Donal Harris

There should be anvils for sale at a reasonable price at the tractor show in Sulphur on the 20th of September, Chris. Likely again at the SCABA conference in October also. 

I really need to spring for cable. I had no idea the storm was all that bad, Chris. We just got a lot of rain. Enough that the pool came close to over flowing. 

Power here in Purcell is very spotty unless you live on the far north side where power is supplied by OEC. We live on the north side of town. Those in the town proper have power distributed by the City of Purcell where even a stiff breeze seems to knock out the power. 

One of the benefits of being a member of the Saltfork Craftsmen is access to quality coal. I am certainly grateful for that and Byron filling my barrels with his excavator. The only problem I have in regards to coal is getting the barrels off my trailer. 

On 8/19/2019 at 4:27 PM, SLAG said:

T.P.,

Ah the good old days!

Will they ever come again?

SLAG.

 

I certainly hope not, SLAG. I barely survived them the first time through. 

Sorry, but I know only what I read online in the IFU’s for the various T Wash Mordant products I found using Google. 

Really I only clicked on the post because of the word ‘mordant’.  Iodine serves as a mordant in gram stain procedures in clinical labs. We ask all prospective new techs what the function of iodine is in gram stains while interviewing them. It is just one of 10 or so questions on our ‘Idiot Test.’ All the questions on the test are fairly basic things anyone who has gone through an MLT or CLS program should know. We created the test after going through a rough patch where every new hire seemed to be an ‘idiot’ after we hired them.  Totally off topic and random, I know. 

You didn’t mention rinsing. Do the instructions for use mention a rinsing step?

Not weak at all. 10/10. 

Likely so, and just like the Ford guys today, the Mousehole guys would have been right. Chevy for show. Ford to tow it there. 

I still haven’t hit a lick since my OP. It has just been too hot. Even the mornings are hot. One morning a couple of weeks ago it was pretty nice out, so I went out and sorted my scrap pile. That is the closest I have come to forging since the beginning of July. 

Too right because mine is the undisputed King of all the anvils.

(Could the top be smoothed any?)

It is a Mousehole. You can still make it out some on the side. The feet look like those on mine. The dots are visible as well. 

15 minutes ago, Irondragon Forge & Clay said:

Amazing what Google knows...

500 SE 55th St
Oklahoma City, OK 73129

My Google-fu is very strong. My ability navigate OKC is unfortunately quite poor and I don’t put much faith in Google Maps to guide me there. 

Ditto to what anvil said. 

Edited to add: Yes. You can use light blows as the steel cools smooth it out. Light, planishing blows they are called on YouTube. 

Where is this place, Chris or Picker?  My father-in-law owns a place that makes (or used to make) utility trailers and truck beds. I have probably more leaf spring from trailers than anyone could ever use, especially someone who doesn’t make knives. 

But I could use at least one forklift fork. 

Would make nice handles for copper coffee spoons and such, or so I have been thinking about a few odd bits I have. 

Praying for you and your family. 

I welded a shank on, or I should say my dad did. He is the big guy in the middle. The boy on the right is my grandson, and the fat guy on the left holding the guillotine tool.  The goat is just The Goat. (He serves no real purpose that I have ever personally witnessed.)

I have no idea what the scrap I used for the shank is. It is just something I picked up a while ago that looked like it was about the right size for my Hardy hole. It appears to be a high carbon steel of some sort. Since the shot, I have chopped it to length, but haven’t worked on it to make it fit yet. I figure I will just shave a little off the sides with an angle grinder till it fits. 

I suppose it was theirs to abuse as they saw fit, yet still a stupid thing to do. Especially for people who should have known better.  

Other than a hot cut and a simple spring swage (which hasn’t turned out to be as useful as I expected it might), I haven’t made any Hardy tools. Primary reason is I haven’t yet worked out how to hold something thicker than an inch while shaping it, and I am worried about breaking the heel off will doing so. My anvil is small, about 97 lbs, but being a Mousehole, the heel is pretty sturdy. Still it isn’t something I want to risk. I have quite a bit of drill pipe and will probably use some of that and other scrap I have to make what you guys call a “portable hole”.

What changes are you thinking of making to get to “your own style”?  Coming up with something you might feel is your own style would be kind of hard I think. Slip joints have been around in one form or another for a very long time. I expect it would be like it is with books.  It is impossible to write a truly original story. Everything is just a variation on some other story that has been written and rewritten countless times. 

Just about right? That is a bit like saying MJ was a pretty good ball player. 

Mostly I use my Saltfork swage block in my garage when beating copper bracelets and leaf key rings, but occasionally I carry it out to the forge. The only part I haven’t really found a use for is the shovel form. 

As for a large one like Frosty’s, I’ve never seen one for sale outside of eBay, and there they are very spendy. Really large ones are listed for over $5K. I assume this is because as Frosty said, people didn’t really new what they were. I expect more than a few were sold as scrap. I expect a number were melted during WWII.

Since it has already been too hot, you could try heat treating it first, but I say use it. On future heads you buy, you might want to be a little less aggressive with the wire wheel. I took my first “finds” down to bare metal and now wish I hadn’t. Rust is now a problem when if I had just cleaned it up it wouldn’t have been. 

I have a hammer similar to yours, except mine is unmarked. I heated it and twisted the peen to make it a diagonal peen, then heat treated it. I love it, but have to remember to apply BLO fairly often to keep it from rusting. 

If I could make such beautiful things I would probably use them in the kitchen as well, but since I can’t and still have one girl to put through  college I can only look and wish. 

My pick would be the first, but with a silver ferrule. 

Just remember, if he shows up, don’t whip out your hammer unless you fully plan to use it. If you pull it out just to threaten him, he will take it from you and likely send you to visit your ancestors. 

Started with 2.5” x 3/4” bar stock. A36. 

It is hard to tell from the photos, but I notched two 6” pieces of the bar stock.  The four short pieces that look like 3/4” square are actually just strips I cut from a scrap piece. I couldn’t find any actual 3/4” square stock. The cut side will face away from the die, leaving a smooth side facing the die. 

In one of the pictures I have the parts all stacked together as they will be when finished. The 1/4” plate that fits over the die at the top and bottom are not shown.  I haven’t cut those yet.  I still have the base to cut as well as the hardy shank.

My question is how do I weld all this together without binding? Any help will be appreciated.

i forget where I found the design.  Likely on this site or the BAM site