Bill in Oregon

Thank you George. This one somewhat resembles the stonecutters/hand-drilling hammer on Page 76A.

I actually dug this up 20 years ago while trenching around a barn foundation in southern Oregon. It's got a wonderful shape to it and I have often wondered what it was designed for. Perhaps someone here knows. As you can see, the Atha A -inside-a-horsehoe logo is stamped on the bottom on one side of the handle hole and 4 1/2 on the other. Weighing it on a digital scale, it comes up 4 pounds, 7.8 ounces, pretty darned close considering it might have lost a bit of mass over the century or more. what makes it unusual to me is the arch in the shape of the head, and the resulting angle of the two rounded faces. I am sure it was designed for some specific task, but have no idea what that was. It's just a handsome thing to look at, and I have never seen anything quite like it.

Frosty, I have tried Googling lists of blacksmithing instructors, old course catalogs, etc. I just discovered a Rogue Valley Blacksmiths Facebook page and will inquire there.

About 15 years ago in the Rogue Valley of Southern Oregon I bought an old Trenton 120 from a farrier supply that carried a number of used tools. The anvil came with a note saying the face had been repaired and re-dressed by a master blacksmith who lived in Lake Creek, but had taught blacksmithing at Rogue Community College in Grants Pass in the 1990s and early 2000s. I can no longer remember his name, but know he was very well-respected in the smithing community. Does this ring any bells with anyone? I ask because -- four back surgeries later --I am thinking of selling the anvil and the custom-welded stand for it. I just checked the serial number and it was made between 1943 and 1945. You can see the anvil to the right in this little Youtube I made years ago of my Tim Lively charcoal forge. I miss that old blower.

I have built two of Tim's forges based on the instructions in his video, "Knifemaking Unplugged." Hard to go wrong. This was the first one. Miss the old Champion No.. 40 blower.

That blower is just gorgeous. Congratulations on the spectacular cleaning job!

Thomas -- love your idea about using wood that has been reduced to charcoal outside the forge itself.

Yes, talking about charcoal, not briquettes. My third Tim Lively washtub forge. I really hate to use power with this, and will continue my quest for an affordable Champion or Buffalo blower. I tried one of those made-in-India blowers and it just doesn't put out the volume needed for my forge. Funny, they are all over Craigslists 500 or 1,000 miles from hear, but locally, nada.

Thanks fellas. Dick, I'll take your lead on this if I can just locate a better hand-cranked blower for my charcoal forge.

This has probably been exhaustively covered, but a search for "fire steel" pulls up hundreds of posts. I was thinking of forging a couple of fire steels for flint-and-steel fire starting from cold rolled, but also have some of the ubiquitous Nicholson files in my stash. What steels are optimum for this purpose and which might not work well at all? If you used an old file, who would you heat treat it?

Steve, no, I didn't get to try one, but I surely liked the looks of them and he had a bunch in stock. I thought them reasonable as well. If I didn't have a decent old Trenton ...

Great thread. Tempts me to make a barrel myself, probably using Gambel oak, one of the main hardwoods available in south-central New Mexico. I'll have to admit scavenging charcoal from slash and logging waste burn piles on national forests. Not the best stuff -- lots of conifer softwoods -- but for forging smaller stuff in a washtub forge, it worked just fine and the cost was agreeable.

Columbia Fire and Iron held a hammer-in this weekend at the Morgan Jade Ironworks in Spokane, Wa. Got a very friendly tour of his shop and watched some newbies "getting the hang" of hot steel. Love seeing the gospel spread.

JHCC, thanks. I was unaware of this stuff.

Good ideas, guys. Will give them a try.