Frank Turley

As a horseshoer, I used to make all my pritchels out of S1. It oil hardening and is a good hot-work steel.

Yeah, if the smith stood out under a chestnut tree, he'd never get any work done.

Purely a guess, the first half of the 19th century.

I purchased this well forged piece. It is 9" tall and the lily is 4" wide, mostly of 1/8" thick stock carefully hammered leaving the raised, medial vein on the flower. I think there is a little oxy/acetylene work on the collar backs and at the candle point bases.

Cover the live coals with an inch or so of green coal. Leave the ash dump door open. Put a dowel of wood vertically in the fire middle. A Britisher told me that he used a length of pipe stuck vertically in the fire center. I haven't tried it.

My mom used to repeatedly lay this one on me. Tobacco is a filthy weed. It satisfies no human need. It drains the pockets, scents the clothes, and makes a chimney of your nose. Food for thought: The white man gave alcohol to the Indian. The Indian gave tobacco to the white man.

Drinking alcohol and smoking contributed to a first marriage breakup, a wake up call. I quit both in 1981, never looked back.

You can look for the forge brazing by cleaning and checking for traces of brass. The tenoned construction is interesting but is weaker than its eventual replacement: the u-shackle; gib key; wedge; and mounting plate.

Here I am dancing at the Taos Pueblo Powwow, New Mexico, USA.

You have one of the earliest model English leg vises imported into the U.S., perhaps dating to circa 1800. They are usually small and the jaw width is around 4". I have a similar one which I don't use, as I consider this style as an antique. I'm trying to sell mine to a collector or a museum. Here's a pic of my vise.

Some bearing balls are made of 320 stainless.

My old fave is "Plain and Ornamental Forging" by Ernst Schwarzkopf. It's in English.

It is a blacksmith's anvil, not an HB farrier's pattern. The farrier's anvil did not have a defined cutting table. They had the step, and the horn and clip-horn came away from the step smoothly and sometimes with a swell to the horn. Most HB farrier's anvils had two pritchel holes and a narrow face, approximating 4 inches.

Ethan, I did not weigh the hammer, but I would guess at least 3 pounds.

Just finished for a friend. One pic shows the round face. The other pic, the squarish poll with chamfered corners. We started with square, medium carbon steel to be forged into the round for the head and face. The eye is rectangular, which is traditional for Japanese forging hammers. The poll isn't used for forging, just as a bit of counterpoise. Head length is 4 5/8" overall and the face is 1 3/8" D.

In American English, you have made more than one "settee", accent on the last syllable.

Maybe not a superstition, but... In the U.S., some old timers kept a Prince Albert tobacco can in the smithy, and they used it as a color guide for hardening high carbon steel, supposedly the same red color as painted on the can.

The face can be cleaned up with a disc sander. The chunks out of the step and heel shouldn't be a problem. Hay-Budden started in Brooklyn, NY, beginning about 1890. They made anvils 400, 500 pounds, and more. The book "Anvils in America" by Postman talks about the history. $1.00 a pound would be a super deal. If it were me, I would finagle up to $2.50/pound...less if possible.

If the '6' is stamped under the horn side of the waist, it may be a Hay-Budden. I don't think other anvil manufacturers put numbers there. Hay-Buddens are highly valued and highly coveted anvils.

About keeping the devil out of your shop. Don't leave your hand hammer on the anvil overnight. Some smiths tap the anvil once or twice before leaving the shop for the day. St. Dunstan grabbed the devil by the nose with red hot tongs. That worked for him, but it might not for everyone.

I think the anthropologists use the term "ephemeral art" for thing such as flower arrangements and ceremonial painting. I consider these bread loaves in that class. They are from the Indian village of Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, what the women do to have a little fun.

I think I showed some of this wooden gate hardware on iforgeiron previously, but here is a brief look. Installed last year.

A few years back, I was fortunate enough to have spent six days with the premier saw maker of Japan, Yataiki (R.I.P). He was versatile, could make many other tools as well as 113 saw patterns. I had to leave the workshop early, but one of the participants, John Burt, sent me as a gift, a marking knife that Yataiki made. It had the hollowed flat back, which was done with a sen. Yataiki had many sen of varying cutting blade widths. The workshop was 30 days long and was held in Fairfield, Iowa. It was designed primarily for woodworkers who used Japanese saws, and the emphasis was on sharpening and repairing saws. I was allowed to make a small hammer under Yataiki's direction.

An old time gunsmith told me that "Leather gives red; bone gives blue." I haven't tried it, so I can't say.

One half linseed oil and one half turpentine put on and rubbed before applying the head. Linseed oil gives the nice finish and turpentine, deeper penetration of the mixture. A gunstock finisher told me about this mixture.