Stakes n Hammers

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Permalink Reply by Boris Kolodny on June 29, 2009 at 10:17am

Marnie,
I read you post.
I have someone in Florida who makes stakes, chasing tools and Swage Blocks.She is in a wheal chair , which in itself is remarkable.
I will be distributing her tool on my website soon to help her out financially. In meantime, I contacted
her and here is her reply about your needs:

"yes I can make those but only up to half inch at this point in time how long
does he want it. for that i have to order the metal do not have any that
size on hand so could take three week.
at this time I can only make the stake I can't make the Swage block till I
purchase a piece of equipment That I do not have at this time. those stakes
sell for over 150 I have to check the price of metal and the max size i can
do right now is 1/2 by 18 to 28 long I need to know the length before i can
give you a price but i most of the time charge half of what ever it retails
for some times even better I get a better price on metal the more i buy. all
my metal is already cut for chasing tools so if he or she wants a mini one
no problem can do it now and do it cheap. I Plan on buying the mill I need
in a few months then I can make Swages.
Let me know what you think or contact me at: 416-604-9888
Boris

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Permalink Reply by Marnie Astley on September 15, 2009 at 11:05pm

Hi Boris, my apologies... shows n sales, I haven't been online much this summer. Thank you for your reply.
Do you have any of the stakes on your site now?
I did find a blacksmith to make me an inexpensive starter set which are proving to be a lot of fun :-)
ottofrei.com has some sinusoidal stakes starting at $115 for an 8 inch stake.
Thanks again, as soon as I begin to turn out some curves worthy of it, I will be looking for a better stake than I'm using now.

Marnie

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Permalink Reply by Boris Kolodny on October 27, 2009 at 10:13am

Marnie,

Unfortunately, I don't have any samples yet. She send me some but for some reason they got stolen out of the box. She is making another set for me.

By the way, If you are looking for a nice anvil. I just bought a 100 lb anvil this summer in the States. I found a dealer there that had 40 different old anvils. Anything you can imaging. It was also more reasonably price than anything in Canada as well. If you are interested I will inquire for you and if he has anything that may fit your needs I will have him send some pictures. He is very knowledgeable on the subject of tools and is highly respected in the trade.
Please let me know and I will start the ball rolling.

You can cal me at: 416-604-9888.

Best,

Boris

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Permalink Reply by Marnie Astley on October 27, 2009 at 12:16pm

Hi Boris, yes I'm looking for an anvil...The blacksmiths tell me they sell for around $2 a pound and I should have one thats 150 pounds at least, though I'm inclined to want a smaller one around 100 - 125 pounds. Sure, I'd be interested in hearing what he has though the shipping must be very high?
I do know of one here, a 125 pound anvil though he wants way more than its worth. Shipping might make it worthwhile after all... I'm still thinking about it.
thanks for your help Boris.
Marnie

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Permalink Reply by Boris Kolodny on October 30, 2009 at 11:44am

Marnie,

Generally, in Canada good anvils sell for about $3-4/lb,

Here is he contact information for the gentleman n Vermont:

The name is - Ray
R & MJ'S Collectibles
321 East Lake Shore Drive
Colchester, VT 05446
802-863-6480

You can mention my name. He and I had a very nice chat when I was there. He knows a lot about tools and he has a lot of blacksmithing tools which are getting harder to come by these days.

Mention to him that you want a forged anvil. I would say 100 lb is plenty. You can come by and take a look at the one I got and make a decision as to the weight.
I am sure that he can send you some pictures.
As to the shipping, you may find a trucking company that will get it to you. In fact, Ray many years ago used to drive a truck. He may be able to help you there.

I hope this helps.

Good luck Marnie.

Please let me know how you make out.

Also, occasionally anvils do come up for sale on Craigslist.

Best,

Boris

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Permalink Reply by Marnie Astley on October 30, 2009 at 7:28pm

Thanks Boris, I'll look into it.
Much appreciated
Marnie

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Permalink Reply by David Robertson on November 25, 2009 at 7:45am

Hi Marnie
Another place to try for stakes etc. is www.nfap.ca this is John Newmans website. He is a blacksmith and pattern maker in Hamilton and has the capabilities of custom making the stakes and swage blocks that you are looking for. He already has a line of specific blacksmithing tools and is branching into silver smithing. Tour around his site but best to give him a call to find out what is available.

Anvils
In general for blacksmithing bigger is better, but having said that I have worked with 110 lb anvil for 20 years and have been quite satisfied with that. You learn to adapt your techniques to the weight of the anvil and it really does depend on the type of work you do.

Sources that I usually recommend to my students are www.euroforgings.com in North Toronto, www.thak.ca in Floradale (near Kitchener) These are new anvils and good quality but not top of the line. Expect to pay closer to $6.00 a lb. There are still deals on some of the older anvils. These at auctions can be $2.00 to $3.00 a lb depending on condition and name.

Hope this helps.
David Robertson
www.artistblacksmith.com

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Permalink Reply by Marnie Astley on December 8, 2009 at 2:21pm

Thanks so much for the help David, I see the little low dome stake I've been looking for there on John's web site!
Santa's sack will be a might heavy this year ;-)
Marnie

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Permalink Reply by Boris Kolodny on January 6, 2010 at 5:02pm

Marnie,

I have written to you re. stakes from the US I was awaiting. I did get them but the quality is not what I like.
However I found a link to a nice anvil. Here it is: http://buffalo.craigslist.org/tls/1538379059.html

Good luck to you.

Best,

Boris

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Permalink Reply by Marnie Astley on January 7, 2010 at 1:15am

Thanks Boris, I'll look into it... that anvil is called a 'short sugar'. I'll see if he's selling it separate.
Dh has a lead on one locally...we'll see if that one pans out too. Sorry to hear the tools are not what you expected. I found someone with railway track for .75 a pound which he cut in several widths for me to make some custom stakes of my own.

Marnie

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