Marcus Hopfinger

Are those a new specialty tong from Off Center Products?:blink:

I hope you don't try dropping an anvil on the roadrunner....never works well for the coyote. :lol:

Try this post.

Prayers sent.

God's speed your son's safe return. I had the fortune of spending a year in Iraq back in 2004/2005. Many of my compatriots from that adventure are now over in Afghanistan and several other friends of mine have done two or three deployments....and they are all in the National Guard not active duty. I will add you son to the prayer list for a safe return.

Yes. He pounds over the end of a bit of flat stock over the side of the anvil, sticks the entire red hot area in the slack tub but when he pulls it out and puts it back on the anvil a bit of the middle of the bar is still glowing then *presto* it is glowing brightly and straight again so he pounds it back over. Must be a lower quality iron they had back then that didn't stay cool when quenched. ;)

I wish I was headed to the Twin Cities in the near future; I would definately be interested but I don't think I will even be getting as far as Hendricks, MN (5 miles from where I live) anytime soon...just too busy right now.

Excellent! In that case Carpe diem.

Prayers from South Dakota.

Happy belated Birthday....I hope it was a great one.

Thank you all for the kind words. I figure the vise and forge both will require many gallons of vinegar and generous application of WD-40 and oil accompanied by much wire brushing. I will also have to give the blower on the forge a dose of wasp killer as well....just to be safe.

I have an old .45-70 myself. It started out as a rifle but had a broken forestock and at sometime was cut down to carbine length. I picked it up cheap at a gun show many years ago. I do 1870s Cavalry reenacting and it works fine for shooting blanks but one of the other reenactors that is very knowledgeable about firearms has advised me not to shoot live rounds out of my particular .45-70 due to a very worn barrel and cracked wrist on the stock. I have fired live rounds out of other antique .45-70s that were in useable shape. Unfortunately the best I can say if find a gunsmith that is familiar with antique weapons. S & S firearms has a book on the .45-70 THE .45-70 SPRINGFIELD, 4th EDITION. by J. Poyer & C. Riesch. Newly Expanded, Almost twice as long as the original. 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", soft cover. A unique book as it analyzes each model of .45-70 by detailing the parts. In this manner, a collector can determine if the gun is authentic and correct for the period in which it was manufactured. Profusely illustrated. Sections on production records, serial numbers, assembly & disassembly, stock markings and bayonets and scabbards. Covers rifle, cadet & carbine. All variations and changes are described. A positive approach for correct I.D I wish I could be of more help. Enjoy your rifle.

A while back I mentioned to a good friend of mine that I was looking for some blacksmithing equipment. He is a veterinarian so I figured he would know all the farmers and may know of someone wanting to part with some unused items. I told him what I was looking for and when I described a leg vise he mentioned that he has one he bought a couple years ago for $15 and I can have it for the same $15 investment. We wandered over to his barn and he rummages around in a pile of stuff and pulls out exactly what I was looking for. The jaws open and close but it turns a little hard. I am hoping that a good cleaning accompanied by a dose of WD-40 will have the screw turning more easily. The jaws seem to be in pretty good alignment but if anyone has any suggestions on how to fine tune them I would appreciate it. I also mentioned my hunt for equipment to my father-in-law who is a retired farmer. He said he thought there was an old forge back in his tree belt. A few weeks later he called, a bit excited, to tell my wife that he had got the forge out of the trees and he thought there might be an anvil there too….at least it was a “square metal thing” sticking out of the ground. Last weekend we went up to the farm and he showed me the forge. The mosquitoes were bad so other than taking a few pictures I didn’t give it a thorough inspection; that will have to wait until I get it home and into the shop where I can work on it. It will need a lot of work. Three of the legs need some serious attention, the pipe on the original legs is seamed but I am thinking of just using black pipe to extend the legs for now and work on getting back to “original” condition later. The fire pot is showing some rust…not sure how extensive…and the tuyere looks to be missing as well. The drive wheel for the blower doesn’t turn by hand, hoping that I can get that disassembled and freed up, and I am not sure about the blower itself….looks good from the outside but need to get it apart and cleaned up as well. This definitely will be a bit of a longer term project I am thinking. Is anyone familiar with this type of forge or the manufacture? I would be interested in more information. The square metal thing he was talking about was only loosely in the ground so I got a shovel and dug it out. It isn’t a traditional anvil but he tells me they used to slide it over a fence post and use it to bend/straighten stuff. It is heavy but hollow. I am not exactly sure what it is but the open end isn’t squared off so I am thinking it is broken off of some heavy duty machinery. Any guesses, educated or otherwise, are welcome. Finally the most important addition around the house; my new daughter. Elyse was born July 29, 2010. Her big brother Isaac (15) and big sister Adele (2 ½) are happy to have her. Adele really loves her little sister and is very helpful, sometimes tries to be too helpful. Isaac has been a big help around the house as well. My wife is a photographer and the day we got back from the hospital had to get Elyse into the studio we built in the basement to get some shots taken. Sorry for the book, just excited to share my new additions with the IFI family.

I don't know if this helps you out or not but have you looked here? (http://www.ozarkschool.com/anvil.htm)

Add one more IT guy to the mix. Welcome to IFI!

I hope for the best for your father. Prayers for you and your family.

Type 2 diabetes sure is a tough change. I was diagnosed a couple years ago and have been fortunate to only have to take oral meds and watch my diet. My weight hasn't been where I would like it and my A1C has usually been around 7.1 to 7.3...in the past I have been able to control my weight easily by reducing carbs (especially starchs and refined sugars) but now that I am married with a couple kids in the house it is much harder to stick to that diet since they like lots of pasta. However in the past few months I have been able to make a few adjustments that has allowed me to reduce my carbs; not as much as I would like but better than before. My wife has commented that when I eat propery and don't cheat I have much more energy to get things done around the house and I am not as growly. In June I had lost nine pounds since the last doctor appointment in February but my A1C jumped up to 8.5! My doctor said that even watching my diet the disease can progress. I didn't start on insulin yet but if it is that high at my next visit in September I am thinking I had better get used to giving myself shots.

I think this forum is open to all sorts of viewpoints and if quite friendly...just look at the discussion on Unions in the Business Side of Blacksmithing section to see differing viewpoints discussing in a civil manner. What Thomas was pointing out is that although you intend to be friendly your posting doesn't really come across that way "First of all....Furthermore....Another problem I had...." this can be a bit off-putting wheather you mean it to be or not....especially to the veteran smiths when this is coming from a newbie. I think this thread combine with the one on safety just got you off on the wrong foot. Take a second look at how someone else might take what you have written. I think if you stick around and read through some of these discussions you will see there is a good discussion and lots of friendly humor. Hope you stick around.

40 amp breaker is huge. Most household circuits run 14/2 wire with 15 amp breakers.

I see that not only does Thomas Powers have a Anvil Acquisition Technique named after him here but he is also featured in the comic of the week at Anvil Fire.

My links are to the online version however you can download the PDF if you want to keep it on your computer. You just have to right-click the PDF link in the upper-right corner of the browser window and choose "Save Target As" or "Save Link As" depending on what browser you use. Here is what the link looks like:

I found a bunch of blacksmithing related ebooks on Google Books and I thought I would share the links. Although I have them downloaded as PDF files I dont' think I can post the actual files themselves but I see no reason I can't share the links. If you follow the link you will see a "PDF" or "Download" link in the top right corner of the Google Books window. Just click the link to download the book to your computer for reading at your leisure. All of these are from 1888 to 1921 with most being right after the turn of the century. A few have sections where the book didn't scan cleanly but those are few and far between. Practical Blacksmithing by Milton T. Richardson Volume 1 (1888), I downloaded Volume 2 some time ago but can't find it on Google Books today, Volume 3 (1900), Volume 4 The Blacksmith's Guide by J.F. Sallows (1907), Forge Work by William L. Ilgen (1912), Forge Practice by John Lord Bacon (1906), Farm Blacksmithing by J.M. Drew (1901), Farm Blacksmithing by John F. Friese (1921), Farm Shop Work by George M. Brace and D.D. Mayne (1915 - blacksmithing section begins on page 214 of the PDF), Shop and Foundry Practice by the International Correspondence Schools (1901 - blacksmithing section begins on page 217 of the PDF), American Blacksmith and Motor Shop--There may be more of these out there but these are the ones I have found so far Volume 17 (1917), Volume 20 (1920), Volumes 21-22 (1922) The Blacksmith's Journal--There may be more of these out there as well.... Volume 5 (1904), Volume 11 (1910) There is more out there. Just but the word blacksmith in the Google Books search field and start poking around....easy to loose track of time doing that. Enjoy.

I am also an IT guy that used to do CAD work many years ago and I prefer paper and pencil. You can Google Free CAD Software or Google Free Drafting Sortware and find a bunch of programs to try. I tried a couple for laying out my basement floorplan but in the end went back to good old paper and pencil.

Good to hear from you. I have driven Hwy 19 many times. I live in White, SD which is on SD HWY 30 but if you take SD HWY 30 about 5 miles east across the MN border it becomes MN HWY 19...but you probably already knew this. Thanks for letting me know about the ABANA conference in Rapid City in 2012...I will have to see if maybe by that time I will be able to fit it into my schedule. I am afraid the auction route for equipment may be a long shot. A friend of mine from Rock Rapids, Iowa died from a heart attack about a month ago and his auction was just a couple weeks ago. I wasn't able to attend but I heard from another individual that was interested in the blacksmithing stuff that it went very high. It seems some elderly lady liked the looks of the equipment and wanted it for decoration around her place and was bidding it way up in price.

I went to a Historic Festival at Fort Sisseton, South Dakota last weekend. I wasn’t smithing but did get to spend 15-20 minutes visiting with the smith before the tourists started to roll in. From lurking on the boards I know how much everyone enjoys pictures so I thought I would share a few that I took.[/fo[/