February 25, 201016 yr An acquaintance of mine has been wanting a swage block for sometime and he sent me an email with this thing http://cgi.ebay.com/...=item335a7098cc shown so I went and looked at the page he sent. It says the condition is new but if it is it sure is xxxx poor job of casting. If it is an old one maybe worth the price but as a rough casting I think he would be better off getting one of the ones from, now who is it, Salt Fork something or ruthers. What do you think of this thing Thomas? <_<
February 25, 201016 yr Yup it's one of the new ones from Mexico and a p*** poor job of casting they are. I've seen some where the voids in the bottoms of the molds were 1/4" deep meaning that you will be spending a lot of time and abrasives trying to make it usable. If you can get your hands on ones from Salt Fork you will be doing yourself a great favour.
February 26, 201016 yr Author Thomas, Thanks for the info I will copy and paste your response for him. He is all hot to bid on it. My swage block these days is about 3" square not 24"x24"x6"(that one is sold) and working little bits of silver and copper. When I saw Skull Valley I thought of Doug Loony and his forge at Kirkland Junction where the start of the Arizona Artist Blacksmith Association started a long time ago. Thanks again. B)
February 26, 201016 yr actually that looks like a copy of the salt fork craftsman one ... ide get one from them instead ... good luck!
February 26, 201016 yr ...I think he would be better off getting one of the ones from, now who is it, Salt Fork something or ruthers. What do you think of this thing Thomas? I know you are talking to Thomas Powers but here is the site for Saltfork Craftsmen... www.saltforkcraftsmen.org The block will be "as cast" but is not in bad condition like those from Mexico. Takes a little time to dress up but worth it. BTW, it's "Saltfork"...all one word. It's some river in OK and they took the name from that. The Craftsmen part is because they have other arts/crafts that they involve with the blacksmithing stuff. Not being picky but just for info... ;)
February 26, 201016 yr Seems to cost less through Salt Fork too. Wonder if it fits in a flat rate box... Phil
February 26, 201016 yr I think it would. Best I remember mine weighs around 60# maybe 65#. Join the group and not only do you get the block at a discount but we have an excellent newletter every month. $20 per year is cheap.
February 26, 201016 yr Tommy, The Saltfork block will not fit into one of the flat rate boxes.(Believe me we have checked!) We usually ship them UPS. The block is not a copy of the Saltfork block, it does not have a shovel blank in it.
February 26, 201016 yr Tommy, The Saltfork block will not fit into one of the flat rate boxes.(Believe me we have checked!) We usually ship them UPS. The block is not a copy of the Saltfork block, it does not have a shovel blank in it. Bill, I was going off my memory on the size...I'm at my day job which has turned into a day, night, weekend job! (They get mad at you if you try to leave after 12 hrs!!) Haven't seen my shop in so long I'm not sure what it looks like!
February 27, 201016 yr Author Oh Man! I found one I can handle in my current condition. http://cgi.ebay.com/SMALL-SWAGE-BLOCK_W0QQitemZ280468908888QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item414d3feb58 (I also found this small one http://cgi.ebay.com/Blacksmith-Swage-Swedge-Block-Personal-Size-Little-use_W0QQitemZ170450601505QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item27afa5c621 and it looks OK, but my friend was going to head up to Skull Valley this weekend, idiot. )
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