Ferrous Beuler

If you can't find a "proper" anvil I suppose a dud American 155mm artillery shell will do in a pinch. (that is not specified here but I believe I saw this same shop in another tourist's video a few years ago which detailed that bit of curiosity in the description, dud round set point down in a tree stump). http://youtu.be/LuDfTrLzhI8

http://youtu.be/KYyT9q1G5Kc

O.K. fess up! Which one of you here on IFI is the actor in these commercials???

http://youtu.be/TsGsSpp255M

Lookin' good, Sanddraggin. I especially like the anvil stand, that's a beaut. There are alternative solid fuels which you can use in your forge, corn is one. If you have a feed store in your area then your fuel questions are solved. 50 pound bags of feed corn, nothing fancy, that's all there is to it. http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/24745-charcoal-corn-combo/page__hl__corn__fromsearch__1 Use the search feature to find more on corn here on IFI, there have been several threads on the subject. If you have access to hardwood pallets such as a warehouse or some similar source in your area then you have a supply of kindling to get your corn going too. Sometimes you can get pallets for free just for the asking but showing up with a box of doughnuts when you go asking at the warehouse will certainly help.

Almost forgot, 2008 Toyota Tacoma fourbanger.

Hmmm... Looks like a diamond plate tool box, Ludwig drum set, Complete Samsonite luggage set. weight lifting bench, three motorcycles (Suzuki, Honda and a Norton), parrot cage, Evinrude outboard boat motor, one pair Bauer size 10 hockey skates, weedwhacker, set of jack stands, 100 ft extension cord, ouija board, two fishin' rods, lucky rabbit's foot, Louisville Slugger baseball bat, bundle of roofing shingles, AC/DC concert ticket stub from '79, and the main landing gear from a Sopwith Camel. Did I miss anything? :)

Another thing concerning galvy is the very popular "turkey in a garbage can" method of cooking a turkey. Are there any health concerns associated with cooking food with a galvanized garbage can? Seems to me that there would be. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.scoutingthenet.com/Cooking/Turkey/images/near_end.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.scoutingthenet.com/Cooking/Turkey/index.php&h=242&w=250&sz=15&tbnid=1U8e6aavd44bhM:&tbnh=97&tbnw=100&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dturkey%2Bin%2Ba%2Bgarbage%2Bcan%2Bpictures%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=turkey+in+a+garbage+can+pictures&docid=PPBrDNP6KZeskM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oUgKT-SeBcjx0gHe6ajQAQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEQQ9QEwCQ&dur=3272 http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://elpasotimes.gannettonline.com/gns/thanksgiving/tfoto-tcan2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://elpasotimes.gannettonline.com/gns/thanksgiving/20041110-53075.html&h=331&w=240&sz=30&tbnid=50XR1LLSrdgomM:&tbnh=93&tbnw=67&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dturkey%2Bin%2Ba%2Bgarbage%2Bcan%2Bpictures%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=turkey+in+a+garbage+can+pictures&docid=RIpFsGVByzGuSM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oUgKT-SeBcjx0gHe6ajQAQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEAQ9QEwCA&dur=481

Wouldn't get a blue ribbon from Better Homes And Gardens but I know exactly where everything is and all of the essentials at arms length without taking a step away. I pity the fool thief who tries to break in there in the dark of night though, he'll likely be found crumpled under a mass of jumbled iron and various bits.

If I am reading this correctly you are wondering if a blacksmith added as window dressing to some sort of attraction such as a craft fair or historical reenactment situation will bring profits to your pocket. Yes, it will. My question is what does the blacksmith need you for?

Oh wow, Unforgivun beat me to it by posting the exact link I was going to post, LOL. There is also Kohlswa~ http://www.kohlswagjuteri.se/brancher-smidesstad.asp?activeImg=brancher&activeLang=en&activeChild=brancher-smidesstad

Send for their catalog, there is an awful lot more in the catalog than what is listed on their website. It costs about $5 and is almost as big as a Chicago phone book. You may think they have a lot listed on the website but that is nothing compared to what is in the catalog. Along with everything else there are literally hundreds and hundreds of books.

Chichi I highly recommend that you join the National Muzzle loading Rifle Association, NMLRA. http://www.nmlra.org/index.asp Check out their online store, cruise Amazon, EPay, etc. etc. Once you begin to discover the titles of these little known books you can begin to hunt them down. Be prepared to open your wallet and dig deep for the better tomes. Probably the best on the subject is a series titled "The Journal Of Historical Arms making Technology". There were several installments in the series and I'm not sure but I think they are all out of print now but I could be wrong about that. http://www.nmlra.org/store.asp Dixie offers several excellent books on making long rifles but Newton's book on locks is the only one I am aware of in their offerings which deals specifically with forging locks. For some reason there seems to be quite a lack of coverage on the subject of lock making. As I stated, "The Journal Of Historical Arms Making Technology" is the best source out there. This is specialized stuff so you have to go looking for it to find what you seek but don't get discouraged because it -is- out there, you just have to connect with the right people. Join the NMLRA and you will receive their monthly magazine, "Muzzleblasts". Attend your local chapter meetings, go to the shoots and rendezvous and you will be in with the in crowd and at long last begin to unlock those secrets. Good luck.

Chichi check out this book, "Hand forging history, patterns of the muzzle loading gun lock" by Pryor Mtn. Bill Newton. Dixie Gun Works had it but I don't know if they still carry it. Their number for this book was BO1955. https://docs.google....dV_rXylbryBZGdg Or here~ http://scribblemonge...m.pl?id=1951244

I know where you're coming from, Arean. I live in a small village just six doors down from the village offices. I haven't been cited by them (yet) and I am very careful to keep things on the low down. I have given up using coal during the warmer months when everyone has their windows open, that got me some grief from the neighbors so I took the hint before I got a citation. Our local zoning officer is quite the busy body, he's been here twice in the three years I've lived here. The first time was just as we were sitting down to dinner when came a knock at the door, the back door. I answered it and he told me who he was and was "just out reminding folks that the leaf pick up dates had been changed". This was in August. We get one pick up in Oct and one in Nov, those dates are posted in the village newsletter that everyone gets in the mail monthly. So that was the cockmamey excuse he was giving for his real intentions, cruising everyone's backyard to see what he could see. I've come to learn he does that a lot around here. I've heard tell he has run afoul of a few dogs now and then and had to make a run for it and jump fences. Serves him right. The second time we met I noticed him out front with his truck. He was picking up garbage someone had dumped alongside the road by hand and throwing it into the back of his pick up. I asked if would would like a rake which he accepted and I headed for the garage to get it. He hurriedly caught up to me and joined me as I opened the garage. Really he just wanted to rubberneck and see what he could see in there. He is more than a bit nosy for my liking. I figure if someone has business with me coming around to the back door is not the way to do it, that's just plain shady.

Happy 236th Marines! Semper Fi to all my jarhead brothers and most especially to all those currently deployed in harm's way. Always in my prayers, you have my utmost respect and gratitude for all that you do!

HWHII I don't know if this would answer your question definitively but when watching this six part series of videos the viewer can get a fair idea of what a first rate blacksmith shop with a master smith and an able staff are capable of. In any event if you haven't seen it yet this series is worth watching just because it is an excellent documentary of Francis Whitaker. Here's the first, just click along to follow the rest in series~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_IUu0t9su0&feature=channel_video_title

Coalforge you might try contacting the curators at this CCC camp in Minnesota~ http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/chippewa/camp/camprabideau.htm These camps were built all over the 48 states. I've seen lots of pictures of them and it seems that no matter where in the country they were located the buildings were all very similar. The area where I've been deer hunting for the past 20 years or so is state land, a mix of hardwoods and pine forest now but 75 years ago it was a CCC camp. All that remains is one large stone fireplace and chimney standing all by itself in the middle of nowhere. I have seen pictures of this camp too and the buildings look just like those in camps in other states. Nothing fancy, just frame structures most likely built from rough cut lumber milled right on the site. This particular camp did forestry work. First they clear cut thousands of acres for the timber and then switched over to planting trees for the remainder of the camp's existence. The CCC did a lot of work in the state parks here in New York as well. Many of the buildings in Allegheny State Park were built by the CCC and look much like the barracks buildings in their camps. They had (still have) very simple factory made hardware, what little hardware there is. Door and window hardware mostly. I would go with whatever was available in commercial hardware catalogs circa 1933 and stick to the most basic rudimentary cheapest end of the scale. If the folks at Camp Rabideau up in Minnesota can identify original hardware for you from their collections I'd go with that to be sure of authenticity.

Thieves have made off with an antique copper weather vane from the top of a New England barn. Chased away by police at first they returned a few nights later for their prize and took it, leaving a fake in its place. http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/09/27/antique-weather-vane-stolen-from-norwell-barn-imitation-left-in-its-place/

I don't know about anvils in rivers but there is plenty of wrought iron in Lake Erie at depths reachable by recreational divers. Several of the wrecks on this list specify iron as the cargo. Got a boat and a big magnet? LOL. http://www.alcheminc.com/shipwrck.html Check out one of the wrecks listed at site #161, the New Connecticut, story is a real eye popper. P.S.- Lots of coal down there too!

Hmmm... The link works when I click on it. If it is not working for you then just type this in~ www.cnyauctions.com/dannauctioneers.htm The ad lists "anvils" as in plural but there is only one shown in the photos. You never know what you might find at an auction until you actually get there and start poking around. Good luck!

Ralph Poorman Welding Retirement Auction. Saturday October 1st, 2011 9:00 a.m. Seneca Falls, New York. http://www.cnyauctions.com/dannauctioneers.htm

Ya, I am liking this. I fooled around wit it some more this morning. Just typing the word "schmied" into the search box gave me this one from Germany~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLlMkXgYQno It doesn't matter that foreign videos are in a language you don't understand. Once you enter a search and it cues up some videos for you pay attention to the text and you may find more keywords to try. I saw the word "axtschmieden" so I entered that and got several more videos. Try several different online translators, depending on what language you enter you might get results and you might not. I entered "blacksmith" in the English input box on several different translators and got no results for English to Chinese. Finally after a few that gave me nothing this one worked for English to Chinese http://translate.ref...dst=zh-TW&v=1.0 and gave me this~ 鐵匠 which gave me 250 videos. This is one of them, appears to be a temporary site, maybe a traveling tool dresser? Very interesting bellows~ Interestingly I don't see any Harbor Freight anvils in any of the Chinese videos but I did spot some mouseholes!

I figured out a neat little trick which has opened up a whole lot more videos for me on Youtube that I otherwise would never have found. It's very simple. First, go to any of the online language translating sites like this one~ http://translation2.paralink.com/English-Russian-Translation/ In this case I have selected English to Russian translation but you can of course do this with any language you choose. Type "blacksmith" into the first (English) box and hit translate. That gives you this, "кузнец" in the second box (Russian). Right double click on that word to highlight it in blue and left click on it to open the menu window and select COPY. Then simply paste that into the search box on Youtube and viola, over 900 videos. That's it. Of course this is not necessary for languages such as German which use the same alphabet as English. If you know the German word for blacksmith is schmied then you can just type that into the search box without having the need of the translator service. What the translator enables you to do is obtain the word "blacksmith" in other languages that use characters different from English such as Russian cyrillic, Japanese, Greek, etc. etc. that you otherwise could not type on a standard PC set up for the English language. For example; English to Japanese~ 鍛冶屋 English to Korean~ 대장장이 English to Ukrainian~ коваль English to Dutch~ smid And any other combination you can think of. Cheers!

This one? This was mine