Macca

Err........beer is a vegetable, right? Oh, you mean healthy vegetable, in that case...wine. Red, or white, meh.

Seeing that there is a slight hijack of thread re: culinary pursuits. I'm one for lamb shanks, gravy, and mashed spud (potato). Just saying.

Re: the angle grinder 'stuff':

Here in Oz on all mine-sites in the Pilbara (BHP, Rio Tinto, FMG, et al) All 9" angle grinders are banned. 4 1/2" grinders are allowed (generally, only boilermakers are allowed to use them, and must be found to be competent to use the grinder), but must have a 'dead-mans' switch.

I don't know what art is, but I do know what I like.

I like.

I just love a goodly 'love story'. Two star crossed lovers.

Long story short:

Worked with 'the last apprenticed Tool Maker', in Australia,for Sidchrome (Siddons Industries). Anyhoo...chatting (as you do) and the subject came up re: Anvils. Tells me when 'they' closed down Sidchrome tool works in Melbourne (bought out by Proto, then Stanley, all work went offshore...China) there was a 'free for all' laterally transferring 'assets'. He managed to get four, yes four, anvils out, also is dad managed a couple.

We keep on chatting, I then hit him up to selling me one. Says he'll do better than that, he'll give it to me. "Who do I have to kill?" "Please tell me you want me to kill someone." Says me. "When I get my stuff over from Melbourne (Living in Perth at the time...so was I).

As luck has it, he changes jobs. I lose touch with him...there goes my anvil! Oh XXXXXXXXXX  you Blacksmith gods!

I keep an engineers chalk pencil in my fob pocket, and a sharpie in shirt pocket all the time. Although, it must be said, be xxxxxxxxxx if I can see any of the marks when I'm welding nowadays...it appears my 'Peter Pan' syndrome maybe coming to an end.

Yeah, what is it with anvils here in Oz? Other than the anvil I rescued from 'Sims metals', and a bit of railway iron, I'd have to sell a kidney to even be in the bidding. "Nuffs-afugginnuff", I say!

hehe....nah, I'll figure some 'rat-cunning' way. Obvious thingy is sea freight. As you said 'cheap as chips' over in the states, soooooo....the trade off is a relatively cheap(ish) anvil offset with a freight charge. Meh...'swings & roundabouts'. Once I get into this 'smithy' gig proper it'll be  xxxxxxxxxxxx.

err.......hope you don't mind if I plagiarize this?

Good score there 'aussi'. Good read also, some handy hints on setting up the anvil, also, maybe look further afield for a (another) anvil(s), ie overseas (USA).

Slight hijack:

I haven't done it yet, but, was told by another boilermaker that the jaw portion of a stillson wrench makes for an excellent chisel. Process is to remove the 'jaw' portion of the jaw, leaving the knurled/sectioned part ready for forging. 36" stillsons make the best chisel due to size, and 'feel'.

I have collected a couple of jaws ready for an attempt to check this out. Reckon it will prove right.

Hammer envy

It was the only source of timber I could find, however, as I was sorta 'stuffing' about trying to get the height right then 'fab' up a frame. Now, with all the great input I'll definitely make sure of getting a decent stump.

Cheers & beers.

​Hehe...had a chuckle over that one.

Hehe...downunder, or is it 'Up over'?

As to 'salvage'...I did also manage to 'laterally transfer' a not too shabby ute toolbox. a bit beaten around the edges, (aren't we all), but it now resides in my ute alongside my 'boily' box.

As to those I_products you can find a suitable location and shove 'em! err...rant over.

Re: the 'artistic' photo. Well, the truth be known, the cook took the photo on her Ipad thingy thing thing due to me being sans PC due to a virus.That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it>

As to the purchase price...it was a freebie, (how good is that!), Doing a demobe on a mining site, came across it 'stashed' amongst stuff getting turfed into a scrap metal bin. I rescued it.

Great post mate. I really enjoy the history of 'trades', a bit of knowing where we've come from.

What I want to achieve is the 'process' of being a blacksmith. I'm more interested in the actual act itself. Being a boilermaker I now want to approach my trade with more understanding of metallurgy. Without going all new age wank of 'a holistic approach'. So, be prepared for lots of newbie dumba$$ questions.

Copy that.

Right, just gunna set the height right, you can see by my 'dodgy' photo that I'm sorta doing that. Set for knuckle height,but reading about that mighten be right. Set-up for waist height seems the go.

Cheers for the info guys. Just wasn't too sure if I am to put the anvil to 'work' that I wasn't just putting 'lipstick on a pig'.

Having viewed the obvious 'carnage' to the anvil, what would be the prescribed means to bring this bad boy back up to some sorta standard?

Just to be different, I'll say howdy Graham and not G'day (xxxx, I said it!), anywho, another Aussie to the fold. I'm over in the West and just starting out, although been wanting to do Blacksmithing for years.

Cheers & beers
Macca

My welding bench in my shed is made up of 25mm box steel with the plate being: 20mm x 1800mm x 1000mm. Now don't ask me in imperial, although I should know seeing that I was brought up with the imperial system then onto the metric. This all happened when I was doing my trade as well, so you can imagine the vacant stares at the theory lessons.