Dave Leppo

Perhaps those who have problems punching; it's not the size of the prichtel hole, but the punching procedure. (perhaps not) For me, Hot punching is much different than cold punching, it's not like the "metal muncher" or turret punch we use for hot-rolled angle or sheet metal respectively, (cold processes) where the hole in the die is set up with very tight clearance to the punch, depending on the thickness. At home on my anvil, I can make any size hole that I have a punch for (the hole is typically slightly smaller than the punch diameter when finished). The prichtel hole is for clearing the slug out, only. The hole is created first by punching from both sides. This creates a hole that goes thru the material, with a slug jammed in, which gets cleared lastly. I believe I could do this over the hardy hole if required. This may or may not make sense, and you may or may not want to try it. I can see that if you were punching many holes of the same size, you may want to use a different, faster procedure. Do a search here on "punching" to get more details (and opinions).

Anvilfire "Guru" says 50:1 Selecting an Anvil : Which is right for you?

rather than clay, I just refurbished a forge similar to yours by adding a steel firepot and top plate. I have used it a bit, and it works well, I think. The one thing I would do differently is to use thicker steel for the firepot. http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f85/rebuilding-forge-13241/index2.html#post124121 #12

I build a bon fire over the nest site and cook the ground bees in the juices of their own larva. Dont do this next to the barn. As with anything I say, I take no liability for those unwise enough to follow my example.

That's an early Fisher-Norris. Fisher Norris Eagle Anvils : anvilfire.com Thick steel top with cast-iron base, cast using a patented process. There was also a patented process for grinding the horn to a cone, you will notice that the round hole under the heal is about in the centerline of the horn, and was a place for a fixture pin to hold the anvil while grinding, rotating on the pin. The Logo was an American Eagle holding an Anchor, and is in the sand-cast portion, so they aren’t always super-clear. Good anvil; I have one like yours, but not as nice, and LOVE it. Enjoy.

It is my current belief that , for me, the flatter falls in the category with the swedge block: If I had one, I MAY try to find uses, but I really haven

I agree it would be great to repar an anvil like this... On the other hand, there is a gent in eastern PA who is looking for large slabs of wrought iron to use in his hot press-forming art. It occurs to me that if he bought one anvil like this cheep, and sliced it up with a large band saw, he would have alot of high-quality WI material to use. (Randy McDaniels, you out there?)

No, i didn't. Where were you, Thomas, when I was driving it in?) seriously, If I have to take it out, I can catch the edge of it with a pin and drive it up from underneath.

I used a piece of trimmed angle-iron WITHOUT the tabs Thomas mentioned. I cut it at a slight taper so it would fit tightly into the hole (I had to lightly drive it in), it don't move. this leaves the top surface flat, but it's semi-permenant. My anvil is a ~200lb Fisher, so the heal is rather thick, and I wasn't too concerned about breaking it. I have been filing the inside of the angle periodically cause it ended up just a hair too small

I believe that, ergonomically, the shorter, the better; since your anvil is set to the optimum hammering height (or as close to it as practical), so you dont want to lift this work area too much. However, as you mentioned, having a taller hardy could be an advantage in certain situations. SOOOO> make two or more! A short for general use, and a tall for special situations.

I don't hit tooling w/ my forging hammer, but i DO sometimes forge w/ my tooling hammer (such as to strainghten a hot-cut part a little, on the same heat)

I work in the sheet metal design field, and predicting a sheet metal blank before it is bent is a similar challenge. You "gain" a set amount of material for each bend (for the reason that Grant mentioned, among other things), but this relies on press-brake tooling which is consistent. We have had to use experimental evidence to develop standards for each different thickness of material. Hence: use a jig to keep your bend parameters consistent, and bend one (or three) test piece(s) to learn what the difference between start and end will be. Start with a test piece say 12" long, bend it in the middle, measure the result. Do this three times if you are a patient person, and use the average as a CONSTANT of increase per bend. Keep in mind that measuring across the bend (from outside to outside) will add about

I was going to make a comment about Arrogance, but it's not going to be helpful or pertinant.

anvil - antique -160 lb here ya go

i squirt in a shot of ATF at the beginning of a session. the dripping bothers me, too, so I have a tub of breeze under the blower, and have thought of adding a drip pan mounted to the blower for when I'm at a remote location.

The magnets on the anvil are for cancelling ring, right? The cast IRON anvils really have no ring whatever, so magnets are not really necessary. However, cast iron anvils aren't silent by any means; there is a pronounced "crack" or "whack" which, while less offensive and head-peircing, will still require hearing protection worn by the user.

follow your suggestions, with this in mind: once the gates are rusted to your liking, you should wire brush lightly to remove loose rust, leaving the rusted bare metal. the tung oil and/or linseed oil ARE varnish, no need to top-coat. You can use one or the other, or both blended (which I never tried) Boiled linseed dries very slowly, the thicker, the slower. tung dries faster and can be a little thicker Any oil will Darken your rusted surface considerably. Can still look good, IMO.

I just finished a forge refurbish / upgrade, starting with a similar portable forge as yours. After getting new legs, cleaning the gearbox, and repairing a crack with a firepot.pdf

Pattern-welded material?

I usually re-forge old flea-market punches, (Yard sales may be another source) or use as-is with a little dressing on the grinder. They're usually just basic tool steel, not heat resistant alloy steel. The one I made last week to punch 3/8" holes was formerly a large cold chisel. Please review the heat-treating info found here and elsewhere to learn how to harden / temper carbon steel tools, and what to expect from “junk-yard” steel.

the truck mounted crane can probably extend 100"(inches) 100'(feet), no GRIN makes me think of a scene from "Spinal Tap"

Grant's Spring Fuller is exactly how I made mine - works great, and if your lucky, the re-bar is tougher than mild steel. (I started by grinding off the re-bar ridge texture on the working ends - about 4-6" back from each end on the sides that come together in use)

aprayin... What I do is try a test piece (or two) of similar width and thickness as your final piece. Try an oil quench first - this is safest. test for hardness w/ an old file. If this doesn't work, try more aggresive quenchants such as water. Use the successfully hardened test piece to also test tempering. Temper as much as possible and still have a functioning piece. These comments refer to HT in general, not specifically to blades; and it may already be in the sticky mentioned by Steve.

I guess you either love him or hate him, but I found a few pages in Frank Lloyd Wright: An Autobiography regarding Blacksmiths. Hope this link works. If not, it's on page 334-335

PHILLIP I made this one for the sliding doors on my shop Original Caption: "Made a new lock thingie for my shop, for sliding doors. the old store-bought hasp didn't serve as well. New handles coming ... someday. This was forged from 1" rebar, which proved to be hardinable to dissuade the hack saw break-in."