ironstein

The number on the foot under the horn reads A1752. The final number two is kind of murky though, i'm assuming its a two. I did a rubbing with soapstone to try to bring out the numbers, but the forging indentations make it difficult to tell. I'd love to know how old it is though if anyone has a book to date it!

The hardy hole seems to be 1 inch but down in the "sleeve" it seems to have some bubbled out grooves, not truly square inside. Is it a no no to file it square? I would like to be able to use standard 1 inch tools. I guess i could just forge a taper on the tool shanks. Anybody have any suggestions?

Yeah she is a ringer. I put that chain on it to keep my neighbors happy. They haven't complained yet, but i want to keep them from complaining. I'm not sure of the year, i can only find marks that say hay budden, brooklyn,ny, and 148. Thanks for the pritchel trick suggestion.

Rob,
I have two evaporative swamp coolers at one end of the shop that blow alot of fresh cool air, and a large vent with a 1500 cfm fan in the roof over the forge. I try to keep it closed up when im working to not bother the neighbors. i do have a carbon monoxide detector installed.

the big one is a syncrwave 200 with a water cooler, tig welder. it welds nice. great on aluminum too. the small one is my millermatic 180, i lov that one too.

yeah, i used the camera phone because ididn't want to bust out the camera. Thanks for the reply.

I spent the week end removing the styrofoam low ceiling in my shop. I am new to blacksmithing and fired up my new diamondback forge and i got to thinking that the styrofoam ceiling might be prone to fire! This has been my welding shop for about a year, just for hobby stuff, but now i have the blacksmithing bug so i;m turning it into a smithy! Just thought i would share. sorry for the pictures being blurry, i used my phone.http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=16456&stc=1&d=1250049318http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=16455&stc=1&d=1250049318

My wife bought me this for our anniversary. What a great gift. We payed $375. Great ring and rebound. Came with a pritchel punch, and a hot cit hardy tool, unfortunately the hardy is 7/8 and the tool is much smaller.http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=16453&stc=1&d=1250048713http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=16452&stc=1&d=1250048713http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=16451&stc=1&d=1250048713http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=16450&stc=1&d=1250048713

I will hit him up about the bear trap. probably go back by there this weekend, its kind of far away from me.

By the way thats some beautiful craftsmanship on that wheel!

Yeah, that anvil vise looked pretty cool. I need to pace myself though, what i really want/ need is a swage block, it would really be helpful with building up my tools. As for the wheelwright tools, i will definitely go talk to the guy and if i find anything i will take some pictures for you. If he has some stuff i would be happy to help you out how ever i can. I know how hard this stuff is to find. Of course i will be picking through the choice items (not the wheelwright stuff), for myself!

Im sure he does. there was a huge wooden wheelwright sign near all the wagon wheels and such. He had his own smithy set up but i dont think he used it much. I think he maintains all the wagons and such himself. apparently some of the tools he doesnt want to sell. i spoke with a caretaker, the owner wasn't there, but he called the owner to get prices on the blocks. The anvil in the picture had some sort of coating on it that was really rough, so im not sure of the quality, but the edges looked super nice. i would have bought the swage blocks but ive been spending a ton of money on blacksmith stuff lately! The wife got me a nice hay budden anvil, a 148# for 350 bucks for our anniversary, god bless her! Im tempted to go buy the swage blocks and sell one of them to recoup my cost.

The other day i stopped at an antique dealer near where i live and he has a ton of old blacksmith tools! I was drooling over these swage blocks. The smaller on in the back is a Josh Greenwood i believe, and the larger on i didn't recognize. Josh greenwoods are circa 1975 so its not that old. He wants 125 for the Greenwood, and 150 for the larger one. They are both pretty pitted and rusted from sitting outside but they look as though they would clean up nice. tell me what you think they are worth. He has a bunch of hammers and tongs too but i didn't get prices.http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/images/attach/jpg.gifhttp://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=16440&stc=1&d=1250031892http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=16441&stc=1&d=1250031892http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=16442&stc=1&d=1250031892

I'll look into it. I was contacted by Karen Brazeal, i might take a drive up and take a class from Brian, but it will have to be in the next three weeks because they are going on a tour in september! It was really nice of Karen to contact me and make an offer, i know how valuable peoples time is. Everyone seems very helpful, its quite refreshing.

i don't think i'll be building my own forge just yet. I just ordered one from diamondback forges, the blacksmith two burner, and i want to start out right with the right heat and such. I have started to heat up some round stock and beat it a little on the anvil to make some basic punches and chisels. i also got some 1 1/4 square stock to draw out and make 1" hardy tools. Its tough using the oxy acetylene torch to heat the metal though! I am very excited to get my forge goin' and start making tools and such. Thanks for your reply!

My name is Brian and i am in Lancaster,Ca. This is a great site. I am a Union Ironworker and have a welding shop at my home with Mig and Tig welders and alot of cool tools. I am starting to acquire blacksmithing tools, a 148 pound hay budden anvil in decent shape, some older ball pein hammers, and i just ordered a diamondback forge. I have a decent knowledge of welding and steel working, but i would love to be able to meet some fellow smiths to learn from. Anyone know about people in my area? This is such an exciting new undertaking for me. I love everything about metal working, and i can't believe my interest in blacksmithing took this long to surface. Any help would be appreciated. What type of stock do most of you make your top tools out of? What type of hardening for say a punch? Thanks in advance for any info.