JHCC Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 That's a really good point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 What a beautiful proto-swage you have there; why would you want to remove it? If you have a particular need for a sharp edge make a hardy tool with it! In fact your hardy tool can have 4 different edges on it, just drop it in with the edge you need towards you! Practical Blacksmithing;Volume 1, published in 1889; page 111: "For my own part I am satisfied not only that the sharp edges are useless, but that they are also destructive of good work. I cannot account for their existence except as a relic of a time when the principles of forging were but little understood. I want both edges of my anvil rounded, not simply for a part of their length, but for their whole length." I recently picked up a block to make such a hardy tool from, (and a dish to boot) Couple of bucks at the fleamarket. Anvils often were forged using a steam hammer. A&H anvils did not smooth out the hammer blows on the bottom of the heel like most anvil makers did. As they didn't date stamp them on the front of the foot what you are seeing is probably the remains of the serial number. If you can make it out then we can give you a date for it. Anvils in America says that the undulations on the underside of the heel is an extremely good indicator for A&H anvils. We get a LOT of people here who basically say "I don't know anything about blacksmithing so I'm going to make irreversible changes to my anvil" What would you think about someone who told you "I don't know anything about car engines; let me make irreversible changes to your vehicle's engine!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmoreland Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 All great points, thank you! And I'm just about 100% convinced this is an A&H after your comments. I can't see the actual arm and hammer imprint and the 'AC or G' toward the top and 'GE' don't make much sense to me but everything else matches your descriptions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 Remember that many anvil manufacturers would custom stamp their anvils for large retailers. Sears Roebuck did not make Acme anvils; they just had the folks who did stamp them that way! I have an A&H with a caplet indentation and the undulating under heel surface and clearly stamped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmoreland Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 That's a good bit of info I wasn't aware of. So if this was an A&H anvil then they might've stamped it who knows what for a larger retailer? Can't wait to clean this up. I'll post another pic later if I can clear out any more markings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 Yup; just like with cars today---look up rebadging or badge engineering, wikipedia has a good entry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 I have a Winchester that is marked Ted Williams Sears and Roebuck co. Many retailers have their brand put on products manufactured by someone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmoreland Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 And by the way - Thomas Powers - I used the ole TPAAAT to get that beaut. It's 2019 and your method still works very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 I expect it will still be working way after I'm low grade daisy fertilizer. Now did you read about TPAAAT first or just discover it on your own? There are a number of people who think that the internet is the best way to find stuff; and for some things it is! However for a lot of stuff best found locally the old word of mouth works a lot better. (I found my rental house not on CL; but by mentioning to people at Church that I was looking for place out in the country to rent---my backyard is about 100 miles long, my front yard overlooks cotton fields and pecan orchards. I believe it's renting at substantially below market rates too.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmoreland Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 Word of mouth is precisely it. By nature I like to talk to folks about life and livin and the latest this or that over my 35 years of existence and being Texan and growing up in rural West Texas you kinda just come by that sort of thing naturally. So I was sure to mention blacksmithing and that I was on the lookout for a good anvil to my coworkers, friends and acquaintances. Lots of farmers around these parts all intertwined with work here at the firm etc and just so happens that's where I got this one. Was the son of a cotton farmer I did computer work for for years who had passed a few years back that gave this to me. Said I had earned the anvil for all the help I gave his dad and he was never going to use it himself and hated to see it collecting dust in an old shop. I think he had farm hands using it for this or that but never did any forging, reckons it was picked up at a farm auction some years ago. Farm hands probably used it for cold tool working which would account for those nasty chips and gouges. Anyway, I'll wager a lot of folks have these anvils just laying around in old shops and barns and depending on where you live they may not think they are worth much and will part with them easily. These folks aren't going to go through their shops posting stuff on Craigslist either, they'd just as soon take it to scrap to get more room. No, usually the Craigslist and eBayers are the younger family members trying to make a buck off something they inherited from grandad and have no desire to pick up a hammer ever. So the TPAAAT works, specifically just talking to folks. It's a win/win situation because at the very least, they'll keep you in mind if they ever come across anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 On 3/15/2019 at 10:04 AM, cmoreland said: I know Irondragon is going to reach through the screen The last time I did that my hand got stuck so no I learned my lesson. What I will say is the edge chip and dents (gouges) are really nothing to your anvil. I'll paraphrase what Glenn says, forge hot metal on your anvil for 2000 hours or a year (which ever comes first) then if you are still unhappy with it do what you want to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrike Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 I got tired of pretending a minivan was a truck. So this followed me home. I fear it will lead to bigger things following me around from now on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 Now you're getting the idea! You can tow the fork lift. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrike Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 The wife was real clear when I suggested a forklift would be handy. I won't be getting one anytime soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 Get here something she'll REALLY like but too heavy for you to move for her. Before you try that though might I suggest picking up a larger truck with a sleeper cab, called a "Dog House." Well when I was pushing rolling stock we called them a dog house. Beats the couch. <WINK WINK> Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 Found this piece of railing, think i will actually just clean it up and put it on my front porch. Cant tell age or material but it looks like cast iron hanger things (i know there is a name for them but i cant remember, a little help here guys) The bottom piece is looks arc welded to the top piece. And a box with some bearings, u-bolts, and one big honkin bolt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 Fleamarkets finds 2019-03-17; under the weather but had to go buy oranges and bread; got there late so all the best deals were gone. I did spend US$7.50 for the items below and figure I over paid by several dollars: (didn't buy the sledge heads or axe heads also for sale.) The mushroom stake is sized to fit a 1" square hole. I will use it in my stake plate or in the 50# plate with 2 1"sq holes in it as I am of the "Don't pound tapers into hardy holes!!!!" school. The ball peen gets tossed into the scrap hammer head bucket for students or next Quad-State. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 Sometimes it really sucks there aren't any fleas Alaska. Well, okay there are a few come up with tourist dogs but not many and they don't bring good stuff like that with them. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 As much as I decry obsessing about rebar, I won’t turn up my nose if 10 feet or so turn up as blacksmith’s roadkill. (The longer piece is unusual, with very little texture at all.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 Looks to be old stuff that the little divots rather than the continuous texture. Test it! I've had 1920's square rebar that would harden! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 Itty bitty bumps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lou L Posted March 20, 2019 Share Posted March 20, 2019 This didn’t follow me home, rather it came on it’s own and met me here. I didn’t even have to dumpster dive to get it! Can’t forge a tee shirt but I can start plenty of the “do you have any steel or tools you don’t want?” conversations I love so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VainEnd84 Posted March 20, 2019 Share Posted March 20, 2019 9 hours ago, Lou L said: Can’t forge a tee shirt Lou I just dont think your trying hard enough Someone needs to forge a set of armour that looks like a baggy tshirt and khakis lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 20, 2019 Share Posted March 20, 2019 Is that the sound of the Negroli's spinning in their graves? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted March 20, 2019 Share Posted March 20, 2019 On 3/15/2019 at 8:29 AM, Chelonian said: When do you ever need more than about 1.5" of edge at a time, apart from making it look nice? It's like a lot of things in life, if you've never tried it, no explanation will convince you. Just couldn't resist. However, my edges are beveled from 3/8" to zero from the step to where the heel begins. And I use each 1.5" for different purposes all the time. And yet, the responses to not are valid. Use the dang thing till you have the experience to know whether you should or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.