Irondragon ForgeClay Works

I have a tendency to overfill too. Helps to have a dirt floor so clean up is no problem. I have found one of the oils that leak the least is chainsaw bar oil with a little STP oil treatment mixed in.

I would say at $3.10 per pound you did pretty well, especially if the ring & rebound is good. I bet the owner of the Mouse Hole that is the "undisputed King of anvils" will chime in shortly.

I have the mate to your little anvil out in the Celtic garden and ring it when I need to ask for favors or prayers. It rings like a bell.

If you can lower the pump and at an angle, that way you will be pushing & pulling in a more of a straight line. For the tuyere I wouldn't angle it up, just a slightly less down angle and try raising the floor of the fire pot to just below the tuyere outlet.

Finally stopped raining long enough to go measure them. Mine are 51 inches long. Funny thing is I miscalculated the diameter of the kettle and it wouldn't hang when the legs were spread enough for it to fit. I had to add 8 inches of 1/2 in black pipe as feet to get the needed height and spread. Like someone told me once, "it's not a mistake if it can be fixed".

I took the chain off my tanks because they need to be refilled. The pandemic put a cramp in that plan though. I have to get them hydro-tested, so It's off to Welsco with them. I might down size if they will swap them out and I still own them. My brother gave me that setup in the early '70s for my birthday. Since I don't use the A/O torch much, they last a long time and I have only had to get them tested once about 20 years ago when I had them refilled. I picked up an old tank hand truck/cart, but my tanks are too large to fit so downsizing makes sense and I wouldn't relish horsing those b

I have made some 100 yard targets out of them too. The best were the old CRT monitors, they blew up when shot.

I use brass drifts for gunsmith work, when I don't want to mar the finish, or where a spark would be hazardous.

Not with the chopper but I have eyed the shotgun in the corner a few times.

Just found out the original picture is missing, so thought I would add a couple back in.

Just goes to show there are more than one way to skin a cat. I do the same way your dad did. Then filet them and like Frosty's recipe fry them up or plank em whole.

I bought a Champion #140 blower in excellent shape in 2018 for $60 US. One of our club members bought one a while back and she paid $50 US at a barn sale. I believe it is a Champion Lancaster #40 also in excellent shape. We poured in a little WD40 to cut the gunk and it was running as smooth as silk.

The first thing I would make from the brass is a small brass hammer and a drift.

Before Top Dead Center (ignition timing) and the length of time the points are closed to charge the condenser & ignition coil.

I have never used a jig for forming eyes. Just free hand on the anvil & horn.