SHC

Everyone’s having trouble getting “stuff” right now. In the water industry we’re like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get big plumbing materials. To be fair, some of that has to do with manufacturing facilities being damaged this past hurricane season. I’m currently on a 90 day wait list for (20) 5/8” ball valves and some water meter boxes. I got the last box of meter couplings my supplier had.

Just contacted Holland for a shipping quote, having to go offline for a bit though as I’m at work. I’m eagerly awaiting an email from them. I’m getting way more anvil than I need at the moment, but I’m hoping it’ll be just right someday. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve learned the hard way to go with just a little overkill rather than “good enough for now”. Good enough for now means spending more money to upgrade later.

Irondragon, I was raised in a Ford family. Always swore by Ford. These days I just wouldn’t take one. I like the super dutys, but if I needed a 3/4 ton or bigger diesel, I’d go back to dodge and get the Cummins equipped Ram, probably cheaper too. I like the Mustangs too, but I like the Camaro better. The work truck I was issued when I worked for West Monroe is currently on its fourth engine and fifth transmission. The first two transmissions turned to shrapnel while I was driving it. I thought I’d run over an IED. The first engine went kaput one day when I cranked it in the cold (it does NOT get that cold in Louisiana!). The block cracked. When I left that job, the truck still only had 60K miles on it. It was a 2015 F150 V6. Never towed anything bigger than a lawnmower.

Thomas, the newest vehicle in my household is the 2012 Dodge that’s going to my son who is 16 today. Big milestone for a young man! And he’s turning out to be a good one. The oldest is a 30 year old Honda Civic. The Dodge has proven to be almost disturbingly bulletproof. My wife has a 2011 Traverse and a 2001 Tahoe, and she’s talking about trading in one or both on something newer and nicer. I’ll be keeping my ‘98 Silverado, no question about it. It’s my “Heston” ride, I’ll give it up when the keys are pried from my cold dead hands, but Christine don’t like anyone else driving her (yes I named it Christine, yes I firmly believe it’s possessed). But I feel like I’ve paid enough of my dues to my family and life in general to do something nice for myself. My obligation never ends of course, but I’ve put my own comfort and pleasures to the side for long enough. I just hope Christine don’t get jealous.

Shot put sounds very logical! Thanks guys! George, I’ll try my best to remember that advice. I made it to Sergeant in the Corps, then made it back to Lance Corporal right before discharge. Looking back I believe it was the same personality trait that led to back to back demotions: I had too much time on my hands and got stressed. Never had any issues in theater working under stress as a Rifleman, but back in garrison was a different story. My mind would run wild, I’d drink, I’d get in trouble. Everything’s much simpler in combat. I haven’t found an outlet that calms my mind the same way except blacksmithing and fighting.

The ball is stamped “16”, so I’m just ASSUMING that means 16 pounds. We know what they say about assuming… Since the stamping is in such good shape, I’d also wager it’s not a mill ball but, what do I know? Very little, that’s what. It could be stamped “18”, I just glanced at the stamping. No fuse holes, and y’all seem very knowledgeable about this sort of thing so correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe internal fuses weren’t seen until conical shells came about. Which were actually more of an impact detonator, correct? It is approximately 5” in diameter. I can cup it in my hand. I’ll take pictures when I get a chance. Right now I’m sitting at the airport in Jackson MS waiting for my son’s plane to land. By the way, I believe I’ve settled on a Holland. Exactly which model, I’m not positive as of yet. I’ve read many of foundryguy’s posts and understand anvils aren’t his primary business, so I’ll be contacting them before I purchase to see if there are any inventories that haven’t been updated on their site yet. It’s been an agonizing process. Some of you would be amazed at some of the things my head does. TBI, PTSD, OCD, ADHD. I know some folks here deal with some of these problems, some deal with all of these issues and more, so I know I’m not entirely unique and I’m sure some of y’all can sympathize with how hard it can be to make a decision. Especially one I’m hoping will be a lifelong decision. A few days ago my wife asked me to pick up something for her aquariums. She had some fish with ick, or ich depending on who you ask to spell it. I got to the store and had choices. I couldn’t figure out which would be best. One had all natural ingredients and guaranteed to work in 48 hours. The other had chemical sounding ingredients, supposed to work in 24 hours and treat secondary infections. Other choices fell in between those. I couldn’t raise her on the cell phone so I got one of each. I’m also shopping for a new ride. My youngest turns sixteen tomorrow and I’m giving him my old car. It’s nothing special, a 2012 Dodge Avenger. I got it cause it was cheap, I was in the middle of divorce and fighting for custody (I won), and it’s what I could afford at the moment. I got the kid… but lost my Cadillac. I got the better end of the exchange, but I want another Cadillac. Or a Camaro? Boy those new Silverados sure are purty, but my old one still runs good and the 4X4 works great, so do I need another Z71? Nah… two more years and I can get antique tags for it… What about Suburbans, Tahoes, Yukon Denalis? My Cadillac came with a owner’s VHS tape and gold plated pen, I wonder if they still have the pens? Maybe a Ford? Nope, just threw up in my mouth a little bit… Dodge? One was enough. If I were in need of a diesel I’d go Cummins all the way, but I’m getting a gasser so another Dodge is out. But do I want comfort or speed? Both, but don’t want to compromise either for the other. Cadillac Escalade is just a luxury version of the Denali, which is a luxury version of the Tahoe/Suburban… but the Suburban I want costs more than the Denali I like, which is only about $500 cheaper than the Escalade I like and all of these cost more than the Camaro I want but not by a whole lot and I have trouble getting in and out of low slung cars. Another bike? Yeah I had that brush with death when that drunk lady in the Furd knocked me into oncoming traffic but it sure was fun up until then. Caddy has a sports car. But do I want a low slung stick shift Cadillac just because it’s fast and says “Cadillac” on it? My left knee is gonna struggle with a clutch I already know from experience… This is how I think. Shoot at me, I can make a choice in a nano second. Give me time to think? May as well waterboard me, it might be more pleasant. And yes I’ve been there too.

I just changed my mind. It’ll be a couple weeks probably before my anvil gets here. I’ll keep y’all posted.

No luck on an anvil. That vendor cleared out. I did find a 16 pound cannonball I just had to have. Just because. I also found a wooden statue of some obscure fertility god I had to pick up because I can’t look at it without laughing. Might give that away as a gag gift for Christmas. Back to the drawing board. It’s probably going to be an Emerson.

My last project reel for myself was an old Penn surfmaster. It surprisingly wasn’t too hard to find parts for. I’ve recently done a couple of old Shakespeare direct drives and have several of those old Mitchell spinners in my desk drawers. I tend to actually use more modern reels but I’ve got some safe queens, including a couple of 1952 ABU 5000’s. There’s not a reel or gun in my house that’s stock, everything has been modified. Sometimes just little stuff like reel handles, but the Ambassadeur 5000 I actually still use only has stock frame and side plates.

There’s no incentive like that for these people to haggle, but they sometimes will just to make a sale. I’ve gotten a small bucket full of antique fishing reels and a $150 espresso machine for $20 all together. My wife’s a trained master barista. We thrive on coffee. But this is a permanent set up, the vendors rent booths at an old rail yard in a big “U” shaped series of buildings with several old rail cars also rented out. These folks are there every weekend. I actually made some money off those reels that time, think I managed about a $40 profit after buying parts. Some parts cost more than the reels are worth, so I sometimes find similar parts and modify them.

Something I’ve learned in my travels, Americans have lost the art of haggling. Go to some of those bazaars in some middle eastern countries, you’ll buy a Mercedes, some salt and pepper shakers, two goats and a wife without even realizing it. All I wanted was the salt and pepper shakers, my grandma collected them.

Well my starter was a cast iron harbor freight or similar. Gift from my wife and I’ll be keeping it. I currently have a piece of track. I’ve looked at JHM online and checked out some reviews and they’re on the list for consideration. I’m pretty sure I’ll be making a decision of some sort this weekend. It’d be nice if I strike gold at this flea market, but I halfway expect a premium asking price. I don’t know how many members here live in North Louisiana, but we have this strange phenomenon going on here. If something is for sale and it’s old or rusty, then it’s deemed vintage or “shabby chic” and the soccer moms will pay out the nose with the money their husbands give them just to lean a rusty old wagon wheel against a tree and call it “yard art”. There are people in my neck of the woods who make a living by taking scrap pallets and make a fleur de lis out of the wood, or a small plaque and burn “live, laugh, love” into it. You really get into some money if you burn “live, laugh, love” into some scrap wood carved into the shape of the state of LA. Beating it with a chain can get you a big payday. The Pinterest queens love that kind of custom craftsmanship. Ain’t kidding ya, I know a fella that turned scrap pallet wood into an Escalade. What in the world am I doing? I’m totally in the wrong business… forget water treatment, I’m gonna go whittle on some wood…

Oh I plan to carry a good deal of cash, an anvil isn’t the only thing I’m looking for. I like restoring old guns and fishing reels. I usually resell them for barely enough to cover cost and materials, but I do it because I enjoy it. I stick to black powder when it comes to guns so I can stay on the right side of the law. No reasonable person could say I’m “partaking in business”, but the BATF has a history of occasionally being extremely unreasonable and collateral damage has happened. BP guns aren’t federally regulated and not regulated by my state. I’m also keeping an eye out for other tools, such as a vise like Irondragon mentioned. I have a pretty cool Parker, I think the model is 279 or something? It has the rear swivel jaw. But I found it buried behind the shop and it’s seized up. It’s soaking in a tub of oil and transmission fluid I got from a local automotive shop. It’ll need a new retainer for the screw, but until I get it freed up I won’t know what else it might need. I’m also keeping an eye out for Christmas gifts. You can find some really unique gifts at flea markets, and I HOPE most other shoppers will be at retail stores taking advantage of Black Friday deals. I don’t like crowds, I try to avoid them.

I know I said I wanted to buy new, and I still do. But I’m running into a couple very small issues. Nothing that can’t be overcome with some planning though. Emerson’s isn’t open on weekends, so that’ll mean taking a day off work. I can do that, we just stay real busy at work so I’ll have to plan ahead. If I order one from an online retailer, I’ll be sending it to my wife’s office for convenience and then pick it up in my truck. “Convenience” means because of work scheduling and the fact that delivery drivers can’t find the house. But I just got word on something. There’s a big flea market just west of Shreveport. I’ve been there before and found some great deals but it was a couple years ago. My buddy was just there last weekend and said they have a vendor that has a rail car full of old tools and has quite a few anvils of different sizes and shapes. Seems like this is just an opportunity to have fun and look at different options and styles in person. I’m heading there Saturday armed with a ball bearing and all the reference material on IFI. We’ll see if I find something I can’t live without.

I intend to make some knives and hopefully get decent at it. I carry a KABAR on my hip everywhere I go except schools, airports, courthouses, etc. technically illegal length here, BUT there’s a clause in our law that states something about demonstrable need for work and/or recreation, and cops generally don’t mess with me. Most in my area know me, those that don’t know of me, and the ones I met while traveling who don’t know anything about me tend to like me cause I’m pretty chill. I’m a Marine infantry vet and military police. There’s a vibe that others in uniforms and badges pick up on. A KABAR is all the knife I need. What got me interested in blacksmithing was my first job when I got out of the Corps, working in a mill making steel flanges, AND the ironworks I’d see around old homes. Many these days are made by machines, but some older or custom home fixtures you can tell are handmade. Watching that gigantic press forging out 14” weld neck flanges from yellow hot 80# chunks of steel just really fascinated xxx xxxx xxx xx me.

It’s Superman!

There’s my buildings. Right now I’m set up in the barn because I like the open work area. But I believe I’m gonna move into the shop for security purposes. Yeah I’m out in the sticks, but I’ve been robbed before even while living out in the sticks. The shop used to have a big roll up door on the end, then the original owner stopped working on farm equipment, walled that off and had a big fan in the wall there, and I’m really not sure what he did after that.

Thank you! I need to find some classes or meet and greets.

I will definitely keep that in mind JHCC, thanks for that.

So it’s all about quality and the work involved? If I don’t mind setbacks, not making anything important, and I’m actually wanting to swing my hammer more, it’s really okay then, right? I’ve actually got a little bit of 1095 and 4140 that was a gift, I’ve specifically avoided even touching them because I don’t want to turn them into scrap. I’ve also got the ubiquitous bucket of rail road spikes that I’m beating on. I happened to run across a rail repair crew and told them “I’m just gonna park my truck right here while I check on this water well, I sure wouldn’t mind if any metal just happens to fall in the back.” I got home later and discovered a five gallon bucket of spikes, approximately 16” piece of rail, about a 10” piece rail foot, a couple plates that I think are called tie plates, and several of what I think are called anchor hooks. Of course I’ve already researched the quality of spikes in general, and with all the variations and these being unmarked, I’m planning purely “stuff”. Bottle openers, maybe a fireplace poker, and I need to get that hand trowel done. I’ve turned a few into scrap metal already, just kind of doodling I guess you could say. Hey, I’m practicing!

I’ve seen several mentions of avoiding rebar, and I’m wondering why? I made a pair of tongs out of some when I first started. The problem I had was the metal I started with was already thin, 1/2” if memory serves, so they were very flimsy but they held hot metal! I beat the texturing out. I figured either grind them smooth, wear gloves, or practice hammering, so I hammered. I hammered a lot. But I’ve got plenty left, some real skinny and some 1”.

Okay, I do see your point. FWIW, I am also trying to get some hammer time. I’ve got a couple of small things I’m planning and scrap metal to beat on. I’ve got a bucket of rail road spikes and two bottles of propane! My current forge is a small, cheap single burner forge. It’s very inefficient, lots of wasted thermal energy. I want to say it’s a Mr. Vulcan knife maker forge. Takes a long time to heat metal and I don’t think it’s even capable of reaching forge welding temperature. It happens to be sitting on the grill I found at the dump. I did also find an old small grill I hated that I thought I threw away a couple years ago. Funny the things that turn up when you move.

Das, I do plan to experiment. I like to experiment. I’m planning to build or buy what would be my “main” forge. Likely build. A problem I run into frequently is that I have a hard time finding things for sale that are just exactly what I want, and I haven’t yet seen a forge for sale that suits my desires perfectly. I also found a large barbecue grill at the dump that I considered turning into a forge. Only one problem though; The charcoal tray is damaged. The problem with that is, I have a hard time justifying turning a large, very nice barbecue into a forge when all it needs is a good cleaning and a charcoal tray that I can replace with junk I find on the side of the road! A few minutes with a pressure washer, take a grinder and drill to the old washing machine I found in a ditch, and I could be cooking on it in half an hour! I want to thank you again CGL for messaging me back, knowing that you’re still happy with your anvil is going into consideration when I get ready to buy. I didn’t go through your entire thread on it, did you ever stamp it?

Great, thanks. I’ve already sent a message to Little Turtle.

I’ve actually seen a video of the feathers on a stick trick and did a little reading on that ancient technique and it’s tempting to try it myself. I’m hoping to build a coal forge, probably side draft. I may make a short video tomorrow and show y’all the buildings and point out things I’d like to do, I’m sure folks here could give me plenty of pointers and ideas.