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I Forge Iron

kjbarth

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    Northern New Jersey, USA
  • Interests
    knife making, straight razor making, woodworking, smoke cooking

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  1. Hi, see this other LINK about the same anvil/post vise/stand combo for some additional info.
  2. Got it and thank you for the re-explanation.
  3. I really like this idea but I can't say I understand the principles for how this works well yet. Is the size of the helium tank ideal for this or will a different size tank work just as well as long as it's not too big? I've got 8 old 20lb propane tanks and an old expansion tank from my furnace that is about 10" diameter by 19" long that I collected when I was planning to make propane forges to use before deciding to go with coal. I prefer forging in my garage but have to roll the coal forge out to my driveway. Could this work as well with a propane tank or my expansion tank or are they too big? I've read some comments on other "super sucker" posts that larger volume cubes don't work as well.
  4. Happy new year to everyone. Thank you to all for your contributions and helping me and others learn through reading your comments and suggestions. I may not actively participate in conversations, but I read most or all of them. Best wishes for a safe and healthy 2019. Ken
  5. Thanks guys. My spark test last night indicated high carbon steel. So I lucked out and made a good deal.
  6. So I picked up some new 2lb bolts as scrap. The seller gave me some info that was on the box but didn't know much about them. He did not give me the box. Unbrako brand, the box they were in had A2LA (which I think is a certification group), vendor code on the box - 66245. ANSI B18.3.1M A574M, Stock no 40418, size M30 - 3.5 x 120mm. Pics below... I googled Unbrako, "A2LA", the vendor code, ANSI code, etc but, unless I didn't read far enough, didn't see anything to indicate what type of steel unless I'm misinterpreting the "A2LA". I was thinking I could make some hammer heads or some other tooling out of these. If they're crap steel, I can just practice hammering on them - I've got 26 of them. If anyone has any ideas what they're made of or how I can figure out what they're made of, please let me know. I was going to bring one down to the grinder to see how the sparks fly. Thanks, Ken.
  7. Thursigar, have you read through the Improvised Anvils thread Charles put together? There may be some ideas in there. If it were me, I'd treat this like a post anvil and I'd get some thick walled round or square pipe that the RR track fits into vertically, weld the bottom of pipe to a 8"x8" or 12"x12" 1/2" thick metal plate, fill partially with pea gravel and tamp, put in your cut RR track vertically, fill the rest of the way with the pea gravel, tamping every few inches. Use metal wedges to wedge between sides of pipe and RR track at the top. You would only need 12" to 18" of RR track for this and if you use pea gravel, you can adjust the height up or down as needed. You could also use concrete and maybe some rebar instead of pea gravel to lock the RR track in place but you would lose the ability to adjust height if that's important to you. Just a thought...
  8. A couple other options for new anvils is Holland Anvil (I have a 190lb and swage block) and Hoffmann Forge (Jymm Hoffmann). Both make anvils out of H13.
  9. Oh, and I'm not crazy to drive all over looking for anvils. My son goes to college in Indiana so I looked out there on one trip to see him and my parents live in NH so I made some side trips on a couple of visits up to see them. BTW, on CL right now there are a BUNCH of anvils for sale in CT. 160lb Fisher $340 Stonington, plus others in Stonington including PW, Hay Budden, Vulcan, other Fishers, plus a bunch in Mass as well.
  10. Nicholas, I've seen plenty of anvils advertised for sale in CT recently and for the past few months. Not sure what media you are using to do your search. If you search CraigsList, you should find a few in CT as well as a few in Mass, RI, and NY which should be within driving distance for you. You can refine your search to look up to 200 miles (I think) from your zip code. Not sure exactly what your budget is but most of what I've seen on CL recently would be within the cost in your original message. You can also look on ebay and there are several facebook anvil forums that may have local to you anvils for sale from time to time. I'm in NJ and I've driven to Mass, CT, VT, NH, PA, and Indiana to look at anvils that I saw on CL or ebay. Even had a guy drive down from VT to meet me at a rest area on the Mass Pike so I could look at an anvil.
  11. Resurrecting an old topic.... Have a 170lb Fisher in a bucket for about 24 hours now and the electrolysis seems to be working well. Can the water and sodium carbonate solution be re-used after skimming/cleaning out the rust from the solution? If so, for how many uses does the electrolysis solution remain effective? I've got 4 anvils and a bunch of hammers and a bunch of other smithing tools that weren't high enough off the ground when flood waters flowed through my garage and shop and I want to get them cleaned up. Thank you.
  12. Trying to determine age of Mouse Hole anvil. Based on what I see of stamping on side, I think it's a 1879 after Brooks & Cooper went back to the M & H stamping. However, there is a serial # on the foot that reads either "15810" or "5810" (I'm not sure if what is before the "5" is part of the serial # or not) but neither serial # seems to match with the stamping on the side per AIA and Mousehole Forge descriptions of stampings and serial #'s after Brooks & Cooper took over. If the serial # is 5810, date would probably be 1880 but then side stamping doesn't match. If the serial # is 15810, date would be after 1896 but the "PATENT" stamping on side should be above the mouse picture. In this case, the "PATENT" is above the cwt stamp like 1879. Side stamping is: M&H ARMITAGE MOUSE HOLE FORGE SHEFFIELD WARRANTED "pic of mouse" HOLE PATENT 0 . 5 . 14
  13. Went to look at this anvil. Seller thinks it's a Trenton or Hay-Budden but I'm not so sure it's either. Seller thinks it's about 300+ lbs, I'm thinking maybe 250. I did pick it up and move it around a little. Anyway, I don't see any stamping or markings on the anvil or anything distinguishing underneath to id the maker. I did not buy it yet but am interested and took some pictures. There is some gray paint on the sides that may be covering up some stamping or marking. There may be some marking on the 2nd picture but I didn't bring chalk to try to highlight better. Anvil is 34 1/2" long, face 5" wide, and 13 1/4" tall. I looked for an hour glass or oval pill shape depression underneath but neither there. There is a shallow depression that follows the shape of the bottom about 1" in from the outer edge and a square handling hole in the middle. I'm looking through my AIA to see if I notice something similar and a lot look similar. Rings all over the top but not quite like my 2 150lb Peter Wrights. Rebound about 80% with spots near horn and heel 60%+/-. Want to see if any of the smart folks here have any ideas as to maker.
  14. Railroad ties are wooden, soaked in creosote, and if they aren't still in use, are most likely falling apart. Pieces of rail which can be used as an improvised anvil may or may not be available in scrap yards, may be available in railroad maintenance yards (if you ask nice), and are definitely available on ebay, CL, etsy, in various sizes (heights/widths) and lengths. Railroad spikes are also available individually or by the pound (in boxes) on ebay, CL, and etsy.
  15. Hi. Wondering if anyone has any information on Lomas Froming & Co anvils made in Sheffield? I think I read somewhere that Mr. Lomas and Mr. Froming worked for Armitage/Mousehole for a while and started their own company shortly before 1852. Curious to know if anyone know what the anvils were made from, quality, etc. My perhaps incorrect assumption is that the Lomas/Froming manufacturing process would be similar to Armitage/Mousehole. I don't have my Postmans books AIA and Mousehole Forge handy (casualties of flooded garage and basement over the weekend) so I can't research there until I replace them. I found some info in a Sheffield history site (sheffieldhistory.co.uk): White's 1852 M. and H. Armitage (& Co.) ironmasters, forgers, anvil manufacturers &c Mousehole Forge and Owlerton Rolling Mill Thomas Binney Anvil maker and smith 54 Holly Street Henry Ibbotson Brown Patten &c. dealer & anvil smith 171 South Street Miles James Mason Fawcett Anvil, vice, hammer &c. manufacturer Sheldon Row; h. 60 Wicker Thomas Henry Fromings Anvil manager (Lomas & Co.) Forge Lane William Parker Spade, shovel, mill chisel, anvil &c. manufacturer Attercliffe & Sheffield William Parker Spade, shovel, mill chisel, chain, anvil, vice hammer &c. manufacturer Pond Forge, Forge Lane; h. Attercliffe William jun Parker Spade, shovel, mill chisel, chain, anvil, vice hammer &c. manufacturer Norfolk Works, 65 Duke Street, Park; h. Attercliffe Joseph Sanderson Anvil maker (S Bros) h. 5 Monmouth Street Thomas Sanderson Anvil &c. manufacturer (S Bros.) h. Ecclesall Road Thomas and Joseph Sanderson (Bros.) anvil, vice, hammer, press, screw &c. manufacturers Vulcan Works, 164 South Street John Hatthronthwaite Winder Merchant and steel, file, anvil &c. manufacturer Royds Works
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