VaughnT

Very nice bit of work, LR! The only thing to do is put a rim around the table so your coal doesn't fall off the edges. Love the lid!

Brian, I finally got my "forge" up and running yesterday. Picked out a piece of stock and started whaling on it. Didn't turn into a pair of tongs like you showed in your video. I'm blaming it on you!. However, I can say that the lack of "dies" on my 2lb cross-pein definitely hampered my ability to forge in a timely fashion. I will be in contact, soon, to see about acquiring one of your rounding hammers!!

Thank you.

Yes, Tom, I read the description! This is the one "forge in a box" that I've seen on that site that looks reasonably good, for a reasonably good price. You have a blower, tuyere and pan, for a decent "buy now" price. Might need some work, but most forges do. Can't recall who was talking about wanting one, but it was an IFI member in the northeast and I thought I'd help out. If it's not needed, cool beans. A bit of sheet-metal work is small potatoes compared to some of them I've seen. Just trying to help.

Tube, awesome explanation. I'm slowly trying to come to terms with the terms involved in welding, but mostly just fabricating inventive new cuss words! Did you weld the right over the top of the tool-steel face plate? No worries about the different types of metal and their interaction with the 9018 rods? If I recall correctly, and I'll be sure to get to the shop tomorrow to verify, the rods I bought do have a high manganese content. Some folks say that this isn't what I want, but their salesman, after explaining what I was doing, claimed that the rods would bond well with wrought iron, stand up to beating on, and give me a finished RC of around 52-56. I just haven't had the guts to actually try my hand at welding on the anvil.

Make it as heavy as you like. Definitely want to make a tripod design. Make it so you can mount wheels on the legs so you can move it "easily" like a hand-truck. Fe-Wood, I'm sooooo stealing that idea! Beautiful design!!

Well, it certainly won't hurt anything. The air flowing into the pipe forms something of a pillow in the ash pit of the piping with the remainder of the air being forced up as the path of least resistance. Depending on your air source, leaving the dump gate open a hair could be a good way of modulating how much air is going to the fire. And, it's looks cool. Run with it and let us know how it works for you.

Totally can't remember, and I lost the PM's I had. Anyhow, this one just popped up on ebay and it looks a like it's in very good condition except for the rust. The price is certainly very nice, too. Hope it goes to a good home! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Antique-Champion-Blower-Forge-Lancaster-PA-Hand-Crank-Blacksmith-/330838905011?pt=&hash=item4d078910b3 $(KGrHqVHJDcFCjW9FPccBQv!yZm9yw~~60_57.JPG

Wow, you work fast! Is e9018 a hard-facing rod or a build-up rod? The hard-facing rod the welding store sold me is supposed to be used for rock crushers and the like, but is limited to only two layers, iirc. Did you do a pre-heat and post-heat on the anvil?

Great to see such talent still lives, and I really appreciate him working to keep a lot of the basic skills alive! A lot of today's smiths focus on the decorative stuff and wouldn't have a clue as to how to properly make a thatcher's knife, or any knife of worth.

That broken impeller has plenty of meat left on it to rivet a new fan blade. I'd use a beer can and cut out a shape close to the other blades. Maybe double it or triple it up for rigidity. Get origami on it! Then use some copper wire to rivet it to the hub. Worst case scenario..... it doesn't work and you're back to using that plastic travesty.

LR, you don't have to go that far. The principle that Phil was talking about is the distance from your air entering the fire to the piece being worked. This area is often referred to as the 'neutral zone' because this is the area where the oxygen has been burned up the most. If you get your iron too close to the air entrance, it will still get hot, but you'll have excessive scaling. Same as if you had the iron sitting on top of the fire so one side was exposed to the open air. By getting a 4" thick bed of coals surrounding your work, between the iron and the air, you're giving a bunch of time for the O2 to burn up in the coals. Basically, your workpiece should be in the center of a ball of fire that measures at least 8" in diameter. What you need to do is get a piece of sheet metal (like the door from an old clothes dryer) and cut a hole in it so that your brake drum sits down in it, catching on the lip of the drum. Maybe the big hole in the center of the deck of an old lawnmower would be the right size. This gives you a large table that you can build your coal UP on. A big mountain of coal, so to speak. To be honest, I had never considered using a brake drum like you have, and I'm really impressed with how good of a fire pot it looks to be. The conical shape of the inside is very reminiscent of the coke pots being sold by Centaur Forge and others, and the depth doesn't look bad at all. I'll certainly have to keep my eyes open for one!

Very nice bit of welding, friend. Though, I am curious as to why your decided to angle the air pipe like that. Not saying it wouldn't work, just that I've never seen anyone do that before. And don't worry about your english skills. You're doing great, and certainly better than a whole bunch of native english speakers that I know!!

Soft fire bricks make a great modular door for the front and back. You can get fancy if you like, but a stack of bricks is great. Having a hole in the back of the forge isn't necessary for aspiration as much as it is for passing long stock through so you can heat the middle. Great build, hoss.

Great score, Sam! What to you guess the total weight to be? Going to incorporate it into a hammer, or use it as-is?

Tube, let me know when you want to start welding on mine!!! She's definitely in need of some TLC..... and, well, my welding skills are just a "tad" shy of what's needed to be a welding instructor! ;)

Location, location, location. Some places are anvil-poor and even the gnarliest hunks of iron go for a premium. Other places, not so much. Personally, from what I can see in the photo, it looks like a decent condition and is a decent size.... so I wouldn't feel bad if I paid $2/lb for it. Of course, that's not the best picture in the world and the details will make or break a sale.

LR, I'd let it be. Sure, you could rivet on a piece of steel, but what's the gain? The pritchel hole is very rarely used in 90% of the smithing I see being done. The hardy is nice to have for holding a hot-cut, but a vise on a stand is infinitely more usable if you need to hold tooling. It doesn't have to be a post vise as any stout old vise will put up with a bit of pounding. The anvil looks perfectly serviceable as-is and I would recommend that you use it for a bit before worrying about fixing it. I honestly don't think you'll find it deficient. And, while you're learning to smith, start saving your pennies for a used stick welder. That's one tool that I never realized how advantageous it was until I got one. Don't know how I ever did without a welder, and I'm not professionally trained in the least.

If it rings like a church bell when you strike it, it's a wrought-iron body with a hardened steel face plate. If it doesn't ring, it's a cast-iron body with a hardened steel face plate. You example shows excessive wear on the top, but that's typical of older anvils. Does it have any rebound when you tap it with a hammer? Often, you can highlight the markings on the side by rubbing chalk or baby powder over the surface.

That's a great looking anvil! I'm partial to Fisher's myself for their quietness and innovative design. Looks like you got a very good example, too. That flat face, clean horn and sharp edges will serve you well for the next hundred years. Cant' wait to see her cleaned up and oiled. I'll bet she's even prettier than you can imagine.

That's exactly what I'd do. Having a smaller hole on the back allows you to pass a long piece through so you can heat the middle. Very handy thing to have as it would allow you to use a small forge to make very large items like plant hangers and scroll work. As it stands, you can't heat the middle of a 2' rod to put a nice sharp 90-degree bend in it. I really like the shape of that forge and the fact that it still looks like a propane bottle. Makes it unique and interesting. What I would recommend is to cut away 70% of the metal instead of simply opening a pass-through hole opposed to the main opening. With just two "legs" supporting the "hood" you would have plenty of room to get a large scroll into the fire, but still have shade to see the color of the metal and that bottle look.

Stone mason's hammer!

Sweet! I have that anvil's big brother.... and he need some welding, too. Must run in the family! I was thinking about using 7018 rods with a hard-facing over too. Can't wait to see what you end up with!

With that little missing, I would be sorely tempted to fill the void with weld. Use some copper sheet to form a xxxx so the bead doesn't run into the hardy or pritchel, grab a few pounds of (maybe) 7018 rods, pre-heat the whole thing..... Of course, it first needs a thorough cleaning so you can inspect it for any more damage. That small area could have been manufacturing defect, but it could also have been abuse. There's no telling what all that paint and rust is hiding.

You could always use an engine timing light to count the revolutions of the fan once you get it running. Any auto parts store should have one in stock.