eric sprado

I've been retired from farriery for many years,but my friend Michael Waldorf,who has been shoeing for over ten,just took a refresher course from a school in Missouri to prepare for his Certification test. The instructor there has just written the BEST book I've seen and has a very good school. Senile citizen status just took the name off the tip of my tongue but please contact Michael at: mikethefarrier@gmail.com and ask him about the school he just attended. Mention my name if you'd like. Eric Sprado Whoops-just read the other posts and see that Chris is the fellow who wrote the new text.. GREAT book!!!!!!

Johns ideas sound good. If you get that far,the set screws are probably 1/2 x12 Whitworth.. Ancient and rare!. I lucked into a couple of taps for that size at a flea market. No kidding. Needed it to clean up the threads on mine. I'd be glad to share with you if you need it. Just use and return it. Eric Sprado

All is fair in love, war and blacksmithing...... I clamp mine to a Columbian vise on a stand. The one thing I do for trigger is put a large spring type clamp on the trigger. If something is wrong I can slap the clamp instantly and it pops off,turning the saw off. Aren't those saws the handiest thing since sliced bread?

Had one of those 14 year old boy's fights with my mom about the haircut she was giving me. She said "cut it yourself" I said "fine". I'm 67 now and haven't paid for a haircut since 1959! Only shaved four times since then... Love the Hammer!!! Helves always have a pure sort of look to them. Don't want to part with my LG 25# though.

Right: I'm still reading Dr. Seuss to kids and the lamp looks just like so many of the images in Dr. Seuss books. With a head it would look like "The Cat in a Hat"...Great Lamp by the way...!!!!!

We've beat this horse before. All of the intricate accessory blowers are unneeded. Just watch some of the forging videos on YouTube and you will see smoke just SUCKED up well planned chimneys. Again-try this site: http://www.beautifuliron.com/chimneys.htm . Even a good hood works Fine. I have an old piece of barrel that I put over my fire until the chimney warms up and draws well...then I'm off and running.

No it doesn't sum it up. She is NOT a farrier. She is part of a new fad of "barefoot" trimmers. Doesn't shoe,not a blacksmith.Just a cute hoof trimmer... When folks ask me if I'm a barefoot trimmer I say: Oh no,that's REALLY unsafe,I always wear stout leather footwear when I'm trimming.

6010 is for DC applications. 6011 is equivalent rod for AC applications.Simple as that.

Interesting: Besides my time with R.L. Richmond US Cavalry Retired,I spent some time in California with a great shoer,Don Klucker who was one of Ralph's students. His class had anvils cast that Frank designed but they had absolutely no markings. It was a dandy that was basically the same as the Cavalry issue anvil.

Frank: I never knew about the Google "books" feature. THANKS!!!! There are a zillion free books on there to look at!!! Eric S.

Keriddle: You anywhere Rockwood? I flew out there from Oregon a few years back to buy a fiddle from Charles Horner. Great Fiddle maker!!

Here's one I picked up a few years ago. The wood that it is on has forged hoops to keep it from splitting.I'd like to see it in a museum somewhere.

Oldest dad on the road. Started over again at sixty:

Out here we call the sheriff on folks like you!!! Good deal !!!!!!!!!

Hey divermike: I don't canoe but run a lot of whitewater out here in Oregon in a McKenzie Drift boat. I'm getting old and don't do much over Class three stuff these days. If yer out West I'll take you for a ride....

Trenton it is. I thought I saw that on the picture. Oh- about the shaping shoes cold ruining an anvil edge like that. I did exclusively hot shoeing for 25 years,but have fellow shoers who did cold shoeing for years and I NEVER saw that kind of damage. The damage they did to the edge was rounding at the heel of the anvil even with or just forward of the hardy hole.That came from shaping hind shoes. Beating on cold shoes is still a sin but I hate to beat up cold shoers THAT bad!!! That anvil is prime for some buildup with 11018 Rod. I just did a repair with it. Preheat and follow instructions.

Nazel and Hazel rhyme with nasal?? Hmmm. My nose is plugged up. Bentiron: You from Kansas too? We "warsh" our clothes and drive "steeples" into a fence post to hold "bob" wire up.

Zord: If you log on to Metal Artist Forum ,http://www.metalartistforum.com/maf/index.php, there is a man on there Avishai Wasserman who speaks Hebrew and is VERY knowledgeable about black smithing. He also has his own website. He recently did prayers in repousee that are a sight to see. Shabot Shalom, Eric Sprado

Here are some pictures of Studebaker Vise:It looks like it hasn't been used since Taft Hartley administration and I don't know how to rebuild it!!!

I have a Studebaker Hydraulic vise that I would take $325 for. It is all there on a nice stand but I haven't cleaned it out and tried to make it work. I can send a photo tomorrow if anybody would like.

Thanks Phil. Same size here and have been wondering what other folks do. Besides having wide foot,I'm diabetic and can't have ANY pinching or rubbing on my feet or I'm crippled. I'll try the Work 1 and see if a shoe repair friend of mine can work on the insole...

All of the above is fine except resentment for" My grandfather was a blacksmith". Does that mean you don't want YOUR grandkids to remember you as a blacksmith??? I'd kind of like mine to remember me as such. I prefer that to "my grandfather was an old time computer programmer". Time comes soon enough when we are only dust and completely forgotten. Let the kid cherish the memory of grandpa when he/she watches your demo.

Ian: Come see us again in the Northwest and I'll give you some old monkey wrenches!!!!! Love to see you again and swap some stories! Eric Sprado

OOPS! Sorry! I busted in on the middle of this thread and didn't realize you were actually testing your own product! Should have backed up to the beginning... Bring your block and your anvil to my shop and have at it!!!! Why do I go through life opening my big mouth before I should?

Any tool we have can be broken. "Why do it?????" Committing waste is not a part of my frugal upbringing and way of life. I invite most to my shop to play. You may come but keep your hands off the sledge hammers.