Kal

I don't know if it will work on an anvil but back in the day, we cracked the side of an engine block of a 426 hemi.  Those things were too expensive to just scrap it so we drilled and tapped a series of holes along the entire crack starting just past the end of the crack.  After each screw was put in place it was ground off even with the surface and the next hole placed to overlap the first.  It took a long time but the fix worked, no more water leaks.

It's a good looking anvil and no matter where it was made if you like and it gives good service that's all that really matters. Enjoy

Zom, are you sure that is a Hay Budden?  All of the HBs that I have seen including my 190# say they were Manufactured Brooklyn NY on the bottom line.  Course I could easily be wrong.

 

One more thing about punching the hole, you've got to keep it hot.  If you try to strech it out once it cools it will tear.

Back when I used to make steel in 200 ton batches, we would tap stainless out of the furnace around 2650 and the fancy alloys around 3000.  In both cases there was all kinds of supper heat in the steel to allow us to pour it.  The alloy steels 4140 or 8620 for example were actually run into a second ladle that was housed in a vacum tank so it had to be much hotter for the extra handling.  So 2700 should be fine.

Those nails are the ones the are used to put together concrete forms.  The idea being that you can drive them in tight with the first head and still easily pull them out with the other head once the concrete sets.

It's kind of primative but it was the first one that actually opened bottles.

 

I've used muiratic acid to clean an old badly rusted hammer head.  It had been sitting in a basement for years.  I was really surprised how well it turned out.  I just dropped it in a jar full.  One thing to keep in mind, the fumes from that stuff will rust everything in the shop and it isn't too good for your lungs either so do it outside.

You can give it a brass/golden look by brushing it with a brass brush while it's black hot.  The brass transfers from the brush to the steel.

These are my first attempts at Chrismas ornaments.  The large one is really too heavy for most trees and neither one is very straight.  Something to hang in my shop. :)

 

 

Merry Christmas to All y'all

The adjustable legs allow for uneven ground at demos.  The one disadvantage is that the legs get in the way when cleaning up the shop.

 

 

You might get in touch with one of these guys.  My first blacksmith class at John C Campbell Folk School was taught by them.  They're both based in Missouri.

 

http://www.washingtonforge.net/  Pat McCarty

 

Bob Alexander, you have to email him through the folk school web site.

I liked the ornament idea enough to give it a try.  The first one turn into scrap.  The second is made out of 3/16 round and is a little heavy.  The other is 1/8 round stock.  Neither one of them is very straight but a good learning experince none the less.  I tried to forge weld the first with no success so the other 2 are mig welded into a large lump on each end.  Then they are drawn out.  The finish is from a brass brush.

 

 

A31238 is the serial number it can tell you the manufacte date.  The 312 may be a weight.

I use a 1000 gr, 2.25# for most work with an 800 gr for small stuff and when I get tired.

Yours looks like a classic old time screwdriver.  I still have one that my Grandfather used to drive wood screws into tables & chairs.

I made mine by stamping a simple CK into a piece of mild steel then heating the pein of a ballpein hammer to almost melting point.  Once the hammer was hot, I hit it into the stamp mark to make the stamp.

Here's a view of my post vise in a portable stand that one of the guys in our group(ABBA) made.  One of the things that make it nice is that by adjusting the chain lengths you can make up for uneven ground.

 

 

 

One tip I learned from Steve Williamson is that once you have cut the horns/ears, lay them back down next to the stock. By being against the main body of stock they are not likely to burn off.

I gave $400 for my 190# HB that is in about the same condition as the one in the pictures.  You can find another gun a lot easier than you can a good anvil.

For those who like to make wizards and other things out of railroad spikes this jig can come in handy.  It's made by cutting most of one side off a piece of square tubing.  Fold one end over and weld it shut.  Attach a piece of 3/8 square stock to the bottom to hold it in the vise and lock the spike in place.

 

My old Champion hand blower from 1901 is nothing more than a gear box that turns the impeller.  The impeller itself is a series of flat paddles.

The early tomahawks were often wrought iron. Take a flat piece about 1-2 inches wide and a quarter inch thick. Fold it over leaving an eye for the handle. Forge weld the 2 sides then shape it as you'd like. Lastly drift the eye for the handle.

You could try cooling the loop before doing the twist. The stock will twist where it is hottest.

 

 

The 2 attached hawks were both wrapped & welded.  They have 1085 bits in them from a plow blade.  The one on top was made from an old wrought iron bolt from a steam engine.  You can still see the dents from the treads along the edge.  The other was made from 1.5 x 5/16 flat stock.  The handles are tapered as are the heads.  The taper was put in the heads with an iron drift.  I had tried to etetch the iron one with micadic acid with little success.

 

This is the first time I've tried to attach an image, hope it worked.