Bigred1o1

disclaimer not a pretty stand but it gets the job done and think of it more as a wheel chair for a anvil with bad feet as this anvil sure dose have bad feet as i dug it up out of the dirt out in a woodshed so the stand came about from needing to attempt to get this anvil to stay upright lol it has 2 wheels off the front and all 4 legs have one inch threaded rod in them that i can use to level the anvil as well as rugged rubber pats made out of stall mats now if and when i get to make another stand for a new anvil it will most definitely be a tripod

i have a few vises some in good shape and one 6inch post vice that was used hard and left out side until i came across it and a 5 3/4 incher my 6incher mounted on 3 rims from a schoolbus and 4 blocks of 4x4 movable but relatively stable just a nice little 4incher that i picked up its mounted on a piece of angle iron and some plate steel with one large bolt that ankers that back of the plate to the workbench and the front is held in the wood clamp so i can take it on and off if i need a flat space to work same with the small wire brush

very true Thomas but over all i have to say it has been a treat to pause now and then with my hand on it out in the shop and think about how long its been around over all i am with you i wish i could afford to keep things around just bc they are what they are but space and budget wise i think this is calling out for a new home

Frosty i surly do have forge envy its odd but while i do many hair brained things in my life for some odd reason building burners just has me a bit unsure i am currently using a very old propane burner for melting tar roofing and its just not really the best of solutions i think part of my reluctance comes from being a very visual learner and the fact i have not been able to find a legitimate gas forge to look at and ask questions about physically has been my stumbling block

thanks its mounted on a stack of three old school bus tire rims that i bolted together so its movable but sturdy and has another 50lb or so of steel hung off it

my shop has 15ft high walls and the peak is around 20 there are 2 windows at the peak that located in such a way that i can open them and use them as a air scoop to pull in fresh air and vent fumes up high as well i am set up with a forced fresh air blower downstairs as well as windows set up for cross ventilation i use a respirator when grinding and wielding and the air cleaner is set up with a 3ft x 3ft hepa grade filter to with a cores and fine filter so i can remove particulates from paint and to sawdust from the air my rule of thumb is the air quality can only be counted on with fresh air coming in so if its cold i put on more layers and for the most part i want the shop between 45 and 50*f in the winter anyways and thats not hard to keep i have asthma so i tend to be consensus of the air quality as i enjoy breathing and hate using medication so i am well motivated lol i will admit that my tanks are inside convenience of being able to to move the forge around but they are on a cart that is well well away from the forge its self and once i can afford to plum and run lines for the tanks into the shop i will put them outback but currently its a risk i am ok with similarly to having my acetylene / oxygen tanks inside and i am well aware of situational safety working and welding around farm equipment and in the the barn its self with 2 inquisitive small girls next door that loved the cows/pigs and pooped over all the time all in all its always good to have people watching out for one another its one of the best ways to know the health and quality of a site

very true Rich i have a well ventilated shop and i have a home made air filter in place to catch the bigger particulates and the like so even when buttoned up for the winter it has pretty good air quality for when i am grinding or stick wielding i have a respirator on even thought i don't like it i like it more than being sick so i deal with it still thanks for you consern as these things are so easy to just shrug off until they catch up with you

sounds good phil and that is sort of the direction i am going get something smaller but solid and then when the big investment comes i will really have the tuning down the first propane forge i made was a miny tunnel that could get a nice even heat to about 5inches but was so darn small as far as working space goes it was much more of a place to fiddle than useful in the shop the second one has worked well but will not hit that nice yellow heat so its time for me to look into building some real burners

i started out with a charcoal fired forge that was quite happy to burn my steel when i got a bit enthusiastic with the blower(way to big but free) my main reason for staying away from charcoal is the lack of proper ventilation in the shop shop i have to work in it has 16ft high ceilings and sins i tend to have to move my forge around in side depending on what i am working on the propane seems the cleaner option

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Antique-Blacksmith-Bench-Vise-Clamp-Tool-FreeS-H-/160631414473?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item256660dec9 i thought reading this one goes right along with the salt water episode i really wish there was a way to point out to him he is missing most of his "rare antique blacksmith bench vise clamp tool" but i love what he thinks it should be used for

i have to admit i like the thump when the forge lights i just use a long bbq lighter in my book knuckle hair is over rated

i look forward to seeing how this works out as i am hoping to make a long forge with several small burners and this looks like a nice burner plan

Ted your post has been the high point of my day just a good read and absolutely covers all my my thoughts and concerns i have made for myself 2 small gas forges so far and i am not really happy with them so it is now time for me to start spending some money to make a good one instead of taking my normal approach around the farm that of diving into the scrap piles and coming out with a Clug and my bet is nothing is going to be a nice as working with a good coal or coke fire that has some real personality to it i loved being able to get support from the coal to keep a peace right where i wanted it and other items around the edge preheating and thanks david for the links i guess the big question is it worth while to just keep limping along and save to buy some z-burners or a t-Rex or can i make my own that will give real performance

that is one nice set up Dodge i had more thought i would ask as in doing alot of reading on line its hard to tell when something just seemed like a good idea vs when it has been proven to be a good idea alot of the forge builds i had found have no follow up as to what would have worked better or did not really work at all and you are right about the pass through i have a 1 1/2 inch hole out the back of the forge it works for a pass through as to wanting a bigger workspace inside i had been sort of frustrated with not being able to have multiple things heating at the same time but i think that is more a leftover habit from using a coal forge as to wanting a larger heat aria its was more to allow me to some longer bends in one heat or to do a some longer twits where i have not had much luck getting it to look quite right doing part of a twist then reheating and doing the second section with the same lines as to the broken kiln shelfing David i have been lerking at the two potters i know in the around here but there there is no local supply i have found within 75miles so they then to hold on to anything that is a usefull size still a very good idea i am going to have to put it on my list of things to do when in some of the larger towns down in the southern part of the state

due to some issues with air quality and my lungs it has been recommended to me that i stay away from working with coal as much as possible to this end i am looking for advice as to what sized propane fired forge i would need to be able to reliably heat 8 or so inches of inch thick bar stock and what is the smallest practical gas forge for teaching ones self how to make Damascus billets for fun if this can be the same forges great if i can do a paint can sized forge for one and a bigger one with a pass through for the larger work thats fine the biggest problem up here is i have not been able to find any light weight fire bricks but i do have kaowool i made a smallish one to just get up and forging but it is by no means what i am looking for long term as it am finding it very cramped for working bigger items i recently had to work with 2 1x1inch by 8ft long and forge them in to octagons this was painful to do in a the little beast as i could only really heat about 5inches at a time and i know my set up was on the inefficient side if i had the cash i would get a Blackdiamond 2 burner economy forge http://www.diamondba...nomy_forge.html ok so long story short is this a good forge to try to emulate for my needs or am not quite on task all in all i miss the easy yellow heated steel i could pull out of my coal forges and i am back to chase that dream thanks for taking the time to read this ramble and sorry for any horrible miss spellings sins spelling is like thumbwrestling a ninja made out of aggravation (also known as dyslexia)

lol man i am going to love this place my father and i used to go to the dump with half a truckload of junk and come back with a truckload of treasure

notes that is

you do realize i am taking note and you never know what i might get up to in the middle of the winter

this is a huge help any advice as to pricing for it or just stick to the 1buck a lb line i have on my wish list a copy of Anvils in America so one of these days i will be a bit better informed anyway thankyou for taking the time to give me a hand/information it was well worth the effort of going from lurker to getting a account set up i have loved this sight since i found it a few months back

yeah that was my pie in the sky idea but i was unsure if it had any value in the shape it is currently in if it has enough for me to be able to afford a large upgrade then i can pass on the fisher

Thomas that was my thought as to the hole as well the crack passes from one side to the other through the hole in the middle and makes me wonder if there was a flaw in the forging of the anvil i am inclined to retire it and if i am lucky sell it i hate to use something till it breaks unless its a new tool the older the tool the more respect i think it should be shown

this is a anvil i have had for 15years and i had started to notice that it no longer had much of a ring to it so i removed it from its stump and gave it a good wire brushing and i realized that it in fact has a crack running 2/3s of the way up from the base towards the face i have not used it a huge amount as it was more of my anvil for when a friend or family member wanted to come and have some fun at the forge its weight is something over 100lb but not by much i am thinking this is unfixable but my main concern is do i have to worry about this crack ending up spitting the anvil over time as well i have never before seen a anvil with a hole in the bottom like this one but then you cant always go over and flip them over to take a peak under neath thanks for taking a look

i do most my my work out in our barn or in the attached shop and its quite humid in there i have had very good luck with butchers wax it looks good and seems to keep the rust off if i know i am not going to be doing much smithing work i pop open the tin and put a thin coat on the face and horn and i have had no problems with rust

good point i got distracted fining the photos to attach i live in norther Vermont on the Canadian border over all i am not looking to get rich off of this anvil and a little bit of karma towards getting a upgrade would be nice