brickman Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Hey guys, a local bladesmith of 45+ years is retiring near me and i connected up with him through the blacksmithing association in my area and he's letting me and my best buddy into his shop to see if we want to buy / have some equipment.. i think we're going in with 500-800$ looking to pick up items. what i'm looking for from this post is to see what items are essential and/or what i should look for and try to pick up. we currently have an 86# anvil, old rivet forge, small bench grinder, one 3.3lb hammer, one 2.2lb hammer, set of basic chisels and punches, a set of good files (5 in total), and 2 bench vices. Since i'm so new at this if there is anything else i should be looking for please let me know and if you have an idea of what i should be looking to spend on it add that as well... The one thing i'm going to try and pick up is a belt sander/grinder. Other than that, i really dont know. Any input would be appreciated =] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckcreekforge Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Another anvil, hardie tools (hot cutter, cold cutter, fuller, rivet set), a variety of hammers, look at the forges (coal, propane), power hammer. Ask him what he thinks would be important to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Postvise! Now I could suggest some other things; but as I don't know What you want to do it's hard to say What you need to do it with! Like for bladesmithing a *good* belt grinder is pretty much a necessity as is a heat treat furnace, a decent quench tank (great plus if it's already full with a brand name heat treat oil) handle materials, blade steels, fittings, etc; BUT if you are doing ornamental blacksmithing most of that is not needed---except the postvise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickman Posted April 7, 2017 Author Share Posted April 7, 2017 I plan on doing knives mostly once i get good, as well as some furniture builds around the house my metalworking + woodworking. But i imagine once i get good most of my stuff i make will be knives and tools Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mtnstream Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Specialty punches and slitting chisels.Swage block (if you can get one cheap). Any and all hardie tools. Any books, plans, design templates. Good strong tongs... you can never have too many. Big truck....because I would fill it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-1ToolSteel Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Tongs, angle grinder, more hammers, as much sand paper as you can get your hands on, + all the other suggestions. If it were me, I would take home everything that would fit in the truck, and come back for more, If it would please the former smith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickman Posted April 7, 2017 Author Share Posted April 7, 2017 5 minutes ago, Mtnstream said: Specialty punches and slitting chisels.Swage block (if you can get one cheap). Any and all hardie tools. Any books, plans, design templates. Good strong tongs... you can never have too many. Big truck....because I would fill it up! Taking all the seats of of the suburban and using that, supposed to pour rain here tomorrow. if there is anything too big we'll come back with a pickup and tarp 2 minutes ago, C-1ToolSteel said: Tongs, angle grinder, more hammers, as much sand paper as you can get your hands on, + all the other suggestions. If it were me, I would take home everything that would fit in the truck, and come back for more, If it would please the former smith. Thats what i'm hoping. he doesnt seem to be looking to make much on it, but rather help someone out in the craft. i'm willing to spend for it as well, but if he's generous i'll take everything he will give Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Knowledge! Talk with him. Ask him what he used to do and make and see what good stories he has to tell. See if he will give you a bit of a tour through his shop first. He might point out some good tools you may not recognize as useful. But yeah, fill up the suburban, and learn some things from him while you are there. Dont forget pictures. We wanna see! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickman Posted April 7, 2017 Author Share Posted April 7, 2017 I'm gonna try and get lots of pictures but without being rude.. might just get pictures after i get it back to my place, i'm a big believer in not using cell phones in front of people if possible.. I work in tech and every day those kind of things annoy me so i dont want to annoy someone else with the same behavior Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kozzy Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Don't dismiss bulk pricing rather than high-grading your pick. You might be able to get a good enough deal that you can grab the goods you want and have enough "margin" in the rest to pass it on to others at a small profit for your handling. Sometimes they just want to move on rather than have the pain of piecing out their memories and will bite on the bigger deal. I know I'd rather do that when the old bones say it's time to stop. Depends on what he actually has, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wroughton Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Coordinates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickman Posted April 7, 2017 Author Share Posted April 7, 2017 1 hour ago, Kozzy said: Don't dismiss bulk pricing rather than high-grading your pick. You might be able to get a good enough deal that you can grab the goods you want and have enough "margin" in the rest to pass it on to others at a small profit for your handling. Sometimes they just want to move on rather than have the pain of piecing out their memories and will bite on the bigger deal. I know I'd rather do that when the old bones say it's time to stop. Depends on what he actually has, of course. Definitely. i imagine he has a lot considering he did it out of a shop here in beaverton for 40 years and it's a high land value area. We'll definitely see but i would love to just give him X dollars and "take what you can fit" approach 3 minutes ago, Wroughton said: Coordinates? haha, beaverton oregon is all you get Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Take time to talk to the gentleman. Get to know him. He is where the wealth of the shop is located. Not knowing what you have now, look at the standard blacksmithing tools, anvil, post vise, tongs, hammers, swage blocks, forge, etc. Then go to the other things of interest to you at this point in your life. Always take more money than you need. This would be a good time to raid the container of quarters you have been saving. After all it was only a quarter. You can bring some of the money back home if it is not needed. Much more difficult to go home and scrounge up money on short notice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickman Posted April 7, 2017 Author Share Posted April 7, 2017 30 minutes ago, Glenn said: Take time to talk to the gentleman. Get to know him. He is where the wealth of the shop is located. Not knowing what you have now, look at the standard blacksmithing tools, anvil, post vise, tongs, hammers, swage blocks, forge, etc. Then go to the other things of interest to you at this point in your life. Always take more money than you need. This would be a good time to raid the container of quarters you have been saving. After all it was only a quarter. You can bring some of the money back home if it is not needed. Much more difficult to go home and scrounge up money on short notice. Definitely, we're bringing the amount of money we're comfortable spending at the current time which i think is fair.. Also, i missed your messages on chat last night as i stood up to make food, i wrote back but you logged off right after i hit enter D=. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc1 Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 45 year of blacksmithing? May be worth buying the lot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickman Posted April 7, 2017 Author Share Posted April 7, 2017 12 minutes ago, Marc1 said: 45 year of blacksmithing? May be worth buying the lot? I wish, i cant afford that much without my wife killing me currently Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 than get the wife interested in blacksmithing! Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc1 Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 Ha ha little, easier said then done. Not impossible though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaperPatched Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 Get the things you either can't find elsewhere, or that go for collector prices on Ebay. Tell the smith what you want to do. Ask his advice on what will be most useful to you. I'd skip the belt grinder as you can build one that is the equal of a $3000.00 machine if either you or your buddy have a little mechanical ability and can weld, and can drill and tap a hole. True it may end up costing you $500 to $700 depending of scrounging abilities, but you can space out the required purchases of time so as to not strain the budget too much at one time. Skipping the 3-phase motor and VFD at first and using step pulleys will keep your cost way down. Check YouTube. Get a notebook and make a list of all the best features of the different builds that you see and use those in your build. Build something that has work platforms that interchange separately from the wheel/platen assembly for greater versatility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 Definitely ask him if you can use him as a resource, either through phone calls, or even stopping by your place to teach. He may also have some materials like ivory that are hard to source today. Books, and other reference materials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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