Anthony San Miguel

Thank you, sir. That is exactly what I am going to do. Upright beams using 2x8's. 

Reminds me of one I made when I first started. I don't know what kind of rail it is. It's smaller than RR rail and has NO rebound. Completely dead. RR rail has at least some rebound.

But boy, was it tough! Tougher than RR rail. It went through cutoff wheels like nothing and stunk up the place like something strange when I was cutting it. I still have several feet of it that I don't know what to do with.

I wonder who would do something like that to an anvil like this. Definitely a candidate for restoration. Do you know what that piece with the holes that's welded to the side is for?

I would like to see it. There is something about these anvils that I find majestic looking.

Thanks. I'll pick up one of those products tonight at Home Depot when I go buy something to make a stand.

Now, if I built a stand that consisted of a wooden frame with a reinforced wooden top would I reduce rebound from using a solid stand like a tree stump or a bunch of 4x6s glued and screwed together. The metal stands aren't solid and I know they are popular but would wood work the same? 

I don't want to lose out on any rebound.

I was kidding, Mr Wooldridge. I would just be a little upset, not pretty upset. Lol

I'm like you in that I also like my current anvils for there own special uniqueness and purpose. I now have 3. An 82 lb Hay Budden, a 125 lb Mousehole forge and this one. Probably all that I'll ever need. But that isn't going to prevent me from keeping my eye open for a good deal.

Mr. Wooldridge, I sent a message to you on Facebook but if I go again to bid on an anvil and I lose the bid to you I'm going to be pretty upset!  Lol

Yes sir. Four princesses. The oldest is 20 and the one in the picture is my second oldest. She's 8.

No grinding, that's for sure! I know there is a certain wax that you recommend. What is it called, please?

Hello Matei. That anvil looks fantastic and if it was for sale and accessible to me I would probably be doing everything I could to make it mine!

I'm not trying to disagree with you at all, because I don't know for sure and it seems like there are more JEB anvils where you are at, but I thought stepped feet and church windows were a characteristic of Austrian design.

Either way, I love it!

Thanks. When I saw the first one I fell in love with the style. I never imagined that I'd get another shot at one at a good price.

Thanks Gergely. I was thinking about that same thing, about my luck with missing the other one and winning this one. If I had won the other one I probably wouldn't even have been looking for this one, which I like more and sold for half the price of the other one!

The only thing I want to do with her is hammer hot steel on her, I have no intention of "repairing" her.

I had to sneek a small ball peen hammer into the auction house to test the rebound before I bid on her, because I was afraid that if I asked they would tell me I couldn't tap on the face and then I would have no idea about the rebound until after I bought it. I got about 12 taps over the entire face without anybody paying attention and was very happy that it passed. Now I need to get to hammering on her!

Thank you Frosty. I can't wait to start forging on it. That is also my favorite picture. She's daddy's princess. Daddy (me) is blessed so much as to have 4 princesses!

The sequence got switched for some reason but mine is the one with bigger "church windows"Its new temporary spot in my garage until I can find a suitable stump or stand for it. 

About 2 months ago I went to a local auction to try to win a JEB Austrian anvil that came in a lot from the Czech Republic. I had a $500 limit but it sold for $600. I was absolutely heartbroken when I didn't win it and was pretty sure I would never get a shot at one that size again and for less than $1000.

Well, I signed up to receive email from them and in another lot from the Czech Republic was another one very similar to the first. I went to bid on it tonight and I won it for $300.00!!

I can't even describe how ecstatic I am to have this anvil in my garage! It weighs 246 lbs, rebound is good, and it has a pretty large sweet spot! The first one had a dished face, as many Austrian anvils do, but not this one!

Here are some pics of the first one that I didn't win and mine.These first two pics are of the one I didn't win.

I liked this evening's episode more than last week's.

Ahh, I remember you and my kids were playing with your boy. It sure was a good time.

Here are a few more just because I have to share my excitement! If there are any lurkers in the central Tx area I really enjoyed this meeting and highly recommend going to the next one.

A pretty large Fisher. Yes, that is somebody sitting on it.

That vice right there is also bigger than it looks in the picture.

I'm at the Balcones Forge meeting at the Boerne Agricultural Heritage Museum and the Blacksmith shop at this place is really neat! I have around 40 pics and I'm not sure if I should post that many, but here are a few.

That post vice is huge. Bigger than the pic makes it look. I won the handled hot cut and hatchet in the auction. I have more great pics but I don't know if I should post that many?

I lit the forge and used the Bailey hammer and the unidentified hammer last night for the first time. I forged a knife from a farrier's rasp and it's sitting in a tub of vermiculite now.

The Bailey hammer moved hot steel noticeably faster than any other hammer I own and didn't leave peen marks. The problem I had at first is that I'm so used to using this 2lb hammer that has become my favorite and I've developed fairly good control with it. I found myself moving steel faster with the Bailey but getting tired faster. That was unacceptable to me so I warmed up for about 20 min with my favorite 2 pounder and then pushed through the fatigue with the Bailey for the next hour and a half and I'm glad I did.

The other hammer, while nice is just too heavy at this point to use for a long period of time and maintain control. I'm sure that I'll work my way up to it eventually. 

My humble analysis is that the Bailey is great and I love it!2

My favorite 2 pounder.

Your opinion is worth something to me. Thanks. I looked up German farriers hammer and did find one that looks kind of similar. The one I found is obviously a mass manufactured hammer and had less "character" than mine. Maybe mine is mass manufactured too. Hopefully somebody will recognize it or the maker's mark and chime in. 

Sure will!

I live in San Antonio, Military City, USA and we have a good handful of Army/Military surplus type stores. Going to have to take a peak around as I'm curious about the imitation Peddinghaus that says it's forged steel.

Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky.

Thanks. I haven't weighed it but it does feel like it's around 2 1/2 lbs.

It was Gordon Williams at the Pieh Tool school in Camp Verde, Arizona that recommended the hammer to him. The guy ordered the hammer off of Brent Bailey's website and even spoke with him personally. Also, this is a cell phone camera picture. I realize it doesn't look like it has a "mirror finish" like I described in the original post, and the light coat of 3in1 oil reduced some of the polished look, but it looks more polished than the cell phone picture makes it look.

It was polished more. The guy I bought it from went to Arizona (might have been Colorado) to take a blacksmithing course where the hammer was recommended by the instructor. He bought it and then it sat in his shop area, which unfortunately is just a covered patio for a few months. 

He's sold alot of his tools to me over the last two weeks and when I bought this hammer it had a few small spots where light rust was forming on it. After a little oil and ultra fine steel wool that's what it looks like.