Lou L

I thought is was from the Skoda Works as well but couldn’t find examples of anvils they made for reference. It was then I gave up...

That’s not a hammer....THIS is a hammer! I wouldn’t allow that beast near my anvil....

You need to edit your profile to include your personal info some we know where you are. The anvil looks English based on the feet but it is hard to identify fro there. I’ll try to look at it in the morning when I’m more coherent.

I have just need the just of steel and the striker to do it. Both are actually possible. I’ve always planned to make a standerad 1” square swage block when I had the chance. I’ll have to add that the The formula. Just need to go and buy the chunk of steel to make the striking anvil.

I figured you’d be going home with one if you are able to visit. Parting gifts! I fully plan on making a bunch of handled tools with some of this. Thanks for the reminder. It wasn’t on my radar when he handed that lot to me.

Double pun! Seriously though, I have no excuses for not having the tooling I need.

I think it depends on your situation. Can you hammer bevels without leaving deep hammer marks? Do you have a good grinder? How much of a belly do you want on the knife? If you trust your forging skills go with the thinner material and save cash. I think most people would get the thicker stock and rely on the old “forge thick, grind thin” montra. Since you aren’t an experienced knife maker that’s probably a safe bet. It’s what I would do. Still, take your time and forge it carefully like it is ultra thin and you have no room for tolerances, that way you will be able to use thin stock later on and save time. I em learned the hard way that saving time during the forging costs twice as much time in the finishing. Have fun, Lou

I just keep my glasses on, even when I’m hand sanding or filing. It’s easier that way. A few times I’ve moved to a more dangerous task and realized I was not protected. The creepy feeling that something was wrong came quickly. My biggest annoyance with glasses is that I keep them on when I go back into the house. Then I take them off and leave them on a table only to return to the shop without them. Each time I badger myself muttering, “You never learn...do you,” and then I do it again. Going in the house is simply a two trip situation.

This load didn’t follow me home, it was just delivered by my buddy who works in the equipment department of Home Depot. He scouts for me and the stuff headed for the dumpster finds it’s way to his truck. Bonanza! Those jack hammer bits are beefy!

I have a poster in my classroom that reads: ”Let’s eat, Grandpa!” Then....”Let’s eat Grandpa”. It’s a conversation starter for my grammar deficient students. Then again, I’m the guy who types random numbers in the middle of words because of this offensive iPad keyboard.

Here’s a link to a diagram of the ox yoke setup along with a How To on making them. I’m not seeing it. http://fliphtml5.com/wgak/ynsq/basic Question, is the cube section of it waxed?

250 double horn is my actual dream anvil. I probably need to save a little more.

I’d hold a little resentment that someone kept an anvil secret from me for that long it certainly looks Mousehole-ish. But there were a number of makers from the same area who made similar anvils. Congrats.

Still, you are ahead of many who are still desperate for a heavy chunk of metal for a makeshift anvil. Noth8ng wrong with charcoal but, seriously, the smell of coal is a part of smithing that drags you in. If you smell too much of it, though, you might have a health problem. Welcome aboard.

Thanks guys, I was wondering about that as well. It sure looked to me like an anvil with a hand grip and I couldn’t figure it out. My cousin is a body man who still holds the secrets of leading in bodywork. He uses no bondo. I’ll have to give it to him. Plus, he’s the guy who gets me as many armored car leaf springs as I desire. I owe him more than an old tool.

The real gurus should be along soon enough. I’m going to go ahead and guess that you have back pressure causing the burners to chug like that. It’s an awful huge space to heat but without a way for the pressure to escape it will force itself back up your mixing tubes on your burners. My advice would be to build a wall out of Brick or refractory that you can place in the forge to shrink its size. Then use one burner and see how it does. You are going to hear a lot about how it is foolhardy to trust most YouTube “Blacksmiths”. Since joining IFI I have realized how much bad information is being shared there. There is a lot of good stuff too, but it is hard to know the difference without having the base of knowledge you can get here.

My first thought was that a blacksmith made their own knurling tool. But he handle appears to be fabricated to a higher standard than that of a one off tool. Still seems to be a knurling tool...I’m just not sure what industry.

You may be a rank amateur, but you sure are a blacksmith! You created one heck of a project that started with just a vision. Don’t underestimate your ability to get a team behind you either. I just wish you posted about it here before you started so we could have brainstormed with you...if, for no other reason, than for us to be a part of such a great cause as well. Kudos, Lou

I can’t help myself because I love digging for information online. When searching for steel suppliers in Cincinnati I first found only companies who do commercial work and have no time for people walking in. Then I searched for “public steel sales Cincinnati” and found more. You can do the same search. I found Alro Steel that sells all kinds of steel and plastic to the public as well. They also sell online and are a chain. Also, the metal supermarket that was already mentioned is a chain store that should have better prices. There were more. Do the digging and you will find something amazing. Good luck, it’s out there, Lou

Look great to me. The scratch peepers May come along and demand you hand sand for five hours, but I think they are really pleasing looking. The first one looks to be integral....not sure because of the glare. If so, well done! I really like the look of the second one. It whispers, “cut things” in my ear.

BigGunDoctor, Daswulf: that old thing was my biggest question mark. Makes sense though, the guy who owned it used to restore old cars. There were about thirty punches in that lot, the largest being 30” long and 1.5 inches diameter. A few of them were blacksmith made. I forgot to add the picture of the handled top fuller that I got as well. Being greedy I find myself mourning the fact that some blacksmith stuff must have slipped through the cracks...beside those two small anvils...

True. My knowledge of Japanese swordmaking is limited compared to that of many here...but what I do know is that their incredible skills developed out of necessity because their steel was lower quality. That, likely, is why they got away with edge quenching in water. Modern steels would fail given the same treatment (except, of course, those designed to be treated that way). I wasn’t aware that edge quenching was THAT risky, thanks for the info Steve.

That is an enviable vise for sure...it borders on being an anvil. Consider me jealous.

Nice! I was busy sanding knives. Two more get heat treated tomorrow. I will have one once I get through this trial.

You could quench as normal and then go closer to a spring temper after. Go low to mid 500’s with your temperature (purplish). 5160 is tough stuff. I don’t think it was ever considered a high edge retention steel, so you gave up on that when you picked it. If you really want that differential hardness you can edge quench or manually temper the spine with the edge resting in water. Both are a little more risky, in my opinion, than just tempering it to purple. Just give it a nice beefy edge geometry. Have fun however you choose to do it.