philip in china

It is in and working. The school electrician connected her up. She was standing on blocks and I was going to make a base but haven't bothered. She is on the Anyang made fabricated steel base which gets her high enough to use comfortably- I am only small. So some of the students and I moved her to one side and cracked up three tiles from the floor. That gicves me a very shallow trough of about 500mm x 1,500 mm (or 20" x 60" if you prefer. We then dropped the hammer into the depression. She works fine- no tendency to jump around and veen if she did she can't get out of that small hole! I probably ought to get her anchored to the concrete but as she will be here for less than a year I don't think I shall bother I was expecting power- 25Kg delivered upto 240 times a minute will do anything I am ever going to want. The degree of control and precision, however, came as an unexpected bonus. I haven't started removing the shells from hard boiled eggs with it yet but I can quite see how it would be possible with experience. All I need now is to save up to buy a Hofi powerhammer course.

I saw the thread about the salt fork swage block. I have a very similar block from Ironworks forged iron steel custom blacksmith blacksmithing supplies but mine is ductile iron, not cast iron. Which would be better for a swage block or doesn't it matter? I use mine a lot, and plan to use it even more once I have made a stand for it!

To make a touchmark that is anything other than a very crude symbol- a cross or a rough star would be a job for an absolute expert with a lot of tooling. It would take a huge amount of time as well. There are plenty of experts out there who make such things. I got mine from Ironworks forged iron steel custom blacksmith blacksmithing supplies It is very good and was not expensive. My friend Sean also got one from there and he seems happy with his.

How heavy is it? I have a 60 pound block which looks very similar but not quite the same. I use it quite a lot and the students use it even more. Mine is ductile iron although I doubt if that makes much difference.

That hammer looks as good as new. That has to be a good buy. Maybe if your friend tells you the serial number John could tell us a bit about it.

The electrician who does all our work here connected it up for me a couple of hours ago. I need to pour a shallow base onto which to bolt the anyang base. I did just smack a bit of rebar with it. That is a very very good hammer. It is very hard hitting but seems very easy to control. When it is anchored down and I have had a day playing with it I am sure I shall find it very useful.

It is funny here. Ifyou buy a power tool that is what you usually get. No power lead and certainly no plug unless you happen to get one that was designed for export or you are very lucky. There is no idea of customer serice here whatsoever.

Hey Pete 46, I happened to be reading this thread and saw what you said about go to an art gallery and rip up some paintings. Here I have a wood burning stove. At present I am using oil paintings in it and they make very good kindling! Each year when the art students leave there is always a load of old canvases to be got rid of and it would be a shame to waste them. I might not rate much as a blacksmith but as an art critic I am unbeatable.

Glad to be of service.

Happy to send it to you. You pay the airmail both ways though. BTW got the nuts now for the 6 j bolts I made. I really DO need that power lead connecting. I am getting very irritable having been waiting no about 13 or 14 weeks!

I have my hammer, and I have a separate on off switch. Where is the best place to mount the switch? Should it go on the wall next to the hammer? I sort of presume so. Is this a stupid question?

This thread has come up again. Did you actually get your big anvil?

I think I might try to get it running just as it is. I will make the base but whilst that is curing perhaps I will run it to do a bit of light work. The base recommended by Anyang is truly massive- more than I intend to use- but I suppose that that is designed for constant heavy running in a factory rather than occasional light work. When I saw the thing on the truck I must admit I wondered for a few minutes whether I had got too much hammer and whether a smaller one might have been more appropriate- but the feeling soon wore off!

It has arrived. With the steel base it is almost a ton so I got a guy with a diesel forklift to get her into the shop then used the pallet truck to get it to exactly where it needs to be. I am going to think about it for quite a while before I actually start casting the plinth and anchoring it down. I want to have it where it will be best. I do NOT want to end up moving the beast again.

I got a text message yesterday to expect it today (Wednesday). Will update when I get it. Is that a truck I can hear?............... (Pause).................. Rats! No! If I get moderated off the site for saying rats I will get somebody else to post the information.

Just in case my Anyang does appear one day... what oil should I use in the oiler please?

What sort of door frame have you got in the garage? Maybe removing the top member of that and replacing it after the hammer has gone in would be a good idea. If that gave you enough clearance then you only need a simple pallet jack to get the machine in. For that matter is it just one small part of the top of the hammer that is the same height as the frame? If so could you tip the hamer and slide the top inside the garage and then restore it to upright once inside there? What are the other dimensions? Could it go in on one side and then be stood up once in there.

We left the mid sized rhino on the concrete base and made up a couple of stands out of scrap angle and channel for the small one and the big one. The big one responds just as you would expect a 300+ pound anvil to respond. It certainly doesn't move much! The little baby one I was using is about 130 something like that. It has terrific rebound. I was very pleased with all 3. That half horn is a really useful shape. They also have retained a step although being almost a double bick design and I do like my step. I am sure a more skilled smith would manage without either of those features but I really like them.

Any beginner reading this should note that if he or she were to buy that anvil there would never be the need to buy another- unless a small, prtable travelling anvil were needed.

I use about a 20" I suppose on a normal anvil. (I am only about 5'7" short). I also have a low mounted anvil, a 320 pound Rhino, which is used for heavy striking. On this we use longer handled hammers to deliver the full whack.

A big hitter in blacksmithing has very kindly sorted things out for me. Anyang have now (Tuesday 22nd) promised me it will be shipped in 3 days (which I interpret to mean on Friday 25th). I am sure it will all work its way through in due course. The only thing is I have a friend coming out on 26th and I had hoped to be able to let him have a go with the machine. That looks less and less likely now but that isn't their fault! I think the best thing is I will post to this thread when she arrives and then it is perhaps best if the thread is removed as I wouldn't want it to do any damage to the reputation of AnYang.

It's a long time since I posted a new thread on IFI! Nine weeks ago I paid for my An Yang. I was told delivery would be 1 month. I am still waiting! I have just been asked for my address in Chinese characters which is information I sent about a month ago. I have also been told that An Yang are moving to new premises next week. How that makes any difference to an order placed 9 weeks ago is not explained! I hope that there isn't a problem but I thought I should let other people know about the difficulties I am having.

I now have 5 anvils- although currently only 4 of them are in use. The one I use most is at wrist height but I have another one of similar size at knuckle height. As my posture improves- i.e. I stop bending over and use the hammer more wisely I am finding the knuckle height one is better. I also have another, a double bick, which is higher still but I tend to sue that only for fine work- so rarely. The big one is set very low and tends to get used almost exclusively for heavy striking.

OK sorry it has been a while but I just don't get onto this site much these days. I put the middle sized Rhino onto a very solid concrete base. I then let the students forge on it and have been using it myself. The results are all very good I am pleased to say. I sort of miss the step that I have on my Brooks but that is the price of a double horn I suppose. Certainly I am very pleased with the performance of this anvil. I have done some heavy (14 pound sledgehammer) on the 320 pound Rhino and again it has held up very well. Steve McGrew who makes the anvils will be along at the end of the month and we hope to do quite a bit of forging together on all 3. I haven't used the baby size very much yet but judging by the others I expect it to be very good as well.

I use a lot of Chinese rebar for forging. So do all the local smiths. It works well if you know what you are doing and the texture can be useful for providing grip. I got some that had been rolled through badly worn rollers so it has very little texture left. I use that as the reins on my 10 minute tongs and it works very well. Some welds better than others. It is very useful for reinforcing concrete by the way.