George N. M.

Looks good. Did you do it by hand or use a power hammer or press? They look so uniform I suspect a power hammer or press. Do you have a plan for what you are going to make from the billet? Thx. George

Riverton was kind of a boom town in the '70s when the uranium mines were going full blast and there was a good amount of oil and gas drilling. Now, it is much more sleepy. I am not a native.though but I got here as fast as I could. I grew up on the South Side of Chicago and came out here to study geology in college. More recently, I was County Attorney in Morgan County, CO (about halfway between Denver and Nebraska) and my wife and I looked around and asked ourselves if we wanted to live out our lives on the eastern plains of CO. The answer was NO! After looking around at a number of places we ended up in Laramie. My wife is originally from Florida and she and her late husband lived a lot in the southern half of the US. When I told her that the all time record high temperature in Laramie was 94 degrees and that she would never see triple digits ever again unless we travelled to them it kind of messed with her paradigm. She has fallen in love with Wyoming in general and Laramie in particular (or as it is sometimes called, "Laradise." If you are ever going to be back in this country, PM me. But not in the near future, Madelynn is still pretty covid cautious. I would probably would be somewhat less so on my own but, as the US Constitution says, promoting domestic tranquility is a worthy goal. We'll just have to assume that you are somewhere on Planet Earth for now but I am going to assume that it is in the US of A (somewhere). GNM

Northman, a lot of us here are self taught, including me. No shame in that. I started in 1978 when I bought a rivet forge and a 100# Vulcan anvil at an auction in Riverton, WY (west central part of the state). This was long before the interwebs an all I had to learn from were some library books and my own mistakes (lots). It was probably 12-15 years before I even met another smith. So, since I did not have a mentor of teacher I probably still do some things bass ackwards. As to maintaining privacy and avoiding unwanted contacts in the years I have been on IFI I have not once have had a negative experience, contact, spam, etc. and I think that even those who have been around longer than I have (ten or so years, including under a prior "handle") have had a similar experience. Even the lte Thomas Powers who used his full, legal nme and his town of residence never reported any problems. But the call for how deep in your bunker or out in the world you want to be is, of course, up to you. I don't think a state or province and a "handle" is much of a security breach. George

I like L's idea of using the chain with 1095 powder as a canister filler. That strikes me as a way to further minmize problems and you may get more pattern which is identifiable as a Harley chain, particularly if you keep all the chain oriented one was and use the sides of the billet as the sides of the cleaver. BTW, how much larger is motorcycle chain than bicycle chain? G

Goods, depending on the size of the roller chain I think I'd try squashing it tight to compress and avoid the various air apaces before I tried welding it. I think if you try to do both at once, collapse the voids and stick the parts together, there is more chance of problems. Also, I think I'd run a bead of weld down one side to make the piece of roller chain stiff rather than limp while working on it. Just some ideas. Let us know what works best. Do you know if roller chain is made with different steels for the rollers, pins, and side links or is it all the same stuff? GNM

Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming. Glad to have you. If you add your general location to your profile we can often give better answers and there is a chance of visits for in person consultations. This is a world wide forum and we don't know if you are in northern logging country in Maine, USA, Lapland, or Queensland, Australia. If you are talking about putting a block of wood under the welding heat metal it may be to cut down on deformation because things are pretty oft at welding heat and it is easy squash things. There are lots of old blacksmith stories that are tradition that take on almost religious fervor of what is "right" or "wrong" such as tapping the anvil between blows. One of my favorites is that a number of times I have been told at demos that the metal will reheat faster if I quench it between heats. Not in the physics of this universe. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

And how wide (base and top of the face)?

Well, you could dimount it and weigh it on the bathroom scale (check with you wife first). Or you could compare the height, width, and length dimensions to an anvil of a known weight. If you post them I'll compare them with the dimensions of my 2 anvils (100# and 200#). Or you can kind of estimate how large a cube of iron would equal your anvil and calculating the weight of a block that size (volume x density). Any of those will get you into the ball park. I really can't offer any thoughts on the value as a pure antique as opposed to a working anvil. I don't see any reason why it couldn't be a working anvil.

Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming. Glad to have you. Your query about the value of your anvil is more problematic than most we see here. Generally, anvils do not have any additional "antique" value unless they are 200+ years old, which yours is and very few we get asked about are. First, do you know how much it weighs. Anvils are usually valued by weight. I am guessing that yours will be about 100 pounds. The next criteria is rebound whcih is a proxy for the hardness of the face. You drop a ball bearing from 10" above the face of the anvil and measure how high it bounces. Anything over about 80-85% is very good, 60-75% is OK, and anything less than 50% is pretty punk. I am gong to guess that rebound will vary across the face of your anvil because it appears that the steel face plate is broken and not complete acrtoss the face. You will get a higher rebound where the face plate is intact. The final test is the ring. Does it have a sharp, clear ring when struk lightly? Is the ring consistent across the whole face. Most good anvils usually have a good, musical ring but there are some brands of anvil which are very good but are very quiet. A really sharp ring can be annoying in use and there are a number of methods to quiet them down, Depending on the area of the country the price per pound for used anvils can vary. In the eastern US they are geerally a bit cheaper than out here in the west which was more sparcely settled and there are fewer anvils originally and even fewer after WW2 scrap drives. New anvils can range up $6-7 per pound. Used anvils can range from $2.50-$5 per pound. This does not take into consideration any antique or coolness surcharge for yours. This is a SWAG but if I am right about size and rebound I would think about $400-600 if I were selling or buying it. But in the end it is worth what you are willing to take and the buyer is willing to give. Look at ebay, craigslist, and various auction sites to see what anvils are going for in your area. Finally, you might want to get into blacksmithing as a hobby in your retirement. There are quite a few of us here, myself included, who are in their 70s and 80s and who find hitting hot metal a very good past time in the latter parts of our lives. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

The line "by hammer and hand all arts do stand" which is used in some versions of the story and that I often use as a tag line is part of the chorus of the song of the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths of London, UK. IIRC it dates to the 1820s. GNM

The story is in Mark Aspery's book The Skills of a Blacksmith, Vol. 1 Mastering the Fundamentals but I have never seen it in poetical form. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

That's called snoopervising.

Anvil, if it is in your area of interest there is a really good Anasazi museum in Montecello. IIRC it is just west of town on a hill. Definitely worth a stop if you have time. After reading about Frosty's stories about them I regret that I will never meet Abbey and Libby on this side of the Rainbow Bridge. Now, additionally, I miss Tigger even though I never met her. More regrettable with you because without the @!*% covid we would have almost certainly down your way a few years ago and would have been able to meet both you and Tigger. Grrrr. George

I spent about 6 months at Lewis in 1970 as a Training Officer (2LT) with a Basic Trainng Company. I lived is Steilacoom and my unit was on North Fort. I drove around there about 20 years ago and all the WW2 vintange barracks and other buildings we had used were all gone. I really liked the area but I was there in the summer of a dry year. I'm not sure how much I would do in a Puget Sound winter. One of my best friends is in Port Townsend but that is in the Olympic rain shadow. What type of unit are you in? GNM

I did 21 years in the Wyoming Army National Guard. Never a technician, only a weekender. Where does the WANG go for annual training, Ft. Lewis?

Davor, in the future when presented with something that is frozen up use, instead of WD-40, a 50/50 mixture of acetone and automatic transmission fluid. It is a much beter penetrating medium, and much cheaper. WD-40 does a number of things OK, one of them penetrating oil, and none really well. It was originally developed as a water displacement medium for the aerospace industry. It was the 40th water displacement formula tried, hence, WD-40. BTW, interesting wrench, I've never seen a double sided one like that. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

NS, you mentioned attending "drill". Are you a member of the National Guard or Reserve?

There is also the aspect of having the mind set that you will need tools in situations in the field. In Viet Nam, as an Infantry Platoon Leader, I carried IIRC a pair of needle nose pliers, a small file, and a sort of folding tool kit similar to a swiss army knife. This was 1970-71 and multi tools, e.g. Leatherman, were not a thing yet. They got used surprisingly often on our personal equipment and weapons. Similarly, I carried small containers of spices, etc. to jazz up my C-rations. My late wife, Martha, was a firm believer in being prepared and carried things like multi tools, a tea making kit, small first aid kit, sewing kit, etc. in her purse. At church when someone needed something to fix something it was always said, "Ask Martha if she has it in her purse." And she did surprisingly often. I still carry one of her small multi tools in my pocket. I think this sort of be prepared for situations that may arise mind set is commoner in veterans and blacksmiths than in the general population. GNM

I messed about on the internet and found a couple of places that have brass rumbler bells. Most of the hits of ebay for "brass bells" are for open mouth bells but about 10% of hundreds of hits are closed rumbler bells. There was one for a strap of a couple dozen graduated sleigh bells that looked interesting. Amazon didn't have much but there were a few brass rumbler bells of various sizes. The best result I got was on Google where I searched for "brass sleigh bells." Quite a few possibilities. A search for "crotal bells" gave a fair number of hits on Amazon with some overlap with the "sleigh bells" search. None of the bells I saw described were tuned to a particular note. There are some blacksmith supply places that steel blanks for sleigh bells. The pattern is + shaped with the 4 individual arms sort of leaf shaped with the point out. These could be outlined on brass sheet of varying guages and sizes and raised hot or cold. A ball bearing could be used for the rumbler. BTW, I know what "crotal bells" are but IMO it is a fairly obscure terminology. If you tell us how you intend to use them and any other criteria, e.g. size, we might be able to help more. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Welcome aboard for 7500' in SE Wyoming. Glad to have you. What kind of bells are you looking for, sleigh/rumbler/jingle bells, hand bells, swinging bells, cow bells, or what? Some are pretty easily available and some are more difficult to source. BTW, where are you located. this is a world wide forum and we don't know if you are in Lapland, Tasmania, or Kansas. Please put you general location in you profile. Read the "Read This First" tab. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

White Fox, if you really want to do a semi-scientific comparison make 2 coupons of the same size of the same steel, maybe 3/4" x 1/4" x 3", and quench one in oil and one in super quench. And keep track of which is which. First, try seeing how easily a file will cut them. That will tell you comparitive hardness. Then, put them in a vice and try to break or bend them over. Whether they break or bend will tell you abour relative toughness. Finally, if they break examine the grain size and structure on the broken edge. Finer is better. That will give you some more emperical measurements and comparisons between the 2 mediums. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Geoffroy, You can remove the chrome plating on wrenches by soaking them in an acid overnight. Then neutralize the acid with baking soda and dispose of it but be kind of careful since it still has chromium in solution in it. The safest way is to buy up old unplated wrenchs at flea markets, car boot sales, junk yards, etc. and avoid the problem altogether. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Super quench can harden mild steel to a point where is will almost skate a file, not quite but almost. I saw Ribb Gunter demonstrate it years ago when he forged a chisel out of 1/2" mild steel, quenched it in super quench, and then used it to cut off a piece of the original stock. It doesn't replace good steel but it gets the most out of nild/low carbon steel. I think it would give your hawks a better edge than oil. Experiment and find out. When I make RR spike knives I use it. BTW, no tempering Because it doesn't get that brittle to require tempering. It was invented, IIRC, to replace a very caustic and dangerous quench medium they were using at Sandia National Labratory, NM with something safer. Good luck. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." PS The wetting agent (Shaklee Basic 1, Jetdry, etc.) is there to minimize the skin of steam bubbles that form on the surface of the hot steel and insulate it and slows down the cooling. The sound of a quench is much higher in /Super Quench. WAter or oil give a hissing sound. Super quench is more of a shriek, probably because of smaller bubbles forming and collapsing.' GNM

Anglo-Saxon and European seaxes are most connonly found with a flat edge and a curved or angled back but other forms are known in the archeological record including this one. You also see this form in Viking knives. "Seax" is an Old English word for "knife." "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." White Fox, do you do any heat treating of your RR spike hawks, such as quenching the edge of the blade in super quench? Thanks. GNM

Here is a link to a video about the mini mint at the American Numistmatic Association at the Money Museum in Colorado Springs, CO. It uses late 18th and early 19th century techmology. Of course, coins were hand struck going back to the Ancient Greeks using dies and hand hammers and, sometimes, casting. It is possible that some Roman coins were struck using water powered trip hammers. The video will give you an idea of the processes used for striking coins.