MLMartin

ok ive tempered a hand full of chisels and fullers and knives, all of them i would anneal in sand, then harden in oil, then heat up again and run the colors until i got the color i wanted and then quench in oil, well i am now making a anvil tool for my treadle hammer, 1" by 4" by 6" block with a hardy shank attached, to drop in the tool post, what im wondering is how to temper it, i annealed it in my forge for a few hours to real the stress it had for welding on the shank, then i hardened it in water, some kinda of low tool steel not quight sure what but some carbon, it hardened alright, a file would only cut into it a little bit, well with how large it is i was going to do the last temper by putting it into the oven at about 540 for a hour or two, i will monater the temp with a good thermometer, my question is sence i will not be bringing the already hardened tool above 540 is there any reason to quench it when its sat at that temp for a long time, sould i just let it cool down in the oven, or do i still need to quench it?

good to see your hammer sam, i made mine about 3 weeks ago

this is a good idea, i hope some one looks into it more, i just beveled a horn all the way to a point and stick welded it on to a anvil, and let me tell you, that took allot of time and stick rods!

i wish i had not forget about that one, im only 10 miles away

pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee, haha i just about have my tredal hammer all done

ive burned myself a few times on my 140lb boy, just alot of big work will put that heat in there, i dont think i need to worry about messing up the temper, my anvil is as soft as butter

alot of people say not to put elbows in, lessons the draft, you can get away with them but try doing it on an angle if you can, so its not a straight 90 turn, im about to bild a side draft hood for mine

great idea about the heads matching up, im about to work on the pivoting head, i planed to have to two flat bars the same lenghth, but how do i atach them to the head and to the back bone, simply weld pipe to the ends and run a bolt through them and some plates that stick out, i know some people use something like bronze pipe inside this to make it slide veary easy, but i dont realy know anything about bushings or this type of work, have repaired and taken apart this type of joint on many tools but do not know wair to buy these materials, looked on mc mastercarr but did not realy see what i would need, help please, thank you

thats real neat sam, i just started my hammer today, its made of 4 by 4 by 1/2 inch angle iron, heavy stuff, got it at scrap prices so about 20 dollars for 20 feet, just migged it to be square tubing, new steel that large and heavy would have cost me 160 from my local steel yard. mine will be the swinging head type, ill just though my smithy magison in the hardy hole if i want to draw with it, would be nice to have a top hardy hole, but trying to keep it all lined up stright is just to much work, i like to keep things as simple as i can, ill have 6 by 4 by 1 1/2 top and botom plates for hammer and anvil, some wair around 50 to 70 lb head, after i poor lead in it. the anvil post is 20 in away from the back bone, anvil post 36 in high not counting top plate, back bone 5 feet tall, and the head is 10 in not counting the face plate. ill post pictures when im done. ok now, i have been wondering about a good ajustable tool holder for spring swages, i want something i can take off to get it out of the way when im not using it, and i can just bolt on and ajust the hardy hole in it so i can have the spring swages sit nicely under the head when i use them, all my spring swages are diffrent lengths so if the tool hole is set they will not all reach, any good ideas?

hope everything works out, i would love to have one, i prefure this stile with the more meat under the face, you can get so much more work done, really handy tools, im not to fond of the London stile, although i would like a nice 300lb one

thats pretty darn neet, were do i get mine, walmart? haha i would love to get my hands on an old bronze anvil and socket head hammer

why dont you forge the ends of the round bar squair so they will sit on each other flatter and not roll off, if you have to forge the weld down into a hook it souldent matter if its squair any way right? how dose that sound

thanks buddy, will watch

thats the biggest thing that keeps me going at this, im not saying anything bad about other jobs, my brother works on computers, next year everything he worked on this year will be in the trash and he'll be working on some new one, he has a great job and makes good money, but to know that i just produced something that will be around for 100 - 200 years - maybe longer, that just amazing, and the fact that i just shaped something thats known for its strength and hardness

light the forge and try it, maybe theres something there, or maybe its a big flop, wont really know till you fire it up

i want to play with that hammer, what a monster, great looking tool

so much math, i normally use a 8 lb when im striking with a sledge hammer

hello, Tyler, are you part of the bealer gild, if so sorry for not recognizing you, I have a bad memory, my next gild meeting is in about 22 days, im going to talk with the guys in my guild and see if anyone ells is interested in joining in forging a anvil, im in Gwinnet county Ga, I still need to acquire steel to make this. Im not positive if I could forge this on my main anvil, its only 140 lb London, and its a little bowed, I also have a 250lb stump anvil ( acualy a cast steel gear that has a 1’ round face that im hardfacing with welding rods), I know I can wail on it all day long with a 16 lb hammer and have no worrys of damaging it, ive been working on my coal forge for the past few days, and welding up a fabricated anvil I started a wile back, the biggest thing I have ever forge was the horn for this anvil and it was around 30 lbs. if your ever looking for some one to come and work in the shop with you or swing a sledge hammer let me know, im always looking for more people to work with and experience, I plan to forge professionally one day

ok guys, i have been making tongs, and other riveted things lately, and let me tell you my rivets stink, how dose everyone out there make them, do you buy them? how about ones that are 1/8 in small, and as big as 1/2 in, maybe a nail header, i do know that i need to make some jaws that are semi circular for my vice so i can hold round stock tightly, any good ideas, tips Thanks for the help

thanks all for the pictures, i hope to get a hold of the dvd on this site to, tilt hammer, never herd that term, im assuming your talking about a trip hammer run by a water wheel with studs that lift the hammer 3 or 4 times in every rotation, drop hammer, like the few hundred pound pole hammer that is hoisted up and just guided back down to hit the work, seen some run in a video, makes since, but what kind of power pulls the hammer up over and over, surly not a crew of men? some kind of moter thats run like a manuel transmission and you just have it unengaged, step on the gear pedal the thing is quickly yanked up then just release the clutch and it falls again? haha i dont ever have my power hammer built yet or my tredel hammer for that matter, seems like i have some catching up to do before i make a big drop hammer

yes i sall michaels hammer out in his cord yard last year, what a beast, ive forge welded many times in all the class's ive taken at cambell and been going for years, but im just geting my own coal forge set up at home right now, been using propain, i would like to make it with sledges, and have asumed i would have to make a ground forge to have one big enough to make the whole thing, not sure how i would go about making the its, would probaly be easyer to start with one huge chunk of steel for the body and then shaping it, but moving that much metal would be a heap of work, so maybe foring it in 2 halves top with horn, face and hardy hole, then the bottom half with feet, then welding on the face plate, i dont realy have the set up to do it at my shop right now sadly, but have been thinking about it for a wile and though i would see who ells out there has 2 cents on it, and if a hand full of people wanted to try it out close enough maybe things will come toggther for a weekend and make a few i like the simple hour glass shape of the really old mouse holes

yes yes im quight aware that this would be a large project. but has any of you out there ever forged a anvil. Pictures would be great, know of any ware i could see one made? or simply just tell me im crazy for wanting to ever make one. i will be bringing this up at my next alex bealer blacksmith guild. i would love to be able to forge a 50 to 100 lb colonial anvil, short face, no cutting table or step, short horn, something like 4 by 8 face and 4 in horn maybe 10 tall. i know it would take at least 6 big guys with sledge hammers and a huge anvil to forge on, there is a hand full of younger guys that may be interested in doing this in my gild. i have a few good anvils so its not really a need, i just simply like to make tools, and is there really any other reason i need to make one. for a wile i have been welding up an anvil out of scrap 1.5 plate, a 4 by 6 by 6 block, 3.5 round and just other large scrap, all has been grooved on edge so i have at least 95% fusion when i weld and i plan to hard face the thing, dont really know what kind of anvil it will be, will not be a classic London stile. more like frankinstine with a squair face 6 by 6 , but only 4 but 6 directly under it so 2 in of the squair will be like a clip then a heel 6 by 4 with 1 in hardy hole and 6 in horn, stands about 14 in tall with large upseting block, and a side clip off one side of the boddy

thats great, how about you make one for me and ill try it out and send you a good product review, haha i think i may make something like that myself, space is pretty limited for me to

thomas dean is definetly right, has nothing to do with ring, i have on thats just a thud when i hit it, but has great rebound, and don't over look broken anvils, no horn or no heel, wile this is a pain in the butt some of them still have vary hard square faces, I've seen some as hard as 56 RC, probably why the heel broke off. but it dose not have to be an anvil at all, just good rebound and a lot of mass. i have one anvil that is a 250 pound steel gear, works pretty good, large flat face, and about 12 in thick, just hit the anvil, if the hammer bounces back up far then it probably has some use

i have two drug out of a barn made out of old wagon axles, there big