AndrewOC

G'day Will, 'tis a leg vice table. Check out the hole pattern in the top for the 'leaf' shaped mounting bracket and the single hole underneath in the long side of base triangle. I wonder if it is an Alldays & Onions product- 'cos they were in Birmingham making diverse forging equipment... lots of other manufacturers were there as well, of course. AndrewOC

Found the tumbler pics; From "Canning handbook on Electroplating" 14th ed, 1940. There are a dozen more descriptive pages, if some one reminds me of the best way to archive it on iForgeiron. Regs, AndrewOC

Found the roof clamp picture. Drop forging, Angle smithing, Spring making.... ICS Reference Library, c.1911, section 67, page 32-33. enjoy, AndrewOC

Nice. I can see some very fine 'whitesmithing' coming off that bench. Andrew.

Neat Harold! Could you do us a rough rev per minute estimate, you know, so we may copy this excellent design more accurately ;) Are the bits of steel inside the drum shown in your 3rd photo 'grit' to do the peening? Would you like some pics of propriety tumblers here for comparison? thanks, AndrewOC

Another thought, do you have an anvil with pritchel and hardy holes? Include the sizes to fit these, for quick tool making. I'm trying to remember these hole sizes and for my fly press shanks, now there is a dogging down table with round holes as well! AndrewOC

Very neat idea from Dave. Flat roofs tend to be high maintainance, though. See at 25:10 to 25:18 how there is starting to be some sag in the roof, just something to keep aware of. In theory an arched roof may settle in and compensate for this... sorry I don't know exact furnace examples (check out old brick kilns and iron smelters and their arches, i 'spose). A.

Hi kraythe, try looking up; Blacksmith-shop Equipment, Light Forging, Heavy Forging, Drop-hammer and Machine Forging, Angle and Plate Smithing, Spring Smithing, Motor-vehicle Smithing and Vicing, Coach Smithing and Repairs, Tool Smithing, Hardening and Tempering, Treatment of Low-carbon Steel, Special Smithwork It is an ICS Library text. This seems to be on 'Google Books', though my work server doesn't let me check. In it I am sure there is a picture of a furnace roof clam/p which holds bricks in an arch and provides a lifting eye. AndrewOC

Yes, Jim reminded me last week; I had to pick-up the missus from airport after her first conference. Went to Clarendon Swap also. There is some white powdery stuff waiting on a pallet for you, about 160kg +. Woody, I've heard about some big boilers that have been de-commissioned in Sydney. Biggg though, 3m+ diameter, 5m+ long. I hope to get a tour soon-ish. A.

'Spose pull the Onion pump out and whiz it 'round to see if they prefer one way. a. ps I saw a trusty Alldays on Sunday as well; just someone we both know. pps u might be picking up bags of white powdery stuff from him soon- I got them off the stack for ya.

I thought it was a 'small' world. Fred made the comment that when he was pres, he was gradually increasing the 'heritage' department. As I've seen at this Oberon and the Menangle do last spring, one blown pipe and most steam owners can't afford a repair for several years= one less steam attraction. Nah, can't make it south this weekend, send my luv... A.

Hmm, I'm getting together a small hammer moving outfit, not finished yet though... The hammer is just going to be on plate, not a thick timber sled? Fred, an ex-organiser of Steamfest, mentioned a new-ish 'One million dollar' shed. I'm waiting for emails from their current president for formal contact and details. A.

Phil, I do hope to get to Lithgow; just haven't planned that far ahead with the missus. Also the National machinery rally is also on that weekend; though being at Mudgee, i could split the weekend. What sort of help does monster need with a 1cwt?? I'm interested to hear what you and Bill have to say about Steamfest, they approached me at Oberon for demo-ing... Andrew.

Well I had fun this weekend! This is in spite of my friend seizing the engine in his old Mitsubishi Pajero, and havin to limp home. Also the storms visited again, (each evening!) but well timed- only bucketing down after we had finished each day. I am thinking about going to Maitland 'Steamfest', which is another tremendous event: Home - Steamfest It is on the 13th / 14th of April this year, then there is Ironfest (Lithgow) on the 20th/ 21st of April. Lots of improvements to my 'kit' to do in the meantime... mainly to make everything easier! Thanks to all that came around to say hi, it makes the forum friendships come full circle. Three memorable questions were; 1. where do ya get an anvil from... :rolleyes: 2. where do you get a swage block from... 3. how much do you want to pay for my 5 anvils and four forges!!! (ie set me up for retirement) AndrewOC PS my 'stall neighbours' Rare Chairs and the Wood Guys were real great to be around, and really made the weekend.

Hi everyone. This weekend, February 8th -10th 2013, is the 6th Highlands Steam and Vintage Fair held at Oberon, NSW. see: http://highlandssteam.org.au/ If you have the chance, come and check it out. From what I have heard the show is a great and diverse event. A friend and I shall be attending with some kind of blacksmithing demo. Neither of us have done this much in the past, so getting the set up there and to function will be the main achievement! Come join us, if you can. I hope to do more of these events this year. cheers, AndrewOC

G'day Bobwire, Can you get hold of coal 'fines'? Stuff that is the next size up from sand. Mix it with water and build up the size and shape of hearth you need (with air pipe into it), and there you have the ultimate shape for the job in hand. The picture is of a fire I built to pre and post heat the casting for welding- large. With this same forge I can make a hearth the diameter of any tin can I care to find. The tin is a plug for forming the wet coal ('slack'). The other fun benefit with playing around like this, (apart from the childish mud pie fun!) is that the damp compacted slack turns into homemade coke ('breeze'); I've got to about 3" thick with some fires. Feel free to pop your location under your avatar (and post in the thread 'OZ roll call' in subforum 'Everything Else' which is under 'General Discussions'). Iif you can get to Rozelle, Sydney, I can show you the forge in the pic. cheers, AndrewOC cheers

Q: hardie (shank); tapered or straight? A: whatever (closely) matches your anvil hole. ;) A.

Hi Marshall, a similar course has been held a couple of times in one of our Australian capital cities and proved very popular! Machinery forum people raved about it months later. You should have many takers; it is such a useful skill. good luck, wish i could attend, Andrew.

G'day matt, at this link is what I have found so far (inc. your finds- thanks); http://trove.nla.gov.au/list?id=32652 I have a C100, which is a bigggg 'c' frame, fabricated fly press. It may weigh 150-200kgs.(!) The specs. are as follows; Die space/ bedplate; 14" x 11-1/2" stroke of slide; approx 11-1/2" die shank; 1.5" dia x 3" opening in bed; 4-1/2" sq. Compare with: http://www.johnheine.com.au/ machine height to top of screw nut; 31" Thread; 2" dia x 2-1/2" lead, four thread/ start handle is 1" bar, 45" long The frame is made up of 1/2" and 3/4" plate. They would be a good design to copy for those who wish to make their own. regs, AndrewOC

Hi andy, Welcome! have you come across the Blacksmiths Association of Western Australia? They have a website at; http://bawa.webkroll.com/ Maybe they could be a contact for other Derby-ites. regards, AndrewOC

G'day andys! Andrew here in sydney. The only other thing I could add to all the quality advice above is a tale of another Bradford Kendall anvil. Where I started my apprenticeship we had a 3 cwt Peter Wright and a 2 cwt BK. No one used the BK 'cos it was so noisy, just sitting on it's stump made of 4"x4" blocks on end. One day, when it was quiet, I re-did the straps to hold the blocks tight, then got the toolmaker to turn up some flash tapered spacers to coach screw anvil through the holes in the feet. Unexpectedly, the ringing went away! Check out; http://bradken.com/ourcompany/history and: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradken I don't know when exactly they made anvils, at least either side of the nineteen seventies. cheers, AndrewOC

I don't have any information, but try; http://www.famcomachine.com/cntct.htm and http://www.alvaallenind.com/ enjoy, Andrew.

Hi Bruce, Are you watching the Heine or the Selectron at Dee Why? ( I wouldn't want to 'cut your grass' ;) ) A.

Owen, have a look at the little air hammer in the top left of this link; http://www.standall.com/about_standall_tools.html Basically it is a point sharpener, I've used one a little bit- very fast hits. Andrew.