Lmb_usa

yes I think your right his setup is very good in fact I found a very similar one on ebay for an amazing price. It would need to have the cone installed though on this model it would be a rectangle. http://cgi.ebay.com/Forge-Freestanding-Armor-Artist-Farrier-Blacksmith-gas-/190485528412?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c59d27f5c if the auction runs out just search for a "freestanding armor forge"

This may be the stupidist question ever but I'm gonna risk it. my Idea is to make a coffe can forge and attach it to a set of swivleing arms so I can have a larger project (armouring primarily) heated in small parts by placing the open face against the section of metal I wish to heat. Because heating an entire breastplate is nither economical nor neccisary to shape it. If anyone has any Ideas relating to how to accomplish this idea or things to make sure to avoid or some other idea that could accomplish the same thing please let me know. :)

Nice I'll diffidently try the Stove black that sounds really good thanks for the tip :)

Take some flour with you if you brush the surface a little then rub it with flour sometimes you can see indentations that otherwise would be impossible to see it diffidently looks like a Peter Wright, I just got one off of CL as well as far as the weight is concerned look after putting the flour on it the old stone weight was the only thing still easily decipherable on mine. GL

If it is a Trenton the serial number will on the right foot Hay Buddens have it on the left

This is the Stand I'm building right now its nearly done but I had some trouble getting the stump cut the chainsaw we had was too short to get through so we resorted to the old buck saw but the wood we were using is either hickory or some other extremely hard wood, so in the end we went back to the chain saw after removing the safety guard off the end (don't do that unless your cutting with the return side of your chain the other way is much more dangerous with the guard off)after that we Routered the shape of the anvil into the stump without a router -- we used a skill saw and made a few hundred down cuts before pulling out the wood chisels. You may notice we mounted the anvil on a flat peak with a sloping side we will be using the sloped side as a hardy tool holder, the band around the stand as a tong holder (not quite finished here) Will post the final version soon. And as A final addition we added a mobility aid now we can carry it like a basket... ok mabey not

ok after taking some time to review the anvil itself and relying on the advice I got from you guys and other threads on the site I ended up using a sander on the horn and a cup brush on the face. However there were a lot of deep pits in the sides with rust that was just annoying me, then my father handed me pink bottle, turns out to be "Naval Jelly" at first I thought what good is some bellybutton oil going to do me sounds as useless as bellybutton lint but because my father handed it to me we used it to great effect. That stuff is amazing. Then taking Frosty's advice on another thread we used some black shoe polish to give it a black shiny look. Now it looks great and we are building the stand which I will post in "Show me your Anvil Stand" thread"

OK since I've gotten contradictory answers I thought I would do everyone a service and just get a good poll on whether to use a grinder and if so where. I'll keep checking for more info, I'll get the anvil on wednesday and I'll post some post clean up pics as well. Wish me luck!

Ok so this is my first anvil and I'm unsure about any of the details other than it is about a hundred pounds and the price is unbeatable. I'm picking it up probably tomorrow. I've been advised to just have it sandblasted as a quick way to remove the rust so I can see what I'm dealing with better. There seems to be some irregularity in the wear on the edges I'd like to grind or sand the edges, horn, and face smooth again though I'm not sure about how to go about it I've heard "grinding is o.k." then "its not" so what is the best way to prep this thing. Tell me what you think and let me know if I'm going about the prep wrong. Thanks *note: I'm using this for lighter cold work so I'm curious about paint as well, I'm also just do this as a hobby so I might not get enough time on it to protect it from future rusting I've heard Automatic Transmission Fluid in a spray bottle can keep the rust in check is this advisable? btw I'm into armourmaking. oh and sorry didn't know these pictures were that HUGE lol