Mainely,Bob

I would definitely go with the heated slab. The highly technical process that allows this to work is commonly called prior planning. :blink:
Do some homework and make a digital floor plan or draw it out on graph paper and take all your machinery (drawn to scale) and position it where you think you`ll need it.  Bypass the machinery areas when you lay the Pex. The solid concrete will make them stronger and better bases for gear that vibrates of involves impact (such as power hammers). The only places you really need the heat is where you are going to stand for long periods of time, like around the layout and assembly tables and in the forge areas. You don`t have to run those lines thru the entire slab,you`ll be surprised how little actively heated slab it takes to warm an entire shop. Think about it for a minute, how much wall/ceiling area does an industrial radiant  heater take up in a factory? None of the many places I`ve worked had 10% of any surface taken up in active heating (many far less if they used a large thermal mass like concrete to back it) and I live in Maine.

  I have a tendency to use the past as a foundation to build upon rather than a point to stand in. Some prefer to be "historically correct" in the things they do yet use modern steel in construction rather than wrought iron. Many of these same folks heat their material in gas forges rather than coal or charcoal fired forges. It`s all good IMO. The point for me is to take what came before, distill what is best for the project at hand and use that as a departure point to make the best possible product I can using whatever method I, and I alone, prefer to use when I`m making something for myself or for show. I spend enough of my time crafting things to other`s specifications to be a slave to anything other than my own muse when I`m spending my own time in the shop.

   Terrific work David. I have never seen anything you`ve made and posted here that wasn`t given your best effort. If you give your best effort then nobody can reasonably expect more of you. They may share opinions about how to go about doing something differently and that is one of the things that makes us all unique individuals.

   I`d also like to commend your open, honest and receptive approach to life and interaction with other craftsmen. As long as we remain teachable we continue to learn. I personally hope to continue learning up till my last day on this earth. I have learned a lot from you personally thru your pics and your posts. Thank you for taking the time to share what you do and how you do it.

If it were me I`d cut off the handles and use it till I bumped up against something that required me to modify it then I`d do only the mods needed to complete the job at hand.

In my world function trumps form every time. Once you get it to the point it does everything you need it to do THEN you can focus on making it pretty. My guess is that when that point comes you`ll be too busy making pretty projects to worry about what others think about the tools you`re making those good looking projects on.

For me personally; Tool Steel = the steel I feel is most appropriate for the tool I intend to make.
Beyond that there are far too many variables to chase what with O,W,A, HSS, particle steels, pattern welded and carbides being involved.

My advice to anyone wanting to either learn or split hairs is to pick up a copy of the Machinery Handbook.

I keep coming back to this simple fact; things are always easier if you don`t insist on working in a vacuum.
If you find and join the local club or guild in your area you`ll surely meet everyone you need to know as far as getting on top of both techniques and materials.

Well worth the price of admission (the annual dues) and far,far cheaper when many hands are involved in both the making process and the buying of the materials.

Most  burl (Oak especially) will crack as it shrinks due to drying. I`d put it in a plastic bag, seal it and put it in a cool spot, out of the sun and heat until you decide what you want to do and how you want to do it.
Check the bag every other day and turn the bag inside out then seal it again. Keep doing this till the bag isn`t noticeable wet inside. then move to a double layer of paper bags and store it in a closet.

  I`ve seen some really nice burl ruined by folks who were too impatient to dry the wood properly.

As Glenn said I`d go for a OA torch set over an electric welder for a first buy. As he stated it will allow you to cut as well as weld. It will also teach you a lot of things about the nature of heat, the where and how of how to effectively to apply heat. That type of easily controlled knowledge will can be readily transferred to your forging skill set. As an example;  forge brazing skills are more easily understood by most people if they are first demonstrated  with a torch and localized heat and you can see how that heat can be used to actually direct the flow of the filler material. You also don`t have the added distraction of fire tending as well as a clear view of the joint during the brazing process.

    One other thing to consider about restricting yourself only to forge welding;unless you`ve got a big,well equipped shop and a huge industrial sized forge not everything you`ll need to weld can or will fit in your forge and rivets don`t hold water (or other liquids)very well.

  My personal approach to this craft, as well as other crafts, has been to do all I can with what I have on hand. I try not to think about buying something new until I have a real world a need for it. Do you need a welder to be a blacksmith? Obviously not because there were blacksmiths long before there were welding machines. It`s also a fact that if you decide to work metal for other people, like paying customers, then you will sooner or later end up buying a welder. My suggestion would be to put it off as long as you can, save up and then buy the absolute best used machine you can afford.

Those whacky auto body guys! They are such kidders.
Glad to see someone with some sense rescued it and set it to work in a proper manner.

I hear that Youtube guy is really a fine guy, very helpful and easy to work with. I would not hesitate to contact him.

His work is even more amazing when you see it in person.

Best and easiest bowl swage block I`ve ever found was the bottom of an oxygen tank. Find someone who makes bells from tanks and trade some tool steel for a couple of the scrap bottoms they aren`t using. That`s how I got mine.

If you could post a pic of what you need then maybe someone could come up with either an alternative of may be able to fabricate the part for you.

Excellent form and craftsmanship Sam. Your attention to detail is exceptional.
Thanks for sharing these and inspiring the rest of us to make our shop tooling as pleasing to the eye as the work is that goes out the door.

If I did a lot of lighter, smaller scale work involving a narrow, cone shaped area of tooling I`d be thinking about making specialized tooling such as top tooling, a mandrel or something held in a vice before I`d think about welding a permanent modification/ attachment made from different material and a different hardness to my otherwise completely functional anvil.
But that`s just my opinion and worth exactly what you paid for it.

Can`t help but notice none of those guys have hair.

I was gonna say that if you had welded barrel (coupler) nuts onto the block instead of studs you could have bolted the anvil down and then when you unbolted the anvil there would be nothing above the surface of the base plate and you could still use it as a striker anvil as well. I would also turn your skull shaped feet around so you could drive a stake thru on of the eyes to cinch it down outdoors. The way you get around this set up will do some traveling and probably end up on a lawn sooner or later. One of the benefits of owning a lighter anvil is being able to travel with it.
Really nice job Sam, I especially like the idea of offsetting the anvil so the base becomes a block for upsetting. I also think you`ll find that arm useful for more than just holding a tray. I made a support that extended up to be level with the working surface of the anvil and it served me well as a work support for longer pieces. Saved arm strength and kept vibrations to a minimum as well. If you do detail work at the anvil using it as a worklight holder lets you put the light where you need it. When your eyes get as old as mine you appreciate all the light you can get. I also found having small locking knobs threaded in at the arm`s pivot points keep things from wandering away when you`re hammering.

They got American made souvenirs, but they ain`t cheap. Price a pair of Levi`s while you`re there. :o

MAN, that knife is some kind of beautiful! Thanks for sharing it.

This is a fine example of a very rare legless pigmy vise. It`s worth quite a bit of money to a legless pigmy but they only pay in very small bills. :D
Seriously, look at what the ones on ebay really sold for to get an idea of their true worth.
I have one that looks like a tiny leg vise with the leg cut off, old style screwbox and all. It looks to be a lot older than the one in the pics and I gave $5 for it `cause I figured it`d looked neat on the mantle.
The wife nixed the idea, said I`d turn the mantle into a workbench if she allowed it. She`s probably right.

Now taking donations for Larry`s plane ticket to vacation in China. :D

Don`t speak any Chinese so have to wonder if what the guy tossing the iron is saying something equivalent to when some of my old Texas buddies used to say, " Hold my beer and watch this". :rolleyes:

That is the absolute best kind of anvil to have, a free one. :D
The fact that it`s in entirely workable condition is a big added bonus. I`d test drive it soon and often and be sure to post pics of the results.
Be sure to give something nice that you`ve made with it to the person who thought so highly of you that they gave it to you.

Two important things I learned while working maintenance on everything from oil drilling rigs to presses and draw benches in an aluminum extrusion plant where they thought nothing of spending over a million dollars on a machine. Make all adjustments when the machine is at operating temp and follow the manufacture`s recommendations as to lubrication.
For the old machines without manuals or machines made/modified in-house the rule was that grease acted like glue and would attract and hold debris so we only used it in areas that had seals or places where it was shielded from airborne debris. If there was a risk of contamination from airborne debris we used oil and lots of it to flush the debris and keep the area as clean as possible.

Kind of like asking if you should buy a car that smokes a bit, but only going uphill.
Pics, price and more info will get you far more helpful advice.

jmann, you`re new here and I`d like to suggest you take a bit of time to cruise around the site and get a feel for what it`s like here. I think you`ll find most everyone here is more than willing to help and support anyone else who posts. If you click on someone`s profile you can see all the content they have posted on and can get a better feel for who they are and how they interact with others. Right now it looks to me like you are spending more time defending your own thinking rather than being receptive to the folks who are trying to help you and keep you in this craft for a good long time to come. Those of us who have been at it for decades know more than we might want to about who has to suffer the consequences when things go wrong, we know because we`ve seen it and some of us, myself included, go to sleep every nite and wake up every morning reminded of the mistakes made. We know and understand that our lives and the lives of others can be forever changed in an instant.
I`d like to suggest you take that stroll around the site, look at some of the things available besides this thread and when you think you have an understanding of just how helpful and supportive the long term members here really are then come back and re-read those posts aimed at helping you to do thing correctly and carefully instead of cheaply. If my post riled you up too much to be receptive to this help then please accept my apologies. It`s more important to me that people remain as safe as possible and live as long as possible than it is to be seen as the one who was on the right side of the discussion.

Nice progression from the first post, both in form as well as function.
One small suggestion would be to add a little color by making the pin out of brass or bronze. Just one way to make your work stand out from the rest.