Christopher Lawrence

Here she is all cleaned up. Now that she has been cleaned there are a lot more chips on the face than originally thought. I do not know if it is bad enough to have it repaired but regardless great sounding anvil. The original thought was that this is a Colombian but I can not prove that as the mark is completely gone. Now time to make a stand for her

So Stoked! This was gifted to me by one of my fellow Gideon's. According to him it sat in his fathers garage for over 30 years. His father is retired Navy and believes that this was on one of his ships. I have not cleaned it yet to try and figure the make the only marking I can see so far is a large Y on the far side from this image. Stats 120 Lbs Cast bottom with a welded face Good ring Very little chipping on the face All in all a great find, great History, great price!

thanks for the suggestions! I will look into them

You of course are absolutely correct. (as always) That frame was a scrapyard find. It was very rusty i just hit it with the wire wheel and then panted it with "Rust Restorer" Once I get to the point that I have a welder I will either add support or do a entirely new build. I do want to cap the ends and fill the structure with sand but have not gotten that far yet. Still considering on mounting a vice on it first.

I got blessed with that. When I was looking for one and the first person I asked told me he had one I could have.

Greetings All! Cleaned up the shop today. It may not be much but it is mine. Yes, I live in a townhouse so Three Nail Forge has to take up only three nails of space :) If you also have a micro shop share some of your pics, It would be interesting to see what creative ideas you have come up with to maximize space. BTW that is the firs S hook I made in this shop

BigGun - That makes a lot of sense. I need a lot of practice on scrolling. Now that Tommy mentioned using those mounting holes as hardy hardy holes, making a bick or a hardy tool for the curve is probably best.

Thank you all! Tommy - I had not even considered using the cutouts as hardie holes Thomas - Probably one of my Boatswains Mate brothers C-1 - That is the plan Daswulf - Free is always good JHCC - Agreed. Wanted it more for shaping. BigGunDoctor - I am thinking of thinks like S hooks. (Note - I do not have something to use as a hardie hole to hold a jig)

Really Nice

So, I have a piece of rail to use as an anvil. What I do not have is something to use as a horn. It occurred to me since I was going to use a horn primary for shaping that a large Dock Cleat would work. I was talking to a friend of mine about my idea and he happens to have one that he will give me. Below are the pictures. As you can see the center section is hollow and a rusted though in places but I think the cleat over all is still sound. The idea is to clean it, mount it and grind one of the two horns into a taper. The other side I will smooth out but not alter for larger bends. Thoughts?

Hello All, Sorry it has taken me so long to answer, I have not been able to get on but I have been following the discussion via email. I am so glad that I posted this question. Even though the ambiguity of what I posted caused a little confusion, the discussions that has been generated from this question have been phenomenal. This post will be a bit lengthy but I think it will be worth it. (Soap box) Let me first answer one of the hanging questions posed and respond to make clear my intentions. It has been mentioned a few times that an overtly Christian theme can be detrimental to the success of the shop. You are 100% correct and If this was a professional shop I would not go with that type of theme. It has been mentioned that the only reason one does choose such a name is that they are trying to specialize in their clientele or do make themselves look more trust worthy than they are. Sad to say that I must agree with this statement. There are many companies out there that “Make merchandise of God’s people”. Unfortunate, this is not new. It was the reason that Jesus drove the merchants out of the temple. I find the process to be despicable and a hindrance to honest Christian businessmen/women. I think that there is a special place in hell for such people. I want to thank you for making this point it is spot on. It had not occurred to be when coming up with a name and a good argument against “The Cross and Anvil. It is not my intent to focus on Christians as my clientele nor to offend others in their choice of beliefs. (Soap Box ended) After reading all of the post it occurs to me that the lesson here greater than the names in question. So I am going to attempt to condense this discussion down to a few tips I have learned based upon the discussion. We have been discussing this from a Christian / secular naming question but the thought process in this discussion has a broader application in the decision of a shop name choice. Please feel free to add or correct what I am posting. Together maybe we can come up with a definitive guide on how to choose a shop name. Tips In Choosing a Shop Name: Is this a professional or a hobby? This is the first question that must be asked and is a major determining factor on the outcome of the name. If you are setting up a professional shop the name of the shop should not only convey what the shop is or produces but also it should not include a theme that may be off putting to potential customers. For example, you want to stay away from Political, Racial, Sexual, or Religious stance or theame if possible. In America, “The Donkey’s Hammer” or “The Elephant’s Trunk” may act as a polarizing catalyst for and against the success of your shop. If there is a desire or need to have a theme that falls under one of these three topics, then make sure your shop name is pleasant and not polarizing. For example, there is a frozen yogurt company called “Sweet Frog”. It is funny it is pleasant but the FROG stands for “Fully Rely On God.” While the you may not get that from the first viewing of the name, they explain it in discussing about their company. If this is a Hobby or home shop you have a bit more leeway as the shop is an extension or representation of you and your passions. If you are never planning on really selling your product you can be as vulgar as you want; that being said, there will be consequences. If you want to walk around with a shirt that says KKK-Forge it’s your funeral. So, while you do have the freedom to name your shop what you want you still need to do it in a way that is respectable to others as a common-sense human being. So be clever, be unique, in the name let it reflect you and your thoughts but also be wise. Who is your attended audience? This is probably the second most important question to ask. Are you trying to focus your business to a specific clientele? Is your shop focus more generalized or does it have no focus at all? As mentioned earlier choosing a name to reach a specific clientele may get you them as customers but it may prevent you from obtaining better and more lucrative jobs from others. One question you have to ask yourself if you are considering this method is “Is there a strong enough specific customer base to support my business?” If not, you may need to rethink you plan. If the focus of your business is more generalized, then you name must be more generalized not specific to a questionable theme. Again, if your shop clientele is just you, or if you are using this as a means to place your touch on your hand made gifts, then as before you have more leeway. That being said look at the name the same way you would a tattoo. Ask yourself, “How will I feel about this name 10 years from now?” Ask yourself if your grandchild came up to you years later asking about the name would you feel happy or sheepish in explaining the name. What is the product that your shop will produce? One good thing to consider is the scope of your shop. This can be the one time where being specific can bring you more business. For example, do you specialize in creating and fixing iron gates then add a reference to that in your name, something like “Gates of Fire”. What you do have to be weary is that people make assumptions when reading business names and they will call or pass you by depending upon those names. For example, if your shop specializes making hammers, do not name your shop XYZ-Knifeworks. Even if you plan to make knives someday, those who would benefit from your business may assume that you only make and sharpen knives. If you do not know or if what you produce is of a broader scale then don’t label a specific product in your name. For this question here, there is no real separation here from the Professional business and the hobbyist. Look at your shop what it does / will produce and name the shop accordingly. In the end it is your shop and you can name it whatever you want. There are plenty of crazy business names out there who sell their product every day but whose name people shake their head at. Here is what is all comes down to and why both professional smiths and hobbyist agonize over the choice of the name. That name is apart of you. That touch mark is your fingerprint in iron. It is something of you to last after you have left this spinning piece of rock. Remember, while iron does not last forever it generally lasts longer then us so be wise in the choice of your name, make it something that you would be happy to have on your great great great grandchild’s mantel.

Greetings all! First let me say that I apologize if I caused any confusion with this post. My intent was for a bit of fun regarding these names and to get a feel for how well they would be received as names. I apologize if I was misleading in the intent of the discussion. They say that “hind sight is always 20/20” and this is a perfect example. Glenn is absolutely right, I should have stated in the original post that this was for my “hobby” shop and not a full business. I think that the problem was my point of reference and assumption of the audience I was writing for. In my limited experience with the local smiths of my guild only one is making a living as a blacksmith whereas the rest treat it like an artist hobby. The gentleman that I mention in an earlier post “Warwick Forge” has a beautiful shop with everything short of a power hammer but he again is a little more than a hobbyist. I think that I need to remember that posting here is not the same audience as say the “Blacksmith for beginners” on Facebook. BFB is mostly entry level smiths with some seasoned professionals, sprinkled in to help answer questions and guide new smiths. In that group probably 1 in a 1000 makes any money doing smithing work. What we have here is the opposite. Those that regularly haunt theses hall and routinely review and answer these threads are seasoned professionals with a few novices sprinkled in. Here the percentage of professional blacksmiths is a lot higher and that changes the dynamic of how a question is answered. This post is case in point, If I asked the question “What do you think about the name 4xForged?” Those on the BFB would respond more of how funny the name and how unique it is. Here the question is given a more studious answer of how it will work for a professional business. So while this post generated a lot of good conversation it also unfortunately created a little confusion. The bright side in this thou is that this post should serve as a reminder to be cognizant of the audience you are writing for and help serve to instruct new members as to how and what to post. As a point of interest regarding the substance of this post I have come to a conclusion. After consideration I think that I will be going with “3 Nail Forge”. I think it is simpler and unique enough. “The Cross and Anvil” sounds more and more to me like a Middle Earth pub rather than a shop. I want to thank you all for your time in answering this post and the help it provided in answering the question at hand. Thank You, Chris Lawrence

Hello all, First let me say that you all make some excellent points and for the most part I heartally agree. To clear the confusion, will be mostly as a home name (hobby). Something that I can hold onto and use, especially when I give out gifts. If I do get good enough to really set up a online store then this will work as a non-profit with the revenue going to a group like Open Doors or another like group. This of course will be posted on the page. I did not want to get into this portion of conversation because I may not get to that point; however, I feel that it was needfull to understand my thoughts. This was never intended to be a money making venture as it has been said many times, "if you want to make a million dollars in blacksmithing, start at 10 million and work backwards" Hope this helps

My wife and I were joking about this. Right now I am working out of my truck. Literally most of my "shop" I'd being stored in the covered bed of my 1500. So as a joke I could go with "4xForge" lol

LOL - So true