ThomasPowers

Hmm I need to see if I still have some of that large graphite electrode around, 14" diameter IIRC, the 3 phase arc furnace drew kiloamps running them...

I think the date is driving the price on that one; in most places in the USA that is not a "close to $3 a pound" anvil. Personally I wouldn't pay $2 a pound for it. Hunt for an undated anvil at a more reasonable price. *EXCEPT* if you are in a fur trade reenactment group where being able to prove the date on your anvil would get you bragging rights for authenticity, (even then I'd try to get the price down or more stuff thrown in for boot). (go not to the elves for advice for they shall say both yea and nay!") Note: don't forge hot steel on a railroad tie, the cresote fumes are toxic!

In general I would think the handling of the soldiers to trim off the casting flash would be the most dangerous part of the process as far as lead intake would go.

Is there an old company that still uses or used such belts that might have the correct equipment and supplies? Where I live old farm equipment often uses flat belts and so farm equipment dealers still have the needed items to make and repair flat belts. Not finding anthing like that I would get in touch with a steam engine club as people who restore and demonstrate old steam driven farm equipment often has flat belt materials.

And there is the method of getting friendly with folks who work at such a place as industrial accidents involving a pickup and a front end loader have been known to occur, especially when brown pop, OUT OF WORKING HOURS, has been involved. Some places are not allowed to sell in small lots; but will sometimes make an exception for a lunchtime pickup

For some reason as anvil stories get older the anvils seem to get larger. But hope springs eternal....Hope you get to track this down as soon as possible---which is probably mud season up there..... I moved to NM knowing about an anvil in the sub basement of a hospital in Columbus OH---was originally told about it by an "orthopedic blacksmith" who used it during WWII to make custom steel for splints, casts, etc. I "happened" to run across a janitor later who told me it was still there; but ended up moving before getting any closer. I also heard from an ex-worker at one of Columbus' two anvil manufactureres that when they shut the plant down there was a row of anvils along the steep bank down to the river. None were visible when I checked it out a couple of decades later and the river bed in an *old* industrial area was about 40% iron/steel so no good using a metal detector. The old grinding wheels used to clean up the faces of the anvils were in the river bed. Natural sandstone and they rolled them down into the river when they got too small---at 4' diameter and a foot thick, still about a dozen sticking out of the water when the flow is low. Out here I met a fellow hunting gold and silver in old mine areas who said he ran across smithing stuff on a regular basis---haven't convinced him to start dragging some out....yet. The hunt is part of my entertainment budget and the relatively few payoffs make for great stories...

Oh yah hops! And try to talk them into going for some brass or copper accents---perhaps a repouseed barrel or tankard to go in the center of the quatrefoil. Will you be paid in kind?

Go in with other "local" smiths and get a truck load shipped in. Are you in the UP?

Farm rigging technique would be to use screen door springs and keep adding them in parallel until you get the right "value". If this is a heavily used item that is key to your operations going for the "correct" repair part may be worth it.

More mass in the inertia block comes to mind. The greater the mass the hammer has to "drive" the less it will move in all. So a larger inertia block with the hammer well coupled to it might help.

Can you forge it from stainless?

PTree used to work for a place that made such axles and had several scrapped ones---he still has one with the flange buried in the dirt to make a very heavy duty sledging anvil.

I think some of this is in the "if you need to ask, this is too advanced a project to start with"; sort of like folks who are having trouble lighting their forge asking for details on doing complex forge welding projects...

The bracket's wind loading is generally pretty negligible; however signs tend to up the ante a lot! Where I live we get 100 kmph winds several times a year so making signs that can swing with the wind *and* have replaceable attachments as the wind is often very abrasive dust laden and swinging back and forth will wear through loops over time. OTOH rain is usually not much of an issue! 9.71 inches per *year*!

Ease of forging depends on the chemistry of the particular meteorite; some are easier than others. The meteorite Mogul Emperor Jahangir had Ustád Dáúd use to make blades around 1621---(an observed fall and the piece was still hot upon recovery!), had to be diluted 3 parts meteorite to 1 part normal steel. The blades made with it by this very skilled bladesmith were rated very high indeed. A. (really probably 2) translation(s) of the original writings can be found here: http://historicfalls.com/pre-scientific-falls/jalandhar-meteorite/

Side Bracing? (so the next time 100+ kmph winds come though....) If you get a chance look through Schöne alte Wirtshaus Schilder.: Zeichen guter Gastlichkeit. Or Pretty Old Tavern Signs. Great idea book and you can often find solutions to design issues in it.

When I would switch off fuels I would remove the cap on the ash dump when I went to charcoal to cut down on air to the tuyere. Having a foot switch saves a lot of fuel! SWABA even has them installed on their coal forges.

BLO??? Bulldog Lice Oil???

All you need to do to tell if it's a real anvil or an ASO is to do the ball bearing test on it. If you get a good rebound then it's a true anvil (and quite old to boot!) Here in America that might be a "colonial anvil" dating to pre-1800 due to the lack of a pritchel, and probably originally from England due to the shape of the feet and the heavy waist. Where you are at I can't tell. Australia and South Africa often have English anvils; but most European countries don't have many.

Hard firebricks are real heat hogs and will take a lot of preheating to come up to full temperature. (Know a couple of folks who say they don't try to weld till about an hour after starting the forge---it then welds well until they run out of propane.) Kaowool is a good insulator but is quite fragile and does not work with flux. Have you tried to decrease the side of your chamber and reduce the opening as much as possible? Have you welded before so you know what to look for? When looking for kaowool you generally want to try to find places that sell materials for pottery kilns or boilers for house of industry heating. Companies that deal with large boilers often have "scraps" around that may be sufficient for your set up. As for in what order: If you are rough with your forge you need to armour the inside with something---like fire bricks (or pottery kiln shelving) that maytake a long time to come up to heat. If you are careful and gentle then a good coating of a flux proof material may work and the forge will heat faster. Having a kiln shelf slab or even a stainless steel try filled with cheap clay based kitty litter on top of the kaowool on the bottom of the forge can help deal with flux.

Value depends a lot on location, anvils where I live now cost about 50% more than where I used to live and *BOTH* places are in the USA! As you may be in Iceland---or South Africa or Australia we don't even know what monetary system to use. A lot of blacksmithing questions have a strong location component which is why we suggest people edit their profile to put a general location in it. Or to include it in their post. Here I would expect that to sell for up to around US$2 a pound. Note that grinding on an anvil or welding on it generally LOWERS the value!

I'm sure you know this but: OPEN THOSE DOORS! Gas forges are notorious for producing CO *especially* when they can re-run the exhaust back through the burner. Being clear and odorless we tend not to think about it until it wallops us. One of the only virtues of coal smoke is that you *KNOW* breathing it must be bad for you!

I would use them as a swage shape for bending hot metal with a hammer but not as an "anvil" for heavy sledge work on them. I would get another big block of steel for use for upsetting heavy pieces on.

of course only some meteorites are iron/nickel... Just hope the next "hint" isn't one like the one that produced the Sudbury deposits!

Forges began as simple holes in the ground. Modern forges tend to be a way to elevate that hole so we can work standing up comfortably. Things like brake drum forges usually are not lined with anything and the "washtub forges" are lined with local clay/dirt AKA adobe. If your forge needs to be shaped to provide a firepot type area clay/sand/ashes will do the job cheaper than firebricks. OTOH I keep some fire bricks handy for when I use charcoal in a coal forge to make the firepot deeper and narrower and so suit the different fuel. You really should know what fuel you will be using FIRST otherwise it's like trying to design an engine not knowing if it will be fueled with gas or diesel!