LTC

The vise is cleaned up, painted, yes I decided to paint it vs. BLO. Temporally attached to one of my rounds. A question though. Should the jaw faces go square and flat to each other when fully closed or be on a bit of an angle? These jaws are tight at the top, in the center of the jaw, with the remaining top of the jaws being about .040" - .050" open? Anyone wish to venture a guess as to the age of the vise? Yes the spring clamp is too low for the spring. I will make another u type clamp to fit at the top of the spring or fit it to a higher perch for the base. LTC

I added another piece to the tool kit. i came across a 6.88" jaw, leg vise. It will need some restoration work but is all there and will be fully functional when I'm done with it. LTC

I ordered an exhaust pipe rain cap and should have it tomorrow. a better solution for an ash dump than my Rev. A design. LTC

Daswulf, The second T is used to act as a damper to bleed off excess air flow. I am using a shop vac to supply forced air to the forge. I plan on installing a fence on the perimeter of the rotor to increase the capacity. The fence will have penetrations' to allow for the heating of longer stock. I am trying to keep the forge as small as possible at this point. I was also thinking about a solution for replacing the ash dump cap. Everything about the forge is Rev. A. Thank you for your input. LTC

Looking in a copy of Anvils in America under Wilkinson I see the actual trade mark illustrated. As I remember the "HOT DOIGS" were above WILKINSON. WILKINSON and SOLID ANVIL were on a curve up & down respectively. LTC X WILKINSON PATENDED SOLID ANVIL

Thank you all for your responses to my inquiry as to my new anvil purchase. I will never make blacksmith, but someone who enjoys the challenge of learning something new. My first anvil is a section of RR rail turned into my idea of an anvil by myself. My forge is made from a disc brake rotor, built a week or so ago by myself. I plan on making improvements to the forge shortly. Hammers were existing in my collection of tools. I discovered the tongs in the bottom of one of my tool boxes. Probably handed down from my Grandfather 50 - 60 years ago. Please disregard the random piles in the garage. I'm looking forward to new challenges.

i found my camera this morning and am posting several views of the anvil. LTC

Photo of the anvil.

I have been half heartedly looking for an anvil for a few months. Yesterday I noticed one locally in my price range. It was listed as 120 pounds and unknown manufacturer. I went and looked at the anvil, struck a deal and brought it home. My scale says 121 pounds. After wire wheeling the accumulated rust off it I notice some very vague printing and a figure that appears to be 2 crossed elongated crossed slot shaped images. Think paper clip image, crossed. The only stamping I can make out is below and to the right of the referenced image. What I see is VIL assuming it is the last three letters of ANVIL. Anyone have any idea what I have purchased? It appears to be steel as it throws sparks from the wire wheel cup. It has a nice ring to it and will bonce a 1" ball bearing almost to the height it was dropped from. By way of introduction, I in Warren County in Northwest NJ. LTC