ausfire

Great score. I have never seen one advertised on eBay. I reckon everyone who has a Hofi would want to keep it! After searching around the web, I bought mine direct from a German company, although, as usual, the freight cost was enormous. And I do notice that when shaping with the cross pein it leaves sharp marks from the machining (?). Just wondering if they require a bit of dressing to finish the pein. I'm a bit reluctant to take a flap disc to it. What's the best way?

I agree with geoff. It looks just too good to be a rail anvil. A bit of cut and shut with a broken anvil and an I-beam perhaps. Anyway, a very smart piece of 'anvilry'. It would find a place in my shop.

Yeah, I want one too, but I have the same problem as FXS. Just try buying a brass brush. And I mean brass not brass coated steel. I have to import mine from the U.S. - a company called Togmar which produces them for ski board riders. Again, the freight is more than the item value. If you find a decent butcher's block brush, let us know.

Well, yes, they are responsible for most snake bite deaths in the eastern states. Perhaps because they are more common. And it's true we have a fair proportion of the world's most venomous snakes. There is debate though over most venomous, most dangerous, most aggressive etc. Some carry massive amounts of toxin but are less inclined to bite, so are less dangerous. In my area we have three which cause the most concern - eastern brown (as in the photo), taipan (big and very nasty) and death adder (small but quick and highly venomous.) It's springtime here now and we are noticing a few more around as the weather heats up.

Yes, expert help! You are a brave man!

That's true. With my junk art I always try to keep the pieces recognizable. People enjoy being able to identify the bits. I made this one today. Old sewing machines make good perches for birds, but they are a pain to weld because they are usually cast iron. I often drill a hole through the body of the machine and put in two heavy bolts that I can weld to. The only trouble with that is that there is a shaft running the length of the machine. I don't know what metal it's made of but it's mighty hard to drill through. This bird has a grass cutter tine for his head, ball bearing eyes, twist drill crest, hook body, saw blade wings and reo feet. They sell very well, but I'm rapidly running out of sewing machines.

It certainly does! My attempts at wrought bottle openers end in disaster. Even heating them to near sparking. Your horse heads are magnificent! It looks like you are using stock about 1/4 x 3/4, right?

If it's round the house and a threat to kids and pets, it's likely to be shot. Other snakes we may catch and take away somewhere else (my wife's not keen on them since her pet cat was bitten and died instantly) and harmless pythons, tree snakes etc don't trouble us and they are good mice controllers.

Well, here's one that's not at all welcome in my shop. It got my undivided attention as it came around the charcoal bags. We are used to the odd joe blake,and put up with pythons and the like ... but this guy is highly dangerous. Eastern Brown Snake.

That's a very stylish 'oxwagon' hook. In Australia we call them bullock wagons or bullock drays. I like the way the blacksmiths added some style and individuality in the finish. Shows pride in their work. I have a collection of these things - some with the maker's mark on them. I particularly like the ones that state unashamedly 'original and best' or 'genuine best'.

Iron dwarf, you would probably appreciate the attraction of owning an anvil with a history. I recall an earlier posting of yours where you said you have a 1700s anvil. Imagine the stories that could tell. As you suggest, new anvils are available in Australia, but I prefer the old ones, provided they are in reasonable condition of course. My demos are done in a historical village setting, so a sparkling new anvil there would look a bit out of place. We would have to rough it up a bit and add a coat of rust to make it look authentic! (Even so, I often get visitors to my forge who say that old time blacksmiths never wore safety glasses. I tell them many old time blacksmiths had eye injuries too, and I'm not foregoing my safety glasses for the sake of 'authenticity'.)

I reckon some enterprising dude in the States or the U.K. could make good money shipping anvils over here, and possibly to other anvil-poor nations. After much searching, I managed to acquire an anvil in the U.S. and it will be on its way to Australia later in the year. I paid about $4 a pound - probably expensive for you but I'm more than happy with that.

I'll have another look. It was a pdf with blurry print. Also typed in a wrong distance from Brisbane - 1200km. I read it as a 25kg carton Yeah, you were right, I did misread the unclear print. 25 kg cartons not 2.5kg. That makes a much more sensible price of about 10 cents each. Pity they only supply these nails in such large quantities. I'll keep looking. Just had a look for duplex nails on eBay. Nothing on Australian eBay. You guys in the U.S. can get them for $5.99 a pound. Freight to Australia: $48.81 !!

I found out that those duplex nails are also known as scaffold nails. Never seen them here but I did a search and found they are available in Australia. The nearest stockist to me is Koala Nails in Brisbane, 122 km away. And they are expensive little blighters. $178.00 for a 2.5 kg pack of 1o0mm 4.5 nails. At over $3 each that makes for expensive little swords!

Interesting to read about how that goo in the golf ball hurt your eyes, Dodge. That's powerful stuff. I believe it's the heavy sap from the gutta percha tree. Those elastic-wound balls were known as gutta perchas, and they were fun to unwrap. They unwrapped themselves as you got closer to the liquid core. We have them growing in our area of Northern Australia and to cut a green tree with a chainsaw is frought with danger if the sap gets near your eyes. Dry gutta percha is Ok though and it's a nice chocolate-coloured grainy timber, excellent for turning.

Great stuff. How many times have we been asked "Can you make a dagger/sword/spear??" The answer is there all the time. But hey, what are these two-headed nail things?? I have never seen anything like them. What are they used for?

Well it's certainly a neat flat surface! I would find that very useful for ensuring wall hooks, towel rails, handles etc sit squarely on a flat plane and for making small adjustments to achieve the correct alignment. A nice piece to have handy.

Looks like a PW and yes, correct weight 147#. The hole in the table is a bit odd. Never seen that before. Don't think they were made with that so perhaps it's an addition by a past owner ... but for what purpose?

Was asked to make a junk art bird that could carry a wash basin - something a bit quirky. Threw together a few bits and came up with this. The buyer was very happy with it and says it attracts lots of comments. An old pick for a beak, some drill bits for the crest, bal bearing eyes in a pipe elbow, drill brace neck and a bullock dray axle ring to hold the bowl. Car fan blades for a tail, some buggy parts for legs and a few spanners for the feet. Fits the 'quirky' requirement anyway.

hey Andrew, Haven't visited this forum for a while, but good to see you are again back at it! I don't know what "Game of Thrones' is all about, but what a magnificent chair. Puts a whole new perspective on squatter's chairs. You're at the cutting edge of this art, mate!

For $200 you got the bargain of the year. Well done!

OK, thanks. Very wise words in Ted's posting.

Somewhere in the forums I came across an interesting piece about pricing items according to the 'good, quick or cheap' terminology. But I can't find it anywhere. Can anyone direct me to the right thread. I thought it was quite clever.

Seems a bit heavy for a farrier's anvil, but it's not in real bad condition. There's a lot worse, and if you're only doing light work it would serve you well. There's a million nails left in it!

So what do you see as the ideal radius for an anvil edge for general work? I'm not obsessive about edges but there's somewhere between razor sharp and something resembling a hog's back. I have a post anvil if I really need a sharp edge, but I don't use it that much. I seem to aim most of my work on the edge of the anvil that would be about the same profile as a standard pencil.