I started work on the stand for my new anvil today.  First, I wanted a thin lead base under the anvil to help deaden the ring.  So I went to the hardward store and picked up some playground sand.  After soaking the sand some, I put the anvil in and pulled it back out.  This left a nice impression of the base.  I then melted down the lead and poured it into the form.  Came out decent enough and will post pics later.

I started on the wooded parts of the stand.  Got the legs and base done, just need to connect them.  I will then reinforce them some with cross pieces.  Overall, should be a very sturdy stand.  I had to double check myself quite a few times.  Because the new anvil is so big, the stand is much shorter.

A picture of the new toys.  (aka crack for blacksmiths.)



Its hard to justice to the scale of the new items.  They are all considerable heavy, sturdier, etc... than my previous equivalent items.  The anvil has such a nice ring...  :)  Will have to deaden that some to keep my neighbors happy.

Very fun day, new toys...

  Went to the Florida Artists Blacksmith Associaton conference today.  A few merchants were setup but I homed in on the one that had my anvil and vise.  I also went ahead and bought a new hardie (tool used to cut metal) for the anvil.  I want to make all the anvil tools but the hardie is needed to get started.
  I also picked up a blower.  My current one is a bit small and unsteady.  The one I just got is very nice.  I will post pics when I get back home.
  They had a gallery going with members displaying pieces so I put my Viking chest on display and got a lot of good comments.  Also won a big hunk of real wrought iron.  I've never had wrought iron to play around with so it will be fun to give it a try.
  The hightlight of the day (other than the new tools) was Tal Harris.  He does very nice ornamental work and I picked up a few methods of work that I can apply to the clock.  Going to note them here so I don't forget.

* absolute precision.
* Using a rig to gauge length of axles.
* aboslute precision.
* S1 for punches.
* absolute precision.

Getting one more toy...

  I stopped over at the smith's house who helped me get started in blacksmithing.  I am shopping around for a new vise.  The current one is okay but it has seen better days.  Also, the jaws are only 4" wide.  This causes problems when trying to do certain kinds of work.  The jaws just don't grab enough.  Well, I looked at the ones he had and none were a drastic improvement.
  I decided to go ahead and call the folks who are bringing me my new anvil.  I added an 8" wide vise to the order.  Once again, a bit pricey but I look at it as a very long term investment.  With proper care, it will out last me.  The vise weighs in at 120#.  That makes it actually heavier then the anvil I've been using for the past few years.



  While I was over at the other smith's house (for the time being, we will call him Hank) I did spy two large coil springs from a railroad car.  He was kind enough to go ahead and let me have them.  They will find new lives as tools.

Another learning experience...

  Spending time on TurboCad getting the clock design in to it.  I'm recalling how to do a lot of it from when I used version 6.0.  The version I have now is 11.0.  I mainly just want to have a very good idea for of the sizing for the frame.  My new anvil arrives this weekend and I want to start working on the clock shortly after that.

  Tomorrow, I want to make a stop at Home Depot or Lowes and pick up lumber for all the new stands that I want to make.

Maybe next time...

  This always happens.  Found out about something called the Saugus Iron Works when its too late to go see it.  It was the first colonial setup to process iron ore into bars ready for a blacksmith.  I didn't find out about it till last night.  I won't have a chance to see it this trip.  Oh well.

http://www.nps.gov/sair/

Designing the clock...

  I finally started to carefully design the clock from the original.  My past wooden clocks were made pretty much from memory.  The very first clock I intentionally made oversized so that my poor woodworking skill would have less of an impact on its function.  Larger clock meant that I could be less precise.  That clock was about 5 feet wide.

  I had more confidence with the second clock.  I trimmed off from the height, width and depth.  That clock is right around 3 wide, 3 foot tall and 2 foot deep.

  Well, I'm now working on the design for the metal version of the clock.  I want to stay true to original and I'm a bit surprised by the size.  I guess it has been almost 8 years since I last saw the clock in person but I don't remember it being this small.  The size is going to be 21.5" wide, 23" tall (not counting decorative finials and escapement) and about 17" deep.  Much smaller...

  I've started the design in Turbocad.  Not exactly medieval but for the first clock I don't want to "wing" the size of parts like I did in the woodworking or my previous attempt at the frame.