Archerdan

I have it home. Now I have to get it over the fence and to my anvil. I will make a trip to the scrap yard to find material for a stand for the post vice. If fortune smiles on me, I will be forging by tomorrow night! I have a tomahawk and a knife I pounded out of a large roller bearing, to thermal cycle, harden and temper. I have a ton of tools to make. I spent $600 for the forge and vice as a package deal. Hope I was in the ball park. It was worth it to me. My wife....... not so much. :unsure:

I was surprised that it has both a screw sleeve with a coil spring and a leaf spring. I thought that it was just new to me since I haven't looked at that many vises.

Found this forge and my first post vice at a tool sale today. I can't wait! Can't pick it up until Tue. Things are going to be so much easier, with the exception of my sleeping arrangements. :D

Just bought my first post vice. Now I have to to build a stand. I can't wait. It will make so many things so much easier. I haven't had time to clean it up and look for identification yet. Bought my first real coal forge from the same shop today. Yes, I am in the dog house tonight. :D

This deposit was about 50 miles from the Ochre Mountains. I could just take a drive over there, but I believe it's fenced off etc. Kennecott Copper mine is there. We may take a road trip to Iron County and pick up magnetite. A 4 hour drive. It is in octahedral crystals there.

My 16 year old said he didn't want to forge a knife out of purchased steel. He wanted to find the ore, and learn how to smelt it, refine it to carbon steel, then forge a knife. So we hopped in the car Saturday afternoon and took a drive. This is what we found. The rock turned to dust when we tried to pick it out. Add water and it looks like red paint. I am not sure if it is a rich hematite or not. We are looking for those of you here in Utah that smelt Iron ore. Hope you enjoy the prospecting pictures.

Got it up to temperature for stress relieving.

Got a big barbecue going on this 4th of July. Stress relieving the anvil before I harden it. This is the biggest item I have cooked in my fire pit since I put it in 20 years ago. :) Cooking well.

Thank you for your help. We would only have the forklift tines without you. I will begin stress relieving in about 6 hours. There is a hickory long bow I hope to be shooting by Friday. ;-) I have to forge some arrow heads!

Waiting while I make enough coke to stress relieve and harden. Today I look for a suitable place to build the forge and quench.

How much is that dog in the window? The Erickson ranch is a museum. I don't think it is for sale. Like the dog in the window, it doesn't stop me from wanting to take it home:-) It has to be 12 to 13' tall!! Where would you put that monster? Easier to build a forge and quenching facility next to it and forge anvils once or twice a year. The local blacksmithing association was going to cast RR Rail steel anvils at a local foundry, Maybe they could arrange for forging anvils on this power hammer. They get a black smith to come in every year for work their blacksmith shop for the tourists. They may let us use it. we could see if we could round up the people who actually ran it. They have a lot of antique heavy equipment they could use to move the steel. It doesn't hurt to ask :-)

I talked to a blacksmith who worked at the steel mill where this and 2 others came from. he said the master blacksmith would sit in the tractor seat and give instructions, as other workers moved the steel. He said it was a 1500 lb hammer. the other 2 were 750 lb and 350 lb. They were still being used when the mil closed. The one in the picture was being used as recently as 10 years ago. The 350 is still in use. I want to forge anvils on it too!

Even light taps on the face of the anvil leaves dents.

The owner of the company welded it himself. He wanted to trade work on the anvil for blacksmithing items. He liked my knives, and his best friends father was a blacksmith when he was growing up. I won't grind these welds. They are a thing of beauty! I understand sectional density for the tine. But it is already 8 inches tall the way it is. I will pound on it this way for a while, then grind off the torched end and try it standing up. So much better than what I was using already.

The problem is, how do I get it home???? Found this at the Antique Power Show yesterday. It was so big that it took a while for me to realize what it was :blink: