JME1149

Superbee, at the top of the "Anvils by Brand" category is a Hay Budden catalog from around the time period of your anvil. For a 400 pounder the face should be about 6" X 23". What does yours measure. It does look to be broken off at the pritchel and ground smooth. Still a very nice find, even with the damaged tail.

Thanks for sharing Farmall. I've been trying to identify a post drill I picked up this weekend mostly from old ads and your timing is perfect. Unfortunately your ad appears to be slightly earlier versions than what I have. My search continues, but your generosity is appreciated.

There are lots of ideas for a variety of guillotine tools out there. Anywhere from a simple homemade scissor type action to the commercial ones and everything in between. For me it all comes down to what machining/fabricating abilities and materials do you have available vs. how quickly you want to be using the tool. I looked at the Smithin Magician and liked the price and the option of being able to buy the kit or a completed unit. The one thing I didn't like with it was that you are limited to the size hole of the machine. I prefer the open side frame like you see in the G2 (from yesteryear forge). It just seems to me that there are a lot more possibilities with that style (which is why I bought myself one for my birthday). It was a little more $$ than the Magician, but I was really impressed by the quality and workmanship. The interchangeability of the dies with commonly available stock is another plus. If I had a milling machine and ready access to inexpensive plate stock, I would have made my own, but I don't so I looked for the best unit I could buy for the cash I wanted to part with. I know this probably doesn't help, but it all boils down to your own preferences. Good luck with the decision.

Received my copy and started reading it right away. I found what I consider to be the best line in the entire book. In the section dealing with drilling the scales in preparation for mounting, Steve tells us "push up into the drill, try and miss your fingers, because bleeding on the scales may stain them". I can't help but smile every time I read those words. Thanks for pulling this book together Steve, I hope you feel it was worth the time and effort you put into it. I know I appreciate your efforts.

Beautiful work, I especially like the table. Any idea what the finished weight of that beast is? I guess you need to start on the matching chairs next.

Blacksmith Express. Find a series of smiths who live about 2 hours apart, have the two meet in the middle for lunch and exchange the goods, then repeat until the goods are delivered. Everyone involved wastes a couple hours and gets a chance to meet with other smiths in their area. If only it were that easy....

On a related thought, could you temper the new carving knife in the oil with the cooking turkey? 350 degrees should get you a light straw or so.

Nice looking anvil, even better having a family history with it. Use it wisely and it should serve you and your grandchildren well. Looks a little small to my eye for 200 pounds, I would have guessed in the 100 pound range, but that does not diminish it's value. Enjoy and remember to post photos of your work for us.

I've got a lead on an anvil that I'm going to check out today, but would appreciate some educated guesses on the brand. I've only got one photo to go from right now, so condition is unknown. The general shape is throwing me off, it's got that stubby, thick waisted appearance of a colonial, but the horn is also short and stubby. To me, it looks old, but the existence of both pritchel and hardie holes makes me think it may not be all that old. From the description I have and the rough sizes I've been given, it should be in the 100 pound range, and it's in western Pennsylvania area. Please take a look and let me know what you think it might be.

Before I answer, a few questions. How does the blower operate as it is currently set? Does the handle turn smoothly in both directions? Is there excessive noise from any of the bearings? Does the handle continue to turn after you release it? Answers to all these questions will determine the appropriate actions. As this thing was operated for around a century, the gears may have worn together and although they look off center, they may be properly aligned. If you move the bronze gear over to make it sit on-center, the tooth alignment may be compromised, making it work worse than it does now. The bronze gear is keyed to the shaft, and that square head setscrew is what holds it in place. If I recall correctly, there is an end play adjustment under the caps on the outside of the housing (loosen one side and tighten the opposite to move the shaft over slightly). As for the nut removal, there is an outer jam nut and an inner cone nut that rides on the bearings. Between the two is a washer with an internal tooth that fits in the key slot. You will need a thin wrench to hold the cone nut while you release the jam nut, all from the same end. What I have learned the hard way is if the blower works pretty good, don't tinker with it. You may end up having it work worse and then have to chase adjustments to try to get it back to where you started. Good luck, and keep us posted with your results. John

Looks like you did a nice job with the clean up. Before you try to find a new shaft, get a small triangular jewelers type file and try to repair the damaged threads, Start about 2 or 3 threads in and work your way back out to the end face. Be patient with it, they are very fine threads. If all else fails, you could gring or file off the first couple threads, then just restore the start point.

Just out of curiosity, how well did it operate before you started your repairs? Did the handle turn smoothly? In both directions? How far did the handle continue to turn when released? Was there excessive noise from any of the six sets of bearings or from the shafts themselves? Was it heavily rusted inside or out? Depending on the answers to the above questions, and also to the question of what are you trying to accomplish by "repairing" it (showroom new or just functional), how you go about fixing it will differ. Sorry if I sound like a broken record, but I've had some that worked less efficiently after I fixed them up. Still need to tweak my bearing slop settings.

double post

Just scrape out what you can reach, then degrease the inside with engine cleaner and a toothbrush. It's not going to hurt to leave some grease residue on the inside surfaces for future protection. As far as the outside goes, I've had success with a wire wheel on a drill, but maybe yours is in worse shape. I don't know if the electrolysis would have any negative impact on the bronze gear, bushings, or bearings if they are left assembled. Pictures might help us refine our suggestions. Also, take a moment to add your location to your profile. You might find there are other smiths in your area who can help

You need to ask yourself if you really need to remove the gear from the shaft. In my case, I never did manage to get them apart and now I'm glad I didn't. I will assume it's one long square key that goes all the way through the gear. There's generally a tight fit between the shaft/gear and the key/keyway so there is no slip in the fitup. If you've mangled one side, you will never get the key out from that side until it's filed back down to size. Be very careful applying any force to the brass gear. The are very delicate and will bend, twist, and even break on you if you push them too much. If you do get the gear off the shaft, you have to worry about getting the alignment just right or the worm drive will not engage properly. I have no idea what condition yours is in, but the ones I've seen and worked on usually only need bearing replacements, and clean lube. The worst one I have has a pretty badly corroded worm shaft from moisture laying in the bottom of the case, but it still works like a dream. Please let us know how your overhaul turns out. Pictures are always welcome too.

It would really help if we had a little more information about the blower. Is there a manufacturer's name on it? How big? How old? Pictures would also help us guide you in repairing it.

When I first looked at the pictures, I made the assumption that the base slug was going to have a large hardie hole to accept the anvil & other tool. The only thing I could offer is to make sure you drill a hole all the way through the slug so you can use a bar to knock out the tooling when it gets stuck. Looks like it would work very well for jewelry and small detailed work.

Looks like a good start, just be careful not to set your dolly on fire when you open the ash dump. And welcome to the club.

Is she a friend, or just a casual acquaintance? If a friend, may want to consider just giving them to her and graciously accepting any donation she wants to make to your steel/fuel/tool fund. As a newbie myself, I enjoy making the projects and welcome the extra hammer time. For your snails, it sounds like a great opportunity to practice making three exact replicas, or just to see how much better and faster you get with each one. I am assuming that we are talking about relatively small snails and not some mutant oversized beasties out of 1 inch rebar.

And then you start making bottle openers, which leads to the mandatory quality control testing of said bottle openers (but only after the fire has gone out), only to wake up the next day and do it all over again. Sounds like an ideal retirement plan to me.

Hello, my name is John...and I am a blacksmith. I've been smithing for a little over a year and just can't seem to get enough. My wife has asked me "how many anvils does one person need?" but yet I want more. I know what you mean Nick, and can agree completely. I look at it as my source of relaxation and meditation, so it's all good. Except for the black boogers that is.

I agree with Black Frog, highly unlikely it's 175# based on the picture. My guess would be in the 70 - 100 lb range. Still a good looking anvil, wouldn't worry about the hardie hole edges too much. As to it's value, however much someone is willing to pay is what it's worth, but $2 - $3 per pound wouldn't be out of the question.

Both are nicely done, but I prefer the first. I like the simplicity and clean lines better, but that's just a personal preference. The only thing I think I would have done differently would be to put the candle cup in line with the vertical element for a little more symetrical look. Either way, good job on both.

I have some recent, first-hand experience with exactly what you are asking about. A couple weeks ago, I took my gear with me for a week at summer camp with the intention of letting our boys make beginner projects if they wanted to. What I found is that it will take 1 leader to 1 or 2 boys, and the boys can usually complete an S-hook in about 1.5 hours. This includes the safety talk, walk through step-by step showing examples of the steps as you go, through final twist, brush and wax. The older, more mature, tool friendly boys might get done in an hour. I ran the smithy for four days from after breakfast until almost dark to let the boys fit forging time in between merit badge classes, and usually had somebody beating metal all the time. It was a huge hit, and I was already told that I'm bringing my gear back next year. For a camporee, I don't see how you could possibly push that many boys through a hands-on exhibit in one day (that's assuming 3 days is arrive and opening ceremony on day 1, activities on day 2, and pack up to leave on day 3). Our camporees generally have small-medium groups of boys rotating through stations every hour or so, depending on how many troops attending, how many stations, etc. What I think would work well would be for you (see that, I just voluntold you!) to do a simple demo for the groups. To go along with your theme, you could do steel strikers, RR spike zombie choppers, dutch oven cooking tri-pods with S-hooks, lantern hanging J-hooks, and other such goodies. They get to see the magic happen first hand, you get to hone your demonstration skills, little chance of anybody getting injured, and you could pass out the finished goods (all but the knives) to the winners of the events. I might even have to borrow your theme idea for one of our district camporees, sounds like a lot of possibilities for good times. Good luck, and be sure to let us know how it turns out. John

Looks an awful lot like my Fisher, 1860-1870 time frame. Same notch in the rear foot, same bulge below the hardie, but mine has the raised/cast eagle on the side you didn't show us. Looks to be in beautiful condition. Congrats on the score.