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I stumbled on to this video by accident, if someone has already posted it I apologize. If not i am sure you will find it interesting. thanks Darrell

Beautiful job. not something that you usually see people working on . Darrell

Your a wise man, very nice job. Darrell

All of those look really great, I would be proud of all of them. Darrell

That is going to be a real beauty. Darrell

great looking piece, well done Darrell

I would love to see a picture as well. Great video. Darrell

When I was young I used to hammer for my grandpa, I would hit the same spot (more or less) at regular intervals, and he would move the work piece back and forth under the blows. He always said that you "catch' the hammer as it bounced back and use that momentum to help you raise it then just let drop back down on the work Another saying of his was "let the tool do the work". I never found it as easy as he did, but I try to follow his advice when I am putting in posts, stakes, or when using post hole diggers. Darrell

A couple of nice items, congratulations. Darrell

Thanks for the replies, I am almost sure it would have been pre-war, it was in a Wagon Manufacturing plant, from what I have heard they cut production drastically after the war. They started making small personal wagons for uses around home and businesses but I figure they would have found it hard to compete with Radio Flyer. Anyhow I wouldn't think they were buying equipment toward the end of their run. As far as pursuing blacksmithing I guess the art will end with my Dad. I love watching the guys at the old farm shows, and would love to be able to do some of the same things, but honestly I am more of a Porta-Band, cutting torch and stick welder metal worker. Much to the dismay of the old folks who rightly valued hard work over most other things I was infected with a fishing addiction at a young age, and it still works on my free time to this day. Having the means to do the work doesn't accomplish much unless you put the time into learning the craft, whatever that craft may be. I do plan on keeping up with this site and posting some pics of the stuff that I have, hopefully to get some incite on what they are and how they were used. Very aware that old, or even rare doesn't always mean valuable, but to me if or when I decide to sell anything (especially the things that came through the past generations) I have always thought it more important to pass it along to be used and enjoyed more than what profit can be made from it. Wandering away from metal to wood I had an American SawMIll Machinery company 16 inch cast table saw with an attached jointer and mortise machine (1927-1929 vintage). It was given me by a dear old friend when he got past using it. It was sold originally with a hit and miss engine, and converted to electric sometime in the later 40's when our area was electrified. It was huge, heavy, and a little awkward to set-up and use, but it was my main shop jointer for years, and could rip 6 inch landscape timbers if you felt the need. I sold the house were I kept it and didn't have enough room to move it. I was fortunate enough to find a man that travel the Old Time Farm shows and had a Morse hit and miss engine that he needed to mount on something to "use" at the shows. The old was is mounted on a trailer now with fresh paint, babbet in the bearings, and a sporty "new" 90 year old motor, ready for show and tale this summer. Thanks again for the replies, I did put Hickory NC in the header, anyone close enough to know where that is will also know the Western End of Lincoln County which is were I spent most of my life. BTW not to be a bad influence, but anyone wanting to hang up their apron long enough to try for some smallies, or mountain trout, I enjoy company when I am fishing. Just let me know. Darrell

Hello guys, I just joined your group from Hickory NC and thought I would introduce myself. I am from a long line of Blacksmiths. My grandad and at least 3 generations before him were smiths/wagon wrights/farriers, and general local area handy men. My dad used the old forge occasionally over the years, mostly to sharpen the bushhog blades, No point it grind off metal when it can be reshaped. Anyhow other then being a make shift trip hammer when my granddad got too old to swing it for any length of time I have not done any smithing myself. I did inherit most of the shop equipment. The old forge Is still workable but the cement and wooden table that surrounded it finally give into the effects of time and crumbled down around it. The blower had been replaced with one from a furnace. The post drill, post vice, Colombia vice, anvils.and buggy clamps I still use. Nothing works better on stainless steel than the old post vice. (higher pressures and lower speeds, make a bit last for a long time). The tongs, specialty hammers, wheel measurer, and hardees, haven't been used in years, I also have a rivet forge, with the wooden lever and rack gears, but no blower, and a hand crank blower on a stand that were not with the original shop equipment. I do have a question about something I got a few weeks back. It is a free-standing all cast forge assy. that came from Piedmont Wagon in Hickory when they shut down in the 50's. It came with a blower that ran on a line shaft, but has had a vee pulley and electric motor attached, I have looked through all of the info I could find on Buffalo Forge Company, this forge looks most like the #2 Buffalo Forge, but not exactly. I am adding some pictures and would appreciate any incite on this forge. The clay had fallen apart and came out when we went to load it on my truck, but other than that I think it would still be a workable unit. Thanks Darrell