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Nice find! Can you show us the anvils as well?

Mine has the words MADE IN SWEDEN as yours does. Above that is the word KOHLSWA, but I can't see that on your anvil. Can you put some chalk or flour over those letters to see if there is any m0re? And please don't grind it. That is a lovely anvil just waiting for work.

That makes me feel a lot better. I'm not the only one. I cut it up and rearranged the letters today, so all is good now.

Yes, I always test these things on a piece of soft pine. We have a panel next to the forge with a bunch of brand marks.

Sometimes you feel like a prize idiot. Had to make a brand today. Checked all the correct dimensions - letters 50mm high, less than 25mm between letters etc. Formed the curves in the forge and welded the whole thing up. Checked the letters for flush contact and welded on a neat handle. All good. Then I went to check the original order. The customer had specified RWJ with a long tail on the R. You can see what's wrong. It pays to check twice, weld once. The brand is pictured below. Now I have to start again. DUH!!!

Jono … nice hammer, and yes, it certainly makes a difference. Your scroll looks fine. Sounds like you had a good day all round.

I've seen some really nice Wilkinson anvils, but that's not one of them. One wonders why anyone would butcher a good anvil like that. Anyway, it is usable but $295 U.S. is too much. Perhaps in Australia it might sell for that. I think it would be best to leave it there.

We have a friend in Oklahoma City and she emailed us saying that they were very anxious about the tornado situation. We haven't heard yet how she has fared, but are hoping for the best outcome. The disaster has made the news here in Australia. Our thoughts are with you all.

Andrew, Thanks for the kind offer, mate. I did download the Southern Steel Supplies product catalogue. Like all the others, square bar starts at 10mm, so the stuff you mention must be old stock. That postage price seems pretty reasonable from Adelaide, so I'll have a think about that and let you know if I want some. Pity it's such a long drive. Otherwise, we could come down to visit the Birdwood Motor Museum and get some steel at the same time. Darryl

I have done a couple of 32mm rebar snakes too, but what a pain it is drawing out the tail. Definitely power hammer country. I keep one on display near my forge all the time and sometimes visitors take a backward step. The best one I made from 32mm was about 1200mm in length and it was stolen from an art exhibition.

Love the way Alexandr makes those scrolls flow. So easy on the eye. There's no end to this man's talent.

Gidgee charcoal is brilliant stuff, but since I left Mount Isa some years ago I haven't had access to it. There is a guy in Brisbane marketing lump hardwood charcoal but freight is the killer for me. I am lucky enough to be able to collect bush charcoal. The 20kg bags of lump charcoal from Bunnings are fine, but it's expensive for every day forging.

Some nice tooling there, le marechal. We have bucket loads of those bottom swages but apart from the hot cut, I have never really figured what they are for. My guess is that in combination with a top tool they could forge iron to the diameter of the groove. Perhaps we are spoilt by being able to buy steel of whatever profile rather than having to forge it. Maybe someone could post a video of how these things are used.

Jono, where are you getting your charcoal? Do you have a good supply of natural bush charcoal? Those heat beads you get from K-Mart are worse than useless.

Hey Jono! Nice to hear from someone from my old stamping ground. I know Daisy Hill and Slack's Creek pretty well. Did my teacher training at Mount Gravatt Teachers' college 50 years ago. At that time Daisy Hill was out in the bush and the father of a good mate of mine was the forest ranger. His surname was Dennis. Do you know Dennis Road there? And yes, welcome to the forum. You can learn so much here.

Thanks Andrew, I googled all the steel suppliers in Adelaide and square bar starts at 10mm in every case. If you know of anywhere in Australia I can find some I would appreciate the link. Surely someone is importing some 6mm.

Sounds like fun for sure, but I don't think the safety police would like that idea!!

Found a couple of long 3/8 " wrought iron square head bolts in the scrap and thought they would make a couple of quick fire pokers. Put a twist in one and figured that a knot would be a challenge. And it was. Got there eventually. The top one is mild steel, the other two wrought. I did take the top corners off the square heads and the handles are surprisingly comfortable in the hand.

Well said, Vaughn. Let's not lose sight of what's important here. The world needs more Dads like this guy.

Mr NZ, that is a lovely piece of practical forge work. The scissors look comfortable to hold. Well done …. and cheers from across the 'dutch'.

My thoughts too. That's a parrot waiting to happen.

I use charcoal exclusively and I'm fortunate in that I can find as much as I need in the bush. I have thought of making some at our museum using the double drum method, just as an interesting exhibit for visitors. They often ask where I get the charcoal from. Seems like a lot of work for small return though. Some old time charcoal men who have memories of supplying charcoal to the mine smelters said that you just need to dig a big pit, get a fire going, pile in heaps of wood and cover it over with iron sheets and earth, leaving a small air gap at each end. We have yet to try it, but it's a thought. I like neilyeag's idea. There's a guy near us who makes his BBQ charcoal in a hollowed out termite mound pretty much like that.

We have similar things I have seen labelled as hand adzes. Bit like a bowl adze without the gouge curve. Should make a handy tool for you.

Looks like remains of some old lead paint to me. As you say, err on the safe side and chuck it.

Hard to say what sort of money is reasonable because we don't know where you are. Different places, different prices.