pnut

Is TSC anthracite discounted in the spring or a storage unit? If you talk with a supervisor you can usually get a deal on seasonal items if you catch them at the end of the season. I've never heard of a storage unit being discounted seasonally but it wouldn't surprise me. Pnut

It kind of blows me away too. For a different reason though. I remember having to fight people on a regular basis growing up for no other reason than I rode a skateboard and they didn't like it. Pnut

The face will clean itself as you work hot steel on it. Congratulations on a nice find. Pnut

I do have one but the management doesn't want me to work there. I can't store fuel there either. Pnut

Welcome aboard. I don't have much interest in making blades either for the exact same reasons listed by IDF&C. I can't bring myself to invest the time needed to make a satisfactory blade. I will have to make another draw knife soon though because I walked off and left my last one in the woods . I think it's the third one I've lost in the last ten years or so. Fortunately I don't have to buy them anymore. I find hardware to be much more satisfying to make personally. Sounds like you might also. Anyway, glad to have you, be safe, and remember it's supposed to be fun. Pnut

Just realized I received the notification from Blacksmith Supply that they got my money order for a copy of The Skills of a Blacksmith by Mark Aspery. Hopefully it finds it's way home soon. Pnut

We have a tractor supply but I have to order a whole pallet and pay for it up front if I want coal from them because they got scammed a few years back. Someone talked them into ordering coal and then didn't buy it but sent a friend in to buy it at a discount in the spring. I don't have anywhere to put a pallet of coal anyway. I'm pushing the limits with all the stuff I have outside now. I live in a large apartment building. I've used anthracite and don't mind it at all. I just have to carefully consider every single thing I can't keep in my SUV so I don't get the call from the landlord telling me to get rid of everything. She's been pretty nice so far. Pnut

I started it with charcoal but burned it exactly like bituminous just using a gentler blast. You're one hundred percent correct in that it burned quickly. The second time around I spent about twenty minutes "coking" up a good amount before I started trying to forge anything. It does take a lot of poking and raking to keep from clumping up and burning a cave in the mound of fuel. It's definitely not my favorite fuel. I like charcoal as a primary fuel simply because it's easier to source for me than coal. I get free pallets from a couple places near me. If coal was available locally I'd probably switch between charcoal and coal. Pnut

That's the stump I was using to set the end of my work on when I was punching it. That's just a brush sitting on top of it and a hammer handle sticking up that's sitting on a shorter stump in front of it. That stump is what I use now for my post vise. I've also gotten rid of the repurposed night stand forge. The pressed sawdust boards only lasted about a year. I use a kettle grill or a plywood box that I fill with Dry kitty litter and build a firepot from bricks similar to the MARK III JABOD thread. Pnut

How high are you piling the fuel above the top of your three inch deep firepot? I used the same firepot that I burn charcoal in for corn and it worked. It's about a four inch deep trench style jabod with either a 3/4 or 1 Inch tuyere I truthfully can't remember anymore which and it's about an inch above the bottom of the trench and the walls are sloped. I usually have to pile about three or four inches of fuel above the top of the firepot. I made it with burning charcoal in my mind. I've since changed it to the same type of firepot as Charles R. Stevens used in his Mark III JABOD but I haven't tried burning anything except charcoal in it. As for the hand cranked blower. I only have to turn mine about six or seven RPM's for normal forging with charcoal or it gets blown out of the firepot. Pnut

I'm not skating like I used to that's for sure. I'm now the old guy doing grinds in the bowl. When I would stay in Edgewood Maryland for the summer when I was 10-14 there was an abandoned skatepark from the seventies that we skated everyday. I can relate to the injuries. I've had a couple motorcycle crashes and numerous skating injuries. At 46 I feel twice as old some days. I'll still be skating if all I can do is carve a bowl or skate down the street. I'd say my prime was in the mid nineties. Those days are long gone though. I'm just happy to be able to skate at all. Pnut

There's a sale of 115 anvils in West Chester OH tomorrow 3/13 that listed the price as for 3-4 dollars per pound. Pnut

That's about the most I'd pay for it. I'm in the Northern KY southwestern Ohio area and I've noticed that the price of anvils have continued to rise around my area. If it passes the bounce test I'd pay $3.25 per pound for it. I've offered three dollars a pound on numerous Vulcans and have never been able to make a deal. Not even close to making a deal. Pnut

Depending on the size of your forge a manual dual action mattress pump might work. It's what I started with but soon got an AC version and was using a rechargable jump starter/power station to power it. I agree that the whine can be annoying. I put mine in a styrofoam cooler that is used for shipping and cut a hole for the air hose and a slit for the cord to pass through. It deadened the noise considerably. You can see the cooler and jump starter sitting to the right of the forge. Pnut

I've been skating for 37 years. That's a skate stopper all right. Nothing a cold chisel can't remove from your favourite ledge. I have no idea what type of steel they're made from though. I know the fastener they use to attach them are pretty tough but as I said a cold chisel makes short work of them. Two whacks per fastener, or so I've heard Pnut

I was using an AC air mattress pump for a while and it worked just fine. I use a ball valve between the forge and the blower to regulate the air. I think it cost about $8 US. Pnut

I'm 5'8" and 148 pounds with a bad back. Proper hammer technique and anvil height seem to be the two biggest factors for me. I use hammers weighing between a pound and 3.5 pounds depending on what I'm doing and have no problem with moving metal until it starts getting larger than about an inch or an inch and a half thick. 1.5 inches and up is where I usually start noticing that I'm working a lot harder. Pnut

I think I might mount my cheap anvil like that. I have to take it off the stump every time I'm done using it and this would be much simpler than the eye bolts ,chain ,and bolts I'm using now. Thanks for posting it. Pnut

Yes sir, it is the way we were raised but I understand not feeling like a sir when someone says it to me. The thing I've struggled with during the pandemic is shaking hands. I was raised to shake hands and I'm just now getting it out of my head. Pnut

Finally had to break down and spring for a brush that will actually take scale off. Decided to grab a twisting wrench too since it was on sale. Pnut

If you have a rotating vise it will make it easier and firmly locking your elbows to your side and using your hips to move the angle grinder instead of your arms will make the grinds more consistent. Angle grinders are the only powered grinding tools I currently own. I stopped using the large angle grinder and switched to a 4 1/2in grinder and use smaller wheels whenever possible. Pnut

A side blast forge doesn't need a clinker breaker or ash dump. Charles R Stanley has pictures somewhere here of a good steel side blast firepot build that he did but I can never seem to locate them. Pnut

Are you referring to the pine ridge burners? I was looking at those a couple years ago and wondering how well they performed. Pnut

After looking at it for a second longer I answered my own question. We were typing at the same time. Thanks Pnut

I've never seen a drift quite that shape. Did the struck end being off center cause any difficulties? Pnut On closer inspection it is in line with the point so you can disregard the question unless of course there was a problem