well… so this happened tonight… promise I wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary, just banging hot steel like usual and the handle gave out. No injuries, just quite the surprise. I’m happy to assist in hanging a new handle if needed!
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Thanks for letting us know. Ther are several hammers that need a little attention.
Frank Machado at Two Bastards Two Basterds TX Smithy & Supplies told me that he would repair a couple of hammers for us for free.
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Joe, I’m coming up to DMS tonight to meet with Randy in the metal shop. I can collect a couple of hammers and meet with Frank M if he’s still willing to repair them for us. He’s a friend of Kelly Kring and the Brookhaven blacksmithing group. I’ve met him a couple of times.
Sha’ll I pick up the hammers? Do you want to meet me there tonight, too? I’ll be there about 5:00PM to 6:30PM.
I can’t tonight I’m babysitting my granddaughter.
Yesterday, I met with Frank Machado of Two Basterds Smithy and Supplies Two Basterds TX Smithy & Supplies to refurbish some of our hammers, I got concurrence from the committee chair, @jbrown885 to do this. There are eighteen hammers to be exact.
in exchange for four other hammer heads. Frank is going to refurbish the hammers and rehandle all of them in exchange for the four hammers.
This is what kind of work I expect back.
Frank does beautiful work. I met him through the Brookhaven Blacksmithing class when he came to visit his good friend Kelly Kring.
We also have some anvils in pretty poor shape and I’ve contacted another friend of Kelly’s to have them refurbished. I’ll get with the committee when I hear back from him. Here’s just an example of some of the anvils:
Some of them may not be recoverable and as Joe says they are boat anchors but I think it is worthwhile to find out.
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I just talked to Terry Estes at Estes Forge and Fabrication. He restores old anvils. I sent him the pictures of the unused and abused anvils in the blacksmithing area. His advice was to sell them to a beginner smith as they would cost more to repair than a new one would cost. The exception is the Peter Wright anvil we have.
However, an idea occurred to me. We are makers and could do some of the refurb work ourselves.
Terry explained to me that the process he uses, and charges $50 an hour for, is to reweld the top using Stoody 1105 rods for the stick welder. Essentially, we would first weld the spots on the anvil which are low, chipped or missing until we “filled” them in. Then we could grind the face or use a mill to resurface the anvil. What is mostly needed is a flat anvil face and at least one edge which can be used to make shoulders etc on. The Stoody rods are a metal to metal rod which according to Terry are actually harder than most anvil faces.
I thought it might be interesting to attempt this. Unfortunately, the rods are a little pricey. They cost $8.5 a lb from Metroplex Welding. We would likely need at least 10 lbs per anvil. What we would have left over is mediocre anvil, but a lot of us could practice our welding in the process.
This is just something we can discuss at the next committee meeting. Terry, of course, sells some very nice anvils if we’re ever in the market for some. He’s expecting an order of some English, German and Austrian anvils to arrive this month.
You can see his work here: Login • Instagram
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I just received this summary from Frank at Two Basterds for our records.
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There you go buddy.
18 handles and wedge packs alone are $8 each. Total of $144.
Restoration (including handles and handling) runs $20-$30 each (X 18 hammers).
For you and DMS…
NO CHARGE!
This is a job I will enjoy!
Believe it or not, I understand my cat scratches on the ticket. If you need a clearer list, don’t hesitate to let me know.
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I think we made a pretty fair trade. Frank is a great guy to have on our vendor list, too.
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The hammers are finished although there is still a swage that needs repaired. Frank Machado, at Two Basterds TX Smithy & Supplies did a great job.
I think he’s going to come to the open forge to present them to us. We now have some awesome hammers with which to work.
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This morning I picked up another 10 hammers that Two Basterds and Frank Machado re-handled for blacksmithing. He only charged us for materials, which was $8 a hammer. He normally charges $30 a hammer to do this as it involves more than just the re-handling of them. He refaces them if that is what is needed, he soaks them in Evaporust to remove any rust on them and then he finishes them with beeswax to make them look nice.
He sells his finished hammers for $100’s of dollars. Here’s his site on Facebook: F&N Metalwerks /Two Basterds TX Smithy & Supplies
Here’s a before picture:
And here’s what they look like after re-handling by Frank:
A number of the hammers had chipped on their face and Frank refaced them.
I am very grateful for Frank and Two Basterds for their willingness to help DMS get our hammers in shape.
He said he’s always willing to help us when he can.
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