MLW wanted a certain piece of iron work and there is a small blacksmith
near by - so I called him up and he made it for us. I picked it up today
and got a chance to see his shop.

His 70 year old dad (he is in his 30's) has been a smith his whole life
and they have a pretty big, very Italian looking house with a giant shop
out the back. On the side is a traditional room, about 20 X 20 with a 15
foot ceiling, that is used to give classes and demos. It has a brick
floor and a coal forge, and all sorts of neat foot powered machinery.
There must have been 12-15 hand cranked blowers. A pair of tongs from
the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard that were 6 feet long and set up to grab
a piece of something that was round and about 9" in diameter. There were
small little anvils everywhere - things that would fit in your hand,
dozens of them. There was a bellows near the ceiling that they made out
of oak and white leather. Best thought, there were about 6-8 anvils that
weighted between 4-600 lbs, and one that weighed 800 pounds!

Fun day, and I will surely have him make something else for us!

Ed Minch

------------------------------------------------------------------------