Dave Leppo

use freely, but do not quench from a critical heat, unless you want a hard (or brittle) end product. SOME rebar has higher carbon than mild steel. It varies alot.

when you get to the end of your project, let the thing cool slowly from a red heat. should be nice and tough.
In fact, you may want to test the hardening properties by heating beyond magnetic, quenching, and test-breaking in a vice. BE CAREFUL!!!
If it breaks, it's hard; if it bends, its soft. You do not want brittle hooks.

read up a little on heat treating and material properties.:)

Beyond expectations, Thomas

I started w/ a piece of railroad track, just using it as-cut. I now have two "real" anvils, and still keep the rr track in use, STANDING ON END, for when I want a small surface to hit, Provides a lot of mass under the hammer. Jock Dempsy has some designs here, though I would try it as-is rather than investing alot of time in the anvil instead of forging some other projects.

http://www.anvilfire.com/FAQs/RR-rail_anvils.htm

ps. I don't see why Ken's comments referred to Ted's or why he quoted Ted. And I didn't see that Ken was flaming Ted all that much. Calm down, guys.

Just wait till Thomas chimes in, and informs us why the original question is all wrong, and insufficient to answer.

I crank the blower, too. But that only takes one hand. I usually play with the coal fire with the other, with the poker.

incidentally, I have a technique that's half superstition when welding: I count blower cranks, usually 20, then turn the piece in the fire, 20 more, etc. Helps get an even heat, of course.

Speaking of Anvilfire, Mr. Dempsey has been developing a nice on-line photo gallery of anvils lately. I would encourage you to send him your pics, along with permission to post them in said gallery. Looks like a worthy candidate.

I got mice, wolf spiders, and once saw a small snake peeping out of the wall.

But the worst has to be these invasive STINKBUGS we have now, as far as the annoyance factor goes.

From memory cause I don't have the book w/ me: Didn't Mr. Postman speculate that this piece was all cast with no steel face, as a promo piece?

As stated, the leg should be setting on the floor, BUT, if possible, don't let the floor dictate the height of the vise. I have two leg vises in my shop, large and medium sized. the medium sized is setting on a steel plate at about the level of the floor, the larger is setting on a steel plate about 8" below the level of the floor, to put the top of the jaws at around anvil height for better hammering ergonomics. How did I do this? I have a dirt / gravel floor and both vice legs set in holes that are in the middle of steel plates, the larger one is buried below the surface. If you have a concrete floor, you may not want or be able to do this. I personally would not consider cutting off the leg of a very old vice to achieve a lower mounting height, but that’s your choice.

reminds me of theese, maybe a hybrid:

http://www.anvilfire.com/anvils/af_anvils_019.php

I'm a CAD guy during the day, and for smithing I too prefer pencil & paper. Jake Powning is a master swordsmith & carver, and, as a result, he also has become a great renderer. he's not the only one; There are a few more out there like him. Good enough for them, good enough for me.
look at this http://www.powning.com/jake/commish/progress4.shtml

He said "it rings like a bell when struck with a hammer" so I guess it's not cast iron. I'd do the spark test anyway, to check carbon content. It's possible it WAS a good anvil, but was in a building fire, and hence annealed, in which case it can be re-hardened by heat-treating.

BTW, my Peter Wright is a excellent anvil, but it WILL MARK slightly if I hit it with the pein or edge of a hammer. Maybe it's relitively hard, and you want to use a slightly softer hammer, (and good aim)

edit: However, you said that "It marks VERY EASILY and is NOT HARD, so you can rule out my last comment.

I agree with Glen about opening a window. You said that the same hood worked in your old shop, so maybe the new shop is sealed up tighter. You need plenty of make-up air.

And plug the pipe to prevent it conducting hot gasses from fire to your hand, if using a coal forge to heat the end.
And be careful quenching. the pipe could create a jet of steam or boiling water at you.

Gerald

It seems like the hardy hole is narrower than the bar. Do you think that this gives a "belly out" profile to the rings? (Not necessarily a bad thing)

I have a similar setup, and it works great. The only possible problem is that the bottom bar lies directly on the anvil face. If you want to fuller next to an element that's wider than the bottom bar, it can hit the anvil face, preventing full rotation. Possible solution?: bend an offset into the bars so that they lie on the far edge of the anvil, the protruding element can now hang in space off the side of the anvil.

I haven"t tried this. I try to order my operations to avoid this situation, or use a traditional fuller and hammer pein, but this isn't always as neet.

Hope to see you at BGCM blacksmith days, Mr. Aspery

I would PM njanvilman and see if he would trade you for one a little less "mint", but equally usable.
Just my $00.02

the flats atop the feet make me agree w/ your "Peter Wright" assesment

LOOKS LIKE A MOUSE HOLE
150LBS ACCD. TO STAMPED NUMBERS SHOWN

GOOD ANVIL

Now we know to ignore that stuff on the wall, and go for the scrap pile, when raiding the Powers hacienda!

I use a side-draft similar to the Hoffi design, but made with 14"pipe going thru the wall, into 12" vertical chimney. I also use a hood extension attached to this, directly over the forge which is a piece of the 14" pipe split in half.

Also, I have an exhaust fan going out thru the wall above all this to take out anything that might escape. I don't always run this, but if you put large odd-shapes in the forge, they can divert smoke away from the chimney. I think you mentioned having a squirrel-cage fan you could use for this.

I use coal, which gives quite nasty fumes. If you only ever use charcoal, you can probably forego the exhaust fan. But the fan is also good for getting rid of other smoke or fumes from the building, (such as forging hot steel on a wooden anvil). The forge fire isn't the only source of fumes.

I just added a squirrel-cage furnace fan - blowing out - to the area where I do the most grinding, to help with "dust collection". Grinding swarf and dust are nasty to breathe, too.

"Too much of everything is just enough" in this case IMHO.

the second pic... did these have the spikes I see on the bottom? If so, maybe these were designed for use with wood?

i bid $1

etching a sample in muratic (hydrochloric) acid will often show the striations. I've done this to some old forged pieces that I didn't want to otherwise destroy.

BORAX! It's not just for welding anymore.:

Borax for Termite Control

My shop has a gravel/dirt floor, and I pour some underneath any pieces of wood that sit on the floor. I got alot of hungry termites in the woods around the shop.

VIKING ANVIL

This one might be older.

Edit: You were editing while I was posting. Yes, the molecules of these meteorites may be older than my rock, but the rock was USED as an anvil first.