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On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me... 3 swage blocks 2 pairs of tongs An anvil that weighed more than me. For the record here are the original lyrics: Twelve drummers drumming, Eleven pipers piping, Ten lords a-leaping, Nine ladies dancing, Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming, Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree

Missouri coal sources from the BAM newsletter.

Mike were you asking about my German anvil or the one Mende posted? If you are asking about mine, the only legible markings on it is the date 1803 stamped in the front foot. Postman told me that these are very hard to identify as to a manufacturer, as this style made over a very long period of time.

Finnr Go to Ebay France and search for enclume. Pretty common style for a French anvil. Try Ebay item 180180721232 for one example.

I believe that one may have been part of a Blacker power hammer at one time.

Frosty Looks like a Vulcan 3 1/2. See Illinois Iron and Bolt Co. Vulcan Brand Swage Blocks Catalog Swage Block Listing : SwageBlocks.com

I second Steve's advice here, join BAM. There are many BAM members living in the St. Louis area. There are also several other BAM members on this forum from time to time. The next BAM meeting is in Iowa, and the 2008 meeting shedule hasn't been posted yet, but there are ususally several meetings a year in the St. Louis area.

This is something I have wondered about too, Glenn. When my daughter moved to OKC this year, she left behind a 2 yr old Labrador that likes to hang out in the shop (and drink out of the slack tub). I always get him out of the shop when I am welding, but was wondering if animals are naturally smart enough to not stare at the welding arc, or if they need to be removed from the area.

Actually the opposite is true. You want to bend metal over rounded edges to prevent cold shuts in your work.

Bruce If you are just looking for a replacement try this place: Welcome to Gits Mfg - Gits Catalog - Oil Hole Covers

Thomas you must have richer politicians in your neck of the woods. The ones around here just use wooden survey stakes with the signs stapled to them. Only the real estate agents can afford the wire framed signs here and they get a bit testy when I help myself to them.

If your anvil is a London pattern with a step at the base of the horn, you should be able to weld all four rods very easily in the step. Wrap them with a wire, or hold them with a pair of bolt tongs that will keep them all contained.

Very true HW. I always cringe when I see someone making a firepot with a bunch of drilled holes in the bottom for the air blast. I like two 1/2"x2" slots about an inch apart in a fabbed pot. The old Champion pots had three similar slots in the bottom. BTW, I use an old Buffalo forge also. I just picked up a like new replacement Vulcan firepot for it as mine is just starting to crack. I don't have the original rheostat for mine though, I'm running a dimmer switch on it. I can't remember if mine is the 2E or the 3E blower.

Jayco Several old smiths around here that I knew did the same. They always referred to it as ground temper. Never tried it myself though, as it seems to me that the water content of the soil would vary so much as to give inconsistent results.

Don't know about 3 sins. The way I always heard this was that there were only 2 blacksmiths in hell. One was there for not charging enough for his work and the other for striking cold metal.

One other thing to consider is the size of the opening. I was always told that the area of the opening should not be larger than the area of the flue. A ten inch stack would have an area of roughly 78.5 square inches. The ten by twelve inch opening you have is 120 square inches. So your opening is one and a half times the size of the flue. When I built my side draft, I made the opening eight by nine inches since my existing stack was a ten inch round. It draws very well even when starting a fresh fire with a cold flue.

Yeah, I noticed that Jr. I need to steal that idea for my big pedestal grinder with the 14 x 2 inch wheels. I have to give them a spin by hand now to help the motor start. :-)

There are some more pics of this place over on owwm Old Woodworking Machines :: View topic - Owwms, line shafting in old blacksmith shop

One of the items that followed me home yesterday. 26 1/2 inches long by 17 1/2 inches wide and 5 1/4 inches thick. For reference those are 6 x 6 timbers it is sitting on.

Candid Sid at Little Giant sells babbitt, as does Centaur Forge.

Practical Blacksmithing is now available as a free download 1888 - Practical Blacksmithing by M. T. Richardson

Evan Check with the local car and truck repair shops and tire places that do repair work. They usually throw away any broken spring sets that they replace.

Left and right would be determined when you are facing the point of the horn straight on. The factors that point to a Trenton here are the markings "<" that you refer too. The Trenton logo is actually a diamond "<>" with the word TRENTON inside the diamond. The letters are shaped to fit inside the diamond, so the T is fairly small with the r e n getting progressively larger with the N in the center of the diamond and then the t o n again getting progressively smaller. Often only part of this logo is still visible. Trenton also made anvils for other companies, so sometimes you will have another name or marking stamped on the anvil also. One of my Trenton's has Sears "ACME" brand stamped over the Trenton logo. The Serial number prefixed with the "A" is another indication as is the hourglass depression. Hay Budden anvils also had an hourglass depression in the bottom though, so that is not always a determining factor. Hay Buddens though had the serial number on the left as you look at the point of the horn, and usually had the weight stamped on the side of the anvil below the trademark. If you wire brush the areas with the stamps it will usually bring them out a little clearer. Many times though the stamped areas are worn or hammered up and illegible. Since this is a USA anvil the weight would most likely not be in the British stoneweight system, but would be in pounds.

Postman says the Trentons always had the serial number on the right. The weight on the left "may" be prefixed with a letter or letters. The serial number on the right may be prefixed with an "A". Also check the bottom of the anvil. Early Trentons have an hourglass shaped depression. The later ones have an oval depression.

Check the front foot of that one. If it is a Trenton, it should have the weight stamped on the left and a serial number on the right. The weight would be in pounds.