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I Forge Iron

J5447

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    Near Flint, Michigan

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  1. That cooler itself was easily worth more than what she got for both, unfortunately. She must have been doing some SERIOUS pottery with that kind of equipment! -J5
  2. Yes, I'm definitely following his footsteps in one way or another. He worked as a welder, chef and ornamental iron worker for most of his years. I worked as a chef for 10-11 years, and then got into the HVAC business. My dad worked for GM and has always loved woodworking as a hobby. I would rather make a birdhouse out of plate steel or sheet metal any day (sorry dad!). There's just something about fusing and shaping metal that I find absolutely fascinating. So I thank you, Stan, for reminding me how much I have learned from both of them. Maybe someday I'll hammer on that anvil again. -J5
  3. About ten years ago my dad asked me if I wanted my late Grandpa's anvil from his shop because the writing was on the wall saying the estate would have to be cleaned out sooner or later. I can remember being very fond of that anvil when I was a little kid, mainly from watching so many episodes of Wile Coyote and the roadrunner. I could never manage to walk past it without grabbing a hammer and smacking it once or twice. I have no idea who made it, but it probably weighed 125-150# and was a London pattern. Can't even say if it had a hardy or pritchel, but it was always nice and shiny sitting up on that workbench. Anyways, my response was "hell no, what would I ever do with that thing?" He told me I should take it, as long as I wouldn't scrap it but I still declined because all I could imagine doing with it was moving it around ten times from the barn to the shed and so on. How foolish do I feel now? Well, let me just say there will always be an empty spot inside of me from that quick decision. About a year later I changed my mind because I was starting to get into welding and thought it would be cool to have around. Needless to say, I found out it was too late and my dad had no idea who ended up with it. We think my uncle gave it away or sold it, but to who is still a mystery. Since my uncle has passed, I may never know. There isn't much I wouldn't give to have it now. I've even thought of doing some detective work by tracking down some of my uncle's friends to see if any of them might be able to help me out. I'd gladly pay any asking price to have what I could have had for free that day...
  4. That's funny how the RR workers are so careful about that stuff. I have been told that ALL traintrack and related parts/fasteners in the states is owned by the federal govt, have looked at the multiple warning signs at the scrapyards that show pictures of what is forbidden to turn in, and have wondered how everyone and their brother are able to sell chunks of track on Ebay or craigslist. If what I've heard is true, and a RR or government official ever set foot onto my property for an investigation, I'd be in big trouble! Over the years I have accumulated a lot of different things (spikes, track, misc. parts, tie plates, springs etc.) from many different people, and it seems like every single one of them said something like "You didn't get this from me!" or, "Don't get caught taking any of this stuff to the scrapyard!" while handing it to me. So I guess I'm a little curious if anyone is sitting in a jail cell somewhere for trying to unload a 16" section of track as an anvil on ebay! Also, I need to thank ThomasPowers and Anthony San Miguel for helping to identify my anvil above. I'm going to try and read the serial number to do some further investigating. I know it doesn't really matter, but one of the curses of having German blood in my veins is the thirst for information. For some reason I can never have enough (regardless if it is deemed useful or not!). Apologies for the mixed reply here,but I have been trying since late Monday night, and I was not able to reply, post, or message anyone to let them know I was having trouble. Not sure if anyone else had issues since Monday, but everything seems to be straightened out now. Thanks again for the replies Thomas and Anthony! -J5
  5. Here is my new anvil, I picked this up locally from a guy on Craigslist a few weeks ago for $325. It came with a coffee can of misc. homemade hardy tools, and a few Heller Bros bottom swages. The guy I bought it from never used it, and I didn't even bother to ask him where he got it from. I figured I would come home and search for anvils that start with the first few letters I could make out and find anything I wanted to know about it, but I was dead wrong. After about an hour of searching to find everything but what I was looking for I gave up and thought someone here probably has one mounted on a stand already and could tell me who manufactured it. He "lovingly" tried to remove the paint over the maker's mark with a grinder or wire wheel, but it's still hard to make out. From what I can tell it looks like it reads "Hasngown" or "Hasndown" but it's very faint and even Google doesn't come up with anything remotely close to that or any variation of that name that I try to search for. It has a 1" hardy, 1/2" pritchel and weighs 135#. It is 3-7/8" wide. It seems to be wrought iron with a tool steel face, but I wouldn't bet much on either because quite frankly this is my first rodeo trying to research an anvil. It seems to have a pretty good rebound, although it has seen its fair share of hard use. When I drop a bearing from about a foot high, it usually returns to my hand or close to it if hits a nice flat spot. I can make out a "P" directly underneath the H but that's about it. No idea what the circle emblem says nearby. I thought I could make out a "WRO" but I'm just not sure. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks, J5
  6. Hello everyone, I've been a fly on the wall for what feels like years now to this site. Most of the time when I get online to research something, Google takes me STRAIGHT TO YOU GUYS! There is an unlimited bank of knowledge here and from reading many of the threads and posts, the experience and expertise is definitely palpable. Like another new member who said he never signed up because he never felt like he had anything to contribute, I was in the same shoes. What finally caused me to sign up was all of the member content, and to upload some pics of my new anvil that I cannot identify. That being said, I have meant to sign up and introduce myself for quite some time now, but everytime I log on, I get sucked in to reading older threads or looking up something I forgot to check out the last time I was at the computer! I have little to no experience hammering metal, but I've always been drawn to welding and things of the like. So far I've made a couple hooks, a little coal rake/poker, a rubic's twist and tried my hand at making a couple of hardy tools. Whenever the Blacksmiths are set up at the 4-H fair my wife has to practically drag me away from their booth. I makde a small track anvil a couple years ago, and it has served its purpose for what I do out in my barn, but I just got serious recently and made an anvil purchase locally on craigslist (Posting in "show me your anvil" to follow. I have plenty of hammers, chisels, and drifts that I've been gathering from garage and estate sales to start playing around some more so it's finally time to start doing it once I finish a few projects I have had planned around here. I have a wealth of scrap metal and junk to use for stock (I can get what seems like endless amounts of scrap steel from my job) and I just can't bring myself to throw stuff away, so I figure I'll see what I can do to turn this junk into something useful. Anyways, I look forward to further navigating the site, and learning as much as I can! See you around, J5447
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