Dave Hammer

You could build an "Oliver" similiar to the photo below.

Canman.... A few posts up I referenced an UMBA Video with Doug Merkel. I said it was RD142... My bad... Although RD142 is an interesting video of Glenn Horr (Animal Heads) and Phil Cox (Power hammer info), the one with Doug Merkel is RD 58. I hope you hadn't ordered it yet (or caught my error when you looked at the list on the UMBA website.... Sorry...

Find a source for jackhammer bits. They can be picked up for little or nothing and make GREAT hardy tools. Cut to length with a chop saw. Leave about 3 inches below the collar for the hardy hole and an appropriate length for your tool on the upper side. Forge to suit your needs and wants.

If the bellows is in good shape, the price you paid is probably fair. Most old Great bellows need to be re-built and that involves substantial effort and money.

Probably not. A little more mass (actually a lot) is needed. Those tools are great for making gasket holes though. Very useful in a workshop.

Assuming you have the essentials of a blacksmith shop already, scrounging capabilities, a little skill and some patience... 1. Buy the UMBA video (RD58) for $5 (plus $2 shipping) that has Doug Merkel showing you how to make a hofi-style hammer. 2. Make the tools to do it with scrap steel. 3. Go to a spring shop dumpster (be sure to ask) and find a large suspension pin from a large truck. 4. Make your own. After a few frustrating starts, you will have a great hammer for yourself, some new skills AND the ability to say you made it yourself.

Are you a blacksmith or not? Make your shims from mild steel, punch holes and nail them in place. Then clamp your anvil down somehow.

Is there a chance it's wrought iron? I don't know what it was, but if it's wrought iron, I know a ton of things it can be turned into....

In general, it should be OK to put anything in Iron in the Hat that someone would want or could use. Personally, I like to see folks put in something they made. I like to have things my friends have forged. If you aren't into forging yet, you might consider some steel, tools (blacksmith.. or not), baked goods, plants, gloves.... whatever.... as long as it's useful.

I skid the end of a chainsaw sideways across the top (and bottoms) of my stumps to eliminate rocking. Or... if you have a milling machine (or a friend that has one), you could mount the anvil upside down and even out the bottom.

Jeff... Only if you have a small one and need a large one. OR if you have a large one and need a small one.

If the surface area is large enough to accomodate your efforts, give it a try.... It's going to be as good as any other alternative to a real anvil.

Actually, using a hot-cut is a good idea. You don't need to heat up a large piece. First use another method to cut your stock into widths that you want blades to be in length, then use a hot cut to make cross cuts in that stock. Also, do your hot cutting on a piece of plate (on the anvil) that you have heated in your forge.

A few suggestions... These are assuming the steel is annealed.... A band saw... even a relatively inexpensive one with a good blade will work. You could call or take a piece to a large metalworking shop and ask for pricing for shearing. If you want to get the ball rolling, you could use a zip-disk on your angle grinder. This may be a little expensive, but will let you get started. Buy good discs though.

Can't you turn the vise until the holes line up? The jaws don't have to be parallel with the base or platform. Your vise should be mounted at the level needed for the job you are working on. That would determine where it's mounted. I like to have my vise in a position where the travel of the quill is no more than it needs to be to get the hole drilled, which means the vise may be moved up or down between jobs. Hopefully, you should be able to use your vise without any permanent modification to either tool. If you cannot get holes to line up, make an interface plate that can be used between the surfaces. Use studs for the vise and T-bolts for the platform (and base).

Before you build anything, I suggest you find the closest blacksmith guild and go to a couple of their meetings. Take one of your knives as a show-and-tell item and talk about what you would like to learn to do. I suspect you may get some hands-on experience with one or more types of forges. Then decide what your next step is.... Good Luck....

You can buy a 0-60 PSI regulator intended for use with propane from Tractor Supply Co. for about $20. I would save the other regulator for its intended use.

After I posted above, I did a little research and found propane would be much cheaper here if I did use larger tanks. It doesn't have to be a LARGE tank either. The price I pay to exchange BBQ tanks at Walmart runs about $4.14 a gallon. If I used 40 or 100 pound tanks, the cost would go down to about $2.55 a gallon (if I take tanks to be filled). In fact, it would be cheaper to have a 30# tank filled than exchanging the 20# BBQ tank. Obviously, there will be an initial higher costs to buy tanks though, but it won't take much time to recoup that cost.

I use BBQ sized tanks because they are easy to move around. I bought several at garage sales for 5$ and below each. I take and exchange them at Walmart (least expensive) for a little less than $18 each (not long ago it was about $13). I have inquired about getting a 200 lb tank installed, but didn't find service that would come to install and fill it where I live.

I don't claim to be an expert in this area, but I like my wax to dry quickly. I have mixed the blacksmith's brews that are on the internet and in the books. I would rather not have a sticky surface that takes a day or so to harden, then have to buff it off. If you want to try an alternative, I generally use Butcher's bowling alley wax (clear paste) with very good results. They have more than one formula, so be sure to get the clear paste wax. The object you want to wax should be hot. If the item I'm going to wax will fit into the can, I use that item to melt some wax in the can (hold with tongs... the item should be hot enough to melt the wax quickly, but not hot enough to burn the wax or cause a flame... experiment a bit), then use a small bristle brush to coat the entire piece several times. The wax should run freely over the object the same as if you poured water on it. If part of the object will not fit into the can, I heat up a small piece of steel to melt a portion of the wax in the can, then brush the melted wax on the object. I then place the object on a flat cloth, or heavy paper towel and turn it a couple times as it cools. Then polish it with a soft cloth after it's cool. This wax seems to have similar ingredients listed for the blacksmiths brews, obviously at different proportions, is less messy, works better and doesn't end up sticky. Do not breath the vapors.... if you breath them more that just a little bit, you will end up with sinus problems that take several days (or longer) to go away (not pleasant). The big-box stores used to carry this wax, but now I have to order it online (just Google for it). I highly recommend it for ironwork (indoors only).

This is a better picture...

If your design isn't too difficult, it's not hard to make your own touchmark. My last name is Hammer, and my initials are DJH. This is the touchmark I made and use (not a great picture, but it works perfectly... high relief).... I used a commercial chisel for the tool, ground the hammer shape with a zip disk and used reverse letter stamps to put my initials in the hammer.

Use a tumbler with small media... I actually use nails for media.

Woody.... I'd be interested in seeing your chart also... daviddothammer2atverizondotnet Convert the dots to periods and the at to a @. Thanks...

Is your family adopting?