[TheForge] cheap top swages

[dann at wctatel.net]

Two "sets" ( 4 handled swages ) arrived yesterday.  Handle length varied
from 16 inches to 23.5 inches.

The two most similar were stamped with a 19, and  had 19.5 inch handles,
and neither of these  had ever been wedged in to the head. Two of the
swage heads simply fell off, as I took them out of the shipping box. The
two heads that didn't fall off had their handles loosely wedged in the way
nature intended.

None of the heads have ever been struck with a hammer's blow.
They could be 5 years old, or they could be 50 years old.  The machined
surfaces have a very light surface rust on the faces.  With black paint on
the sides of the heads.

I'd think that these swages are intended to have about a 1 kilo head
weight.  Of the 4 that I got, the lightest head weighed from 2 pounds 3 oz
and the heaviest head weighed  2 pounds 10 oz.
The radius of all 4 of the swages appeared just over 3/4 inch diameter.
The two most similar looking swage heads varied by 4 oz in weight.

I ordered the 2nd set when I noted that  cost of shipping appeared to be
the same for ordering  two sets, as on one set.  My first thought was that
these might have come from Russia, or India  but one handle had a partial
sticker ( old looking - label  ) attached with French words on it.

Dann


> This isn't so bad, I've been in Museums that managed to misidentify
> everything but the anvil. One in SE Alaska had a manakin (sp?) wearing a
> leather apron holding a drill bit on the anvil and a top swage upside down
> in it's right. The forge was set up with the blower crank on the far side
> and the shield nearest the "smith." Oh yeah, it was wearing yellow safety
> glasses. Gotta be safe you know.
>
> A misidentification that saves a fellow a few bucks is a good thing.
>
> Frosty The Lucky.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Albin Drzewianowski" <dski1045 at qis.net>
> To: <blakkpawss at yahoo.com>; "'Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA'"
> <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Saturday, June 09, 2012 5:03 PM
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] cheap top swages
>
>
>>I got that same catalog in today's mail and got a big chuckle out of the
>> fact that they were describing these as British  Military WWII hammers.
>> You'd think someone would have tipped the copy editor to the fact that
>> they
>> were blacksmith tools.
>>
>> D-ski
>> Westminster, MD
>> The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.
>>
>>
>
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