divermike

_{you da man!!}

It's been a while since I have posted, I have moved from NY to Kalamazoo Michigan, and while building my new shop, I put in 2 isolation pads in the slab, One for my tire hammer and one extra, just in case a hammer I could not pass up came along. Well I call my tire hammer big red, now he has a little brother from Steve at Matchless Antiques. He loaded it for me and off it went, it took everything my tractor had to get it in the new shop, but now it resides in its place of honor. Soon to be bolted down on a rubber pad. I figure my new shop should be up and stocked by thanksgiving.

Excellent news Mark, cheers!

well we loaded 2 trucks full of heavy metal goodies today, I had to go put some extra air in the tires cause they were looking a bit squashed. we should get there about 3 or so, (Seldom and I), get the canvas tent up, some tables out and hopefully remember to put out the IFI banner, stop by and say hi, silver dodge pickup with a white cargo trailer, Seldom drives a red pickup truck. Stop by and share a tale or two!

no criticism from me...just praise, well done

guess now I will have to try it..

take a class with mark aspery, it will give you an appreciation of how valuable the block is!

I have gone through my shop, I will be bringing shaping tools, hardies, a lot of tongs , 5 anvils, a stake set that has never been used and a stake plate, a small fly press, and a foot press, 2 benchtop cones, handled fullers, and handled swages, and maybe some wrought iron as well. Hope the weather holds...

I want to see your drawing of where your forge and tooling is going to sit in the shop, then we can all have a chuckle as you fill up the shop and put a lean to on the outside. My wife landscaped outside my shop too, but she rarely sets a foot inside, I purposely keep a lot of dirty stuff right near the door to discourage her strolling around inside, yuk yuk!

Most fire clays have to be fire cured, this means a slow low heat fire for an hour or so to cure it. I clayed in a rivit forge and it worked fine. I used a small can to mold the clay around the tuyere, and it also made a small firepot, left it fairly level and thick, only thinning at the outer edge.

some years ago Glenn gave me a big IFORGEIRON banner, I think I might put it up at my site at the camping and tailgate area. It is a 4x5 foot paper banner. If you see it, stop by and introduce yourself and browse the goodies!

attaboy!

I may be wrong as I did not weld it, it seems to me he tried 2 different rods and found one acceptable, in any event the only discoloration is some surface rust.

recently I bought this 205 lb. cast steel anvil from blacksmith barn, I went and picked it up and saw the Tim Kris collection, drool, shake and shiver... anyway it had some edge damage on it, seeing as how I have taught basic blacksmithing courses at a local welding shop, I called in a favor and had one of their master welders get some rod and give it a go! We preheated the anvil to 450 and he made several passes and I ground in between passes. We did the hammer hardness test to see if the face softened and we found no appreciable soft spots. I have not finish ground the face and edges yet, but I think this one is going to quad state as well. Any takers? I like it because it does not leave my ears ringing!! The rebound is excellent and it is a big one, does not move when you smack on it!!

I have been teaching for about 5 years, and the "controlled hand forging" abana download is just superb, I downloaded it, printed it, and put it into a 3 ring binder with plastic sleeves on each page, I take the students through the first several projects, and let them take more and more freedom with the techniques as we go. Make sure they have a drawing tablet so their own ideas can manifest directly from the teachings. Also the project "miners candlestick" is a great guage as to when to let them start taking thier own path, if they can complete that one on thier own, they will need little supervision going forward.

While you are at it, check out nysdb.org we meet in several locations in the state, and do demo and projects every month. Where in upstate are you?

I will be bringing a bunch of tools for sale, I have to downsize, I have too much $$ tied up in tools, and most here know I sell my stuff very reasonably, I will set up in the tailgate area, likely 3 anvils, tongs hardies, and many other metal shaping tools and odds and ends, Seldom and I will travel down on thursday.

Mark,
if you read this, I know the pain you are in, I recently had a serious shoulder surgery, 2 tendons, 2 muscles and bones issues, some cartilage to be trimmed as well. You are well respected and many people like myself are hoping and praying for ease of pain and speedy recovery. Cheers!

I will ring the "under" side of my anvil in his memory!

gate latches, long and short hooks, twisted bar handles, small bells, organic elements, also story boards showing project progression, old tool boards, reproduction pieces etc..

My new one is stamped A2779 from what I can figure, 1916 date of manufacture. 156 lbs.

The highest form of ethic is the contract, when it is in writing, sometimes people become much more reasonable.

Glenn gave me the number to Columbia Marking tools company, I dealt with Brian Barbera who gave me the "IFORGE" discount, easy to deal with, patient with my ignorance and gave great advice, and now here is the touchmark stamped in clay. I am trying to train myself to use clay as a beginning step to forging, so that is why it is in clay first. 3/8th's very heavy duty, don't think it will wear out anytime soon!

thanks for sharing, I will point it out to a couple newbs I know.

that gets the awwwwwww of the day. make a small hammer now.

lean not on your own understandings. praying for you and willing to help.