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I Forge Iron

Smithing Supplies in AK


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Here are a couple of sources where I have found anvils, tools & steel locally in Anchorage.

 

Second Chance Store on Spenard Rd south of Benson: I picked up a  new 110lb cast iron anvil there for about $100 a few yrs ago.   Not really good quality but at least you would have something to pound on.   He was getting them from China it looked like.

 

Check out Antique stores for tools, etc.   I picked up some Model-T adjustable wrenches for $8 ea at Lazy Dog Antiques on 7th.   I weld a handle on them and they are great for twisting stock.  They had a coal forge & a few tongs, but prices seemed a little high.   I have found old chisels, jack hammer bits, hammers etc at some antique stores for a reasonable price sometime. .

 

Steel Fab down on Railroad Ave & Post Rd said they would try to work with us on prices for steel, depending on how much you buy.  

Talk to Terry Walker there and tell him you are a member of  AK Blacksmith Association.

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Good to see you this weekend. What weight did Steel Fab set for a discount sale?

 

I seem to have my best luck at yard/garage sales though putting the word out for what I'm looking for works well too. I have found smithery things at the antique shop on Old Seward just east of the old theaters, can't think of the cross street. It wasn't too far from Hayden electric. ARGHHH darned tree!

 

Thanks for the tips.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Yes, Do come to Art On Fire, June 29 at the Museum of Transportation and Industry by the Wasilla Airport. Drive through Wasilla on the Parks and follow the signs. A number of us should be set up demoing.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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  • 3 months later...

Hey Jim buy one for my B.D. it is coming up. I will make you a nice horse shoe for trade. :)

   On a more reality based thought I am thinking I will be making some hardy hole tools for my truck anvil as I seem to have misplaced the hardy for that anvil and another specialty tool I had. I expect when I stop shoeing that anvil will be used in the shop or by one of my daughters so I should tool it up.

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The pawn/tool rental place on the Palmer Wasilla Hiway has had 3 sizes of anvil for sale 55, 110, and 165. They seem to be cast steel cause they do ring when tap them. Its not a sharp clear ring but its not a dull thud either. The casting is pretty rough and the hardy hole would need to be cleaned up quite a bit. They were priced around $2 per lb so i was surprised to hear any sort of ring. I personally have not had the opportunity to ring test a cast iron ASO so thats why didnt buy one when I was looking but matbe somebody with more experience could check them out.

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At the tent and tarp and equipment rental place yes? I've seen them and they're a perfect example of why "ring" doesn't mean much outside of finding a welded steel face that's delaminating. They're cast iron and not as good as they look. Next time take a ball bearing or light ball pein and do a drop test or check rebound with the ball pein. A good face will rebound significantly say in excess of 75%. Those may ring but they're as dead as a punky log.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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Yea I wouldnt expect anything more than an ASO for that price. Especially considering the cost of freight these days. A guy who was there told me he hit one with one of the hammers and it dented the hammer!
So which is harder cheap chinese anvil or cheap chinese hammer!

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If it dented the hammer . . . I'll have to stop in next time I go by. I'm thinking exaggeration or a hammer that's actually cheaper than the anvil. Those guys don't have anything made in America so take your own hammer.

 

I believe they're closing everything out, so the signs say. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they're just trying to move more merchandise it's an old trick commonly seen at furniture outlets.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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  • 1 month later...

Welcome aboard Backyard guy, glad to have you! Please put your general location in the header there are a number of smiths in Anchorage. I'm about 50 miles north just the other side of Wasilla.

 

to attach pics to posts click the "More Reply Options" button under the text window, Click the "Browse" button and select the pic file. It's a good thing to resize pics to a couple hundred kb. so they don't fill entire windows when the thumbnail is clicked in the post. Anyway, once you've selected a pic, click the "Attach This File" button and it'll appear in your post as a thumbnail we can all view in your post.

 

John: The name of the place is E.J. Bartells on Witney Rd. I'll shoot the link in a PM. Be sure to tell them you're a member of the Association, we've been getting a great discount.

 

Will you make it to the January 18th. meeting? It'd sure be good to see you again.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Hey guys, I had a reasonably successful day in the shop today. Sean came out and he got a nice candle holder finished, I'll pester him to post a couple pics.

 

For my part, I got the damaged top die dovetail repaired for my Little Giant. I didn't pick up on the sound when the bolts started to loosen so it broke them. THEN I broke an easy out in one. I tried the normal removal tactics and couldn't get it even with a diamond burr so I brought it up to no-magnetic in the forge, let it soak and turned the forge off, packed the openings and let it cool. Happily it worked the easy out drilled out without a problem so now the dovetail mount holes are chased and retapped to 7/16-20 and I'm going to use grade 8s this time. I also drilled and tapped all the way through so if I break another bolt I'll be able to jam a bit from the other side and let it extract the bolt.

 

Last successful adventure today. I'd asked on IFI a while back if anyone had tried Patterson Flux in the forge, from the replies I guess not. Now I'm THE guy on IFI to have used it. I made a stack of metal cutoff bandsaw blade and steel banding. I used two pieces per layer because I LIKE thicker layers in pattern welds. As for prep, I didn't, I even rolled the banding around the saw blade lengthwise. Two pieces of blade, take two wraps with the banding, two more pieces of blade and two more wraps. Dirt, rust and whatever was on it, I didn't even wipe it off with my hand, let alone my normal technique of sanding steel to be welded clean and bright if possible. Nope, old dirty and with a few gaps.

 

I preheated it in the forge to as close to orange as a loose stack of steel will get and fluxed it, then gave it a few taps to tighten up the stack. Put it back and brought it to bright yellow and using the pein side of my turning hammer ran a stitch of blows down the center and finished with the fat face to close it all up. Refluxed and returned it to the forge.

 

I was really pleased to see almost all the layers were the same color when I removed it and repeated the blows, pein down the center, flat to finish the join, reflux and back in the forge. The next round of hammering was NOT gentle I really hit it hard and there wasn't one dark layer, not one. Nor when I pulled it from the forge the next time so I started beating the stuffins out of it on edge and I do believe it's welded, GOOD and stuck together.

 

I'll pick up the grade 8s for the LG Monday and REALLY have a bash on that little billet. I'll have to make something slicy, dicy and choppy with it but if it makes a decent billet is what I'm good with it.

 

I'll be bringing the Patterson #1 Flux to the meeting at Jim's so everybody can give it a try. I picked up this 16oz. can at Aire Liquide in Wasilla for $24. and change, They picked up the shipping. I'm very pleased at this point. I'll let you know how it works.

 

And that's the news from Vine Rd. this Saturday evening.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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Sounds like you did well there today. Good to hear that you are getting your hammer back on line, as you know I can only forge with a power tool as I am to lazy to really do any work. What are you thinking you will etch your billet with? I have not done any pattern welding since this fall, been too busy with other stuff. I have ideas that need doing maybe I just need to be irresponsible and play.

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Great to hear your working that hammer and getting into the shop.  Just to cold here in the interior to get to work yet.  I did get part of a car spring hammered into a kinda knife shaped lookin thingy when the temps got up to 25 a couple of weeks ago.  But that's pretty much all I've been able to do since before my surgery.  Really looking forward to break up and getting hammering for real.

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Thanks it was a pretty good day even if it was on the cold side. Sean and I didn't light the forge for a few hours and we weren't working next to the barrel stove. Lunch was good though, we stoked the stove up some, roasted brauts on the fire and drank hot tea. Warmest we were all day. Nothing like the interior but we're not that tough.

 

You know Mark, you're living proof of the old adage. If you love your job you'll never have to work a day in your life.

 

Get the air cylinder fixed for your second hammer? I love my power hammer, I'm WAY too old to work harder than necessary and dearly miss it.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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