Big Bill

I'm looking for some ideas on creating a better quenching tank. I have an old Oxygen D tank that was cut open, it works "OK" but have knocked it over a few times (glad it only had water in it). Looking to see what everyone else came up with. Don't really wanna go the 5 gal bucket route tho but...

TO: All Blacksmiths FROM: Santa I have finally caught on that you clowns have been deliberately misbehaving in order to get free coal. I considered leaving reindeer xxxx in your stockings, but you characters would cheerfully burn anything in your forges with a carbon content that didn’t cost you anything. From now on any misbehaving smiths will receive a stocking full of clinker (The only thing you guys WON’T put in your forges)! P.S.: Putting a “Welcome Santa” sign above your forge chimney is NOT funny- A coal fire is over five times hotter than a wood fire!

Had my decision made for me, Tractor Supply had their 100# tanks on sale for black Friday so I grabbed one. Price for gas fill works out cheaper too. I had been looking at one on CL, but it was almost at retail price & may have needed hydro-testing. Had the seller been a bit more flexible on price I might have got it, but I'm happy with what I have. Forging on... ...

Finally got my gas forge up + running! Have a standard 20# grill tank on it and have been considering a larger one but am looking for advice. The 20's are readily available & easily refilled, but don't last real long and can freeze up. Been thinking of either a 30, 40, or 100# size- I like the capacity of the 100, but have a few reservations and would like to hear others experiences.

Was looking up information on a tool I have and found this catalog for WM Pattison Supply from 1904 on Google Books- it has a lot of blacksmithing tools and supplies as well as lots of other construction/industrial tools & hardware from that era, prices too. It's almost like the 1904 version of the Grainger's Catalog. I was able to download it (it's a big file,1259 pages) and found it to be an interesting and informative resource. It has a table of contents, and Blacksmithing stuff starts on page 1040. It has forges, vises, anvils, swage blocks, hammers, tongs, hardies, etc. <iframe frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="border:0px" src="https://books.google.com/books?id=DTcxAQAAMAAJ&dq=pattison%20general%20supply%201904&pg=PA879&output=embed" width=500 height=500></iframe> Or just go to google and search for Pattison General Supply 1904.

A slab like that under the anvil might work well as an upsetting block too...

My portable Vise stand. Got this old Columbian vise on Craigslist for $30 with no spring or mounting hardware. 4x4" post on he side of the road, 3/8" x 2x2' plate for $5 at an estate sale, skateboard wheels $1 @ garage sale. (I'm not cheap, I'm Frugal ! )

Thanks Jim I wasn't sure about that. Did some more digging on Google and believe it's an Acme! Looking now to try and find its date of manufacture.

Was at a nearby flea market this weekend and this followed me home (FWIW, $50- down from $75). Its in good shape overall, but is missing the crank handle and the spindle handle on top (both should be fairly easy enough to fabricate). There's no markings of any sort that I can see, And I'm hoping the collective brain trust here might help steer me to an ID of the manufacturer, age, etc. Thanks.

You may want to try making a wooden tray-type holder for the plate with a layer of sand underneath, then mount the tray to a base of some sort (stump or sawhorse?)...