metalmangeler

Sometimes I have had to forgeweld barshoes in the rain to preheat the anvil I would put a 1/4 X2 flat bar in the forge (gas) then my shoe when my shoe is ready to weld put the flat stock on the anvil and weld on the flat stock which will be orange. My anvil never really did get heated up but the weld was made.

Most moden farriers anvils feature a horn that is more or less flat on the top rather than a cone or circular cross section, also they will have longer heels and horns so that you move the anvil around more when you hit it as you are working on that lever. That said I would expect that this anvil would last far longer than you do it would work but not as well as one made for what you want to do. It is cheaper to buy what you need (want) rather than buy something else first and then buy what you really want. The reason that some farriers anvils are such a good buy is that that is what is in demand by those willing to pay new prices, there is not much demand here for light blacksmith anvils by those who will pay new prices therefore not much market competion. If there is not much demand maybe it is something you do not need.

I Engaged my memory and realize that my earlier post was totally inacurate I had an Enders anvil sorry. Someday maybe I'll invest in a brain.

I had one that I bought new in '82 it was an 80lb. farrier anvil it was pretty soft and at that time I missed my work often enough to mark it up a lot. I knew another guy who had one which was much better (harder). His was also larger. Rebound and hardness are pretty related.

It seems like you have plenty of heat treating suggestions, unfortunatly some are better than others. Another possible cause of your tools breaking near the end could be that you are letting them get to hot as you use them and then they may be getting britel as you cool them with your lube or just cooling them in water. This could also explain why they are all breaking near the end. To avoid this cool the tool before it gets to the top of your tempering temp. for a carbon steel this means that the tip on a chisel or punch should never get blue when you are useing it. If you get a chance get someone who has been making some tools for several years to help you make one pay attention to how he heat treats the tool that is the really critical issue unfortunately most beginners are more interested in how he does the forgeing. Then after you memorize the steps get some of the same tool steel to use for yourself.

I never tried anything like that before, but if the problem is lack of intgrity of the bloom perhaps forgeing it in a swedge or V block would speed up the job.

It looks good Doc however if you join Apreniticeman's group you may need to blunt it as in a zero gravity situation it could cause a problem. Some Kolswa patterns are made with a horn that looks like it has been cut off .5 inch round on the end. I have one, I have never missed this, I supose it depends on what you are doing. Mark

I do a quite a bit of prodution forgeing of small items like a run of 150 hooks at a time. I think that it is more efficeint to do all the cutting first so tongs are the only way to go, I don't like rings most of the time as they stop me from repositionnig my tongs as quickly. I like V bolt tongs regular bolt tongs round nose tongs and some special pick up tongs that I have made. I also have some universal V bit tongs that work well on tapers and a varity of sizes

Hello Doc I like your new forge, looks like it is doing what you want. I think I met you at the fair a little over a year ago. It is good to see that you are still interested and becoming an addict. Mark

I heat my shop with my propane forge. It is 24X30, 12 foot walls insulated with a vent near the top always open, a window normally open. You need the CO detecter. I also have a hood over the forge and a fan to move the warm air down from the top. The hood is to help keep the moisture levels down in the shop as propane makes lots of water. Remember that the fire is also burning up the oxegen. One of the other things to think about in the cold is that your propane wants to liquid up on you. I use a large tank outside that I heat when it is -20 or less with a manetic engine heater sold at the local auto parts store. If you are useing 5 gal. tanks you can set it in a tub of water to keep it warm, put a can of water where your forge will heat it so you can add heat as you need to.