eric sprado

My homemade is Beeswax,Linseed Oil,Turpentine in EQUAL proportions. Store bought I use Johnson's Paste Wax or Bowling alley Wax. Johnson's Paste Wax is readily available in grocery stores. A can lasts a long time. I use end of a piece of black heat project to dip in can to melt a bunch and then apply with a CHEAP  natural bristle brush. Rub off excess with cotton cloth.

   Truthfully-The Johnson's works best. I need to work on the proportions of homemade to harden it up a bit. It just seems too sticky and won't wipe off and polish up as well.

Google "Novelty Iron Works" and see their interesting history. Built marine fire fighting equipment, battle ships,steam engines, and more in the 1800's.!!!!

Holy  smokes man-there are LOTS of blacksmiths and a very active blacksmiths' association there. You need to contact those folks!!!! You don't say what part of the state you are in. I personally know several in the Bitteroot area and in Butte area. Butte,with it's old mines,has a plethora of old stuff around. Send me an email if you contact folks there and I'll see what I can do. Eric Sprado in Deadwood, Oregon.

Frank: You say quench in air and temper immediately? What is the quenchant you temper in??? Sorry. You lost me. Eric Sprado

There is an old thread on here somewhere that shows that washer being replaced by an appropriate sized bearing race. They work GREAT!

Prid is a good one. I use "ICHTHAMMOL" 20% which is a good old black drawing salve.It is sold through veterinary supply outfits online. Simply Google it and a number of sources will come up.If you're an old guy like me,you will recognize the familiar smell when you open the jar! Works for black and blue areas and other skin problems too.

Try Larry Langdon aka "Monstermetal" in Seattle. He is on this site and on NWBA. He usually has stuff like that for sale.

Lincoln 11018M Electrode is the cats meow for anvil buildup. Not brittle and extremely tough. I believe that Bill Apple in Seattle,who brings repaired anvils to our NWBA conferences uses it too!! Never any complaints about anvils he's sold!!

Log on to Anvilfire. Zinc fever did NOT go away in a couple of days for Paw Paw. He DIED!!!! I still have bad lungs from welding around zinc on Kodiak Coast Guard Base in the 1970's. Don't FOOL with it PERIOD. There's a zillion tons of zinc free metal around. Find it.

Have you tried all of the strikers you made to make sure they work?? I've had a booger of a time sometimes. I've left some so brittle they were like pure glass and they still wouldn't spark. I local smith(sorry I'll give credit when my old brain can remember his name) showed me a trick of grinding off a thin layer of   metal from those that don't work and BINGO the "good" layer is exposed! Don't know why.

Being off grid is a blessing. I was off the grid on my ranch in Nevada. No electricity,no phone,six miles off the blacktop and 15 miles to the nearest neighbor. I actually got more things done there than anywhere because of the lack of distractions. Played fiddle in town on Saturday nights. Gave me social contact and even got to talk to few redheads over the years.

Poundhound: If you log on to the Metal Artist Forum site, a woman named TeresaS has the most exquisite ginko leaves displayed that I have ever seen!!!!

  Worth a look!

45 years ago I bought an anvil that needed edges rebuilt. The local welding shop recommended a Stoody rod that was COMPLETELY the wrong thing to use. It was a hard surfacing rod that broke off just like the one you have. Chunks flying everywhere. I'd side with Timothy. Get that crap off there and get it fixed up right before somebody gets hurt.

I just received my copy of Otto Schmirler's book "Werk und Werkzeug des Kunstschmeids" yesterday. AMAZING book in it's simplicity! No need to read a word,even though there is an English translation.His drawings are so self explanatory. Found it on Amazon.

I have a butchering tool for my little Fly Press and it is invaluable for making tenons. Always butcher a little LESS(meaning leave some extra material) than you want the final tenon to be. Just like cutting a board it's hard to put material back when you cut it too short!! I'll try to take a picture of my butcher and post it here later on today..

Sure it's not L6?? Lots of dandy edge tools have been made from old circular sawmill blades!!!

Have you been in  contact with Jake James in Vancouver BC? He's a dandy smith and a great fellow. If you get down to the Northwest USA you should log on to NWBA (Northwest Blacksmith Blacksmith Association)beforehand and put up this same post. There are GREAT blacksmiths in that area...

I don't think the screw box is after market. I've seen a few of them over the years and they seem like original equipment.

Everything else fit except that poor striker in the first film. He is going to kill his body before he gets much older. I just shuttered each time I saw him use only  his back to rise up and lift the hammer!! The folks in the second film seemed more relaxed in form and body. Thanks so  much for posting the films!!! 

    Another quick story: A blacksmith acquaintance graduated in England and was traveling around doing Journeyman work. He and fiancee (who is from India) were visiting in India. He saw some blacksmiths working and was about to stop and talk to them when his wife intervened and informed him that blacksmiths were "UNTOUCHABLES"!! and that her parents would be horrified  if he had contact with the blacksmiths. To preserve domestic tranquility he let it go! I'm afraid I would have had to tell her to go home and I would have had a grand time watching the smiths... Oh well-I've had relationships go bad before in my life! The the thought of considering a blacksmith ANYWHERE as being "untouchable" just makes my blood boil!!

Funny: I was just noticing the same thing with my Papa Rhino and my old Hay Budden. I'm in the Oregon Coast Range and EVERYTHING rusts. I usually cover my anvils at night but forgot to the other day and was out of my shop for a couple of days. the Rhino was still shiny and lots of other things in shop were not!!

A cheap source of really good steel for tongs is old tire irons!! They are great steel. Most of the ones I pick up at yard sales are 9/16 diameter. Pretty acceptable diameter for most tongs Being 5160( or a very good likeness) they hold shape very well. One tire iron with ends trimmed off make a pair of tongs. 50 cents at yard sales or thrift stores.  Make great punches and chisels of all sorts.

That was a STEAL on the 400# HayBudden!!! I have a Peter Wright about 400# that I had to pay a LOT more for... Oh well. It's paid for and in my shop. Guess that's what counts.. Everything I live in,work in, make music with, or drive,is paid for.. Nice at my age.. Was homeless 22 years ago...

   Glad you use the anvil a lot. I can't say that I use my 400# that much. Have a 200# Hay Budden that  I love, and a new Papa Rhino from Steve McGrew in Spokane that has become my main smacker.

Matto: I mounted a receiver hitch under my welding/layout table sort of like you have yours on vise barrel. Lots of my small shop equipment is now mounted on a plate with 2" square tubing under it and slides into the hitch really fast. HF Bender, 8" grinder, #2 Whitney Punch (handiest little thing I EVER bought) and others.

Here in Deadwood Oregon,NOBODY tells anybody what to do and nobody turns anybody in for ANYTHING. I make all the smoke I want. And THEY smoke all what they want.. All are good neighbors.

 Oh: The Vise removal thing! A nice young man is using half of my shop. He needed room to swing and bend a long bar last week while I was gone. He spent a long time getting to the nuts and bolts to remove my vise and felt REALLY embarrassed when I showed him the simplicity of knocking out the wedge and pulling gib key!!

Local antique dealer told me about these only half an hour from  home. Unusual because it is an hour drive for me just to get to town!! Vise with brass accessories is 6 3/4" and weighs 140#. The other is 6 1/4" and weighs 110#. both are Columbia Vises

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