Sask Mark

I have forged some ss before. I assume it was something along the lines of 304 (a freebie from one of my stainless suppliers). I was making a steak turner out of 1/2" round, heating it in a coal forge. I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention and the stainless didn't give off the 'sparklers' like mild steel does as it approaches burning heat, and it melted quickly. Next time I will be watching closer... As well, I think the stainless I was using has a tighter heat range. I was putting a twist into it and it developed cracks at a temperature that mild wouldn't have cracked.

When my wife sees me on the computer surfing the internet, she almost always says 'Let me guess, you found another anvil! When are you going to pick it up?' Of course, she's only correct about 1/2 the time she sees me surfing...

Kids seem to like rebar snails.

I proxy bid with the auctioneer for those large anvils. When I called him after the sale he started laughing. I think set a maximum bid of about $1500 on each of the anvils and $700 on the mandrel. I missed them by just a bit...

Was that the auction at Bassano? If so, that 710 pounder was a Soho and the Peter Wright was 546 pounds. Apparently the cone mandrel went for over $2000.

I hope he gets the $75 for it because I have a large plate for a Columbian vise that I'm not using...Cha-Ching!!!

You're not an idiot if you buy what you want. It's entirely up to you if you are comfortable paying the money for it. We are all in different situations and each one of us has different priorities. Noone can tell you different.

Best reply ever!

Roofing companies have access to copper as copper roofs are still used on some high-end houses.

Not a lot of technical information, but I found the philosophy interesting.

Good thing Javan isn't from Nantucket...

Awesome...

You've had much better luck than me. I have blown through about 4 Mastercrafts in the last 2 years of my infrequent use. The gears stripped out on one within the first 5 minutes of using it. A 2nd one must have had an electrical issue from the get-go. I started it up and it let out a 'pop' and a puff of smoke. The other 2 stripped out the gears after a bit more extended use (usually with a cup brush). I have had good luck with my Bosch with a thin grip (fits my pork sausage fingers nicely). I have a 5" Makita and I use 7" Dewalts from work. My friend sells Fein, so I was thinking of trying that one next. They are pricey, but if they last for years, then they are worth it.

Has anyone here tried Fein grinders?

I had a 128 pound pre-1910 Peter Wright that had 2 pritchel holes as well. It didn't have any of the other features you normally see on farrier anvils.

I believe that it was Grant Sarver that said something to the effect that nothing can be engineered perfectly. You can choose to overbuild or underbuild it.

Are you the guy who is also trying to help someone sell a 1000 pound Chambersberg?

You don't necessarily have to get to bedrock with piles. Straight shaft cast in place piles rely on skin friction with surrounding soils (they do not rely on end bearing capacity). If the water table doesn't recharge very quickly this might be an option. These piles are fairly inexppensive as smaller ones can be turned with a skidsteer (no big piling rig necessary). If the water table recharges quickly and the hole fills up with water the concrete can be placed down the hole with a tremie pipe or concrete pump so the concrete gets placed at the bottom of the hole and displaces the water. Another piling alternative is CFA piles. In this type of pile, concrete is injected directly down the drill stem to displace the water. This type of piling requries a specialized rig and uses more concrete (i.e. more expensive). They were originally designed for piling in water conditions. Yet another option might be micro screw piles. There are some small micro screw pile rigs that can get into smaller areas. A structural engineer familiar with the soils in your area can probably provide some input for what would work best.

Yes they did. Most of the vices made by Columbus Forge and Iron were marked as 'Indian Chief', but I have seen a couple marked 'Trenton'.

Looks like you got yourself an early Trenton. Congrats!

Just picked up this 117 pound Trenton farrier pattern today. Ooops...looks like I'm getting an error message when trying to attach pictures.

You're lucky my cousin in Mission doesn't have a means of moving it around, otherwise I would have had him pick it up. Good scores.

Nice! That bandsaw anvil has been on Vancouver CL for a while now, hasn't it? I've seen it a few times and thought it would be handy to have. Was the Wilkinson in Mission?

The Champion 400's seem to be fetching far more money than any other type of traditional 'forge blower' right now. If no electricity is available where you forge there are many other hand-cranked blowers on the used market that cost significantly less than the 400's (different models from Champion, Buffalos, Cannedy Ottos, Canadian Blower and Forge etc).

The reason why I didn't make a flower for this project is because I didn't think I could make a flower that was worthwhile to be next to the other contributors. My suspicions have been confirmed. Very nice work by all involved.