Russfelix

Mat, Two things, I would take Nakedanvil's advice and get the whole thing hot before the initial welding. I got in a hurry hardsurfacing an anvil without preheat and got a nice crack. Ideally a firebrick wall around it heated with propane till carbon doesnt't stick to the surface of the joint. Not having that many firebrick I would probably cut the ends out of an oil drum and place it over the anvil and fill it with charcoal and wood. It would take 2 people to get the hot drum off after the fire died down. the second is that you will need an good contact between the top and the base. Any space at all will give you a hollow anvil. Its a bad feel. I would spread some rouge compound on the two pieces and rub them around on each other then examine the contact surface. If there are any high points knock them off before going further. I would actually weight the top down while doing the tack. Good Luck, Russfelix

When I was in Korea I needed a hammer so I went out in the village and watched a blacksmith turn a car axle into a crosspene hammer which I still have and use. A year later when I got out of the Army I built a forge out of bed rails used a shop vac for a blower. I found plenty of coal along the railroad track behind my house. I paid $40 for my first anvil and it was so worn from sharpening plow shares that the only place I could work on it was the heel and horn.

My forge blower was begining to rattle because the bearings were shot. Today I took it apart and found the bearings are cast in babbit. While I was melting out the old bearings I found out that the bronze bearing holder is hollow and was stuffed with some kind of flamable material. I suspect it was to hold oil to lubricate the bearing. What was this material? and how do I recast the bearings? This is a H.Lands blower patened in England in 1886. Does anyone know where I could get that information?

:) I'm a back yard blacksmith. latest project is a Steam Locomotive 1/10 scale. I'm looking forward to exchanging Ideas with you all. From Tampa Florida...