rustyshackleford

Wish I wasn't about to leave for NY, I'm in Boone and could help. You going to UT? ETSU? Dunno of anyone who is knowledgeable about that period or the industrial skill set that goes with it. There are a couple of folks on the forum here that are from our neck of the woods, hopefully they'll chime in since I can't remember their handles. In the meantime, check this site out, it's similar to what you're proposing.

Bronze Age Reenacting

it sounds borderline cliche to say that dogs are better than people, but xxxxxx if it ain't true. Good luck making your urn, I think the relevant advice has been put forth already.

I fail to see what 'definitely' makes it a bayonet. While the (apparently) triangular shape is congruent with bayonets of the AWI and CW, it shows a lack of hollow grinding on the flats, or socket for fitting over the barrel of the gun. Plug Bayonets were outdated for all practical purposes by the time that guns would have been carried by anyone making a log cabin in TN, and this does not fit the typical profile for such an item (which was normally wide and flat)
Sounds like the archaeologist knows what he's looking at.
Neat find nonetheless, thanks OP!

Joseph, is this the one that you are talking about?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO5LwkJEXos

I love these sorts of videos. Seems like there was one on Japanese scissor making but I can' find it :/

Booooo, I just got of the phone with the Ky Horseshoeing school and they said they were having communication problems with Kohlswa and weren't importing any at the moment :/ I don't really enjoy the thought of sailing to Sweden to bring one back.... :P

Yeah I used a brearing race to make a knife the other month. Dear lord was it a tough material.

Fit and finish are great. As it is the squared handle reminds me of the Japanese schools. You may consider removing some of the meat from the centre of the wood, essentially creating a 'wasp-waist' (how much would be up to you). This would eliminate the illusion of a convex handle and help to distinguish it from the relatively untapered blade. You may also consider faceting the corners of squared handles like that, either down the entirety, or just the wood.

I would be concerned that the blade has not been drawn back enough. 'Straw' is generally listed for small blades like lancets and pen knives. These are low torque/impact applications where edge retention is the only demand. The comparatively 'low' carbon and simple nature of the alloy may be a saving grace in this regard though. Even for small knives with 1095 I take the temper to spring blue just to insure against breakage.

Whatever the bevel problem was could probably have been remedied by careful drawfiling while the blade is annealed. I drawfile, then peen (reheating if necessary) to straighten before giving it a few more licks with the file.

Driving through WVa I get a kick out of the Union billboards. 'Fracking is just as bad as mountaintop removal. 99% dependence on a depleting resource is greedy. Not being in danger of running out is no excuse to be wasteful of a resource that you don't rightfully own (We should be stewards of the planet, and leave it better than we found it.) We should be funneling money into alt. energy R&D (at a personal, not governmental level -social gospel, not social justice).I use coal for the time being and love the way it works. Methane is probably the best way to go for our trade, but it's not widespread. Technologies cannot gain momentum if there is not demand for it. Similarly, if entities were willing to make a personal sacrifice or commitment to alternative energies there would not be (as much) the demand for coal in power plants. More for us!!!


I'm 21 years old and foam at the mouth watching what my parents generation has and continues to condone in many legislative and environmental arenas. I will spend the rest of my life cleaning up messes. There's no easy solution, but that doesn't mean that we should stop trying to find the best one for one second. As blacksmiths we should know this intimately.

I'm inclined to side with Dave on this. Nickel rod is recommended for anvil repairs on Fishers as a base layer, I would try that.

As a compliment to Trinculo's (Hi btw!, I'm up in Boone) doc, here is technical data about the anvils. While pricing is subject to change, this is a little more standard, and I wish it ws pinned to the forum since comparisons come up so much.
Click the link and search (ctrl+f) for 'anvil' its the first result.
my link

I've got the typical 'USA' aso, a PW, and a Fisher; this is a 'life enrichment' exercise for me. I am a proponent of block anvils and such, particularly the forklift anvils that seem to be increasing in quality of finish and design. I specifically asked if the Fisher info was still in patent because I didn't know where to look for it. If it was still in patent, that would give me a start. Thomas, you seem to know more than I about it; where can I find the info?

The cost of this project is simply the time it would take me to bust cast iron to fill the crucible, and whatever a steel face would be if I paid for one. The rest is covered.

Is the Fisher process still in patent? I'm planning on casting one this spring at a uni that has a cupola. Something stump anvil-sized. I was going to use something similar to this; I love the design; he could have that thing done commercially.
* Working surface: 12 X 15 cm (5.9" x 4.72")
* Height: 24 cm (9.5")
* Horn length: 18 cm (7")
* Weight: 27 kg (60 pounds)
* Surface hardness: 58-60 HRC

I live about an hour away from Bsmth's Depot and can verify they have used the TFS for their main forging anvils. They actually have two or three in use there, and one Peddinghaus. The anvils had certainly been used, and the edges were holding up fine. No apparent distortion of the face that I remember either.

Looks like a great start! The forklift specials are becoming more and more popular. How much of a pain was filing that hardy? Did you use a specific method? Mind taking a pic of the underside of that area? Please keep us updated.

I tried contacting the Kentucky Horsehoeing school but haven't heard back from them. Has anyone else tried contacting them about importing Kohlswas? I would imagine they would do well here; the 80s were 30 years ago.

I'm a reenactor, probably the biggest consumer of throwing hawks (though the scouts may have us beat idk). Cheapo India throwers are de rigueur, and the rest of the market is reserved for folks who want repops of specific examples or styles. Cheap ones run $25 roughly, to vastly over-priced castings in the $50 range. Hand forged ones are at least $80 for hatchets, more for axes. Jymm Hoffman has made some before. I have split the eye, but not forge welded (don't have that skill) one together.

I guess you're drilling and threading the shank after you're done?

NJ you called it- 1883 and it's 190 on the scale. Pics tomorrow when I can get it out of the trunk. The guy also potentially has a larger one that I'm going to investigate, as well as some tools (would save me a lot of work making new ones) The edges arent' terrible (you can see the worst one in the pic, it's maybe 5/8" in and 5/16" deep -i'm being generous there), and the pitting is reasonable, I'll be able to get it off a workable area with little effort. NJ I'll be curious to see your opinion of a couple other elements after I get those pics posted.

I think that's a good guess if there is a good drop to the cutting plate, if not it might be a Vulcan.

Check for Fisher cast in under the heel too.

Alright, I've got the opportunity to buy this, but I'd like to know more about it. I'll be seeing it on Sunday, but am going out of my way to do so.
Came out of old guy's shop, Has a raised square(ish) medallion with a horse or something like it. No numbers, but there is an 'H' cast on the foot or somewhere (hard to get details from folks who don't know what to look for). My friend's copy of Postman is AWOL, so if anyone could look it up I would be greatly appreciative!! The only picture is this one from a cell phone. You can faintly see the medallion. I think it looks like a Fisher...

I agree on the unbalanced part, thy almost resemble cutler's hammers in that regard. I guess we should look at old ones to see if the eye has shifted back away from the face over the years. I suppose the Lay person uses them on cold chisels and other generic metal-whacking where a carpenter's hammer would fall short.

Incredibly, the auctioneer took my phone number down, and told me he can get MANY anvils at these bargain prices! Not only that, but a lot of these guys buing parts for their racing cars told me they have anvils, and are willing to part with them to me!

Finding an old electric iron has been proposed by a number of users here. You can also heat a chunk of metal with large thermal mass and let it cool off on the anvil face (somewhat like zampilot's method)

Marksnagel:
First, I grew up in Little Washington a a lad, cool to hear of someone from that area into smithing

to offer input: a friend of mine came into some money and built a small shop with the same goals, keep the wet (in our case, snow as much as rain here in the App Mtns). Though it would be sturdier if set in the ground like his, you cane get 4x4s as uprights, and make a shed 1.5 plywood sheets wide to achieve your 12x12 goal. Roof material is at your discretion, but a single pitched shed roof would be easy math to figure out.

7 or 8 4x4s 8ft long set as studs (4 corners, and one at the relative midpoint) to screw the plywood directly into was his method, and he put doors that would open the entire front like a cabinet. Hope it's clear, if you're interested I can head over to his place this weekend and take some pics