Mountain howitzer anvil on new stand

[Branson]

Busy weekend here.  Three of us got together and put in a lot of work, mostly on some of the running gear of a farm wagon from around the turn of the last century -- straightening metal parts, matching and assembling various pieces of the front running gear to fit the new tongue.

But we did get that stake anvil mounted in the turned white oak stand.   Warm shrank the retaining ring on the top of the stand and drove the anvil into the mortise.  Locating the pin that holds the two together as a single unit was, um, challenging. 

So here it is, ready for the regulation army paint job.  Now to start playing with it!

[john k]

What the heck did you turn that stump with?   What does it all weigh now?  Looks good from this angle.

[Branson]

What the heck did you turn that stump with?   What does it all weigh now?  Looks good from this angle.

LOL!  I turned it by using Gary Meyer, who has been turning architectural posts and doing custom mill work here for about 40 years.  Big stuff.  Excellent craftsman with three lathes that I saw in his shop.  The lathe he used for the stand has a ten foot bed.  It was a bit tricky, since it started out as a 7 1/2 inch by 12 inch billet we glued up.   We cut out the mortise for the stake as part of the glue up, and made a plug to fit in the mortise so it could be set in the lathe.

The whole thing weighs exactly 38 pounds.  With the anvil weighing in at 17.5  pounds, the stand itself is 20 pounds -- the 3/4 inch half round ring at the top came in at about half a pound.  I formed that on my cone mandrel last month -- it let Gary turn that end precisely. 

If anything, the stand came back from Gary looking even better.   I'm afraid we marred his work a bit driving in the retaining pin and hot setting the ring.

[keykeeper]

That turned out great, Branson!!

Will definitely be fun to play with and strike some hot iron on!!

[john k]

Some paint will hide those work marks.   You know, you're going to have to lay out this smithing kit and take some photos soon.    Nice to see progress.   

[Branson]

Some paint will hide those work marks.   You know, you're going to have to lay out this smithing kit and take some photos soon.    Nice to see progress.

You know, I don't think I'll hide the marks.  I might try to smooth the surface a bit and use some cold blue or cold brown to knock down the shine.

We won't be able to get much more done until Autumn.  The frame is built, the carriage maker's tool chests are mostly built.  The smith's chests have a lot of brackets and cleats inside, and those have to be measured against the tools and the bellows and made.   They'll have to be installed properly before those chests can be assembled.

The forge pan has been a big problem.  It's made of #10 sheet steel, and the back is a separate plate.  We found a blacksmith who could, and would make the pan.  He called me Monday to say it was ready.  But it isn't.  Well, the pan is, but over the past month he forgot we need the back plate and the air back made as well -- that's why I gave him the full size drawings of both  these and the pan.  These all have to be riveted together, and riveted to the frame. 

[Branson]

A number of the tools we have now.  I got a B&C screw wrench based on the Merrick pattern, and the right size!  I already had a US marked farrier's hammer and a straight pein riveting hammer.  I finally found  a just right claw hatchet, which should be here this week.  The fore punch and clinch block we've made before, and will make again.

But other tools will probably have to be made since it's unlikely they can be found.   They tend to be quite small and and unique to the mountain howitzer kit.  I'll probably have to make them myself.  There's a set hammer, but it's 3.9 inches long and has a 1.1 inch face.  The hot cut is about the same size.  The hardie has a 1.3 inch cutter, and a half inch shaft.  Unless somebody here sees one of these...

There's a toe knife, but it doesn't have a handle; it's just  1.5 X 7 inches long, about a quarter inch thick -- a single bar of steel.  I think I have some 41/30 tool steel that will work. 

There's something called a "nail punch" in addition to a pritchel and the fore punch.  I'm not entirely sure what the business end looks like.

When all is done, you can bet pictures will show up on Tool Talk!

[scottg]

You can steam out some pretty big dents if you want to. Lay a pad of saturated cotton over and bring on the hot iron!
 
 Cold blue will tone down the metal alright. Find some non-oiled steel wool (I have some stainless steel wool that works perfect) or just use a 3m scrubber pad, and wear gloves.
 Then you can keep scrubbing inbetween coats to work off the contaminants and even up the color.

  Don't forget, it only sits on the metal for less than 1 minute before you wash it off with clear water, or it lightens back up!
 The blue is going to stain the oak like crazy. Good thing you are painting it.
    yours Scott
 

[anglesmith]

Looking great, good work !
Graeme

[rusty]

>There's something called a "nail punch"

Stray bit, I was looking through the old Union Tool catalog last night, they had nifty nail sets with flattened textured sides , interestingly, they also had an assortment of virtually the same thing , labeled as punches...

[Branson]

>There's something called a "nail punch"

Stray bit, I was looking through the old Union Tool catalog last night, they had nifty nail sets with flattened textured sides , interestingly, they also had an assortment of virtually the same thing , labeled as punches...

Could you post a picture of these?  I can't make out the necessary details from the drawing I have.

[rusty]

Undated...

[Branson]

Thanks for those, Rusty.  The one illustrated in the manual is octagonal until it tapers.  Whether that taper is round, square, or rectangular there is no way of telling.

[lazyassforge]

Branson, Is this another of these anvils?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blacksmith-anvil-Hardy-tool-/200943689321?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec92d5e69

Bill D.

[Branson]

Branson, Is this another of these anvils?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blacksmith-anvil-Hardy-tool-/200943689321?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec92d5e69

Bill D.

It sure is!  It's in a little better condition than mine, so I dropped a bid on it.  I've found out a little more about this anvil about a week ago.  This anvil was used way past the time of the mountain howitzer.  I downloaded a 1914 US "Manual for Farriers, Horseshoers, Saddlers and Wagoners or Teamsters."  And there it still is -- on page 103.