Hi, figured I'd start here. I'm not a blacksmith, not even sure this is related but figured you guys would point me in the right direction.
I found this out in the woods today and am curious what it may have been used for?

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There is two more views if you use the right arrow on the site.

Thanks, Mark

Yup..it's a swedge block. It comes in very handy around the shop. I've used mine quite a bit. What might it have been doing out in the woods? What else might be out there?

Steve

hm....the odd thing is that it looks like one of the newer patterns (like from the second half of the last century). And it was abandoned in the woods?? Very odd....very odd indeed. I'd inquire on the details of how it might have got there. Then again I have seen some odd things in the woods where they should not have been and later found logical explanations for them...
-Aaron @ the SCF

I just came across it hunting behind my house today up here in NH. It's still out there, darn thing weighs more than I cared to lug out along with my gun..... I'm going back out this weekend with my metal detector and see what else might be out there. Any estimate on the age of this thing?

That pattern looks awful familiar...but i checked all the suppliers in my favorites list and can't find it. It seems like it was a pattern thats been made in the last 50 years but i just can't remember where I've seen it...maybe at a swap meet. Oddbald: you might want to put up a simultaneous post over at anvilfire as I think there are some people there that don't check here, and swage blocks were a fairly recent topic over there. go to the guru's den and post a link.

Also, some info on the property. Have you recently moved there, was there a blacksmith in the area before, etc. Things usually have a logical explanation (other than falling from the sky:) )
-Aaron @the SCF

I've had the property for 11 years or so. The area has remnants of an old road system, not used since the early 1900's, so it's pretty grown over. An arial shot of the location shows the definition of the old roadbeds. The town itself was established in 1764 and there was a quartz quarry used for the early roadways as a gravel base in the near general area. there is a shallow impression nearby, posibley (sp) a cellar hole? Other than that, it's a mystery, it's a half mile to the nearest road......

It's a swage block. See others by clicking here.

Sam and some blacksmiths in the New England area might be interested if you want to find it a new home.

G'day!

IIRC, there's a blacksmithing group in the States makes these. I've seen 'em in the back of one of the smithing newsletters.

Nice find!

It's a swage block for making bowls, spoons, ladels and a shovel.

It does look like a recent pattern but it can be hard to say. There used to be a lot of small foundries and for a fee they'd cast virtually any shape you want or need.

About 18 years ago I got a call from the heavy duty shop at work. The new shop foreman had told the welder to clean out the welding area and get rid of that hunk of iron. The welder didn't know what it was but thought I might be interested.

I hauled butt over there and with help loaded a large swage block into the truck. It's 14" x 14" x 5" and with no maker's mark. It came from the RR casting shop during the Road commission days. Almost all the state shops had an anvil and swage block from the RR casting shop. It was part of the journeyman's test.

Good score and please do take your metal detector back. You might want to mark it off in a grid so you can sketch your findings. If there's a pattern you can save some time.

Let us know what you find.

Frosty

That looks like a Saltfork Swage Block (SCABA). It should have a few letters on it ... If not, I think one of the other blacksmith clubs made a block from the same pattern.

Since you found it in NH, it couldbe one of the New England Blacksmiths' cast swage blocks. We based our pattern on the Saltfork one as that seemed to have the shapes that a hobbyist would like. We sell them for around $90, I think. If it's one of ours, it will have the letters "NEB" raised on one side.

The age is no more than 3 - 4 years.

Howdy form East Texas! I have one IDENTICAL to this one. Bought it this past spring from the Saltfork Craftsmen and Blacksmith Assoc. out of Oklahoma. (I'm a member) They have them made and sell them to members and others as a found raiser. A nice tool, weighs approx. 65Lbs. This one is much smaller than the ones Glenn linked to but the do somewhat the same thing.

Here is a link to their site: Saltfork Craftsmen Artist-Blacksmith Association On-Line Trading Place , well...you will just have to copy/paste it. sorry, I don't know how to make it to where you just have to click....

This is the Salt Fork Block, listed at the bottoms of Glenn's link. The reverse side is also shown so you may better identify things.

No matter who made it, the question is, how did it get out in the middle of the woods?

I'm pretty sure it's a NEB block. The end on the ground is the key. We've got two V's and the SF block has a large radius swage.

So how did it get there??? Whereabouts in NH did you find this? I can't imagine it's been out there very long. We've had some decent rain all year and my block gets more rust than that just sitting in my shop. I'm guessing someone is looking all over his shop for that thing.

--Marc

PS, here's a pic of my NEB block:

First there was the Loch Ness Monster, then the Roswell, NM incident, and now the levetating NH Swage Block. I tell ya guys it's getting spooky out there.

Woody

I'm going out tommorrow to carry it home, but like I said, it's a 1/2 mile out there, with nothing but a foot trail to the area. The block is smooth on all sides with no sign of a casting company.....:confused:

and so begins the legend of the ghost of the foundry man, come back to haunt those not using the very best casting sand..... 1/2 mile is a long way to carry something of that size just to drop it....
-Aaron @ the SCF

And so begins the tale of Ebeneezer Blacksmithseed. Back in the 70's, after the Industrial Revolution all but drove the blacksmithing craft into hiding, Ebeneezer roamed the countryside dropping swage blocks on remote walking trails, in the hopes some hiker would pick it up and revitalize the mysterious and lost art of forming steel using heat and hammer.

Seriously, though, I'd guess that the original owner of your block ground off the "NEB". I did that to mine because they're raised letters and I used to just sit this on a bench to use. The raised lettering caused some annoying rocking. If you look on your second picture and zoom in to just below the right side of the shovel form, it looks like there's an "EB" showing there. It could be the tail end of "NEB". Or ... it could be the initials of the one who dropped it there.

And more seriously, if you'd like to find the original owner, I could put a call out in our newsletter and on our internal email list. Or if you'd like to sell it, I guarantee it would go quickly. We usually cast five or so twice a year to sell at our meets and they always sell out.

Perhaps this swage block is part of a GPS Treasure hunt game.

Woody

Nice drawings did u painted the Gass tanks ? in the gallery ? u have a smooth hand !

If it was found near a cliff, I would keep a sharp eye out for coyotes and not make a Beep Beep sound. You may find the swage may be followed by an Acme Co. Anvil.

yours truly,

R. Runner