arkie

Congratulations on acquiring a grand old lady of anvils. Astounding that you got it for free. Put it to good use and give her the best of care. I highly recommend that you try to acquire the book, Mousehole Forge, by Richard Postman, the author of Anvils in America. It is a fantastic book about the forge and its history. The book is now out of print, but you might get lucky on searching and find one. My son gave me a copy of Anvils in America some years back obtained from Richard Postman when he was selling them and to my surprise, Mr. Postman graciously included a copy of Mousehole Forge; both books autographed by Richard Postman...Wow!! I don't know how many times I have gone back to read through Mousehole Forge.

Beautiful sword! If this is your first one, we look forward to the quality pieces you surely will be making in the future. As for the screws, I agree with George. Your idea of a screw with the head cut off and ground down is a good fix, go for it!

Frosty, I can't understand why you would have to subscribe and pay. In general, YT videos are free for all to view. I just click on the white arrow in the center of the page and the video pops up just fine.

Nice video...thanks for posting. I like the smith's technique of forge welding the poll piece in place prior to folding. Should help make the fold more symmetrical and control the fold.

Randy, now that you have your genset up and running, it's a good idea to run it for a short while, say 15-20 minutes once a month to keep the fuel system and carb functioning properly and the field on the generator charged. Fuel stabilizer is another must...that's a subject I'm not going to address...but needed for stored fuel. Park that puppy outside the shed when running.....

Wow!!! Fantastic newsletter. Thanks for posting.

With the care and skill you impart on your work, that blade should turn out absolutely beautiful and functional.

The sequence of photos shows the progress of the filing nicely...well done. LOTSA FILING THOUGH!!!!

I'm sure most of the posters on this thread are using good/high quality flints or chert(another word for flint) for good sparks. For the beginner, low quality flints/cherts will not yield good or any sparking. I've picked "identical" pieces out of a chert rock pile; one would spark like crazy, the other...nothing. Same striker. Test all you like to cull out the collection.

As I recall, I watched about 15-30 minutes (if that long) of the first show, changed channels and never watched it again. Reality shows..........

whitewill1412, The best thing about your loops/staples is that you made them with round stock. Tool loops made from bar stock, for wooden handled tools, tend to chew up the handles, usually near the top 'cause folks usually just drop them in.

Robert, you mentioned that you sent the "S7" piece out to be tested...what did the testing show? I have never used S7 and would like to know if it may be a problem with getting truly air-hardening steel named "S7"

I have noticed a trend lately, and I don't know if it's gonna be good or bad, but a large number of private practitioners, general MD's, specialists, private clinics, etc. have been abandoning their private practices and contracting with the 3 or 4 large regional hospitals in our area. It could be medical insurance coverage for them, or problems with their patients' medical insurance, costs associated with a private practice, job security with a large hospital, access to more facilities/programs, wider exposure, liability protection, job burnout, the list could go on.......

When we moved to Arkansas, I told the wife that we needed to find a good doctor, one with grey hair and experience, so we didn't have to train one. Well, now it seems that the old, grey haired docs are retiring and now we have to train the new, young, less experienced ones......hmmmmm.

Have you tried Google search??? Looks like pages of brass bells.....................

Elegant candle holder...well done!

An old friend of mine always said, "I would rather take a flogging with a wet rope than make a move"...now my motto.... I had been involved in many moves with my son and daughter, apts., dorms, houses, etc. The last one I participated in was a daughter's move from Eugene, OR to Arkansas. I told her "I don't do moves anymore, just supervise." I went up there to "supervise". She contracted PODS to load, move and deliver...greatest thing ever!!!! I helped her pack some of the last small stuff, some local movers put all the remaining furniture, boxes, etc. into the pod, slammed the doors and locked it up! It arrived to a storage facility near here in a few days (long haul)...I never touched another thing on that move!!!!! Hallelujah!!!!!!

Sub.... Rebar is rebar...often characterized as being the "sausage of steels". Rebar is best used in concrete. No, it won't help rebar by trying to carbonize it. Visit your local car repair shop, spring manufacturer/installer, scrap metal/recycle yard and get some real steel from car parts such as leaf and coil spring, suspension parts, etc. and give the rebar a rest. If you're needing a specific steel, there are some retailers who sell for specific uses such as blade work, etc. It DOES, however, make good tent stakes since the ribs make it a bit harder to pull out of the ground than smooth rod. Rebar is marginal when it comes to a "practice" steel. It varies quite a bit in composition, being a steel "sausage" and does not forge uniformly. Happy forging!

Rebar is not a suitable type of steel for a crossbow. You would be better served using one of your aforementioned steels in your query. It would indeed be a CSPS using rebar. Happy forging!

I'm with Frosty on that one...looks like a darned expensive flue pipe there. A wire from each corner of the roof to it would be the best insurance, "just in case". Mother Nature can throw one some pretty nasty curve balls.

Frosty, seems like too much/many of the past family shops and businesses in the trades are disappearing. My dad had to have his cowboy boots custom made due to a high instep...that was some 50-60 yrs ago.... made by a Mexican family in W. TX that had been in business for decades. During a nostalgic moment the other day, I was curious to see if it had been kept up by his sons (on the business' name; "Ramirez and Sons"). Alas, the last son closed the shop a few years back...sad to see. I still remember the smells of the leathers in that shop.

Frosty, I just googled the name, out of curiosity. The sidebar had a red banner that said, "Permanently Closed". Some links on the google page had several photos of the shop, however.

Round rivets are most common in things that are meant to turn, i.e. tongs. Round rivets are used for fastening as well, some structural work, machinery, ornamental work, etc. The square rivets would be used where any movement would not be wanted such as joinery work. You would forge out the rivet stock in a square shape if you started with round stock, punch a properly aligned and sized hole with a square punch and rivet the pieces together. The rivet head could be shaped either square or round.

Sadly, the "new" wars going on in the world have shoved the remembrances of Pearl Harbor out of the picture.

Years ago, first starting, I needed a hot cut. I used a mason's chisel and sharpened the edge more. The 1" handle fit my hardie hole perfectly. Now, I have too many hot cuts!