Cross Pein

So I'm watching the news the other day and caught a blurb about an armory museum closing in Worcester MA. (pronounced Woosta by us locals.) Then I get a call from my buddy - Archiphile on IFI - do I want to go check it out before it closes. There were a lot of old weapons and armor, but they also had these. The leg vice was from Germany or Italy circa 17th century. The anvil was from Central Europe circa 1763. I really thought the vice was a true museum piece. The museum was the Higgins Armory Museum http://www.higgins.org

I believe they made the face they are standing behind at about the 2 min. mark.

Since all the gearing is on the outside, there may just be oil holes to squirt some oil into on that blower. I would get some oil on all the bushings clay the pan and start using it. That seems a very good deal indeed.

Hey Pug}{maN, Let me poke around the cellar and see what I can find for wax. I know I have some down there that has not been melted down yet, I just don't know how much. It has been a bad couple of years with the bees and they gave me no excess honey last fall. Hope to get into the hives this weekend - it's likely to be the last real warm spell for a while. I have never made wine, but the 5 gallon carboy in the picture is mead. (It was delicious.) The 3 gallon was an amber ale. I am going to be making another small batch of mead in the next few weeks. Bill

You know everyone always point to ebay and craigslist. I guess it is time to tell the story of my latest anvil purchase. Sorry, its kind-of a long story. I was not even looking, and my wife hands me the local weekly paper pointing to an ad – Heavy Duty Anvil - $150. So I tell her "I don't really need an anvil (I love my 100 lb Peter Wright). But it kinda gnaws at me - so after dinner I figure I got nothing to lose by calling. So I call - It goes like this: Seller: “Hello” Me: “Hi I'm calling about the anvil in the paper.” “Yep” “Um - What can you tell me about it?” “It’s pointy on one end and has two holes in it - and it’s heavy. What else do you want to know?” Not only does he not know squat about the anvil, but he sounds like he might be drunk. Turns out that he is just down the road about 1/2 mile from me so I tell him I will swing by. But before I go, I tell my wife that I am afraid the anvil might be stolen and I won't buy it no matter what if I think it is stolen. (Why doesn't he know what he has?) I almost don’t go. So I get there and an old gentleman in a golf cart waves me to follow. To my relief, he wasn't drunk, just very old. We go down around his large - used to be a chicken coop - shop and he opens a garage door and there in the corner near the door is a smallish anvil. He slides it out and I start to look at it. It says Armitage on the side - so I'm thinking mousehole. The table is just OK, and there is only one hole - a hardy hole - so I'm thinking it’s real old. I brought a small ball-pein with me and the ring is good. Then he tells me that he had three anvils and gave one to his son, one to his daughter and kept this one. “You want to see my daughter’s?” “Sure” So we jump into the golf cart – his daughter lives next door and out by the shed is a stump with a Peter Wright sitting on it. It looks to be about twice the size of mine – and it’s GARDEN ART. So, after checking out the ring (like a bell!). I tell him “I’ll give you $200 for this one.” “OK, I’ll just swap them out.” “No Charlie”, by now I know his name, “It’s not yours!” So He goes to the door and knocks “This guy wants the anvil.” “How Much?” “$200.” “OK”. “I gotta swing by the bank. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” When I get back from the bank, he has it out in the driveway. He had moved it there alone! It turned out to be 167 lbs! (I later found out that he’s 90 years old - and he moved this anvil alone!) I don’t let him help me put it into my truck – he is 38 years my senior and about 150 lbs lighter than me. Bottom line – my advice is to read the local classifieds – in the newspaper. That is where most older peopled will place an add – and mostly older people will see it there – craigslist and ebay are seen by too many to get a very good deal – most of the time. PS. Although I saved the Peter Wright from its ‘lawn ornament’ status, unfortunately they did swap out the Armatige which is now an ornament and not for sale. If I could have I would have bought them both.

I do home brewing, bees, and in summer I have a large vegetable garden. Cheese sounds great - I may have to try that. Bill

Hi Nick, Welcome. There is a ton of knowledge here.

Pardon my ignorance, but what am I looking at here. Never mind, I googled it. If it were me, I would make a jig for my drill press. That way I would only need to lay out the first hole on each bar. Something where the last hole drilled went over a pin to get a consistent distance and some sort of fence for the side to side. You could also assemble it with the minimum necessary and drill the rest two pieces at a time. Good luck, Bill

I will keep you and yours in my prayers.

My first Peter Wright was the exact same anvil. It is an excellent anvil - but I paid about 7 times as much. :( You should go back there when the snow is gone and see what else he has!

So when I do a plumbing repair and see all that green on the inside of the pipe - that means my tap water is toxic? I drink that water daily. Bill

You could get another piece of steel, match the screw holes in the hinge and use bolts to turn the whole thing into a clamp.

I met someone on this site that lives about 3 miles from me. We have become close friends and I learn a lot from him. Bill

Thanks Clinton Those fire pots sure look sweet. Bill

Fe-Wood, I am interested in getting one of those fire pots (probably in the spring). Could you show me the bottom? What are you doing for a tuyere / ash dump? Does Roger sell those? I don't want to contact him until I am comfortable spending the money. I have also read that the clinker breaker does not spin on those, but you just shake it. This doesn't make much sense to me since they look like a shape made for turning and the shaft looks round. Thanks, Bill

Excellent in every respect. Thank you Ric Bill

excellent - great Ideas - I have tons of old wrenches. Now I will make a coat rack for the smithy!

Just shows how things can change in a short time. Last night my neighbor from across the street knocked on the door. She had a swarm in her back yard. Hour later and I have a hive. Fairly large swarm they look good and comfy today. Making some sugar water to put Fumagillan on them. Supers go on next weekend! Bill

Mark, Back in the early 1980's I worked in the tool crib of a machine shop for a couple of years. Yes drill bits can be successfully sharpened by hand. I was taught by an old timer and can do a fair job of it. But each time the angle might be off a little bit more. You are talking about a large grinder with coolant - right? I would think that if you have many small machine shops near you, that you could do some of theirs to help you pay for it. I am not sure that you could do that over the internet, cost of shipping 2 ways and all. If I was looking at a dull $75.drill, I'd pay $5 - $10 to have it sharpened. Bill

I'm trying to picture this - if you put it on wrong, won't the teeth be on the back? Bill

I have been a beekeeper for several years. All our hives died last winter (2010-2011). It was a real bad one here in the Northeast and many hives were lost. We decided to take a year off. Then just as the time was approaching to order packages for this year, we found out that my wife needed heart surgery. She came home yesterday, but the recovery will be several weeks. So I won't be doing the bees this year. I miss them. Love watching them come and go. Enjoy the bees Allen - it's another great hobby. Bill

Could this be an example of the often seen inverse relationship between wealth and common sense? (insert any appropriate almost any Romney quote here] or - more likely - a fake run up of the price hoping to create the above? Maybe someone (or two?) really want a decoration more than they want a vice.

I read this forum constantly. I have read most of the postings for the last 3 years. This forum is a social gathering. There are people here that I consider friends, many of them probably don't even recognize my posts. I will miss Grant Sarver, I still miss Mike Ameling. There are people here who post things that I would never ever skip - either because they are so knowledgeable, or so entertaining. Brian Brazeal and Frosty come to mind. (Nakedanvil of coarse fit into both.) I am in awe of some of the stuff members here make. There are people that I wonder about- I can't remember the last time I saw a post from Charlotte - who used to be very active - and is also missed. When you are new, a lot of the motivation to post is to be part of the conversation. When you are new, you don't know that the thing you are wondering about has been asked over and over. I used to post more frequently, one day on one of the treads that I had started. The conversation moved to using a certain tool. It was a tool that I had never heard of - not a blacksmith tool. So I replied "What's a ......?" The first response was "Google is your friend." That set the tone and nobody ever gave me an answer. (The responder was clearly not my friend.) So, my takeaway was "You're not part of the click. This is our conversation now." I am much more reluctant to post now that I have been put in my place. Back to Ciladog's question. You don't owe anyone an answer. No one is entitled to your knowledge. Those of us who have enormous amounts to learn appreciate it when knowledge is shared. I love this site - I just wish it was a more comfortable and encouraging conversation sometimes. I often see the "tell me everything now" and the "I want to make a sword by next weekend." posts and I don't know how to respond - so I don't. I liked the response above. "try this thread or search for this keyword." That tells them how to find what they need without sounding like "Don't bother me kid." Also I can't tell you how many times someone has asked a question that could be considered a lack of working for it and it has started my mind down a path it would never have gone down with out that thought seed. Bill

Wow poor guy - You're not hitting it hard enough! Your hitting it too hard! I think you have a nice block there and I hope you sell a lot of them. Bill

John, Welcome to the site. I hope you are very active here - you obviously have a lot to add. I look forward to your posts. Excellent video. Bill