ThomasPowers

We used to hang an empty clean paint can off the horn and heel of the 400# anvil and build a scrap wood fire in each *first* thing---no danger of the anvil overheating but it was nice and warm by the time we got the tools, metal and forge ready---used to fight over who got to sit on the warm anvil between heats. remember to put down a sheet of plywood to stand on and a wind shield can make all the difference---even better if you can make a 3 sided one with a "roof" slanted to bounce the heat back on you. I agree with the propane CO danger but would like to point out that coal, coke and charcoal *all* put out CO too; but at least coal *warns* *you* that it's smoke is bad to breathe; the other fuels let you mess yourself up bigtime. Pretty much the only *safe* fuel to burn in an enclosed space is electricity---use an induction forge!

The key to the Fisher anvil is the bond between the steel face and the cast iron body. They did this as part of the casting using a patented process that they spent a lot of time and effort developing. Trying to replicate it would probably be slightly more expensive than buying a truckload of high grade anvils new. Now if you are doing a full penetration weld of a tool steel top onto a cast iron anvil you *might* get a suitable bond and it would probably only cost slightly more than buying a good anvil in time and consumables. Or you can just go to the scrapyard and pick up a big hunk of steel and have an anvil *better* than that used for most of the past 2000 years and muck like the japanese use for swordsmithing. At the scrapyard Saturday I got 90# of steel for US$10. Now folks let's review some basics on finding an anvil cheap---do you really expect that people who are *trying* to make money off of selling an anvil to be selling it cheap? It's sort of like complaining about the cost of buying a diamond ring but the only place you are looking is Tiffany. If you want an inexpensive anvil *YOU* have to go looking for it---and sitting around on the internet doesn't count! Find all those anvil hiding in gardens, sheds, garages, etc---where the owner would be tickled pink to get *some* cash for it but is not expecting to get top prices as seen on the internet.

I can hold my hand comfortably over my forge only a couple of feet above it. Think of it more like a salamander garage heater! However due to CO issues I mounted my forge on an old gas grill cart so I can wheel it and the bottle to where the best ventilation is---or the most convenient location---nice to wheel a cart rather than shift anvils and post vises when you need to do something different. Cutting and quenching in oil are the two danger zones I have experienced---though when you are starting out and have more trouble holding on to hot stuff you can get into issues too.

112 + 56 + 17 = 185 not 200 Anvils repaired well can be great, anvils repaired not so well can be trash---and it's often hard to tell if they were done well or not! Did it have a nice ring or was there still an internal hidden crack muting it?

Never pull the piece out of the fire if you don't have your hammer in your hand. raise it while turning to the anvil and start your downward stroke so piece, anvil and hammer all come together at once. Now the better you get, the "looser" you can be doing welds; but if you start having issues---going back to first principles generally helps!

"Free material" can be very expensive it it won't do what you need it to. In the scheme of things the amount of time it makes to do a blade---especially by hand---is a massive overkill compared to the cost of the steel you are working on. It behooves you to get the best you can. I suggest automotive springs, new where possible, as they generally are a decent steel easily worked by a beginner.

Or perhaps hot enough---a powerhammer puts energy into the system too.

Ahhh traditionally the apprentice ran the air supply not the smith and the earliest powerhammer I've been able to date was in the 900's (Personal conversation, Medieval Technology Conference Penn State University) Of course "sole authorship" is a very modern concept... My I like to run non-electric because I don't have electricity in my shop---save for a single extension cord I run a light off of (or an electric drill or angle grinder during daytime)

The one I'm most proud of was a dragon door knocker and I fold formed wings of sheet metal and they attached to the door and each had a tenon that fit into the body of the dragon for the hinge. (I started with 1" stock for the head and drew it way down to spiral up for the tail "knocker" part.)

Often that type does not have a step and a raised face but the face and the horns are pretty much at the same level. OTOH there is a type like that *with* a raised face as well.

Does it look like it went through a fire? The discolouration the picture shows could be that to my eye.

Seen one like that at Quad-Sate and also a very unusual *wheel* swage block----very large cylinder of short length with swages all around it so you just spin it till what you need comes up.

I've thought of tracking down the Foundry in Mexico that's casting the anvil fakes and swage blocks we see out this way.

Fellow at the fleamarket today wanted me to set the price on an old abused Atha hammer head; so I said You pay me $5 to haul it off---he was not amused. He should have just made a decent offer than trying to gouge me for as much as he could get---it's been there for 3 weeks now...

Forges are sized for the work they are meant to do. You can have some leeway by over cranking a small one or under cranking a large one. However expecting a small forge to do large work without pushing the envelope is not in the cards. As building a forge is pretty simple as long as you can source a working blower, why not keep that for small work and build a larger one for large work. Besides which if you are just getting started small work is better to learn on and so you can get good while waiting on sourcing a bigger blower! (oh yes did you examine the blower vanes to make sure they were all there and intact? trimming them down even slightly so a blower doesn't "tic" when used can really really impact the amount of air it moves---if you didn't check for this *before* purchase Caveat Emptor!)

Make some stuff for him for Christmas!

Lets see if Patrick will link us to the shots of them forging 40" diameter stock; industrial of course...

I don't hate straight edges cause none of the work I do requires a dead flat surface and some even is enhanced by a slight sway.

They used to forge weld up the main drive shafts for naval vessels from *lots* of pieces of real wrought iron; so it seems a good weld can be done. One thing that helps strengthen a weld is forging it while *hot*. If you want to know the fiddly details "Solid Phase Welding" Tylecote covers them.

Art? Tie a knot in it and fab a wooden rest of the gun.

OTOH I have seen a lot of "ART" that the marketplace loved but I wouldn't take home without a substantial payment to cover my time and disposal costs. And I have seen ART that the marketplace disdained that I'd gladly give a finger for! (Van Gogh only sold one painting during his lifetime and was considered rather a failure as a painter. History has a different view...) It's a tricky question and no matter what you think someone will probably think otherwise

I use the cut off end of a gun barrel as a swage when forging small cowboy hats from old solid copper alloy pennies---I bought a coffee can of barrel pieces from a gunsmith at Quad-State one year. As I recall gun barrels are usually fairly low in carbon and so won't make good knives without the addition of some High C in a billet. Miniature pipe tomahawk?

Drill a round one and then drift it square!

What does the depression on the bottom look like--if any. Is the underside of the heel smooth or show the steam hammer blows. Any markings on the side or on the front of the front feet? How many handling holes and where are they located---including on the bottom. This info is needed to get a "maker" that is more than a guess. As for value in your area I would expect US$2 a pound to be a bragging price and $3 a pound to be a typical price. The elongate horn and heel makes me think it's most likely a late 19th century early 20th century American anvil but that's not solid without more info. It looks to be a good hobbyist size but a bit small for a "shop" anvil.

Traditionally it was the previous Masters; however if you don't have them you have a bootstrapping problem. Sometimes a group of people will get together and decide who is a master or what makes one and so generate a starter group that can then go on from there---an example of this is the ABS; I well remember some anguish in the bladesmithing world when they started up their ranking system. An interesting variation of this system is used for several middle eastern titles where a person will self assume a title and if "nobody laughs" they have it or if enough people call them that they are considered that. In the smithing world there are several people I would with no hesitation call master smiths and feel that most would agree, it's the folks that some people would call Masters but others wouldn't that cause dissension.