ThomasPowers

So do them individually: Pipe for the circle and a single triangle that you apply 3 times---*much* more medieval than making a whopping big single tool and not that you would need a heck of a lot of force to do a 2" stamp at one go---as in screwpress! To forge a triangle you could take a piece of hex stock and forge in every other point---or even do it with a large 6 sided bolt head (which could just be ground to shape too)

Might take a while to get schedules lined up to haul it in if it's a small town; shoot I'm running behind something I'm supposed to do; but the only time the place is open is when I'm at work.

Actually I started with an electric blower and then moved to a hand crank blower because I liked it better. Once I had made a traditional double chambered blacksmith's bellows I moved to that as I thought it was even better than the hand crank! Now the two single bellows are a pain to work by yourself but the double chambered bellows that started showing up in the renaissance is quite nice---*IF* done right!

Vic may not have access to US coins as we have no clue to where he's at.

Medieval forges work quite well as long as you can get someone to work the bellows for you. I build and run one 4 or 5 times a year. Will you be using coal or charcoal?

I've reached cast iron levels doing a pack carburizing. Sure did act like it when we tried to weld it. Ric did a pack carburizing and a "run small bits of wrought iron through the forge multiple times and then weld it up" as part of his "3 methods of making steel" Demo at Quad-State one year. (the third was a melt!) According to Barraclough the temps used in the English blister steel industry were quite a bit cooler than 2k degF. They had a battle between carburization and grain growth both of which like the higher temps!

You can carburize with pretty much *any* carbon based fuel including charcoal and propane. HOWEVER I've seen a number of people claim they were making high carbon steel from mild *while* forging it when in truth the thickness scaled off was much thicker than the depth of carbon migration *while* forging. If you are increasing the O2 to make the fire burn hotter for this effect you can also be changing it from a reducing fire to an oxidizing fire and so do just the opposite. If you are interested in this may I commend to your attention "The Cementation of Iron and Steel" Giolitti, and "Steelmaking Before Bessemer, Vol 1 Blister Steel" Barraclough. Which you should be able to ILL from your local public library in the USA. (can be quite pricey to try to buy)

Well the proof of the pudding is in the *eating*; so use the heck out of it and report back how it's holding up!

Not forge welding but arc welding is fairly often used to repair anvil faces. Look up "Anvil Repair and Gunter" to find a good method of how to do it. Generally repair is something you do when you can't live with it the way it is. In 30+ years of smithing I have had two anvils repaired, one was a Vulcan that I was selling on; the other was a 400+ pound trenton(?) that maintenance at a copper mine in AZ had used as a prop when gouging mining equipment.

Here in the land of the "Red or Green" (official state question!) we make chile peppers from pipe. Taper one end and then round slightly and use a fuller to neck in the top a bit above the start of the taper. I fuller enough that you can forge the fullered section down into the stem

Well here is a pic of me working down the shaft for making the stake anvil from the RR spike hammer

Pewter and copper will not work well as a laminate as they have far different working characteristics! When mokume is "soldered" it's done with *Silver Solder* and not the 2-3% stuff but rather the high temp jewelry type. You could layer it that way if you plan to not work it afterwards and just have a plain straight layers.

So the anvil is about 100 pounds (the 10 marking) and the stand is the other 70. It's in nice condition and Vulcans are a *quiet* anvil very good for suburbia and urban smithies. Vulcans are also on the bottom end of the quality scale for "real" anvils and the steel face is generally fairly thin---any dressing to pretty it up and it's probably close to useless. Faces tend towards being soft on the larger ones too. Pick up only => will probably go cheap. Good as I would NOT pay the same price as a similar sized anvil of a higher quality make!

I'm sorry if you are not in North America as most of the suggestions are pretty specific to that continent. If you are in China I would suggest white wax wood. In Europe: ash Africa: ? South America: ? (Though I might try Ipe) One method might be to find broken axe or pickaxe handles and re-shape them to fit your hawk. For my camping hatchet I just drifted the eye for a hammer handle when I made it as they are easier and cheaper for me to find locally. Please edit your profile to put your general location in so this sort of question that is LOCATION specific can be correctly answered.

Well if you do your forging from a wagon it's a nice item to have. If you do not it's more a curiosity. A standard post vise would be more useful even in a portable set up!

Sorry to tell you but rebar cools at the same rate as any other steel of the same cross sectional area. Now the alloy may have a more limited temperature range where it's forgeable; but it cools at the same rate.

All you coastal folk better send your smithing equipment out here where it will be high and dry! Stay safe and dry if you can!

Propane is not that noisy! I smithed for nearly 15 years in inner city Columbus OH in a detached garage! Try to get a Fisher anvil if possible or a Vulcan. *Much* quieter! What are your neighbors like? I had one who was retired and said the smell of coal smoke reminded her of being a child living in a house with a coal furnace. I had one that would call the Fire Department on me. By supreme luck they got called 4 times in a row when I was using my smoker to cook dinner (an allowed usage!) rather than my forge. I was told sub rosa that the caller was informed that they would get a $1000 fine for "False Alarms" after the 4th time they wedged the firetruck down the narrow alleyway to find me cooking salmon...End of that problem. Young children near by---work with their parents to avoid nap times. Be aware of more than fire regs. Columbus had one that stated that nobody could make a fume or odor that was detectable at the property line. Only enforced if someone complained. Any historical places near you where you could smith a while to get the basics learned? Things are quieter when you know what you are doing in my experience.

Yes, No, Maybe! Can you tell me if I can sell my car for a profit? Of course I can't tell you what make, model; or condition it's in... Unless you are getting them powerfully cheap and in mint condition there may not be that great a market as folks can build a great solid fuel forge for almost nothing---an old commercial one doesn't buy you much over a home made one. They are also hard to ship. Now if you are going to a big conference with free tailgating you might be able to sell several at one go if the price is right. Blowers area better deal *IF* they do not need any repairs. Blowers that need repair are pretty much scrap for folks with blowers that need repair.

If it's a smoking good deal get the 400 you can always trade down from it if you decide you need a more portable set up. When I moved 1500 miles the company didn't cover the cost of moving my shop; took more than a flat bed Semi. *ouch*.

Well pretty much all the early ships had anvils on them as well for repairs: whalers, shipping, etc (read the section in Moby Dick about forging the harpoon or about the mutiny on the bounty where there is a place on Pitcairn Island still called "Bang Iron Valley because it was where the anvil from the Bounty was set up...) Still I'd bet it would be easier and cheaper to find a fork lift tine...

So if someone orders two tentstakes you quintuple the price of the stock used? Must be nice!

Wow, I weld 25 layer billets on a regular basis with a 3.3 pound (1500 gm) hammer with no problem. HOWEVER if your muscles are not built up a too heavy a hammer for you can cause problems NO MATTER WHAT METHOD YOU USE! Short handles let you use heavier hammers in my experience but if you are a 120 pound new smith I would NOT advise a 4# hammer to start.

My HB has one of the hardest faces of all my anvils (Fisher, Trenton, Arm & Hammer, Peter Wright, Powell, HB)

I have a 93# anvil parked right next to that 515# Fisher cause there are somethings that just are easier to do on the smaller anvil that doesn't have a heel as thick as a brick. And a horn fatter than a very fat thing.