My Brother's blacksmithing setup

Gents - I normally haunt the woodworking sections of this forum. But last week, I returned from my home town in Oklahoma, where I traveled before Christmas to be with my Brother. He was hospitalized in mid-December and sadly passed away on Dec 30 after a short illness. It has been hard on the entire family.

While I was there, my Sister-In-Law asked me help get his blacksmithing shop organized and put up for sale. This isn't a sales thread - I'm reaching out here to our metalworking members for some advice because I don't know enough about smithing to list this stuff properly. I'm sure we will put a listing on Craigslist eventually, but are there any members or metalworking groups in Central Oklahoma that would be useful for me to contact?

Here is what he has:

- 25# Little Giant power hammer (in working order fully functional - mounted on steel beams and forklift-ready)
- Hand-made coal forge with blower and coal bin
- Small gas forge (propane)
- Miscellaneous hammers, tongs, and tools
- A relatively small anvil (not sure about poundage - anvil is about 12 inches long)
- A couple of medium sized bench vises
- Some iron/steel stock and lots of other assorted stuff that I didn't catalogue... (maybe some part for the Little Giant... I don't know)

Thoughts on how to proceed? Your input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Ted Phillips
Virginia

Sorry for the loss of your brother. Googling Oklahoma blacksmithing brings up a number of organizations. I would think they might be first good contacts. It sounds like you have organized things fairly well. Photos are always helpful. Look for markings on the anvil that might reveal where or who it was made by, as well as on the vises. Ask one of the organizations for a fair assesment. Good luck.

Are you sure a family member is not interested?

We all face this in the long term, I have tried to make my wife aware of what my "stuff" is worth but so far other than hand tools and a welder or two none of my two kids want anything else. Craigslist may or may not work, lots of scammers on there. I have sold two things on the Classifieds here at Sawmill Creek or Facebook has sold some items for me.

Really sorry about your brother, I lost mine just over a month ago. He was in poor health for the past few years but it was a sudden heart attack that took him.

Lucky for him, he has a few sons who will make good use of his tools and machines.... just like they did before he passed!

Thanks, Folks. I ended up contacting the Saltfork Craftsmen Artist Blacksmith Association in Oklahoma. They are helping us make this equipment available to a beginning metalworker/smith. I appreciate the feedback!

TedP