Anachronist58

Ausfire, I have this vision of a Smith demoing the Ronco Reversible Cross Rounder® - "It's a Right-Hand Rounder! Flip it over, and now it's a Right-Hand Cross Pein! But Wait! There's More!", as the TVgenic Smith in his/her Smart Blue Suede Apron hurls the glowing stock and the divinely balanced RRCR® past one-another through Space with Amazing Ambidextrous Precision and Flair: "You Also Get, for the Same Ridiculously LOW LOW Price, The DeeLuxe Left-Handed...............! Seriously though, I have to practice Ambidexterity just to make it through my shift. Mr House, I observe all around me the consequences of handedness upon the Human Form, not the least being of which back pocket our wallets live for years untold. Robert Taylor

All in our thoughts and prayers - Robert and Sheila Taylor

Yep it's all blown out on the right.

Thanks Frosty.

Frosty the Lucky, Feisty and Plucky!

I see the price on the Soderfors has dropped from $375. I would try to get it for $275 but I would not walk away over $25. But I am from California, the land of the $8/# Anvil, plus I adore my 88# Soderfors.

I like that Vaughn T, and I like the way those jaws taper down.

My goal is to not find myself agitated by all of the varied points of view in this thread. Here I defend not the content of the various points of view, but the INTENT of those posting: Each from his/her own unique background. At my job, my behavior is annoyingly pedantic, and those who are courageous enough or foolish enough to take exception, will be exposed to my irritable invitation to prove me to be in error. Prove me wrong and my humility is further honed. I took up Smithing to free myself from the criticality of my trade. So here is my poem : Home, Hearth, Forge, Smithy Presently, the Forge Hearth is by far the least-used of all of my equipment. But it is the fiery beating heart of my passions, and all of my work is designed to support that heart(h). Don't yet own the domain name, but Xxxxxxx Forge will never be at the top of the web search, because thousands WANNABE what We Are. I call it the Forge. Robert Taylor

Dave51B - took me a bit of head scratching before my first cuppa, But imagine you are holding the contraption in your hands. You are facing the point of the horn (heel) now just lower the thing onto the top of the anvil. The brass thing is a spring-loaded toilet paper roller - holds the jaws open. So yes, it lies across the face. As you tighten the clamp against the sides of the vise, the "working jaws" close on your work piece. If I have erred in my analysis, let the ridicule commence. Robert Taylor

DO dress your struck tools to control the mushroom fragments that tend to form. DO NOT ask me how I dug that thing out of my arm! Robert Taylor

Putting you and Deb on the Network, Robert and Sheila Taylor

Ewewwww, Frosty?

SomeGuy - back in 1980, I experienced severe skin damage from exposure to ultraviolet after three hours of carbon arc brazing. To reiterate the theme set forth by your Venerable Colleagues: We 'err' as a habit on the side of safety. We take into consideration those seekers whose judgement may not be fully developed, myself as an example, at age 58. I work all night with four to ten fluted razor blade type thingys attached to 5 - 50 pound weights. Reference above, I am honored to be in the company of those help me keep sharp my sense of safety hypervigilance, as Darwin has his eye on each of us, 24/7. Blacksmithing tends to take place in a rough neighborhood - the Smithy - and attracts some GNARLY personalities, (gentlemen included) who BEAT with hammers, the red hot foci of their attention into SUBMISSION with HAMMERS (sic). I am not seeing above the condescension that you reference, so allow me to rectify that. If you want to be handled gently at all times, never burned, cut, crushed or scarred, try the scrapbooking forum down the street. Otherwise stay here and enjoy the sometimes rough, straightforward knowledgeable crowd. Robert Taylor This Poster's views are his own, and may not be representative of the Views of I Forge Iron. rlt

If you live in Anviltopia, the anvils are free. Right off the tree. Bakersfield, and California, for that matter, is no Anviltopia, where they run up to $8/#. You are on your way, yes? Good advice Kozzy, .

Hmmm. Doesn't look like an arc weld to me. Yes it definitely needs to be resurfaced - Take a red hot bar of any forgeable steel. Forge it into a desirable object. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Your anvil will either be transformed into a beloved workmate, or you will come to despise it - in the latter case, send it to me. All kidding aside, it looks fine from here. SHADE - After viewing your background, I took a closer look. Appears to be an intact weld bead on the left, and has been popping out on the right (Image #4). Robert Taylor

Das Wulf, you have presented some glorious works on this forum. I am not in your mind, but for myself, I can not continuously top myself in my achievements - that bar is too high. When I was 45 years old, I suffered another devastating life setback. The only thing I could create for the next two years, was gravel, on this anvil: Literally. I paved 200 square feet of my front yard, waiting for my mojo to return. It did, and you must acknowledge that there is no limit to your creativity. Wait for it - it is not a device, but a state of being. You sound to be on the good road. And once again, I see that your IFI Family has your back. Robert Taylor

Was Now

Try this: http://www.boggstool.com/ Robert Taylor

Av, It should not cost you more than $2000 (two thousand) to find a used CNC retrofit type machine in today's market. How much do you know about machining in general? What scale will you be working (five inch tall or ten foot tall robots)? The complexity of your part geometries is what defines the type of sophistication required by your machine tool. PM me if you want my number so we can talk whilst I am working my other job. Robert Taylor

Wow Avadon why not just jump in the deep end head first? One may convert any machine into a CNC - if I had copious liquidity and a brain transplant, >I< could do it. Sounds like you might want to look into a Prototrac, which is a CNC retrofit manual mill. My former employer just got auctioned off, and the Prototrac went for $1500, I believe. Most likely you will need 230 volts ac and a phase converter. I am not familiar with the software, so I don't know if it's capable of interpolation or just 3 axis linear movements. Machine shops continue to collapse and be put on the block - my feeling is that your chances are good. 3D printing is something you might consider as an adjunct to your (newly?) acquired Insanity. That'll be two bits, thank you, Robert Taylor

Thanks arftist, I feel special now!

Very good to look at. Holding it would be a treat.

Looks to be in fine shape - is that white lettering detail original?

Excellent! Good days work!

Here is another OEM with extensive information: http://www.rivnut.com/?mobile=no