blazerbud

If there are 500+ anvils in the working sizes and 1400+ miniatures. He is sitting on at least a Million Dollars worth of tools if sold individually at market value. He probably only has a fraction of that amount tied up in all that. I am both impressed by the size of that collection and by the goal of him trying to aquire at least one of each ever made. But, I am left with some feelings of sadness that these anvils are just collecting dust.

I think that my craftsmanship and creativity is developing on its own as time progresses and I force myself to do it correctly without cutting corners. For me the most important resolution is to take time to appreciate and get to know my fellow smithies. I can learn so much more from my fellow smiths than I can on my own, and it is not just about the craft. I am fortunate to be in the company of some fine individuals and I want to know them personally aside from our craft. These are people who amount to more than the average person I have been accustomed to being around. Always strive to be like someone who is better than myself.

Tom, After watching that, All I can say is, "I like you." The video gave your shop the magical appearance or feel that makes Blacksmithing so alluring. ......somewhere back in a poorly lit workshop a master craftsman creats stuff using a process that is not understood by the everyday folk. I too like it when a beautiful wife brings me coffee. That is classic. I like your hand cranked forge and hand cranked drill press. Is that a "blue tooth"? You and I would be hanging out if we were closer.

Hi Wayne. This is Bud LaMonica from Choo Choo forge. Glad to hear from you. Hope you had a good Christmas and New year.

I like that knife. I totally understand why it is called an Avocado knife even if no-one else does. That brings to mind, there is a perfect knife for each task.

I have lots of hammers, but I have the craftsman hammer which is almost 11 years old. 1 year ago I polished it and put my own hand made handle in it. Recently, I was going to retire it. So, I picked up a new craftsman hammer about a month ago. I polished it and reshaped the handle. My old craftsman has a really narrow peen, the newer one is broader, and I reshaped the peen on the new hammer to be even more broad. Once I got the hammer to where it felt real good, I forged with it all day. It was easy to get used to. But, the next day as I was admiring it, I noticed a large flat dent on the corner of the face. I know that I had it polished really well, and I also know that I was drawing stuff out with some real force, but nothing as brutal as I have in the past. This dent was caused by drawing out using the edge. The newer craftsman hammer just isn't as hard as the old one. It is noticably different in stock form, and when I got it into shape for use, under the paint I can see the differential heat treat zones, but I think that I am going to have to remove the handle and heat treat it myself.

I thought something was different.

I used to run two 4 1/2" Black and Decker, back when Black and Decker was the best. For the past 15 years Black and Decker are cheapos. The Dewalt is identical shape but might be cast from different pot metal. I also have a high dollar 9" Bosch. It sounds like a shop vac. When I was younger, I started putting my name and date of purchase on all my tools. This is what the old guys I worked with did. You'll blink and one day the brand name stuff is 15 years old and still running strong. I also have 4 or 5 HF grinders with different wheels or sanding disks or brushes. I got them on sale for less than $10 each. They are triple that normally now. You can loan the cheapos to people, don't loan the Bosch, it has more torque than most Helicopters.

I like the way you think. I often ask myself the same type questions so that if I am ever stranded on a desert Island I can start my own civilization again or at least take advantage of my time to day dream about philosophical or scientific puzzles. For reference, you should measure your knuckles ahead of time so that you can re-establish a unit of measure.

I have really enjoyed this topic. The shear notion of investing $500 of time to make a $3 item has sparked my interest. Totally relegating file-making to an artistic achievement. I have some tool steel flatbar destined for this later this week. The Da Vinci reference was perfect. I have a book of his journal drawings. One of my favorite inventions was the large screw auger type lift pumps for raising water from one containment pool up to the next. My daily commute takes me by the City of Dayton, TN water treatment plant. They use twin screws of this type to lift non other than sewage. His magnificent design, in this most "dignified" service.

I have lots of old cameras. I bought all the expensive pro-model film cameras that were discarded by their previous owners after digital got popular. It is almost a museum. I restored them with new foam and played with each new one for a while. I probably have about 30 camera bodies, nikon, olympus, canon, yashicamat. and I have about 60 lenses. All told I have about a couple grand tied up in it. But, the original aquisition cost would have been closer to a quarter million dollars. I couldn't help myself, buying a camera that I used to want that originally cost $10,000 for only about $50.

One other thing. Don't go spending money yet on buying stuff. Wait until you are knowledgeable to get or build the right stuff. Your money is better spent on a membership to a local forge or on a quality hammer of your own to use at the local forge than it is on a junky anvil. You really need to find someone or someplace that you can go to to learn and gain experience for a few months before you try to build your own shop. Otherwise you will have spent too much money on stuff that is inadequate in the long run.

I was fortunate to sit through a demo by Dave Smucker at the John C. Cambell folk school. Heat Treating Toolsteel - Tips - Techniques & Useful Information This link has some easy to understand technical descriptions of the whole mysterious hardening-tempering issue.

It does not matter if it is 1045 or 4140 or whatever. Tempering will be the easiest part of the equation and it will ensure that your hammer is tough. Even though there are specific temp requirements for each type of alloy, you can't go wrong with heating up to non-magnetic or orange/yellow and then quenching in hot oil. wipe all the oil off, Put it in the oven at 375 degrees F, for at least an hour or so, then shut off the oven, leave it in there the rest of the day.

BROOM - The loneliest tool in the shop.

Around my parts, it is called "state of the art" engineering.

I have this book also. The most helpful part for me was seeing all of the homemade jigs and sanders and grinders.

I think the easy way is with the drill press as you said, but you made me think of something. It probably won't help your situation, but I wonder if it is possible to have a hole that is enlarged to fit over a bolt thread, then fit your piece while it is hot over a cold bolt thread and close it down on the bolt thread gently, while twisting the bolt. Then when it is cool enough thread it on out. I don't know. Just me personally, If I didn't have the right tools available, I would go to friend who did and do it the easy way.

This is not a rumor. It is fact, and is documented by the journals of some of the Yankee officers. The horns and tails were removed with the intention of demoralizing the industrial capability of the South. The place were this gets "fishy" is when you go to a swap meet see an anvil with the horn broke off, people like to tell this story, I have seen a few dozen broken anvils, none of which were likely broken during the Civil War. But, I cannot remember a time when someone showed up with a broken anvil and someone else didn't start in on a General Sherman history lesson.

Do you like PinaColada?

fix it, and if it were me, I would try to weld up some extra steel to attach for the heel and make it look as close to original as possible. It can be done, and its worth doing, not because of trying to save money or time. Because it will cost way more if you consider your time. But it will be worth it psychologically. Once you have repaired this, you have reached a new level in your wetal working.

The best thing for mice is cats. One cat that doesn't bug you very much will be all it takes to keep mice away. They will be scared of the cat and won't even try to come in even when the cat is not present. Get a stray cat or a dumb cat that just comes around to get fed and halfway lives in the workshop but wanders around the property.

So you want it to throw the hammer back at your forehead? It will be loud too. Functionality in mind, It doesn't matter what you make the stand out of as long as it is stable. Wood may dampen it some I suppose........ that seems logical, but it might actually provide some rebound to the whole anvil and hammer while dampening the sound.