[TheForge] make shift anvil

Fri Oct 17 20:19:01 2003

Philip
If your anvil size suits your needs  that's what counts.
I'm not a production  smith.
The knives I make are one of a kind, generally to my customers requirements.
It could be damascus or a ball bearing, or some other thing that has some
special significance to him/her, such as a Harley chain or a piece of
meteorite.

It can be quit dramatic to see a ball bearing side by side with a finished
integral hilt, hand forged  ball bearing knife.

I'm presently working on some powder mosaic damascus blade stock and like
pattern weld damascus, it is not  available at my steel suppliers.
Chuck
Honi soit qui mal y honi pense.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phlip" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2003 5:21 PM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] make shift anvil

>
> Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...
>
> Awright guys, my comment was, with the big anvils, the ones you're talking
> about make my back hurt. They do, because I am usually taking my smithing
on
> the road- I started as a farrier, and with the teaching I've been doing,
> I've continued on the road. Big anvils are for shops, not the back of a
> truck or a trailer. I do have Johan's 170 Mousehole in the
>
garage-that-will-one-day-be-a-shop-if-my-roommate-ever-cleans-the-junk-out-o
> f-it, and a couple of nice stumps, but I seldom do big and heavy work- I'm
> of the opinion that if I can't get pissed at a piece and pitch it through
> the window, I don't need to be whanging on the damn thing in the first
> place. (Pollyanna-prim-n-propers beware- I'm NOT in the mood to put up
with
> you). What I need and use is light and conveniently portable anvils. I've
> used the big ones, and there's no advantage for what I do. I seldom have
any
> use for anything bigger than half inch square.
>
> And don't tell me I'm not a real smith because I don't suffer from anvil
> envy. I'm rather wondering why a real production smith would be making
> knives out of ball bearings- isn't that rather time consuming, if you're
> trying to produce knives in any quantity? Much easier and more efficient
to
> buy the steel in a reasonably close size to what you're making.
>
> I also seldom play with the exotic steels- no point in it, unless I have a
> particular project in mind, although I'll be mangling up a fair amount of
> stainless stock soon for some hangers I intend to make for my smithing
> shelter.
>
> Each of us who smith have preferences for equipment that helps us do what
we
> want to do. Johan uses a very modern set-up in our Medieval recreations-
> propane forge, rr track anvil, on an angle iron stump- but that's because
he
> wants to be able to smith at all in a fire hazard area- shall I knock him,
> because what he's doing isn't what I'm doing? Yes- but that's because he's
a
> loved and trusted friend, whom I enjoy teasing ;-)
>
> So, use youyr big-ass anvils, and I'll try not to laugh (OR HELP!!!) when
> you hafta move them...
>
>
> Saint Phlip,
> CoDoLDS
>
> "When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
>  Blacksmith's credo.
>
>  If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
> cat.
>
> Never a horse that cain't be rode,
> And never a rider who cain't be throwed....
>
>
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