Long list there Zack. Congrats on the mill score !

1. Riverside sells forges also but with your tool list making your own forge shouldn't be too much trouble. I'm not much help in the forge welding dept. though.

2. I got my Peter Wright from Matchless Antiques on e-bay. I shopped craigslist for a long time looking but didn't really come up with much there for anvils. Matchless gave a very accurate description of my anvil and their shipping was quick. Blacksmith Depot offers some new ones as well as direct from Nimba. Bummer for us all we can no longer get a Sea Robbin <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//sad.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':(' /> Ferriers supply places may also offer new and use anvils if there's one nearby.

3. Tommy McNabb is another press maker I've read good things about- http://www.carolinaknives.com/getcategory.php?cat=8

4. I've seen them a few times on e-bay. May take some patience and luck though.

5. Go 220V. Local Welders supply should be able to help you out with this. The one I go to has both Miller and Lincolns in stock. Avoid the big box stores as I understand it as the models they offer are not the same internally as a pro model available from the welders supply.

6. I've been advised to avoid a Harbor Freight version even if it's cheap and used, LOL.

7. 8. 9. 10. and 12 Enco, MSC, and Grizzly tools carry these items but buying new will be significantly more than pre-owned.

I've had good luck on Craigslist but the good stuff goes fast so check it several times throughout the day and call right away if interested.

Your gonna need to hire a pro photographer to shoot your shop tour when your all done shopping !

Good luck on the search !

-Josh

Thanks Josh! I'll check into those.

Luckily, I'm married to a pro photographer. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

Zack

I found both my post vise and anvil at garage sales. Check the paper, and craigslist. Another place to look is the iforgeiron.com forum. Check in tailgating under first come first serve, a handful of guys keep an eye out for anvils and such and post links.

I just bought one of Uncle Al's forging presses and I love it. It is the only one I've used so I can't be objective, but it moves an amazing amount of metal. For me price was a deciding factor. He is much cheaper than his competitors, and he has been making them for quite sometime so I imagine he's got the kinks pretty much ironed out.

One more thing is Travis Wuertz is making a surface grinding attachment for his TW-90 belt grinder. I emailed him a while back and he said he was making versions for the KMG and Bader. It wasn't cheap, but quite a bit less than a new surface grinder and takes up much less space.

Good luck in your search, hope this helps. -Justin

The Little Johnny Forges are made by Johnny Jones and it looks like Ozark Knife Makers now has them: http://www.ozarkknifemakers.com/apps/webstore/products/show/3375200

Hello Zack;

It sounds like things are falling into place on your new shop!

Something you might try is contacting all the local auction companys and have them put your name on there mailing list for items you are interested in purchasing. This is a common practice here in the midwest. I'm sure it is common practice in your neck of the woods.

Good Luck!

Russell

+1 on Tommy McNabb's hydraulic press, you can get either a 25 or 50 ton and they are worth every penny. And Tommy is one of the greatest guys you can meet or talk to. Knifemaking for 30+ years with a true love for the craft. Check his site out: http://www.carolinaknives.com/getcategory.php?cat=8

Yeah, machine shop equipment can be pretty hit and miss, also 9 out of 10 times the stuff I see has been rode hard 24x7, and only maintained when it was too broken to use. Best case is older stock from still active shops that have been around a long time, in that situation there may be older manual machines that were retired back when they were treated better, and run by guys that had respect for them.

Take it from a guy with a lot of old machines though, you need to pick and choose your battles, unless you like fixing tools. I've spent more time refurbing and fixing machines, and moving them around, than using them. If you want something plug and play, you'll have to pay a premium. That said, in the case of many machines, like mills, etc, even worn out big old machines, are often still more precise than their new chinese counterparts. I'm not being patriotic, just factual. I personally don't care where something was made, as long as it's the best, or best combination of performance and value.

I recommend also, unless you have serious space constraints, to size up. In machining terms, bigger not only usually means higher capacity, but also accuracy, due to enhanced rigidity. It usually also means lower price, and like the saying goes "they don't make em like they used to".

Personally, if you think you're going to be serious about damascus, hold out for an automatic feed surface grinder. I paid $800 for my Landis 6x18 hydraulic feed unit, (1950-60s ish), in dirty but good running condition. A manual feed unit is just fine for ricassos, but torturous for larger work.

Mig welder: choose your brand, Miller or Lincoln. Hobart is made by Miller and comparable, if slightly less robust. Don't buy from a big box store (lowes or hd), as the units of the same model sold there are much lower quality than the ones sold at a welding supplier. Buy a 220V unit, period, 110v flux core units will tack a billet but not handle real fab projects you'll invariably get into later. The power and penetration of the 220V units really is necessary imho. I use a Hobart Handler 187, which is the smallest 220V unit they make afaik, it'll do 5/16 single pass, has a decent duty cycle, and hasn't hesitated since I bought it used for $350. I'll eventually buy a Millermatic 251 or 252, or Lincoln Powermig 255, when I find a good deal, as theyre the cat's meow for single process small (non 3 phase) shop use, but I've got buddies with either of them, and I don't find mine that lacking comparatively.

Drill presses: Heavy more precise work will be done on your Bridgeport, get a good chuck for it if you don't have one. Otherwise, a few cheap bench model harbor freight drills will do for having specific tasks set up. You may need to tweak or tighten things to clean up slop, but the "name" brand drill presses are the same but more expensive. I've got a large small industrial Powermatic variable speed floor drill that I'm probably going to get rid of just because it doesnt have the utility of a turret drill or multiple drills, or the accuracy or convenience of the mill. Having a hard time justifying the space.

Leg vise: I have a seemingly endless supply of 4-6" leg vises in good condition from a guy I deal with occasionally, email me if you don't find one locally. The prices are good, but shipping will mitigate that some.

When you get ready for a larger forge for damascus, you'll probably be more than tooled up to easily build one. A vertical blown forge is easy to build, and nearly ideal. I suggest buying the smaller one you were talking about to start, and building the big one.

Anvil: I would really suggest nothing smaller than 90-100lbs. You'll need to build a heavy stand for one that small to get it to move metal fast and efficiently. Check out the tri-pod type stands built from thick plate and tubing. Plenty over at IForgeIron. These are not only effective on uneven ground, but allow you to get right over your work without a lot of bending. I've got a pretty nice 140lb Fisher, that I recently surface ground the top plate (lightly) to get it perfectly flat, that I'd be willing to part with if you don't have any luck finding something else.

Another thing I would definitely be on the lookout for is a good plasma cutter. It's one of the most essential shop tools imho. You get by without one, but once you've had one, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. I sold mine earlier this year to pay some bills, anticipating the purchase of a larger capacity unit soon after, and still haven't found a new one. Really kicking myself for it now.

Guess that was pretty long winded, sorry for the lack of order. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//wink.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />