Peter Newman

I know that this is a very old thread but i wanted to Clear the air About John Turkingtons store Farrier supply in Monroe Oregon! The shop is alive still and is open 8-5 mon-sat There is Plenty of coal and Coke and Blacksmith supplies to be had even anvils. The store is NOT closing. At the time of this thread started John's Wife had Parkinsons and he was looking at selling off the shop. This is no longer the case his Step Daughter is managing the shop and My Wife ( his granddaughter is working in the shop) I am working out back in the weekends in the forge and we are starting out first of a series of classes June 25th 2016. I will be teaching with John on hand to correct me ;-) or back me up for help! Come on down and see us! Peter Newman

Hey FIRE where in the NW are you? If your in oregon there is a very limited supply for coal but i can help you with that!

Any progress on this forge table?

Thanks Foxfire thats kind what i was looking at as it does make contact with each slot not sure if it lines up or not as i have to hold it up there and rotate as same time. need that third hand!

Hey all, I have another Old forge table I am trying to rehab. I believe this table is a Champion no 8. it came with original 400 blower that still works and the firebox with is pretty solid still. I located a tuyere from the same era.... and it matches some pictures i have seen...but i have not seen this kind of grate on firebox before in the pic you will see that it dips down into the tuyere about 2 1/2 inches. This Clinker breaker actually come out of the tuyere about 1 inch.... So I have a problem.... other than that it mates up well and once i get it drilled and threaded i can mate them up..... but before i do that anyone have any genius Ideas about what to do about the Clinker breaker?

My Dad once took in all the cast iron pans into work and had them bead blasted... they were super silver and shiny when they came home to my horrified mom! Took quite some time to get the season back. Bacon lots and lots of bacon!

Interesting Anvil height test Frosty going to check that out when I get home!

seems hardy holes vary on size from brand to brand and anvil to anvil even. I have a JHM Shaper and its hole is 1 1/8... Down at the supply shop we have another one and some brand new in stock 1 inch GE cutting Hardies and a couple of other kinds to none of them fit snug. So I did as Arkie advised above welded a bead down the sides and ground to fit. you can also sleeve them with some square tubing say if your hardy is 7/8's or something smaller. Dang John those are some nice looking and stout Hardies!

Hey Ross, All these replies are spot on and is exactly what I have been recently taught. Rebound is the key as it was explained to me that when your hammering on a hot iron your anvil should be hammering the underside just as much as you are on the top side. As far as testing when your on the hunt and looking for a new candidate in someones barn/shop/basement if you don't have a good size ball bearing handy grab a hammer (a good one) hit the anvil holding the hammer lightly you should be able to gauge the rebound buy the amount of stroke you put in to the stroke it puts out... The Ball bearing test is drop the bearing from your hand at 12 inches above the anvil it should come right back up to your hand....the big caution on this is don't move your hand to catch the ball! Anvil breeding so that's whats going on and why they are so hard to find the bigger ones... Dang trophy hunters must be to blame!

Eric Swing by the shop on Saturdays i am usually there out back from round 9-2 am sure john would like to see ya! He's always looking for someone new or old to heckle ;-) but you know this!

The lever hasn't been moved in years so its pretty froze up at this time. Other wise I would have taken a pic with it moved. I if i were to rebuild it the foot would be a tid bit longer.... my face while holding the work and stepping on the leg lever is scary close to the swinging hammer .

No my mentor John Turkington did couple of decades ago. I will be replicating it down the road here to make a slightly different one... once I find a axle that I like.

will try see if i can do it with the phone some time i generally in the shop solo so might be a challeng

Hey all, I thought I would post up some pictures of the treadle Hammer I am using down at Bent River forge. It is made from a Mobile home axle if you look close at the bottom there is a lever that you can flip once that is flipped you can swing the hammer out of the way if this was your only Anvil or your in a small shop. The hammer head is about 15lbs. It's not for sale I am posting up here for the group to have a look at for their own design considerations.

Could also be a punch holder tong