teenylittlemetalguy

I like the flowers off to the side like that, nice touch. :)

I like the satin finish on the guard. classy touch.

It appears to be a Fischer. Looks just like mine. They Were USA made, cast with a tool steel top. Don't ring loud (which I like) but they are good anvils. Mine came from a navy shipyard in California. I am told the military was one of thier biggest customers. B)

actually I have found it useful IN my big vice so I have some horizontal jaws when needed. Was worried at first if it would slip or not, but they seem to hold really good.

Bob, thanks, I see no spikes on mine, but that would have been a nice feature. Phil, sorry to hear about the scrap man, that sounded like a good old vice with some great memories. My grandfather was a machinist and I would give my I tooth for just 1 of his old tools. Maddog, thanks for the info. When I saw it I thought first off how simple it was and that I might be able to copy it. but of course I just bought it. if you want closer pix in order to copy it I can send them. a hand size would be nice.

On vacation I found this neat little vice. No brand name or markings at all. It is built like a post vice, but it has no leg. Small jaws about 3 inch wide. the hinge plate apears to be brazed on the rear jawpost and the front is riveted in the plate. Screw threads into a seperate nut that is inset but not attached, just like a post vice. Spring looks like an obvious replacement,I can see wear marks from a missing flat spring. Not sure what it was built for. I had not seen one like it so I thought I would share a picture.

Hey guy, nice little forge. If you are frosting your tanks up there are a couple solutions. raise the temp by putting the tank in a bucket of water, or increase the available gas. I use 2 small tanks at the same time and don't have a problem with frost. Also I just coated a couple forges with ITC and recommend it, but it is expensive. and you will want extra for maintenance. Best price I could find was at seattle pottery supply. http://www.seattlepotterysupply.com/ I noticed faster heating in mine once I added it. Good luck!

:) Rawtiron showed a real natural talent for forge welding. I have precious little experience welding, but together we made really good progress.the shop time was really inspiring. It was a great visit and the hospitaliy was top notch! -Tristan

I have found no better price then seattle pottery http://seattlepotterysupply.com/

Not sure about the dollars, but sems way more expensive than quarters comparing the weights. I have been very succesful recently doing this and thought I would share a few tip that worked for me. I tried the nickels mentioned here. and they are a great addition. Planished to the same size as quarters and alternated in a stack. I have done stacks over 3 inches with good results. What I found is the nickels must be flat. no gaps more than a about a few sheets of paper can be between the coins. that is where a nice holder comes in handy. I use 2 steel plates and some bolts. once they are hot and almost thinking about melting I stick the whole shooting match in either the vise or the shop press and give them a good squeeze to about 3/4 their original height. then back in the forge and up to temp. one more squeeze so you are about 5/8 of your starting height. this will make a nice solid chunk that will stay together if you drop it on the floor (on purpose of course). After that I found, despite reason that you must stay nice and orange while moving the material. if the edges start to delaminate, then stop before they get very big and stick them back together.start tapping edgewise to square it up a bit, little blows at first , checking for delam often. I you try to flatten the stack diagonally you get better adhesion and actually more of that wood grain look.

thanks bentiron. Sounds pretty neat to have a 2 ft dime! Bet that is hard to spend. not exactly pocket change at that point. I saw a program on tv where they showed the process of fusing the nickel and the copper and they do it in large plates using explosives at a quarry. Really amazing. the fused up plate then gets rolled all the way down to coin thickness. must just stick better than I can stick them in my shop. I know if I try and hammer it cold it moves a bit, then even after repeated anneallings it will crack and seperate on me. others might have luck doing it cold, but I can't.

I admit it guys, I am addicted. I jumped up this morning and made piece #2. I think it looks even better. The trick for me was making sure they were warm enough after I made the billet. That nickel really doesn't want to move while it's cold and will just shear if not glowing.

I did it! After burning up $7.00, I got it to work. and xxxx it feels good! thanks for the help guys. -Teeny

← thanks guys, I did find that tutorial late last night. I believe I am being to easy on the heat. I gotta stop cringing at the fact that I am literally "burning up money".. heh heh.