Anthony San Miguel

I just wanted to share pictures of two wonderful hammers I just bought. The mirror finished one is made by Brent Bailey and it's called an Aspery Modified. I bought it from a guy who bought it new and never used it. It feels absolutely WONDERFUL in my hand! It is front weighted per Mark Aspery's request and feels unlike any hammer I have held so far. I haven't been able to make anything with it yet and I won't be able to light the forge until Thursday. CAN'T WAIT! The second one is used but in pretty good shape and also feels good in my hand. Can't wait to use it also. I bought it from the same guy . The only thing I know about it is that it's European because it's stamped 1 1/2 and there's no way that is its weight in lbs. Does anybody know anything about it? Recognize the maker? It has what looks like a bell stamped into it. Here are the pics.

That anvil is a Trenton and from the pics it looks to be a good size. Please don't try to fix it. The advise that Tom gave you is what you will hear from most of the experienced smiths. I personally would just remove the rust with a wire brush and put a light coat of oil or wax and start pounding hot steel on it. If you "fix" it wrong it will be very hard to un "fix" it. Also, test the rebound with a small ball pein hammer or ball bearing over the entire face and expect there to be less rebound and a different ring over the heel.

Just a reminder to all those who want to watch this that it's airing this evening. I am looking forward to watching it.

I was thinking the same thing, but unless it's larger than it looks in the picture the price is too high for an imitation of that size. Also, it might really be steel but not hardened.

They reversed the holes on the imitation Peddinghaus.

Congratulations! Hay Buddens are great anvils and beautiful too, IMHO. One consistent thing that I've noticed about every HB that I've seen is that the edges are still in good shape and the face is still pretty flat. All the ones that I've seen, anyway. Either all of their owners treasured them as much as I treasure mine and took really great care of them, or they were built very well. Maybe both.

The anvil looks like a Hay Budden to me.

Where in central Texas are you? I'm in San Antonio and would certainly like to put some of them back to good use.

Congratulations! I think you did great! That anvil looks like it's in really good condition and the weight looks pretty good from what I can tell. The heel looks unusually long. Why would that be?

I met the guy who sold them to me when I first took an interest in smithing, about 8 months ago. He is no longer interested in blacksmithing so he sold them to me at a good price. I am really excited about this score! They are all Pieh Tools, Blacksmith's Depot, or Centaur Forge tools. Some still have the stickers on them!

I went to buy the Box Jaw Tongs in the middle and the other 10 items followed me home! All 11 items, whose condition ranges from great to excellent (except for maybe the two slitting chisels, they are in good condition) for $140.

Well, something like that. A piece of still black coal popped out of my forge and being that the thought of wasting coal causes me to cringe I foolishly picked up the BLACK coal and learned very quickly to always remember what I'm working with!

Thanks for the reply and I understand why the GLOVED hand.

I got it to remove scale off of stock that I'm forging but should I also use it on the anvil? Those bristles are VERY stiff and I'm not sure that I want to be scraping my anvil faces with it. Should I scrape the scale off the anvil with it between heats, or continue to use the wire brush that I've been using?

Thanks! Yes, they are leather straps that I cut from a piece of belly. The heavy chain around this particular anvil does help minimize the ring. It's an 82 lb Hay Budden.

Thanks!

I went to pick up some coal from a guy who is moving couldn't take it all with him and these two items along with some steel that isn't pictured followed me home. He is holding the hood and chimney for me because it wouldn't fit in the van with the coal and everything else!

My heart is starting to hurt.

If making tools is your biggest interest coil springs for punches, chisels and slitters make good stock and king pins make good hammer stock. I've collected plenty of both for this reason.

Looks like a Trenton to me.

Goodness, that is heartbreaking!

I've only been forging for about 8 months so keep that in mind, but I have a lot of hammers and one that I find myself going to a lot recently is a double diagonal peen that I ground from an $8.00 Harbor Freight 3 lb sledge. After grinding both ends it weighs around 2 lbs.

It looks a lot like a Mousehole although mine and all the ones that I have seen have the weight and maker stamp on the other side.

If it's cracking during forging you could be forging at too low of a temperature. Do you actually see it crack while forging?

The horn does look like a Mousehole forge anvil's horn but the heel is USUALLY shorter on a Mousehole. It may just be the angle of the picture though that makes the heel look longer than it is.