Sam Falzone

Thanks Phil and Ken and everyone else. The ball bearing bounce test came back at around 25% - my heart sank at that. After listening to everyone's advice I'm beginning to accept that this may be just a pointless exercise. I mean it's not like I'm hurting for anvils (four at the last count not counting my mild steel block anvil). I think I just wanted to do it for the sake of saying I tried. But I also realize that it is going to take YEARS of welding experience before I'm even ready to tackle a refacing job. Too much to learn to tackle this anytime soon. So, I think I'll follow Curly George's advice and clean her up and use her anyway. So long as I work hot, it should be okay for a while - or I can just use my 90lb Mousehole. Thanks everyone. One day you will see my post on my first welding project - I still plan to learn how to weld ... an absolute necessity for a contemporary blacksmith in my opinion. Besides it's metal and fire - WHO WOULDN'T WANT TO PLAY WITH THAT ???? Take care everyone. And thanks again. Sam

Tala9, what are the dimensions and weight on that little beauty? Really nice job. Sam

Okay ... back to this topic. After the holidays I was able to hook up with my friend who picked up the anvil for me and get a good look at it myself - up close and personal like. ... AND ... ... you all were right, it looks like it's cast iron (... go ahead ... you can say "I told ya so" ...). I didn't really doubt any of you, but I had to see for myself. Glad I only shelled out $65.00 for it. I haven't done a spark test yet - report cards have been eating up all my time and brains for the past 2 weeks - but the sound of it is dull and there is very little rebound. I will still do a spark test, just to be sure. SO ... this leads me to my other train of thought ... here's the background. I have every intention - come Hell or High Water - to learn how to weld. I plan on taking a community college course in the spring. What I'm hoping is that since this anvil has a pretty small face, I could talk an instructor into teaching me how to hardface it eventually, after several more courses. Of course this leads me to my new question on which all other plans hinge on ... can a cast iron anvil BE hardfaced??? Inquiring minds want to know. Sam (-an inquiring mind )

VERY NICE !!! Some day I too will weld like that ... I hope. Great design - love it. Sam

I sign my work, but I don't date it. Sam

Heck YA!!! If no one else is interested would you be willing to send me a copy of the video? I would love to have a copy for my references. sam

Thanks for all the advice everyone - be assured I value all of it. I'm still not convinced this is an ASO yet ... so I'm going to investigate further. There is a very good chance I'm wrong but as CurlyGeorge says, I haven't invested a huge amount of cash into this anvil, I have 5 other anvils to rely on and this could be a bit of fun. I'll keep everyone posted on any results - it may take a while though ... life's going to get busy in the next little while. Happy New Year all. Sam

Thanks for all the advice everyone - be assured I value all of it. I'm still not convinced this is an ASO yet ... so I'm going to investigate further. There is a very good chance I'm wrong but as CurlyGeorge says, I haven't invested a huge amount of cash into this anvil, I have 5 other anvils to rely on and this could be a bit of fun. I'll keep everyone posted on any results - it may take a while though ... life's going to get busy in the next little while. Happy New Year all. Sam

Thanks for the suggestions guys, but anvil composition aside (... I'll have to investigate that further ...) I would still like to get some answers to the original post. I now know what a flapper disk is but I still would like to know what grits are needed to start with and whether there is a sequence of grits I need to go through. Sam

I've seen some great photos of reconditioned and rebuilt anvils on this forum, and mention about the tools and techniques used. But for a person who is starting from square 1, who has never done this before, I realize I need more information. My anvil job is small - only a 50lb travel anvil that I would like to touch up the faceplate and horn. The anvil is old and could use a bit of a face-lift. I don't want to get the face milled (I only paid $65.00 for the anvil) - I figure some careful grinding will be enough. But this is also a great opportunity for me to practice some of these new metal skills on a small project. I just need some more help getting started - I don't have a fabricator or welder background like so many of you guys. Posts have mentioned using flapper disks / wheels and belt sanders to do freehand grinding work on faceplates. BUT ... What does a flapper disk or wheel look like? (picture please) What grit should I start with? I figure this is a good place to start this thread. If other smiths have other starting questions they want to ask, they can tag them on as well. Next thing you know we have a more comprehensive tutorial thread about reconditioning an old anvil. Thanks. Sam

I really like your axe heads Mikel. The texturing from the teeth really makes it stand out. I'm curious, do the teeth along the cheeks and around the eye of the axe ever cause the axe to bind up when splitting wood? Thanks for sharing. Sam

Very snazzy Those old knobs would have also made a great looking 2-peg coat hook. Nicely done.

I got 3 Nathan Robertson hammers. Merry Christmas everyone. And may 2011 bring you peace, happiness and joy ... and lots of blacksmithing Sam

WOW !!!! That was awesome !!!! That had to be the best foaming at the mouth rant I have ever read !!! I feel sorry for the guy but I admire his "eloquence" and "style". Thanks for sharing. Sam

YAY CurleyGeorge. -looks like it worked - good looking pictures. Did you make that candle holder or was it a picture of the one saw and intend to re-create? Sam

Have you got any photos? I don't know a thing about powerhammers (sorry no help there), but I would love to see what yours looks like. Sam

The block is 5"x5"x5" mild steel with a 1"x1"x3" square post welded to the bottom. The post is sunk into the stump and a shallow recess for the block is also carved out. Yes, that's a mild steel cutting plate.

I don't think many of the archaeological pieces are made of iron (... at least not to my failing memory). I recall pieces made of bronze, silver and even a few in gold (... though mostly bronze or silver). Generally you don't find a lot of surviving jewelry pieces made of iron from the Norse / Anglo Saxon era. However iron was a precious commodity to the Norse - valued for tools. weapons and ship rivets. That isn't to say that a smith wouldn't (or couldn't) have turned a small scrap of iron into a Thor's hammer (... a small one for a child or such ...), but it just may not have survived in the archaeological evidence. Of course, there may be a whole slew of iron Thor's hammers in some museum display in Norway or Iceland or such and no one has translated the archeological report into English yet (... like SO MUCH other historical evidence and artifacts waiting in dusty drawers and shelves for the funding to do the translation and publishing ... GRRRR!!!! ) Sorry about going off on that tangent ... Sam

Hi Ruben, Nicely done. Your version is more accurate than mine, and larger. I also added more punch design to the hammer than the original. My new silver class starts in a few weeks - I can't wait to make more jewelry. Sam

Thanks Rob. What would you like to know? Sam

Thanks for all the compliments everyone. Ward and George; Here's how I think I did it ... 1. Click on the Gallery tab in the blue bar at the top of the IFI main page 2. On the Gallery page, click on Member Galleries in the Category column 3. On the Member Galleries page, click on the blue New Image button (middle of three blue buttons, top right hand quadrant) 4. This will take you to the Submit Image page. There is a window for the image caption, there is a description window, scroll down and you will find the Browse button where you can find and upload your image from your computer files, and then below that is the blue Submit Image button. -browse and choose your image, give it a caption and / or description, click submit and it will automatically file your image in your gallery page which is also accessible (and viewable) from the main gallery page. (at least it did for me) -it seems you can only upload images one at a time, so if you have multiple images to upload (like I did today), you have to start from the beginning for each image. -you can view your personal gallery page from your profile page - look for the Gallery button in the menu bar above the "Recent Status Update" window It took me a while to figure it out ... I hope it works for you. Sam

Sorry for all the pictures everyone. I finally figured out how to load pictures into my gallery page, and since I'm home for the holidays, that's what I did this afternoon. Sorry again. Sam