eric sprado

Okay: I wasn't looking hard enough. I see you're in Wisconsin. I'll send you an email and we can continue offline. Thanks, Eric Sprado

Richard: There is absolutely nothing on your information to let me have an idea of WHERE your shop is?? I'm interested in your press,but at least need to know Country and Coast? Fair enough? Eric Sprado

I recently bought several pair of long handled vice grips from HF mainly for gifts for my blacksmith friends. They LOVE them. They are best thing for retrieving stuff lost in the fire...."Handier 'n a pocket in a shirt" as the saying from my childhood goes.
Each of my vehicles has a soft tool bag with a pair of vice grips,a multi-screwdriver,roll of electrical tape,and,of course,some baling wire(or reasonable facsimile since we switched to baling twine). Has gotten me,or other stranded folks out of lots of jams.
They were invented by a BLACKSMITH.....

I'm trying REALLY hard to post pictures of my century old screw(not fly) press. It is forerunner of today's bearing press. Top lever lets it act as an arbor press after ram is screwed to proper height. Side lever works a dog that engages screw for extra oomph if needed at the end of stroke. Any ideas for tooling or any shared experience with these?

It's better to have longer extension chord (of right size of course) than longer leads. Longer leads have drop in power....
I've had a Century machine for a zillion years. More basic machine than the nice one you bought. Has been bullet proof...

Bill: Here is a very complete discussion of chimneys that has helped me: http://www.beautifuliron.com/chimneys.htm
good luck, Eric S.

I see it is for use on "remote raunches". Is a remote "raunch" something like Mustang Ranch in the middle of remote ranches?? Sorry-words words words......
There are a lot more misspelled words in the guy's ad, but remote raunch is a gem.
That forge is a beauty though!!! What a collector's item.

The discussion on metal treatment is fine,BUT: for a SPRING Fuller????Just take an old tire iron,shape your spring fuller,throw the xxxx thing on the floor or somewhere to cool and put it to work!!! I've never had one fail. I'm not a blacksmith pro like some of you,but I used spring fullers for years when horseshoeing so can speak from experience at least in that area.

Yes: The book is from first printing which makes it more valuable,BUT, It DOES NOT HAVE DUST JACKET,which greatly diminishes it's collector value. If you have valuable books guys, keep the dust jackets in good shape. Stop by a local book store and they will charge a buck to put BRODART protective cover over it for you. I used to deal in rare and antiquarian books. I told NMBA I'd bring some Brodart to next conference to protect some of their books.

Somehow I pushed wrong button(story of my life)and copied Franks post instead of adding new. Sorry. Frank:I found your hinge article in Anvil Magazine,but it seems like I saw an actual video online somewhere of you making that hinge? Do you know where?
Brief aside-We met somewhere around 1964(?) when I was learning to shoe jumpers in Southern Cal.. Now I"m a crippled up old retired shoer who is trying to learn to be a blacksmith and having a hard time of it.Maybe I need to get out of my tracks,swallow pride, and come down to your school for a session..... Eric Sprado. Deadwood Oregon

I see that keeping the original hardware could be considered a big deal. I also see that if you're a good smith, if you have some wrought iron, if you understand some of the subtleties of the forged hinge construction, then your piece will be just as authentic as the early piece. There is the possibility that yours may even be better in quality and strength.

By subtleties, I mean for example the knuckle length. The central knuckle of a three knuckle Colonial hinge is often just slightly longer than the two end knuckles. Say the barrel length is 3", then if each end knuckle is 15/16" long, the central one is 1 1/8". Nowadays, however, we tend to think that there should be as much "meat" on one leaf as the other...meaning the end knuckles are 3/4" and the central is 1 1/2". Another sublety may be the peening of the hinge pin. I think that very little was left protruding either end of the barrel for the cold upsets. Each upset became somewhat flattened and could even be burnished a little with light finishing blows. Something that Peter Ross did that surprised me at first; he cold punched the nail holes. The finished holes were spaced properly, but they were a little crude in appearance. There was some burr cleanup. Peter explained that this was an expedient method for a Colonial smith, and that the nail head would cover the slight irregularity of the holes.

http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

" Under The Hammer".....

My favorite place to find quenching containers is the nearest used restaurant supply! They have beat up stuff out back that won't work for restaurants any more but is a blacksmith's dream. Old steamer trays with lids(in case of flash) are Great!There's one or two such stores in most any good sized town... Eric S.

Tip Here from a VERY UNTALENTED blacksmith.. I buy all the old tire irons at Goodwill that I can. The ones that are about 18" long and have a short bend and a single tire wrench at the end. Stick the wrench end in forge and square it up to fit your hardy hole.
Make fullering irons really fast. The chisel end of the iron solves the hard to place problem-it is already shaped to allow easy placement of stock in tool.Chisels and other cutting tools can be made in pretty short order. They act like 5160. Make good tools cheap... Eric Sprado

Mark-Enjoying both your books. I'm the ancient horseshoer you met up in Mt Vernon last year. Getting back into forging after a twenty year hiatus and trying to make my brain know how to do something besides make a xxxxxx horseshoe. I just never had the word "art" in my brain and it's hard to allow it in.... I'm trying.. Anybody else have the "art block"? Eric

xxxx: I sold my Novelty Iron Works hammer because my shop at the time only had a seven foot ceiling and I couldn't figure out how to do long flat belt and idler pulley for clutch!! I wish I had more mechanical knowledge instead of just a worn out back!!

If you're feeling REALLY guilty,call me and I'll double your money and pay for freight.I handle guilt better than most....Eric

Nice forge.Let us know how further tests go. I'd like to have a little "pack along" forge. I bought an adapter at a local store to go from a regular barbecue tank to the fitting on the camp stove sized one. Is that what you are going to use or were you going to build a whole new venturi like the ones pictured online?

When I was serving my horseshoeing apprenticeship near Fort Riley Kansas in the sixties we had a 25#Little Giant with dies to make a swage shoe. During the Winter we would draw stock through and have different length straight swage shoe blanks with the ends left unswaged to turn heels or to forge weld for bar shoes. Once at the job we could grab a pair the right length stick them in the forge and in no time have a shoe shaped and nail holes finished Pretty easy with swage shoe already having lots of depth. You could finish holes at a black heat with a good sharp pritchel.

Why in the World would you need 1/4" wall? The Spiro ducting that was mentioned a couple of replies back is incredibly strong! Comes in 10' sections and is easily handled. I'm somewhere around 200years old(give or take-but that's how I feel sometimes) and I recently put up a joint in my new shop..After seeing the pictures I wish I would have gone with a side draft exhaust...
Look up sheet metal supply shops in Yellow pages and ask about the spiroducting. Home Despot type places don't usually carry it..

If you go to Beautiful Iron http://www.beautifuliron.com/ they have a great article on chimneys. My hood is almost two feet above my forge and works fine,BUT: Here is a nice trick: I have a five gallon bucket with both ends gone that I put over my fire just as it is starting. This directs smoke right up in to chimney. Once the smoke quits,your chimney has warmed up and draws fine. My chimney extends about 2 feet above roofline. Do check out the article on chimneys. It is very informative. Eric Sprado

Steve McGrew of Incandescent Forge(easily Googled) sells a Beautiful laser cut Touchmark. I recently bought one and am more than pleased with it. Tell him Eric Sprado from NWBA sent you... maybe he'll charge more!!

I was a farrier for 25 years. During that time I saw all these "re-invention" of the anvil" for shoers that were TOTALLY useless,like the Short Sugar.Don't think I EVER saw a real shoer use one of those 70# anvil shaped objects. I served my apprenticeship on a US Cavalary 125 anvil which was a basic blacksmith anvil.I do have a nice Mousehole type anvil which weighs about 95# that is fun to bring to hammer-ins and works for hooks etc. because of its narrow face.
My favorite is my 165 pounder. Just adding my one and a half cents.... Eric Sprado, Deadwood Oregon.

I have an old SCREW PRESS made in early 1900's. No NOT A FLY PRESS! This is a screw press that predates hydraulic presses. It is about 6feet high,says it is rated at 30+ tons and has about a 14" diameter wheel. Smaller threads than a fly press so it moves slower,but it does have some brute strength!! Has an interesting feature. After getting close to the end of throw,you can use another long arm to use it like an arbor press! I found some thick walled pipe that fits over the working end and am going to cut it into three inch lengths,weld some discs on the end and make some tooling. Has anyone had any experience with these? Thanks, Eric Sprado,Deadwood,Oregon. You can reply here for all..... or reach me at: spradoeric@gmail.com . Thanks, Eric

HI: Eric Sprado here. Was farrier for 25 years and am now(after 15 year hiatus)starting to smack some iron. Am trying to reply to man who was asking about Boss power hammer. I just bought one this week and,coincidentally,so did my friend Ben Barrett. They both are still in "shaft mode" and need motors installed. Any help out there? Thanks, Eric Sprado