[TheForge] The mind 1st to go

Wed Oct 13 13:33:13 EDT 2010

  Jason;
I owe you an apology.
I completely failed to recognize the humor in your appeal and reacted 
like a cranky old fart.
Given , as i am, to belching forth humor other folks often miss, i have 
no excuse.
There is , of course, truth in humor, part of what makes it funny, and i 
often find myself having to defend that truth, as you just did.
As it happened. i recently sold a new smith a coal forge for $35, 
another got a blower for $30 and yet another young smith just got a 
substantial oliver and a rockwell 6X48 belt sander  for $450. Not bad as 
deals go. I try to price things according to the buyer's income mostly.
Again, apologies for giving you a hard time...pete

On 10/13/2010 9:25 AM, Jason Nass wrote:
> Guys, you are all missing my point here, It was initially a JEST... you
> know, humor? It has gotten a lot more serious than I ever intended. I do not
> mean to imply that all oldster are gouging the youngsters for tools. I
> merely meant to make a semi-casual observation that it seems to be more
> prevalent these days than it was when I got started 20-some years ago. I
> mostly blame the fleabay antiques speculators for the sharp rise in market
> price.
>
> If you are seeing $2 / lb. as average on there for anvils, I'd love to be
> using your browser because the majority of them I see which are of any
> quality and not beaten to near uselessness are running $4+ / lb. Hell, I
> keep seeing 165# range ones with 1/2 the face shattered off going for $2-$3.
>
>
> As I said, I make my tools, buy them new, and when I find them at
> flea-markets, etc. I grab them up. When I find myself having a redundant
> tool, usually I pass it down to another guy for what I paid for it. I am a
> blacksmith, I make my $$$ with my work, not by putting a 200% markup on
> tools I've lucked out with and gotten a below average price for.
>
> All I am saying is if you get a great deal on something, and you don't need
> it anymore, pass on the deal. We need to stick together and help one another
> out.
>
> End of discussion, It was a jest and an observation, you guys seem to have
> taken it as a personal attack on yourselves, and it was never intended to
> be.
>
> Jason "Wargoth" Nass - MacTalis Ironworks
> me at wargoth.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of CGRAF
> Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 10:02 AM
> To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] The mind 1st to go
>
> On 10/12/2010 2:52 PM, Jason Nass wrote:
>> I am, and I do, regularly hit the yardsales etc. and grab things if I
>> happen to stumble across them, but they have gotten to be pretty
>> scarce. I can honestly say that in my neck of the woods, I have only
>> come across any blacksmithing tools at a sale like that on 3 different
>> occasions, all of them tongs. I am not really looking for tools for
>> myself, and such was not the point. As a younger smith, (40) I am
>> seeing a distressing lack of truly young blood in the trade, and often
>> because all of the older smiths and antique dealers have bought up
>> just about all the old tools that exist, and both parties tend to want an
> arm and a leg for them.
>
> This is presupposing that the only source is the old tools selection.
> What happened to making things from scratch or  Heaven forbid buying new? My
> collection of equipment/tooling is a combination. Scrounged the initial bit
> , bought a used PW at a reasonable price, had a treadle hammer made (it was
> cheaper than giving up the day job to have the time to make my own and a
> fellow smith had a hand in putting food on the table.)
>
>
>
>
> It honestly disgusts me
>> to hear one of the old timers bragging about how they managed to find
>> a 250# Hay Budden at a garage sale for $20 and then sold it to some
>> young guy for $500.
>    This is just my opinion, but I don't see how the trade is going to
>> survive another generation when all the tools have been bought up and
>> have had their prices inflated into oblivion.
> The cycle will repeat.
> If I die before I get smart and sell off my shop, my estate will in all
> likelihood end up getting pennies on the dollar for my blacksmithing
> equipment. The collection is not large enough for its own separate sale, so
> my wife or other heirs will end up unloading it just to empty the space, or
> it will just go on the block with the books and furniture if I am the last
> to go.
> At any rate someone will get an anvil or power hammer, most likely at a
> cheap price and turn around and sell it at a profit.
>
>
>    Don't misunderstand me, I have no
>> problem at all with making a buck, I'm just saying I'm seeing a lot of
>> gouging going on (look at the price of anvils on flea-bay if you need
>> proof).
>>
>
>
> That is $2.00 a pound. While not the deal of the century it is hardly price
> gouging. The $20 a phenomenal price, but does in no way affect what the
> anvil is actually worth.
>
>
>
> Mike Graf
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