next to the anvil right now They are probably more likely to get out from under the dash than the anvil is.

Another method is to rub shaving cream onto it and then squeegee off the surface with a piece of cardboard or rubber or something flat.

Hello, my name is James and I'm a, I'm a... is that a hammer over their? Oh sorry... my name is james and I'm a blacksmith a holic... I started out a casual user and became a social smith. You know it wasn't a real big deal and my wife was ok with me going to all the antique places, auctions, and what not kinds of places looking and occasionally buying things I NEEDED. Did this for about 16 years or so. Well then it happened, I was hit by an SUV while on my motorcycle, this is when I found out that it was a much bigger deal than I once thought. I was forced cold turkey not to get anyplace near my forge or even my hammers for nearly 2 YEARS:o!!! I filled note books after notebook with sketches of projects and ideas. Constantly plotting and figuring on how I would do the next bend or twist. Then just as I was getting started back into deep inhalation of coal smoke, black boogers, the caressing of hammer handles and such... I found this international group of folks who kept saying it is ok and even helped me get a little fix when I was away from my anvils. Now I have two hammers and an anvil in the floor board of my truck. I even have caught myself playing with hammers as I drive down the road sometimes. I've got this thing bad. I believe my "problem" is genetic though as my great grand daddy was a blacksmith for the local coal mines. The blacksmith gene set receded in our family for two generations, then it struck me down in the prime of life. Ooooh, Can I see that pair of tongues over their? Pleeeeease, oh come on just for a minute.... wait is that a coal fire I smell? I heard an anvil ring, did you hear it?

Thomas that is why they are getting the smaller one, even the worse of the two bigger ones are better than this small one. Even being small it has a decent amount of work area so I think it will work for some time. Doesn't mean I won't take it with me now and again for demos or other needs, I might later on put it on my vice table? I told my daughter I bought a mouse hole today and the puzzled look was priceless. I still haven't revealed what a mouse hole really is yet. The anvil is still riding in the passenger floor board of my truck... Thought it would be good to spend some time with the little thing before beating on it:o??? Oh and yes I have told my wife... I think she is somewhat numb to big metal objects coming around, she shrugged it off and didn't say a word.:cool:

Prayin' for him and the family!

Purchased a English weight marked 0 2 27 (77 pounds) Mouse hole just a few minutes ago. Overall fair condition, a few light marks on the horn and the face is rounded but overall it hasn't been terribly abused. Got it for $150. I'll keep this one for my younguns and set it up at their height.

Well currently my shop is out of doors, but North is a freshly harvested corn field, East is my pasture with a few cows and a handful of sheep, South is our fruit trees, and West is the road with a view of dense Indiana woods...

Pallets was going to be my suggestion, if your looking for the reworked wood look pallets will have the nail holes.I have a brother in law who makes his living from turning pallets into things that are sold by another individual at festivals. If your looking for something that is a bit finer and without the distressed look I would start looking for someone with a portable saw mill. I currently have 12 Maple logs on my trailer and some oak in the pasture awaiting a local guys portable saw mill. James

Welcome, looking forward to seeing what you turn out from that great looking shop. James

From the humble beginnings beating a hot rake tine... Oh what a story that could be! IFI has a ton of information and helpful folks. Go get a sandwich, some snacks and a tall cold beverage and head to the home page. Look at all the things there in the 'Getting Started' and 'Lessons in Metalworking' sections... See ya around James

My prayers go forward for your family. Thank you for the opportunity to pray for these needs. James

If you do as HW says, maybe the walls will last 50 years due to the extra support??? :D

Change one letter of the last word posted (by me at the bottom) and see who gets stuck and can't continue! Rules: 1. You cannot add letters. 2. No foreign words. 3. Change only one letter 4. Remember, this is a family forum, so keep it clean. Only use words that you wouldn't mind explaining to your 7 year old grandaughter.

Screen doors are not a reliable source of anything??? Depending on how old it is, it could be aluminum, tin, sheet steel, galvanized steel, or nearly anything in between. I would almost bet the heat would destroy what ever the material is if it is as thin as most screen door panels, in short order, regardless of the material it is made of.

Hopefully it isn't like an auction house I attended a enough times to figure out their scheme. It seemed they had a couple items that they would advertise but hold onto for weeks, then they would finally sell the item for extreme prices, to a "friend" of the auction house... If you waited for a little while though it would come up for auction again after a month or two. Mean while they got you to buy some of the little items that normally wouldn't by themselves bring bidders in their doors... Ok I admit I am the one who scratched an X into the paint under the heal of a certain anvil and then seen it go across the block 2 more times...

I have thought about this question and I believe that Frosty is somewhat right. It is my thought process though that by removing the high spots that I would assume would be at the ends of the face, just before the horn and over the heal that you made the heal thinner. This thinner surface will require less energy to resonate and thus a louder ring.

WORK... what most uneducated people think blacksmithing is... I just see it as FUN!

Wow, thank you for sharing the photos... any additional information you could provide about the violin?