ausfire

Object found at a garage sale by work colleague. No one (including the seller) has any idea what it is.  Cast iron, about 300mm across, pen knife for scale. Thought of a rope bollard, but why the texturing? A footrest of some kind? Any ideas?

Hmmm. I'll do a few test welds to see what is best. Das, I did think of doing the seat part out of wood, but I think the railway boys wanted it all-spikes!

Nice trivet. IDF. Simple and functional.

I have been asked to make a park bench out of rail spikes for the local railway station. Trying to think of a way of making it comfortable to sit on. Rail spikes are not that easy on the behind.

20 hours ago, picker77 said:

 ...marked the same as mine (and probably yours): "45" and "Kohlswa Sweden", no other discernible markings. .

Yes, lettering same as yours but I can't see 45 anywhere.

@ Picker 77: I may have missed it somewhere but do you know the age of your Kohlswa? It is exactly the same as mine.

And if you punch the slug out through the pritchel hole put some sort of catcher underneath it. You don't want that little sucker down your boot.

Difficult to fix. You could try grinding off the lip and forging another, but you would likely have very little material to work with and it may be just as weak. And the time and effort you would spend would probably be more than it would take to forge another twist. Just keep it and look back on it when you have forged a couple of hundred bottle openers!

You do nice things for amusement, Neal I like the way the texture shows what it was made from. I have a zillion of those rasps just sitting around doing nothing. Could try one of those but not too confident with the forge weld.

Good on you for getting in and giving it a go! They don't have to be pretty to be useful, workable tongs. As stated above, keep those tongs to compare with what you will make in the future. And keep us posted as your skills develop.

Thanks Marc and Chuck. Interesting information, but beyond my skill and confidence level. I have emailed Hofi (thanks Randy) but the email was undeliverable. Anyone have a more recent email address? I just thought he may be able to suggest what repair could happen. If no response I'll just give it to an industrial blacksmith and see what they can do. In the meantime, my $15 club hammer from Bunnings is doing OK.

Wow. That is awesome. Doesn't seem right to call it scrap art. That's a masterpiece in anyone's language.

Yep. Anvilicide. It happened. **Cry**

I wonder where that big anvil is today. Probably got melted down for the war effort.

Here are a couple of old photos from a blacksmith shop in Cunnamulla, Qld. A visitor to my forge sent them. Not sure of the resolution but here they are. I like the size of the hammer (maul?) that striker is using!

Sure; done.

Thanks for the PM, Randy. I have contacted Mr Hofi.

I showed the hammer to an mechanical engineer today. He said the crack doesn't look too deep, but maybe I should have been more observant, and corrected that before the chip came out. He said it could be machined back, but it would upset the balance of the hammer.

I guess the crosspeen end is still functional.

19 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

I would contact Hofi; the chip is user error, the crack is of concern.

I don't have a contact for him. I bought the hammer a few years ago from a place in Germany, but I didn't keep a record of the transaction. I guess I will try repairing it by grinding and keeping it as cool a possible. I am reluctant to take it right down to the base of the chip, as I have no idea how to heat treat these things, and would probably make it worse.

Perhaps if I took it to an engineer who could resurface it?? You wouldn't do that to an anvil, but maybe the hardness/structure/density or whatever is different for a hammer. I don't know enough about the science, but I do know it is (or was) a comfortable, ergonomically designed tool.

Or maybe I should pension it off to a hook on the wall, and seek a replacement.

Glenn, the only marking on the hammer is the logo as in the first picture above. I can read the word HOFI, but not sure what the other hieroglyphic is.

Latticino, I don't think the hammer has been dropped, and the floor of my work forge is soft. As you say, I think it will be a smaller HOFI in the future. A bit disappointing, as it was really nice to use. Well balanced.  

Got a problem with my favourite Hofi hammer. It never hits anything cold, but it's developed a bad nick on one corner and a crack extending down the face. It's not impossible that I could have hit the anvil at some stage, but I can't recall having done so.

So do I grind it back, keeping it cool, or what? I don't want to make it worse! It's a very comfortable hammer and I use it a lot. Also quite expensive when you take into account freight from Germany. I would like to rescue it.

8 hours ago, Frosty said:

I just want to stand next to it and trace the parts.

Frosty The Lucky.

Some do. The more you look the more you find.

Not critical at all, Larry. This is a thread about anvils after all. Just an observation. It's a pity your 'piece of history' has been treated like that (not by you!) but, as Marc said, it will work well for you.

Here's the croc after a coat of Rustmasters. It has darkened it a bit, but the overall result is OK. Now we have to lift it onto a trailer for a trip to the show early next month.

Looks like it's had a savage resurfacing. Why do they do that!! I bet it looked better before.

Thanks for the photos, Das (and Elizabeth). I see Wyle E. Coyote made the trip.

Overbuilt is good for kiddie swings, Das. Nice photo.  I see Ayana has a nice soft landing if things go awry.