gazilla

nice DIY bridge anvil - thx 4 sharing

czech made, .30 C steel modern cast anvil - check http://www.branco.cz/anvils.htm, but dunno if these are the only manufacturers (looks the same mold though)

I tried it at last. Stake anvil (top portion 550mm x 65mm) heated up to hardening temp, quenched in 100 litres used motor oil (stirred nor shaken). The thickest section remained relatively soft, the horns were hardened all right. Overall only 47 HRC after tempering. Fair enough for a first, but next time I'll be using water hardening steel and another means of quenching.

real work. respect :)

No shipwrecking yards in the neighborhood? Even though they may not normally sell scrap to individuals, telling them what it's for (I call it "study") opens doors, sometimes.

like your fork Martin, nice work

Are used anvils that hard to find in the UK?

Some guys in France do a "grappage" to make tool steel out of mild: load small scrap in a fire with abundant charcoal, where it forms something like a bloom, that nees to be consolidated and refined to make decent steel. The same method was described by Evenstad in his treatise on iron production and was used by Japanese blacksmiths to make higher carbon steel out of lower grades. Evenstad also described a way of improving the "raw" iron produced in a first reduction step. You might try something similar, adding small scrap like nails, together with silicium, aluminium and iron oxides to a more oxidizing charcoal fire, in order to get a decarburized iron with oxides that have a low melting point (important if you want to actually forge this iron). Lee Saunders and Skip Williams (see Matt Bower's link) might be able to give you more information on this, they helped us a lot before we did our first bloomery experiment. What are you planning to do with the blooms you'll hopefully make?

interesting work, thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the link Phil. Bent, apparently it's a type of hoe used in vineyards, to work around the vine. Bernard Solon is (one of?) the last blacksmith(s) specialized in making edged tools (taillendier in French), so he embodies the knowledge and skill accumulated through generations past, which will disappear with him one day. I'm very fond of this type of work/work ethic etc, so I wanted to share this.

nice approach. you may like this: http://www.stephanecompoint.com/11,419,fr_FR,FONDATION%20BETTENCOURT%20-%20PRIX%20DE%20L'INTELLIGENCE%20DE%20LA%20MAIN%202005%20-%20LE%20M%C9TAL.html

Bryce, aren't you trying to learn too many things at the same time? I'd first try to correctly form scrolls someone else designed, and simpler pieces of work than those you imagined, before tackling a design of my own. Same thing would apply to the design, start simple. You show imagination and willingness to progress etc, maybe you're just trying to advance a bit too quickly? I found this learning process tedious and frustrating at times, guess that's because we've been brought up in a world where everything should go quickly and average is enough. Bob, I'm glad you like the piece but you're too kind. It's a candle holder, not art. It was a great learning experience though.

interesting subject. a question for those who already made good/decent frizzens welded from mild and W1: how thick are the pieces before welding, how thick after forging, how thick when finished, did you thermocycle the piece a few times before hardening, was it water hardened and if yes do you often end up with deformed pieces, did you temper it a bit or not at all? mm ok a number of questions actually, sorry.

I like your point of view Grant. This piece started out as a rough sketch, I made a few scale drawings on 1/10th and once satisfied a full scale drawing of one "wing". The feet were forged out of square 30mm steel, the other parts out of 25mm and 15mm round etc., with volumes calculated to obtain the size needed. I made a trial piece of every feature before making each part. All this to stay as closely as possible to the original drawing. But still, there's a moment you need to leave the design behind and thrust your eyes and hands. The most useful thing we learned in the few drawing lessons in blacksmithing school is to carry along a small sketchbook (100mm x 150mm, pocket size). I don't think there's a shortcut to learn drawing/design/forging, it takes practice and time. Examining work you like, at home and abroad, helps too.

you're only visiting these cities, and going by plane in between, or have you got the time to make a few side trips?

I've seen a video of Vlad Durov forge welding billets and making very (!) nice axes using two strikers with heavy, short handled sledges. I couldn't find anything on him on the net except this link - http://photo-bushov.com/history/?id=58&start=2&text - only pictures though. Maybe dancho could help you, he's from Ukraine so the language won't be a problem.

I leveled my anvil supports using a steel hammer chisel. Not exactly fine woodworking but great for roughening out. Using a sharp chain helps too, to remove the larger parts.

Interesting topic, came along just in time. I got a stake anvil made, the top is SAE 4145 (streetcar axle, I know the alloy from their specs), 65x65mm square, 550mm long, with a 60mm square shank. I thought to use an oil bath to prevent cracking. Is there some rule of thumb relating the size of the part to be quenched to the size of quenching bath to be used? Or wouldn't quenching it in a bath be sufficient to harden this? Someone told me about this flume method being used in the Refflinghouse factory, but these guys are using 45 pts carbon steel...

Nice work Bogdan. Is it possible you used the original one in Ivano Frankivsk last year in may?

I heard the rails for a streetcar were cut all around with a cold chisel, and next the piece was given (a few) tap(s) with a sledge. Other option is sqaing it with two people, saw a pic of two chinese workmen doing so. Tried it once and it works, but takes a lot of time... (oil helps).

Spears, it sure looks good, a bit like old scandinavian anvils. Hope it works as good as well :-). Dennis G, I like your removable side horn idea. Some old French anvils had such a (fixed) horn. Doesn't the horn move too much when you work on it? Or can you lock it in place?

Alexander Weygers, Samuel Yellin, Tom Joyce, Claudio Botero, Pavel Zlatos, Daniel Miller, Havard Bergland, Brian Russell, Lee Saunders & Skip Williams, Jock Dempsey, Bruce Wilcock, ... the last three mainly for "crazy projects" :-) There's a few eastern European blacksmiths whose names I ignore, but who make great works. Last but not least Philip Vercammen. My teacher, whose encouragement makes you try things you wouldn't have dreamt of trying.

nice job Spears. Got some more info/pic's on the "making of"?

nice DIY anvil. Any details on its construction and size?

amazing job! congratulations guys! i wonder if you can tell anything about the size of the hearth, blower, type of fuel, heating time etc? seems like a foolish project, but they just did it...