Mandrels

Well yesterday, I took a drive up into the wilds of VT to pick up a new to me Mandrel Cone... The weather was furious with freezing rain and temps dipping into the low 20'sF.. It was sure dicey but thankfully I drive an Audi A4 Quattro and still have on my STudded Winter tires.. This car is a snow, slush, ice, eating machine... One way 185miles, 3+ hours up and 3+hours back with a huge dent in the wallet brought me this chunk of cast iron.. I have anvil mounted cones as well as hand held cones but I've done without a full W&R.. Just seemed like the right time.. I contacted the guy and we talked about coming up later in the week but he said outright first…

I have abit of experience sharpening plow shears. The question I have is, does anyone know the proper radius of a blacksmith shear to create the proper "suck" to get the shear to go into the ground properly? It sure would be easier if I had a mandrel to finish the face curvature instead of eyeballing it. I can go into more detail if needed, but an old time smith out there surely knows off the top of his head. Thanks in advance Dave

Hey guys......new to this site and wanted to share pictures of an anvil my grandfather has had for around 20-30 years or so. He got it from US Steel plant, where he worked, and brought it home. They were tearing down some buildings and were going to throw it away and he had it loaded on his truck to bring home. We mounted it on a steel work table so it could be swiveled and rotated. Never have had a reason to use it, but it is one of the biggest and coolest anvils we have ever seen. Each "leg" of the anvil is a different size. They are all the "half-moon" shape.It is also extremely heavy, so no worries of anyone stealing it!! haha. I'm hoping someone here can help us…

How could I make a mandrel or bickiron?

Finding myself in possession of a thick-walled air tank, I decided to try out an idea I’d messed about with previously but never finished: converting it to a cone mandrel. (My apologies for not having taken quite as many photos of the process as I might have.) The first step was to torch out the eight gores that make up the cone. These were isosceles triangles 2” wide at the base and about 15” long, still attached to the main cylinder. I forgot to take a photo, but here’s the offcut, which should give you a good idea: I heated each of these triangles at its base with the oxypropane torch and bent them inward until the tips meet in the center. Because my …

I have recently acquired a large cone mandrel. This thing is in pristine condition and I have a great appreciation for the craftsmanship. It is large at 55 inches tall, 18 inches at the base. It has 3 rings on the bottom for floor mounting, and is hollow. I have not had much luck finding a makers mark, though I haven't spent a huge amount of time doing so. I was wondering if anyone had any idea what this would be worth, as it is relatively hard to find information on mandrels as the market is so small. 20211021_151636.heic 20211021_151634.heic

Hello all! Just thought I would share my recent acquisitions- a 4ft cone, picked up for a steal at 75$usd... Small Crack at the top of the tong slot, but still a serviceable tool!

Picked up a few breaker bits at the scrap yard and decided I needed a bick to go between punch and horn when making bottle openers..... this one is a Brunner - Lay and although tough, it moved considerably easier than a Vulcan bit I tried earlier (ended up cracked and burned in coal forge) it works fine but I found that it doesnt work as well as my Holland cone for that purpose possibly the mass of the cone but likely user errors Fun to make. Thanks for looking

Show me your improvised cone and other type mandrels We are looking for inspiration and those items that get the job done

Hi Folks, I picked up this tall boy as part of a guys shop i purchased. There are no discernible makers mark i can see. It’s 55” tall and 16” across at the base. It does have the slit in the side. What can you tell me in regards to possible maker, age? Thanks!

I managed to light my forge for the first time in months this week, and made a leaf-handled bottle opener. For the opener part, I punched and drifted before shaping into an ovoid loop. Since my stock of drifts is very limited (read: nonexistent), I used the horn of my anvil for the drifting. That was a bit awkward, and I couldn't help thinking that a cone mandrel would be quite useful. I have a piece of 3.5"x10" round mild steel that I was going to use for a horn on a fabricated anvil. However, since I have my Hill, I don't need it for that purpose. I was thinking of forging it into a hardy cone. To do this, I'm looking at teaching a friend to strike, since I have a sle…

Greetings, i have a mandrel I’m trying to put a price on. I realize location and availability are driving forces, not to mention shipping. So, here are the factors; I am in Northern California, the mandrel is 42” tall x 13” at the base and 3” at the top. It weighs 215 lbs. it is a 1” thick casting. It has no mounting flanges, no tong groove. Clean surface. Aside from shipping, buyers responsibility, what is a fair and reasonable price? Thank you in advance,

Here is our new cone mandrel. 12 inches long, 4 inch dia. at the base with a 1 inch hardy .

I found the horn on my anvil awkward and difficult to form the circular part of a bottle opener, so I built a small cone mandrel. I had some 2" mild round stock so I cut a 5" piece off, chucked it up in the lathe and went to work. I faced, drilled and tapped the base for a 1/2" bolt thread. Took a while to turn off all that material, and I kind of guestimated the taper angle, but it turned out to be just what I needed. Screwing it down tight provides a nice sturdy surface to pound against. I tried it out this evening and it worked quite well for me. I could not only true up the ring, but also hammer it out a bit. Ted

While metal detecting underwater in the area that once was a whaling port I found this strange cone. Can anyone tell me if this is a old blacksmith cone? it has wood inside the cone like it was mounted on something.

When I bought my anvil 6 months ago, the guy had a 4 foot tall mandrel shaped wood cone. He called it a blacksmith's anvil, but I would think there would have been scorched marks on it if it was used with hot metal. Anyone ever heard of a wood mandrel being used? Could it have covered with sheet metal at one time? Weird thing to see. I wish I'd gotten a picture of it, but at the time I was distracted by digging through his buckets of hammers and tongs.

my boat is in dry dock getting a lot of work done. I have been keeping an eye out for scrap metal and anything I can use. Today I came across these prop nuts that they were going to throw out. They weigh about 50lbs each. I thought they might make a good mandrel. What do you think and any ideas what I could use the other one for?

As dumb questions go this is probably a doozy, but here goes.... I was at the AFC conference last week and bought a hardy hole mounted cone mandrel, mostly 'cause I didn't have one, one of my instructors was there and also purchased one, it was a good price and being a bit of a tool-a-holic, I "had to have one." Only, I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I have no earthly idea, beyond the forming of rings of various sizes, what exactly one uses one for? DOH! I did a bit of poking around on the web this weekend, didn't find much of anything beyond forming of a nice ring. Anyone? What else have you/do you use one for?

Picked up this cone this weekend. It's 36 inches high, 1-3/8" at the top and 6-inch diameter at the bottom. Any ideas as to manufacturer or age? It is a solid casting. Also, I gave $200 for it, did I overpay? I don't feel like I did based on other cone prices I have seen, but I defer to the members of this board to render their opinion. I'm always willing to learn, even if it's not what I want to hear! Also, how would this have been mounted for use? Since it's only 3 feet high, would it have been sitting on something? If so, how did they attach it so it wouldn't move around? Thanks for any and all input.

Hi folks, could heavy duty oxygen cylinders be turned into decent mandrel cones? I've recently come to know a local fabricator that has all sorts of big boys toys and seems to be able to turn his hand to anything - boats, film sets, gates, farm machinery repair... He has many redundant cylinders lying about and if the consensus is they'd be suitable then I'll suggest to him he could turn them into mandrels. Aside from the suitability are mandrels sought after much nowadays? Penny for your thoughts...

Hello all im looking to find a mandrel for finishing arrow and spear sockets, can anyone give me advice on what size punch u should use to make this??

Anyone ever seen a mandrel like this one? I'm thinking of buying it ($350), but I'm a little concerned about the small end not coming to a point. Any information would be appreciated. The large end is 12 inches in diameter, it's around 4 feet tall and weighs around 110 pounds.

3/4 to 2 1/2 inch diameter, 6 1/2 inch tall, 7/8 inch shank

Do you have a floor mandrel / cone mandrel and swage blocks and if so how often and for what purpose do you use them ? I personally have two cone mandrels and several swage blocks but rarely use them , usually I use the horn of the anvil or swages in the hardy

Where is the best place to buy mandrels for a good price. Just starting out and dont have a lot of money to spend right now. I will take suggestions on maybe some hommade one if anyone here has made some. Thanks, Travis Cain.