natenaaron

Not worrying about the sides yet. Lord willing I will have a real one before I need the dedicated side shapes. I was more thinking about the dimples, and holes on the face. As I need a shape or specific dimple size I would just make it. I was concerned about it not holding shape as I was pounding harder steel with a bigger hammer.

I have a 3 inch thick by 12 inch diameter piece of mild steel round stock. I want to start using it as a swage block and grind out the shapes as I need to. I guess you could call it a Swage Shapped Object (SSO). will this work? I have one I am using as an ASO right now and it seems to be taking a beating well but I have not gone after it with a hammer bigger than my 2 pounder or harder steel. Since I want to make a hammer other tools I will be going at the swage one with a MUCH bigger hammer and harder steels.

some of my coworkers and I hold a firm belief that teachers should be in charge of deciding who should breed and who should not. We watch these kids grow up and interact with their parents. At the end of 7th grade all students are marked with a bar code and given a temporary sterility pill. On their 18th birthday every male must register with selective service and take another pill. 18yr old boys are not very bright these days. The girls sit through a lengthy interview process and those deemed mature enough are allowed off the pill. We all agreed that 18yr old girls, if both feet are on the ground, have made some very good parents. The rest are given the pill. When all of them turn 25 they are interviewed by their former teachers. If they pass they are allowed to reproduce and the barcode is removed. If not they are given a permanent pill. the bar code links to the person's school records, and interview outcomes. We came with this after a few particularly bad examples got pregnant between their 8th and 9th grade years. Of course we also thing ritalin should be sprayed at the student entrances like a mister, a Valium lick should be provided in the staff lounge and a masseuse should be on call for, one for each grade level, three times a year: The week before winter break, the week before spring break, and the two weeks before the end of the year.. It is a very dystopian universe we want to rule. I have met several folks like the guy the OP talked about. I am sure he had that attitude most of his life and would have most likely been a receiver of the permanent pill.

None that use this stuff. This is a mild steel town. The steel supplier only carries mild and to order different stuff in I would have to purchase the entire bulk order. The closest place that I can find for this is 4.5 hours away. I never have a reason to go to that city so I would be driving there for that sole purpose. Cost in gas would totally offset the cheaper price. This is the cost of living in the Arizona sticks

I am looking for 12 inches of 2.5 in round 4140 or 4340 to make a hammer or two 12 inches of 3/4 of the same for punches and and other things.

That backfired. There might be someone out there who is willing to pay 6 dollars a pound but it will probably take a very long time to sell, in that case you should do what you can to protect the Anvil from deterioration. I ran a boat repair shop. I have 60,000 dollars, dealer's cost, worth of inventory left. When I closed that part of the business I sat on the inventory because the going rate was 5 cents on the dollar for boat parts. Darn recession! That price has gone up but I will be lucky to get 10-12 cents on the dollar. This is "fair". Not to me because I paid the 60,000 dollars but the people in the position to pay feel different. It is something I have to accept because at this time that inventory is taking up valuable real estate. So, I have to weigh the options. What is more important to me? The physical items that are just getting older doing me no good, or the cash. Knock your 6K in half and you will probably find a buyer pretty quickly. Not me because I have no use for an anvil that large, but Stuart, on the other hand, is a potential buyer. Good luck

The problem is, fair is relative. How much do YOU want to get. You give him a number and then he will either pay you, or counter. Haven't you ever seen American Pickers?

Not worth a thing. I'll take it off your hands and dispose of it properly. If you ask nicely I'll even pay for the shipping to me, because I am such a nice guy.

I have a few milled crank shafts I thought someone was going to buy but their client decided it was too expensive to have someone rebuild a 20 year old outboard motor. So before I scrap them is there something blacksmith wise I can do with the,. I know 4130 is used to make crank shafts but no idea if these were made from that. Definitely some hard steel. While I am on the subject of crank shafts what about cast crank shafts, are they good for something. I have two that are cast but not worth anything, as far as I can tell. The numbers come back to old farm equipment

Sounds like you need to go to the emergency room if it has done that for over 4 hours. Back on topic Here is an article about a current copyright violation issue. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx name calling xxxxxxxxxxx

I swear there was a list of businesses that sold small quantities of steel here somewhere but I can't find it. Online Tools does not have what I am looking for. I also thought I saw a list of steel grades that had the grade and what that steel was good for. Am I imagining things?

Spelling fixed the Hoffi hammer would be the cheap mild steel chinese version

I asked a lawyer friend of mine about the use of names. She said it depends. A hand made object can never be duplicated, something will always be different, that is what makes it handmade. Two items made by the same person will have differences. If two people make something of a similar style, and sell them as their own creations they are different because they are hand made and lets face it there is not a whole bunch you can do with a hammer head. Designs are going to overlap. That is kosher. It leaves the kosher realm when someone says their hammer is a _________ hammer. If someone says the hammer is a ___________ style hammer they are riding on the coat tails of the original creator but not really breaking the law. The originator can demand the copier stop using the name, and they can copyright the name, but "__________ style _______" is legal. IMO riding the coat tails of someone is clearly defining your work as amateurish, and as an artist lacking original thoughts. If I were a landscape photographer (which I am) and I went to Yosemite, shot some black and white photos and called them Ansel Adams style photos as I tried to sell them, I would be laughed out of the room. No one would take me seriously. As an art buyer (which I do when funds allow) the last thing I am going to buy is a _________ style anything. I am going to the original artist. I will never by a Hofi style hammer. I would buy a Hofi Hammer.

Now there is an idea. I teach middle school and thank god every day that my wife and I have boys. A friend used to say, "with a son you have one Richard to worry about. with a daughter you have to worry about every Richard in town."

My grandfather would not own a goat. One ate the top of his brand new model T when he was courting my grandma. As for the Anvils, if I had not found this place I would not have known what to look for in an anvil. I would say people like me are their bread and butter. I was in the lumber store when two guys were talking about vices. One said to not waste money on a Wilton because one from HF will do the same thing and a lot cheaper. One of the old clerks jumped in and gave them the truth. When my father-in-law died the vultures were circling around his Wiltons, one generously offered "more than the bullet was worth" $50. Yes they thought I was that stupid. The point is, lots of people don't know better.

Welcome Randolph. I don't know anything about coal forges but the set up looks good.

SReynolds, I understand what you are saying but I am one of those weird people who get a charge out of junk. No idea why, just do. These guys are the steel place. They pretty much do it all. If you are in the southwest there is a good chance that your local steel place got their steel from these guys. (hopefully not against policy) http://www.pagesteel.com/ If that link is not appropriate I apologize. What they don't do is higher carbon steel, so I have been cruising their scrap to find stuff just to see how it works in the forge, and to see what I can see. Is that a farrier's supply place or your shop? Either way I could hang out there.

Sounds like there are quite a few similarities. Boats depreciate much faster than cars, and those with money buy new.

I meant the drill heads. Some of them looked brand new. The little ones could be lifted. I'm thinking I will go back for a more thorough photo trip. I could not get to the area where all of the dead presses and other BIG machines were. This place also makes those huge bill boards you see around and that road was blocked off with a new shipment. It is just a fun place to look around in.

I actually have another tank cut up already, and this one can be set aside for other purposes. I won't tear it down. I have enough supplies to build a couple more forges. After some soul searching and thinking I am going to explore the brick pile forge and what it will take to make a coal forge. Not because I think they will be easier but because they may fit the style of work I want to do, more appropriately. Ornamental work can get pretty big and the gas forge just feels too small. We will see. Thanks for the advice.

That would be it then. Darn it! Time to start over. Chock it up to a learning experience. No way to successfully cut another hole in it. I would have to plug the old one and cut two new holes in in it. Thanks folks. Glad I got an answer before any of the curmudgeons came out from under the bridge.

Did you do your math after the lining was added? Not questioning you just making sure we measured the same thing. I came in just under 350. I am no mathematician. Just ask the 2 college algebra teachers whose classes I failed. At this point I think I just need to start over.

Here is what I have grill sized propane tank 4 inch hole cut for a door 2.5 inch hole cut for a back door two inches of ceramic insulation .25 inch satanite one coat of ITC 100 Frosty T-burner without flare and nipple cut down 1/8 inch The burner is into the forge 1 inch so not past the insulation at all. I have the burner aimed just short of center and have a nice vortex. I only have blue flame (think this is the problem but not sure what to do about it) Tank connected to hose through HP regulator that does not have a gauge so I could not tell you what pressure it is running but I turn it up high and still not getting the heat. My math says one burner is on the upper side of fine. My math could be wrong I've tried to get a video of the forge burning but with the blue flame being blue I'm not able to get a good shot. I am able to get enough heat to forge with. That is not a problem. I am not getting to white where, if I understand what I have read, I need to be to weld. Any thoughts.

Knee mail sent

That would be one big xxx hammer.