Harley

Cast iron is great for a door stop or a boat anchor, not so much as an anvil.

Real nice work

I also do the same as Dodge.

While you are waiting to "relite your fire" you are welcome to store all your smithing tools, amvil,forge,vice, and coal here in my smithy. It will be well cared for and then you may take all the time you need to get motivated again.......................

A scraped together forge from 1/2 in. plate, angle iron and plumbing fittings with a shop vac in blower mode for a blower. Used coal . With a Fisher Norris anvil I had found in scrap yard and a hammer I bought at the hardware store. Now ,11 yrs later I am so busy I don't have any free time anymore. Be careful what you wish for , you just might get it.

Merry christmas from the guys at Black Dog Forge.

Just my opinion, from here in the northeast. but depending on condition up to $3.00/ pound.

So after reading the responses to my question about lathes I went online and ordered "How to run a lathe" by South Bend. Then while working in the smithy this morning I remembered someone had given me an old benchtop lathe a few yrs ago. so I looked around , found it ! Now once the book gets here I will read it through and begin to try to get this oldie but goodie back to working order. Harley

How many of you out there have a metal lathe? I have no training on one and have the chance to purchase one. Would this be a worthwile addition to a smithy? and what are the advantages to owning one. Those of you who do have one ...how often do you use it ? Any other input will be welcome? Thanks, Harley

IN addition to a 5 gal. bucket of water I would suggest a large fire extinguisher kept in a easilly accessable place. I have had two or three small fires start from grinder sparks and or welding and believe me fire can spread very rapidly (don't ask me how I know this). An old horse barn or stall is a tinder box waiting for an ignition source. in the attached photo , note the fire extinguisher on the wall at the end of the welding table. You can't imagine how bad it feels to say " I should have had a fire extinguisher " Harley

There was a young fella who came by here with his Dad on a quest to purchase a hand crank blower. He was a metal arts student at the regional Vo Tech school, Dad was in the metal trades as well, machinest if I recall correctly. We takled for a long time as they made their way through my smithy. They looked at 4 different blowers I had for sale and from speaking with them the young fella seemed to be on the right track. I told them they were both welcome to come by from time to time and bash some iron with me . IN the end the youmg fella didn't want to spent the $ I was asking for a blower. We talked as we walked back to the roadside at which point I told the young fella that if he wanted to walk back to the smithy he could one particular blower for free and two 50# bags of coal. He took me up on the offer. I got a few emails from him with a question or two which I answered. Within a few short months I saw a posting by him on this forum I believe in which he stated " I have this blacksmithing thing down now". I chuckled. Some time later he asked if I was going to attend the Fitchburg "Forge in " competiton to which I replied " No, I would prefer to be working in my smithy making $ rather than taking part in a half hearted competiton. His response to me was sort of smart xxxx and I was somewhat offended. Apparently this young boy had mastered the art of blacksmithing and was going to set the world on fire. people with that kind of attitude are NOT WELCOME in my smithy.