Michael Cochran

Condition is why I wasn't afraid to pay that. We had agreed on a little higher price but when I saw how small it was i told him I wasn't payin it for that. All in all it worked out fine. ill clean up the holes as suggested. I've already started cleaning up the shank on the hot cut (I noticed it had a little swelling at the bottom) and noticed it's not hand made. It's got a name stamped in it but I can't make it out and it also say "always wear safety glasses." I wonder why it says that? I haven't played with it much but I like it very much. I'm not used to the rebound being so much so that'll take some getting used to. It's funny when you hit 1.25" round and it jumps off the anvil every time you hit it.

Not counting gas and wear and tear on my vehicle for the 300 mile trip to see him? I'm almost embarrassed to say how much I payed, I'm afraid someone will tell me just how bad I messed up lol. I payed $175, about $2.69lb at 65lbs. If I'd done a little more questioning him before I went out there I'd offered $100 and started there. You live and you learn.

Dsw, I was a little disappointed when I pulled up and seen that little thing instead of the monster I expected lol. Well after driving 418 miles yesterday and going through more counties than I have in a long time I brought home a decent little fish. There are a few markings I cannot make sense of under the date i see one mark by itself and the what looks like a string of 1s. On the other end where it says fisher (barely visible if the lighting is bad) there is a number 7 on one of the feet. The seven is part of how I came to the 70 pound conclusion. I put it on a bathroom scale and it says it's about 65 lbs so I guess it went on a diet at some point and lost a few lol. There is thing that I don't understand and maybe someone here can help me with. The 1/2" pritchel hole and the 3/4" hardy are not 1/2" and 3/4". I have a 3/4" shank cutoff hardy that will not go in by a hairs width and it's the same with 1/2" round stock. I looked in the hardy hole and it almost looks like the core wasn't held properly when poured or maybe it wasn't formed right because there's little cast iron protrusions in the hole. The pritchel hole is just drilled tight. Is that normal?

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I knew there was a chief by that name but like I said I didn't see that emblem for the car so I wasn't sure.

Today's has been a long day. I had to go to my grandfathers to pick some stuff up then had to head east to see the anvil. I started my day changing my oil a 6 am then drove what seemed like all day. Seeing as how it's 11 and darker than dark here I'll wait till tomorrow to show off my new anvil. I will say tonight that it wasn't nearly as big as he made it aoud in the ad. He said 27 inches long but it's only 17. I'm guessing about 70 lbs but I'm gonna put it on a bathroom scale tomorrow to double check my assumption. As I said it's been a long day so I'm off to bed.

Thanks for that pointer, Thomas. I was there for no time when I learn there's more than one lead free pewter alloy. For some reason that surprised me lol.

I like Thomas' suggestion of a mandau better myself.

I've seen something like this only twice before and thought about trying it but never found a local pewter supply. I almost got some old pewter at a thrift store then thought about the lead and changed my mind.

I didn't ask when I first seen this cause if didn't want to look like a fool but I'm goin to ask it now. Is that Pontiac I see u dear the Indian head on your print out? If so is it the car or the Indian himself? I did some looking and I know Pontiac cars used an Indian head for a little while but I didn't see that one.

I'm glad someone else has that problem DSW. I constantly find myself doing the same thing. I also have a habit of letting my thumb creep up on the back of the handle sometimes.

The first hammer I bought for snitching was a cheap one from Walmart. It's a short handled square headed hammer. It's nothin fancy but I dressed it up a little and I use it regularly. My other big hammer is a crosspein from lowes. One day when I get a little better I might try my hand and making my own but for now these two relatively cheap hammers are doing the trick.

Maybe parang instead of penang?

Thanks frosty for suggesting I watch Ethan's video. Thank you Ethan for sharing that video.

That's good advice. I planned on taking my 16oz fiberglass handle ballpien. I wish I had a bigger one I could take with me, guess I'll have to go by the store on my way out there.

Frosty I get my charcoal wood from work (I build and remodel houses) and from tree limbs that fall on their own. It takes a while sometimes to get enough but it's an option. We have to throw out old lumber where we torn down walls etc I bring most of it home cause I don't like to see it wasted. In fact that's how I built my current shop and how im affording the lumber for my new shop. If you were a little closer I'd offer you some but I doubt it's worth you comin here to get it lol.

Thanks for all the replays. I sent an email just waiting to hear back now. If we can work out a deal I'll be making about a 125 mile trip there to get it. Frosty, I'll have to go find that video. I know the hammer isn't the best way to test rebound but the way I understand it I should be able to tell enough about dead spots. I don't know if fishers are prone to that, honestly I don't know much about fishers other than they seem to be the quietest anvils made. Thanks again for all the help. If we can work out a deal I'll try to get some better pics when I get it home. I know everyone here's seen pictures of anvils but I'm gonna share it anyway lol.

That's what happened to me when I built my stack out of old brick. I'm ready for another go except for the not knowing enough and not wanting to keep wasting fuel lol.

Thanks Fatfudd. I had no idea what kind of weight I was looking at. Other than doing a hammer test is there anythin else I should do? I don't have a ball bearing so I won't be trying that. That's the only two things I've heard of doin when lookin at used anvils.

You definitely have a valuable resource there. I first became interested in smelting the same way. I saw a video online and that's all it took lol.

I'm headed over to Mark's picasa now. I've not tried round or Catalan, mine was just a stack of 80 year old solid brick I had lying around. I'll watch some more of your videos and do much more readin before I give it another go. Thanks for sharing all this it's been educational eavesdropping on you and Frosty.

Daniel, I've tried something like this a couple times once with cast and partially remelted scrap still intact and once was a decent hc but I couldnt consolidate it right. Since then I've been trying to do some more research on the topi so I can figure out what I did wrong. From what I see it looks like you guys have a pretty good idea wha you're doin so I have to ask, could you give a new guy some recommended reading? I have spent a bunch of time reading but still feel like I'm a long ways from knowing enough to even to do this half right. Thanks in advance.

The 1881 one is clearly marked as you say this one should and it also looks to be in good shape. However, it's a $400 'antique.' That is about $3.33/lb which is a little more than I can afford right now. Don't get me wrong if I had the money to invest in it I would. My guess is that since the one I show above is 7 inches longer that it's gonna be a few lbs heavier for $110 less. I'm just making assumptions based on the limited knowledge and information I have. That being said someone please correct me if I'm wrong. I honestly dont don't even know what I'm asking at this point. I guess I just need to go look at it and see what my hammer tells me and go from there.

I forgot to mention there's another one that caught my eye in Nashville area that's listed as an '1881 fisher' at 120 lbs. it's listed as being 20 inches tall but there are some differences to the shapes. That's one reason I'm unsure about the '1918 fisher' im asking about in my above post.

I keep a watch on CL for anvils and recently came across one listed in Atlanta area that I was hoping someone could enlighten me a little. It's a '1918 fisher.' He doesn't know the weight and he didn't have pictures in the ad but emailed me two which i attached here. He says its 27 inches long and 8 inches tall. He wants $290. While it looks like it's in great condition I wonder if he might be a little high on the price. I tired to find some way to guess a rough weight but don't know enough to find a reasonable guess. Any info you guys might be able to share would be greatly appreciated.

Here I'll help http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Blown+forge+burner+plans http://lmgtfy.com/?q=burners+required+for+forge+volume maybe this'll help a little.