Ridgewayforge

Why complicate it? If you take them, cut them at the bend, then you now have 4 anvils of good size, shape and material . Welding them up is a sure way to take an effective tool and ruin it.

Since I moved o Italy a short while ago, I have been wondering about the many terms we use for our metalworking tools. I'd love to see someone post some of the tools' names in different languages!

Could be a good user for specialty texturing- it looks like that pattern would translate pretty easily into hot steel- just a thought. Otherwise, since you're not desparate for an anvil to use, I'd just let it tell its old and rusty story!!

I thought about using the hand salve on a project when I had a deadline and was out of beeswax. I also considered using chapstick, because, again, I had some by Burts Bees and it seemed like mostly beeswax. It would work, but it wouldn't be cost effective.

Its real good for keeping the hands from cracking in the winter. Also really good for sunburn! Takes away the burn in record time.

A 10 oz (or so) ball pein, a 2lb straight pein and a 4 lb double faced.

The downside might be that it would be harder to locate a specific radius. Also, you wouldn't have the two dies on the left of that anvil.

Welcome to the forum There is a lot of great stuff here. Have you looked around? It would pay to spend a few hours looking on here, doing research, using the "search" function on the site, and then, and only after you have read a lot, then I'll bet you can give yourself some pointers! A lot of questions have already been answered, but if you have specifics, we'd be more than happy to help.

What does your sinking hammer look like? Why not make one out of a hard wood and use its curve to dish it gently

Could it even be possible to make a one piece post vice, with the bottom being the spring, as in the picture- like a spring fuller. It would act a bit differently than a normal post vise, but it could be an interesting project.

One thought is that since the air hose appears to be some sort of fabric, plastic or other collapsable material, he may have needed it to be long and straight to keep it from kinking. You can already see that where it dips down it might be prone to blocking the air... Just my 2 cents!

That's a pretty special gift- like the others say, use it! It may not be the top quality, but if it is metal it will work, and certainly will work for smaller work, like leaf pendants or other such small trinkets that girlfriends are particularly fond of!

Do you mean to say that you scored two anvils for $250 total, or that each was $250? In the first case, you stole them! The second case, you still got a heck of a deal!!

I've seen drawers put to fantastic functionality in a shop- the smith had many rolling cabinets full of drawers, each drawer held 2 or 3 tongs, and that way, they were out of the way until needed. Sometimes the unconventional solution is the one which works!

If you can, run, don't walk and pick that sweet anvil up! If its within your price range, grab it before you regret it. Blacker hammers were a power hammer set, if I recall, and these anvils were the bottom portion, thus the cut out. It looks to be in good condition, so, whatever you can get it for within your budget, do!

I'm almost more excited to see the finished hammer if *that* is your hammer blank- heck, thats a small anvil in itself!

Ok, I'll ask: Which one's your favorite?

You seem to have a vice for collecting vises!

Did a quick search- are these the vises made by the German company Kanca? So long as they're steel, they look fine.

No need for a hardy if you already have one on the Brooks Anvil!

Well, I haven't licked my anvil, but.... Yes, you can taste steel- its particularly strong when I use my angle grinder without a mask.

I would keep the steel slab- look up a Brazeal Die Anvil- you can grind different radii of fullers into the steel slab. Mount your brooks anvil to a dedicated stump, or stand- plenty of pictures here to suffice!

Welcome aboard! Good to have another succumb to the allure of the craft! If you put your location in your profile, you'd be surprised how many of the IFI gang is within driving distance. Grab a snack and a cold drink and read up on these forums- if you're sure a question has been asked before, put in a little research yourself! Look at youtube videos of reputable smiths to see how they make and maintain fires. I use a coal forge, personally, and I can get it to temp in about 10 minutes. If you really want some hands on experience, look us a blacksmithing group near you and go to a meeting or hammer in, and if you are serious, or want to know if its right for you, take a class and you will be much more able to judge whether or not you want a propane or solid fuel. But, do a little digging on here; Read the propane forge stickies as well as the solid fuel stickies, located at the top of the subforums for each, respectively. You'll begin to see, if you start putting some time into this site that there is already a wealth of information ready at your fingertips- you just need to do a little digging! Glad to have you and happy forging!

Its value is something subjective. To me, It'd be worth about 25. To a collector or an overly enthusiastic new blacksmith who just HAS to have the 'right' equiptment, then it might be worth USD$200 +.

One encouragement, though, would be to countersink your screw- holes- It looks better countersunk.