philip in china

You don't need tool steel. You will be cutting hot, and therefore soft, steel therewith. Having said which I have just got some railway line from which to make hardies, once the hammer arrives!

I think your basic premise is flawed. There are as many anvils out there as you care to pay for. Just pick up the telephone and call Blacksmiths Depot in USA or Vaughans in UK etc. What you mean is that there are few anvils at the price which you are willing to pay. That is a different matter of course. Supply and demand sets the price of any commodity. If you are unwilling to pay the established market price you won't get much of anything.

For some reason nobody answers the phone on the number given on the ad. So we will try to find some other way of contacting them.

dfq, a location is also a good idea. Just generally. There might be a local ABANA chapter near you or somebody who has just what you need. If we don't know, though, we can't help!

Most beginners answer the problem of not enough heat by increasing blast. That isn't necessarily wrong but could be. Try getting a deeper fire and cleaning out any clinkers as well as increasing blast.

Tyro, a lot of guys are doing thsi activity as a hobby. If it turns them a shekel or two then that is extra. I am one of those I suppose although I do get paid to teach blacksmithing and general metalwork. If you look at how little lots of guys charge for e.g. a custom knife then I doubt if they are making minimum wage let alone any return on their investment in equipment.

The thing is that if it is a hobby then a lot of the fun is in scratching round and visiting sales etc. From a purely commercial point of view I am sure the best thing to do is buy tool steel of known quality, buy tongs and an anvil and a hardy! The amount of time spent on making most tongs would actually make them far more expensive than shop bought. If, however, you enjoy the hobby and are not fully booked with paying jobs then make stuff. I do a combination of both.

Think of it like 4WD. The amateur enthusiasts are always looking for new callenges- muddier trails, steeper hills etc. etc. A soldier or farmer driving a 4WD as a job always looks for the easiest route.

Main thing is do what works for you.

Yes and yes is the answer to your post. I have a 60 pound block from Ironworks supplies. In fact just before coming into the internet cafe I was mentally designing a stand for my block. I also want to make a similar anvil stand. My idea is so simple that there must be a flaw somewhere. Anyway that will do for a different thread

Yes it is possible to make a block by drilling steel. Why not? It is also possible to get a lot of shapes to use from such thigs as gear boxes and caterpillar tracks!

BTW have you looked at Swage Blocks ? I think that link is correct.

I wonder if we could import them to China for recycling into new HF ASOs. I shall look into the idea.

Well I finally bought it. Just waiting for AY to deliver it now.

I opted, after much thought, for a factory made base. I think it was the right move for me.

So next step is 3 phase power into the shop so I can run the thing when it comes! Also be able to run my other 3 phase goodies I have on order.

I have got a tree stump a little over a metre high. I am going to use it as the base for one of my new anvils and just wanted to know the best way to embed it so it won't move. I am just about to start work on the new shop floor. That will be concrete. I am going to break up the old slab where I shall be extending. At the same time I shall be digging out for the stump. I had thought about digging in a plastic dustbin so as to keep the foot of the stump dry. What does anybody think? Also, and this might be a stupid question, which way up does the stump go? Does this matter?? I have never had a stump embedded before but want this one seriously fixed as it will be where any really heavy work will be done.

I haven't gone to sleep on this. Linna has been trying to get through to the company- just haven't succeeded yet!

OK. There is now a single, not very good, snapshot posted on my photos. It shows the big one underneath, the baby on top of that and the mid sized one on a low wall behind the other two.

OK I have posted a photo of the 3 rhinos in my photos. I hope that at least people now do believe that the things exist!

I wasn't going to send this photo as it isn't very good. When I saw that people thought these didn't exist, however, I thought I probably should! I also have a swage block and a set of anvil stakes but you will just have to accept my word on those!

I think the reason Steve has asked me to test the guts out of one of each size is that he doesn't want to accept delivery of a batch until he has had them tested. I presume that this is why but you really need input from him. I am only following orders as the camp guards used to say.

As soon as I have the results from the magflux and rebound tests I shall send them to Steve who will probably post them either here or via ABANA.

(After that I hope the photo works. I am not very computer savvy).

File is too big! I will try again tomorrow. Anyway my fumblings with technology will give somebody a good laugh if nothing else.

Was walking past the scrap pile and noticed a piece of 8mm steel plate, 650mm x 1,840mm. I really was just happening to be pushing the scale along with me so flipped it on. It weighed about 75Kg. I note from the calculator on another site that that is exactly correct (so I even got my scales checked for free). Not a mark on the plate except for some rust. So I think that that could be an important feature in the extended workshop!

To me a scale is an important piece of shop equipment. I weigh lots of things to help with pricing etc. I know you can work out weight by mathematics but with a complex shape it is absurdly complex.

By all means use firebrick to fill in the bottom but I would not advise cement! You should pack between the bricks with clay- anything will do- just dig some up. You can incorporate some ground up firebrick as grog if you want. To restrict heat transfer you could use all clay and incorporate some finely divided organic matter such as chain saw swdust. As the temperature rises the organic material burns and you have small pockets which increase the thermal insulation qualities.

When I was a boy, and I was once, "Made in Japan" meant junk. Now it is the absolute reverse! Many tool companies manufacture in China even brands you associate with being American or European. I know some people on the forum will want to disgaree but it is a fact. Also if your only parameter is "as cheap as possible" then what do you expect?? If, however, you specify copper windings or a particular alloy steel etc. then you get it. You also pay the appropriate price!

Are there "Rip off merchants" in China? Yes of course there are. If you want, say for example, power drills making if you take more than a certain number then the factory will ask you what colour you want. Some factories will ask what name you want on them as well! I won't mention names but if you wanted them branded as a leading manufacturer that would be no problem. Just remember, though, that an importer then imports that fake stuff into USA and a retailer retails it. They are the real criminals!! Blaming a Chinese manufacturer is a bit like some of those absurd US law suits where a gun manufacturer is sued for producing a gun which is used in a murder.

I would like to add, just to keep the record straight, that I don't work for any Chinese manufacturing companies. I am a teacher in a school here! It is just important that you get a balanced view of life on both sides of the Pacific!

See my separate thread on Rhino anvils. I now have been able to find a bit of time to start the testing on the large one and the small one. These are excellent anvils! Let there be no doubt about that!! I think I have put a quick snapshot of the mid sized one on the site. Better photos will follow in due course.

The only source for these in US is Steve McGrew in Spokane. See the link above.

Naked anvil, it can't be 3.10.0 That can't make sense. The second number cannot exceed 3.

She really is a very beautiful anvil. I would be happy to give her a home any day. Just not at that sort of money!

I actually just looked up the price for a 500# Euro. IFI doesn't carry advertising- so do it yourself- but it makes this anvil a non starter at $2,000!!

$2,000 for a large unknown anvil? How much is a Euroanvil that size? Known quality etc. etc.

Avadon, I was trying to raise a smile. The real method is:

Get a piece of plate and hammer it round your anvil face. Takes about 2 minutes. Or
Get a piece of channel iron the same size as your anvil face- even easier. Or
Get a piece of plate, don't bend it but weld a bit of anything on the back to fit in the hardy hole. Another piece of something to fit in pritchel hole helps to keep it still.

Problem with one in the HH is that you can't use a hardy tool at same time.

Plans for a cutting plate? I have 2- 1 for each 280# anvil. One is a piece of plate with a bend at each end. The distance between the 2 bends is the width of the face of the anvil. That is the better of the two.

The other one is a piece of plate. On one side is welded a piece of box section which fits in the hardy hole. Now comes the really tricky bit. There is also a piece of rod which is welded such that it engages in the pritchel hole. To get this accurate you need a micrometer (obviously) although a set of dividers and a tape might be accurate enough. Measure from as many points as possible (e.g. 6). Call that figure n. Then multiply all of these together and calculate the nth root. This gives you an algebraeic average which is far more accurate than an arithmetical mean. Once you have worked out the appropriate centres cut the steel. You need to weld it at 90 degrees to the base of the plate. Let us assume that the base and the face run parallel (but you might like to check this) then use Pythagoras's theorem to get the angle exactly right. You need to do this in both plains for each piece (the box and the rod) to ensure they are exactly true. tack them using low hydrogen rods. At this stage check with a micrometer that they are running at the same distance apart throughout their length. If they aren't you need to scrap the piece and start over again. Once they are exactly true fully weld, checking all the time. Once you have done this I would paint them and then shot blast all of the paint off to stress relieve the parts, clean the down to bare metal and apply a Parkerised finish. Do this twice to ensure complete coverage.