George N. M.

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.

Anvil, I'm sorry to hear of your best friend's passing. I'm sure he will be waiting for you at the far end of the Rainbow Bridge, wagging his tail and asking if you brought treats and telling you that you and he are about to go on cool adventures together. Although sad news, it is good to hear from you. I hope everything is OK. Yours, George

Possib ly in the study area of abnormal psychology. Although, seriously, online communitys and fora could bea fertile area in sociology.

Welcome aboard from 7500 feet (2286 meters) in SE Wyoming, USA. Glad to have you. I checked out your website and you do some nice work. I do have a question about your wrench knives. Do you remove any chrome plating before forging? I really hope so because forging chrome plated objects if pretty dangerous because it can cause heavy metal poisoning. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

It seems to me that there is a higher proportion of vets on IFI than the general population. And it seems there are more USCG vets than I would have thought. There's probably Master's thesis or a PhD dissertation in there somewhere. Something to do with being willing to serve and working with your hands. GNM LTC(R) US Army late of 1/C/1/12 Cav 1st Cav Div (airmobile) Republic of Viet Nam 1970-71

Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming. Glad to have you. Sit down of an evening with the decks cleard and the adult beverage of your choice and start going through the various threads and topics on IFI. Some of them wander of down interesting rabbit holes. There are some good blacksmithing videos on You Tube. (And some REALLY bad ones.) I like Black Bear Forge, JPLservices (our own Jennifer), and Torbjorn Ahman from Sweden. Some folk like Alec Steele but I find his manner of presentation kind of annoying but that may just be me. There are also some good books around which have some advantages over videos. If you want recommendations please say so. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming. Glad to have you. First, we need to know where you are located. This is a world wide forum and we don't know if you are in Lapland, Tasmania or Kansas. Knowing your general location will help with answers. Add it to your profile and read the "Read this first" tab. OK, so many issue with making coins from chunks of copper. First, you can do this hot by casting or semi-cold (heating to anneal but not melting the metal). The semi hot method would involve making a steel die with the lettering and design cut into it in reverse. To prepare the copper you need to reduce it to pieces about as thick as you want the coins, either by slicing or sawing or shearing or forging it out to a thin sheet and then cutting it up into disks or rectangles or whatever shape you want the coins to be. This will be easier if you anneal the copper first. which involves heating it and then quenching it to soften it. The metal reacts the opposite of medium to high carbon steel in that the quenching makes it soft instead of hard. Copper work hardens when hit cold and becomes harder and brittle. The second way to do this involves making a mold out of some reusable material which is heat resstant (my first thought is soapstone). Agan with the design reversed. and pouring molten copper into the mold to make the coins one at a time. If you want designs on both sides you will have to make a 2 sided mold. Casting, particularly with a heavy and high temperature metal like copper can be exceedingly dangerous, even more so if you don't not have the knowledge and experience to do it safely. And this is dangerous in the sense of it can kill or disable or disfigure you in a way that will hurt a LOT. Molten netal is very unforgiving and contains a LOT of energy. Contact with even a small amount of water can cause an amazingly large steam explosion that can throw molten metal around fast and far. To avoid this you need specialized PPE including face protection, apron, pants, and shoes. You also need specialized tongs to handle the crucible holding the molten metal. And you have to rehearse the moves you will make to move the crucible to the mold with everything cold. Think of the care with which bomb disposal experts (EOD) do all their movements and the preparation they do. The safer way is to do the semi cold way. To make a die you can strike in letters that are symmetrical (A, M, V, X, etc.) with a letter stamp set. Asymmetrical letters will have to be done with small chisels. Always remember that the die is done in reverse. The design, e.g. a profile of your power plant, can be done with chisels or a rotary tool with diamond or carbide tips or a combination of techniques. Then grind the face of the die flat to eliminate the little ridges on either side of anything you have struck into the die and polish the die face. Then, put a piece of copper, either cold and annealled or hot and soft, on an anvil or something similar, and put the die on top of it and hit the die hard. It will take a surprising amount of force. If you have access to a hydraulic or screw press you can use that. If you want a design on both sides you will have to make two dies and strike the blank between them. Either method takes a lot of time and work. If it were me, I'd contact a company that makes challenge coins and send them the copper. This can be done at a reasonable cost. My Vietnam War unit veterans' organization had challenge coins made. Cost will depend on how many you want made. Most of the power plants I know of have a few dozen employees. I suggest that if you have little or no experience with these processes that you experiment with small examples first before going into full on production. Others may have more suggestions. Good luck and let us know how it goes and post photos. We LOVE pictures. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."