Judson Yaggy

Practice is what makes a Hofi hammer better. If you get one, you may practice, forge a little bit every day. That's what makes you a good smith. Of course you can forge every day with a $5 flea market hammer and become a master too, but spending $100 makes you want to not have wasted your money. The Hofi hammer also has an ergonomic theory attached to it and that may be what you are really asking- why is it a famous style of hammer? Because he is the first one to develop a hammer AND theory in conjunction AND MARKET THE HECK out of it. This is a good thing for blacksmithing wether you like his technique or not as it has both gotten more folks interested in the body mechanics of hammering and made some of the other folks who have a hammer "theory" sit up and take notice.

I've always made them about 4" high, not sure where I got that number but have never had a complaint. Of course around here most folks have wood stoves or some other system to do the real work, fireplaces in this day and age are purely decorative and therefor performance is secondary to appearance. Seems that most (rich) people that are buying hand forged fireplace accessories wouldn't know a good fire if it bit them, so add that fact into your functionality/marketing equation.

Spell check doesn't always help dyslexia, I meant to say "you may have an early model" in my post above. Sorry.

I'm going off of memory here but I recall they made 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150 and 200# hammers. Two guys around here have a 50 and 75 but I don't recall the letters, my 150# hammer is a model E. The early ones were called Dupont, later Fairbanks, and I think there was a Canadian Fairbanks line as well. The letter designations may not have been the same from different eras. They were made here in Vermont and I've seen a number of them but have never seen one with a bottom die holder like that, usually they have a fairly normal sow block/dovetail set up. You may have a later model. The letter on mine is on the side of the frame at about chest hight.

YD- Roof brackets. Far as I can tell blacksmiths are like certain kinds of crustaceans. We grow to fit whatever shell we are currently occupying, then try and shuck it off and go find a bigger one and promptly fill it with more crab blacksmith.

Top quality anvil in very good condition in a great size for that price? Outstanding purchase. Well done. May be the only anvil you ever need. (Not want, need.) Folks who say they can't find an anvil should read the posts regarding Dave's search for a clue.

If it wasn't 2,000 miles away I'd be there right now with cash and a truck. I run a Fairbanks model E (150#) most every day and they are darn good hammers. I have to wonder if the sale is because he tried to run it on a 2 hp motor, mine has a beefy industrial 5 horse for 50 lbs fewer.

That's great Dennis, my parents gave me an anvil for my high-school grad as well. Of course that was 17 years ago but I had many happy hours pounding away on it and now I'm almost making a reasonable living working steel! By the way what's the tool with the cast iron frame off to the left in the last photo?

Not a bad price and if it won't do the job you can resell for the same price or perhaps a profit. I suspect if in good condition it will do the work you are talking about. The old presses do not follow the same numbering system that the new imported ones do, so check the actual specs (screw diam., throw, fly weight, etc.) against that chart Old World Anvils or Blacksmith's Depot has on their press sizes. I have an antique Perkins #4, it's at least as big as what they now call a #6, and the castings are WAY heavier. My press would easily do the work you are describing, but be sure to make yourself a good stripper and figure out a way to cool the chisel for slitting that 1.5" stock. Hope this helps.

Hi Aaron- I had a Hill for a while, the top seemed to be around 1/2" thick. However, I think that they are older than your average anvil and may have lots of variation (and wear). If you're thinking of grinding the top read all the threads on doing that to an anvil posted here.

A bigger hammer? You mean like a 100# Bradley? I'd like to see the video of hitting a wrench on a 40# hammer with a 100# hammer . But in all seriousness, sounds like you are on the right track with the rebuild. Wish more folks would give their old machines TLC like you are.

I'll add another vote for a bench dog that slips into the pritchell hole, not the most bomb proof hold down but simple and fast, does the job. Also you can make one with just a forge and anvil, should take 6-10 heats depending. Tighten by hitting on the top, loosen by tapping horizontally on the back of the dog.

Good looking hammer. A lot more paint blown off the right spring arm than the left, it'd be interesting to know why.

Beth- I'll add my voice to what seems to be the consensus. It's doable but a little hard on the machine (within most machines' working limits) and a little rougher on the smith. If it's for inside work you may need to heat the stuff anyway or chemically patina to restore the "black" look as cold hammering will blow off the scale.

You should get yourself a copy of "Pounding Out The Profits", all kinds of cool stuff like this in there. To answer your question, yes it would work to some extent, they even made some along the lines you're thinking of, check out this old machine. http://sandersoniron.com/JoelWeb%20Page%205-studio-machines-hackney.htm You can also search Google Patents for "atmospheric hammer" and you'll find lots of stuff like this http://www.google.com/patents?id=ew4AAAAAEBAJ&pg=PA1&dq=atmospheric+hammer&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=1#v=onepage&q&f=false I'm not 100% sure but it seems to me that they didn't make these styles much past the early 1900's. They were superseded by mechanical spring hammers and self-contained hammers. Probably a reason for that. Great hammer to anvil ratio by the way.

Anyone ever used this stuff? The wife brought some of this home for weed killing. 20% acid, contains aloe, whatever that means. She didn't think to get the MSDS for some reason.

MM- Sorry, didn't mean to out you. If it's any consolation I won't be bidding on it as I'd need to build a shop addition to house it and that can't happen till I build the wife the horse barn I've been promising her for the last 5 years or so. Good luck with the bidding.

Sorry, don't know why that link didn't work, type in "forging hammer" into ebay's search.

Slightly off topic but there's a 4b on ebay right now. http://cgi.ebay.com/400-LBS-Nazel-Model-4B-Pneumatic-Forging-HammerAir/380231186236cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58878b773c#ht_8158wt_941 Not a bad price currently but they say they ran it, and the photos show no dies in the machine. Hope they knew better and pulled them out after the fact.

My local steel yard stocks uncoated pipe (no paint), if you are going to be forging a lot it's worth looking for as the paint on black iron smells nasty as it burns. DO NOT use galvanized pipe, the toxic fumes could kill you.

I'd rather build on Grant's modular anvil idea and mill a dovetail into the top that could receive tool steel inserts. The milling would be way less energy intensive ($) than heating the whole thing up to the point where brass would flow.

Sorry, I have to disagree. Definitely NOT a Peter Wright. That is a cast anvil, PWs were forged. If it's high quality cast STEEL it could be a good anvil, little or no work needed to start hammering. Nice and flat, still plenty of space to work around the edge chips. However, it could be cast IRON which would make it a lowest quality anvil, worth little money and good only if you can't find anything else. Get a closer look at that maker's mark down between the feet, and bounce a hammer on the face. No bounce=cast iron, energetic rebound means you have something better.

The biggest Fisher was supposedly 1400#. I've seen a few in the 500-700# range. Even better than their anvils thou were their double screw leg vices, the jaws always stay parallel. I love mine!

Xxxx, I thought my $100 #6 fly press was a good deal! You've got me beat, you're gonna love it. Folks that think they can't find a good price on a fly press haven't looked in S. New England or have and don't want to pay the shipping.

I'l add a vote for Hay Budden given the shape of the underside. Also looks like it sat in the dirt for 50 years or so, or the depression was forged with a ball pein. Thomas- at first I also thought it looked like it had a face plate, but one of the photos looks like it has a forgeweld at the waist as well which points me back to an all steel top.. Assuming my reading of the serial # is 17xxxx Anvils In America would date it to around 1910, the same source indicates that HB went to their famous solid steel top half around 1909, but perhaps I'm misreading the serial number. Good anvil none the less.