notownkid

Mine supply companies. We bought a keg a number of years ago from the Naugatuck RR in Canaan CT. Made neat bottle openers. Not sure what they used them for. Still have a few I make coat racks out of.

This in my humble opinion this would be hard pressed to called a Low Quality Anvil

Heat? Not torches per say but a small propane soldering torch thingy. Not enough heat to melt anything but enough to maybe free something up. At this point not much more to loose.

Same thing with replaced cutting edges on Farm tractor or heavy equipment bucket loaders, skid steers.

My Dad would have said it was to keep Calves from sucking, or Ewes from loosing their lambs.

Very nice! Great concept, fabulous workmanship.

Let's see my first problem is my tape measure is only 10' long so need a new longer one.

The wife has a "to do list" so long the new tape better be 25' so I'll have time to make a dent in it.

I thought everyday would be a Sat. when I retired, they seem to be all Mondays instead. Everyone in the family and friends figure I'm retired so I can do this or that for them, then the Grandkids show up to spend "quality time" with Gramps because the regular sitter isn't available. (ever wonder what one of those hand held video games would look like after passing through the forge and over the anvil?)

When ever I sputter I'm told "when we get this place sold and get back home for good you'll have all the time you want in the shop." Trouble is the last time I as home I noted a rather large "To Do List" setting on my work bench there. Maybe I can find that 100' tape I've got somewhere.

I saw a large backhoe sitting at a job sight on the very top of a mountain, the boom was the highest thing there. Someone had attached a Lightening Rod to the top and grounded it when they left for the weekend. They must have had a history to had bothered doing that.

My brother had his house hit a few years ago, it hit an unused TV antenna (remember them) followed a guy wire down blew a hole in the roof, hit the light in the bathroom ceiling blew down the ceiling, followed the elect. wires through the house burning the wallpaper all the way and jumped onto a phone, it followed the phone lines down the hill for over a mile and half blowing apart every splice and connector. It took the Phone Company a week with 3 repair crews to get them up again. Everyone inspected the damage. local fire and state, phone co. and insurance people, they all came to the same collusion, "Must have been a bad ground somewhere". No Kidding! The insurance adjuster even gave him a new TV antenna and he didn't own a TV at the time.

One more comment if I might, When I was home for a few days this week I had breakfast with three fellows who professionally shoe horses in our area. I brought up this discussion. One was the Horse Shoer I mentioned above both the others call themselves Farriers. when I asked they said they both graduated from Farrier School. One of theses Farriers said his father at 68 was still shoeing Draft Horses and still called himself a Blacksmith and he had an uncle who was older and still was shoeing some local hYou areorses esp. kid's mounts with limited means and he referred to himself as a Shoe Salesman!!

I guess as I've said before You are What You Say You are a Blacksmith, Farrier, Horse Shoer, or Shoe Saleman. Millions of Horses around the world that need their feet cared for, does it make any difference what the people are called who do this as long as they are good at what they do?

You already have the most wanted tool, your anvil. Many budding blacksmiths aren't so lucky. 90% of my tongs came from antique places or auctions mostly as bundles of scrap. Most of my hammers have come minus handles as junk. Cleaned up, new handles that I like and they work perfectly fine and low $$ investment. Put the word out to family and friends what you are trying to do and you might be surprised what comes your way for items stored in sheds and barns they didn't know what to do with.

As Glen said join the local Assoc. and attend, listen and learn from the best. Get a course or two if you can afford them and spend 100s of hours reading old posts here on IFI. The knowledge shared here now and the past could fill a library. It takes time and study, and practice, no bolt of lightening in this trade.

Good Luck

Happy trails Ivan, will miss your posts. Be sure to store you're stuff safely I had to do the same a few times in the last 20 yrs. and items always seem to do their own traveling while I'm away.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll miss the dog!

To add a little mud to pie here, I had two generations of the same family shoeing my horses for 40+ yrs. They to this day refer to them selves as HORSE SHOERS. When I asked back in the early 80s when the term Ferrier showed up in my circle if they were Farriers I was told in no uncertain terms he was not a Farrier, if he was he would charge 4 times as much and do a poorer job. There was other conversation pertaining to this that I will leave out this being a family site and all. The grandfather of this tribe was a carriage restorer & Livery Stable owner that I worked for when I was a kid and he did his own iron work for the repairs and he was a blacksmith no doubt about it.

There is a large horse Assoc. show grounds near me and for years there was an open sided pole shed that was used to shoe horses in and a sign hung there saying Blacksmith Shop. Some early day PC person aka New Manager took it down and replaced it with a new sign saying Farrier Shop, when the guys showed up for the next event and saw the sign they tore it down, threw it in the brook, packed up their trucks and went home. They told management they wouldn't be back until the old sign was put back up. It was within the hour. It took a lot longer for them to return. The young fellows who called themselves Farriers decided it was best ride with the flow if they wanted to get along with the old timers who most of them had apprenticed under and needed their recommendation to get a start.

Now after all this they do specialize in what horses they will do these days. Very few will do draft horses but they will do crossbreds who weigh up around 1400 lbs because they are Event Horses worth big $$$ and owned by folks with even more $$$ and they charge accordingly.

So Blacksmith, Farrier, Horseshoer I would say it's Their Choice. If you are a horse owner and have a good one you write the check and call them Sir or Madam as the case may be.

I would think it all depends on a number of items a lot of them your physical body design.  Some of us are build long in the legs and short in the trunk or the opposite, some have very long arms some short arms.  Go to the store to buy a dress shirt to see these differences.  Then you have physical limitations of your body as it gets older and well used or over used. Hammer weight,  what you are doing.  All in all it comes down to making taking someone's advise on where to start and modify it as you get experienced and learn.  To have a book or instructor tell you this is the only way is foolish at best.  Novice or experienced you learn everytime you forge something new. 

 

I built a new stock for a target rifle a number of years ago.  I shot it at least twice a week year around.  I got it about right and often would come home and make a modification to it and then shoot it some more.  Took a year before I finished it and put a finish on.  Continued making changes for a number more years.   

I second the going back as well,  as stated by art above you can never have too many and it is easier to get rid of one than find another one.  They all deserve a second or third chance being useful.  If they could only tell us their tales.

I don't think that the "Art" of blacksmithing was ever lost, I just figured it moved from Main street to a side street or out in the country off the beaten path.  The same goes for Harness Making, Carriage building and Repair. gunsmithing for that matter.  In our area we had a number of blacksmiths that later became known as Farriers and most never did change their titles.  Is it fair to call it an Art or is it just Knowledge?  I prefer Knowledge myself. 

213 lb Peter Wright on my side of shop, my son has a 125lb that we haven't ID's yet on his side. 

I try never to leave PTO shafts apart.  Too easy for things to get in there, I've found old dryed grease build up and rust before in shafts . Hornets nest that proved interesting for a few minutes.   I've had the inside shaft end get burd up so it would go just so far and then get stuck.  Come along, one style or another is safer that pulling with tractor.  Lub will certainly improve matters, put some pull on it and lightly tap with a hammer if needed.  Plastic covers become a big problem they are not that expensive to replace from Tractor Supply. 

 

I had an uncle who always left part of the pto on the tractor as it was too hard for him to get it on and off.  He was always in a mess with something.  Either the shaft was too long or too short for the job, it was bent, burded.  It did keep the rest of the family from borrowing his tractor more than once.  guite interesting to watch him get hooked up to something.  Took him forever. 

And then there is the Liability question.  You supplied the fasteners and for some reason they weren't used correctly or weren't correct for where they were installed,and the item fell down, someone was hurt.  Who is the first person they look to?

These were being made when Car's were being repaired still in Wagon shops or blacksmiths.  Seen them in pictures of early Sawmill and logging operations.

well, next time I'll make it laser-cut :), I asked a price for 3 days of work, as I was thinking I'll make it in 3 days, I don't know were my mind was - it took me 10 days to finish it and it wrecked my wrist as I was working with an 1lb hammer with awkward movements to submit the scrolls. bending sheet metal edgewise is not quiet piece-of-cake. 
 
If you learned something from this all wasn't lost. I was in business with my Dad for many years every time something went south on us and we came up short his comment was. "It costs money to go to school" hope you learned something from this.

Put a little larger head on it call it a Hedge Hog aka Porcupine. It is cute, nicely done

Had a friend with mice problems in his storage shed over the winter, messed with all his small equip engines so he heard about the dryer sheets.  put them all over the equip and shed stapled to the walls.  Had a few left in the box so stuck it on shelf.  came out in the spring and there was a mouse nest and babies in the dryer sheets in the box.  Equip was still messed up.  they must have certain ones they like and dislike. 

5 acres with log cabin, 3 story barn, work shop, blacksmith shop, assorted other farm buildings. in VT $6500, 18 acres in CT with cabin, horse barn $8500 taxes.  Location does = taxes.  Brother in law has 55 acres in CT in land use/forestry with taxes of $200.  Must have 25 acres in single lot with no other use to qualify.

Tom is correct Location. 

5 acres with log cabin, 3 story barn, work shop, blacksmith shop, assorted other farm buildings. in VT $6500, 18 acres in CT with cabin, horse barn $8500 taxes.  Location does = taxes.  Brother in law has 55 acres in CT in land use/forestry with taxes of $200.  Must have 25 acres in single lot with no other use to qualify.

Tom is correct Location. 

very nice shop, size is what one can afford or fit on property.  The Pole barn builder was correct I'm sure one never builds big enough.  I have had 4 built in 10 yrs two to replace fallen down building so had to use footprint for zoning.  Two new and both were what I could afford at the time and still do the job.   Wish both were bigger until the tax bill shows up.  Pole barns can be added onto easily so enjoy what you have, your ahead of an awful lot of others on this sight.