Sam Falzone

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

I have a couple sword orders to fill, and I'm planning on documenting the build and posting the pics on a knife forum I'm on. Wouldn't be too much work to post them here too, if there's any interest. If you've all seen this sort of thing a million times already, then I won't waste the bandwidth.

But I just sold my old air hammer via this forum, so I'd like to give something back.

Phillip

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

<snip>

I think maddog has 20/20 (pun intended)vision on this. I`d sell it and buy some thick scrap plate,set it on edge and make a metal moving machine like Brian B was come up with.You already have a fine bit of kit with that block and bick on the stump for demos.
Life is too short to spend grinding ASOs.Save the flap wheels for that fabbed anvil.

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

<snip>

I think maddog has 20/20 (pun intended)vision on this. I`d sell it and buy some thick scrap plate,set it on edge and make a metal moving machine like Brian B was come up with.You already have a fine bit of kit with that block and bick on the stump for demos.
Life is too short to spend grinding ASOs.Save the flap wheels for that fabbed anvil.

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

Let`s see the bottom of it Sam.That`s one of the easiest way to tell if the body is wrought,or cast iron.

The next step would be to do a spark test to tell you if there was a difference between the base and the face.If they`re both the same then unless this is a solid steel anvil there`s really not much you can do except sell it and put the money towards an anvil that fits your needs.
Many have tried to morph an ASO into an anvil but that skates very close to alchemy and those few that came close to success had access to tools and skills beyond what you have available sounds like.
Sorry to be the bearer of sad tidings but...

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

Thanks Sam. I think that even I can follow those instructions. I'll give it a try shortly.

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

I have been trying to get an old CECO (Chambersburg )hammer (BLOWMATIC) erected.I have been able to get the machine on its feet, but struggling to make it work.The solenoid controlled Pneumatic system was not effective and the valve was refusing to move and the hammer kept swinging with no controls.i decided to set up a lever system pedal operated to make the valve work.I have fabricated all the parts and put them in place.I am not sure it will work.Look forward to any tips on this.

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 looks about 4" square, is it set into the stump? Is that a cutting plate off to the side? The bick I can work out

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'm trying to recall if I have ever seen one in iron; no examples come to mind from the historic record. Sam, others?

Anyway if you want to forge one just forge one the shape is rather simple. Having a nice guillotine fuller would help.

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

Ok, I took a picture of my recreation of the Hesselbjerg amulet. All made from 3/8 in. round mild steel. I've been wearing it for about 6 months now.

Rubén

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

I loved it. Its a bit like the videos that are to be deleted in the other post. Just how simple can a setup be compared to what we normally have.

The anvil setup is especially good. How about some info on it?

Thanks Rob.

What would you like to know?

Sam

Sam, no need to appologize. Just share. How the H--- did you do it???

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

Sorry ,I,m referring to the jewelery.Wondering if there,s a way to make that,s equivalent,say,to a Frederick,s cross.

Well the way I make them is either by casting or by cutting it out of sheet silver and then stamping designs into it. That is pretty much how most of the thor's hammers found were made. I've never tried forging one, but I think someone put up a post a while back about how they did it. It's somewhere in the message archive. Try typing Thor's hammer into the search window.
Here's a photo of the Thor's hammers I make. Good luck. Happy Holidays.

Hot off the OABA site ...

December (2010) : No Meetings


Saturday January 8th: Bob Young’s Shop, Hamilton:
For the January Meeting we are going to make tools for the CanIron tool box. Members can bring their own projects if they want, but it will be a hands on meeting. Also we want members to bring forged key fobs, they can be anything they like- leaves, flowers, etc, just remember that they have to fit on a key ring. The idea behind this is that we are looking for donations these can be handed out as gifts to potential sponsors, and it might give them a better idea of what we do.

Bob’s place is south of Hwy 403 between Hamilton and Brantford. It is easiest to take the "Copetown" cut-off from the 403 and follow the "Grand River Dinner Cruises" signs as the "Boat Farm" is a couple of kilometers past their place. From the cut-off follow Trinity Rd for approximately 8km even when the name changes to Sawmill Rd at a sharp curve and then Brant Rd 22 is about 2km further - the next road to the right. They are about 1km on the right.


Saturday February 12th at Waldies Blacksmith Shop, Milton:
Mike Currie, who frequently makes objects for reenactors, will be demonstrating how to make a Neck Knife. Lunch will be provided for a nominal fee. Members are asked to please be please be punctual.

Take the 401 to exit 320, going south on Martin St. Turn right onto Main St, and then right onto James St.

Saturday March 12th: Mick Smith’s Shop, Fergus:
This meeting will be making more things for CanIron, and teaching anyone interested in how to work as a striker. We will need volunteer strikers for CanIron, and it’s best to learn how before you start swinging the hammer. If you can bring your own sledge hammer, it would be appreciated.

Take the 401 to exit 295 and head north on Highway 6 (Hanlon Pkwy) through Guelph. Highway 6 takes a right at Woodlawn Rd W, and then a left at Woolwich St, and then on to Fergus. In Fergus, follow the 6 through town, which follows Tower, then Bridge, then David St over the river. Once out of Fergus, follow the 6 and turn right on to Sideroad 10. Take the 10 until it curves onto Jones baseline, but take a sharp right after the curve to go SOUTH on Jones Baseline. Mick’s place is on the right, second house before the swamp.

I've been thinking lately ... maybe I've been looking at Christmas all wrong all these years.

As kids we're taught to be nice so that Santa would bring us toys.

But ... as a blacksmith, doesn't it make more sense to keep your self on the naughty list???
I mean ... all the fun of being naughty all year round and THEN getting a stocking full of coal DELIVERED to you on December 25? ;)Sounds like a sweet deal to me

I wonder if I could find a 55 gal drum shaped like a stocking ???

Sam

Happy Holidays Everyone

I just found this online today:

http://transit.toronto.on.ca/

Scroll down to this header:

TTC staff conduct tour of Harvey Shops, December 11

It sounds like it would be a pretty cool tour to take. $15 for a tour sounds a little steep, but you will probably see some stuff that you won't see anywhere else. If I lived closer, I would jump at the chance.

Thanks Mark - great find !!!

It does sound interesting, unfortunately I've already got plans for the 11th but the article says that they plan on giving more tours of the shops in the spring.

I got a chuckle over the line "... One of the only two working blacksmith shops in Canada ..."

I think the article writer would be shocked to find out how many smiths and shops there actually are in Canada TODAY ;)