Frozenforge

It is a pristine piece of history but bottom line is it is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it! Im sure if he is patient he will find a buyer, hopefully a museum or someplace where it can be viewed and appreciated for what it represents.

On the 3rd picture there appears to be a casting line under the heel and if it came from Norway it might be a Soderfors anvil. The waist also appears to be slightly thinner than the face when viewed from the horn or heel. Either way its a nice one. How easy is it to find anvils in Iceland?

I was talking to an old friend about my interest in forging and was explaining to him what a hand crank blower looks like cause I am searching for one. He told me he had a small version of what he thought was the same thing but all rusted that I could come drag out of the bushes if I wanted it. Old and rusty, Heck yea It was all siezed up but I have it apart now and am restoring it to use. The pan is about 13"x17" and it stands about 15" tall with a roughly 6" blower. There are no markings at all on it but maybe it only having 3 legs might make it easier to I.D. Any info someone might have would be appreciated. Thanks Rob

Welcome, if you post your location Im sure someone local will offer advice as well. 1st you need to get the propane orifice drilled to the correct size and drill as clean of a hole as possible. With the hole being too large the burner will not be able to draw in enough air especially once you add the restriction of the forge. If its a 3/4 burner you need to get the oriface in the .035 approx. Keep working on it!

Welcome Rusted Your Hay Budden was made in 1895. It is wrought iron with a steel face forge welded on. The dimensions are consistant with the 60lb size. See if you can get access to Anvils in America by Richard Postman, he has alot of great information and we have all benefitted greatly from his research and passion. Dont underestimate the amount of work you can perform on that fine anvil

I found the easiest way to align my gas stream was by using water. Its easy to see when the stream shoots out of the center of the flared nozzle. I did observe a big difference in the stream of water when the oriface was just a drilled hole in the tube vs a mig welding tip. It was a much smoother, more stable stream with the mig tip. My burners run stable from 1psi (idle circuit) up to 40-50 psi or whatever i have the regulator set at, usually around 6 to10 psi. Is this all alot if tinkering for nothing, who knows but it sure is fun playing with it especially in the cold winter.

You can put wheels on the 2 legs under the heel. Position them like a hand cart then use some square stock that will fit into the hardie hole from the bottom them bend it and attach a wheel so all you have to do is slide the wheel hardie tool in from the bottom then tip it til its on all 3 wheels and roll along. If your worried about it tipping you can make the bar a T shape and put 2 wheels on it

I think the secret is to take a picture when it looks the best! Pictures of me 20 years ago, great. Now..............?????

My 150 fisher has the same little nubs on the bottom, they do keep it from moving on a stump. I assumed since there was no mention of them anywhere that they were normal.

You did well is an understatement. Nice very early Hay Budden, looks like it cleaned up nicely. Does it have a good ring? No kidding about prices up here, just search CL alaska for anvil or blacksmith :0 Make an item for the person you got it from just for good karma!

Lakeside was a montgomery wards brand name that was made by The Columbus Forge and Iron Co. Same company that made Trenton Anvils made in 1916. 80 Lbs. Value, depends what part of the country your in.

If you were trying to tune the burner while running at 40psi it would be difficult to see small adjustments. Try tuning it at lower gas pressure 6 to 10 psi maybe. With a venturi burner the size of the exhaust ports on the forge can mess with the tuning on the burner, as Wayne said you dont want back pressure with a venturi burner. You will probably be surprised at how closed the choke will be when tuning he burner at 6psi! On my burner i would roughly estimate that I have 80% of the air blocked off to get a neutral flame.

Those edges are not that bad and if the repair is not done properly the anvil can be in worse shape, I would suggest the hardie tool method to get a better edge or you could trade/sell it towards an anvil with perfect edges or a new one. Depending on your location you could easily get what you paid or more for that anvil in its current condition! There are plenty of smiths that are working with anvils with edges chipped way worse.

Around mid 20s Columbian imported from Sweden. Either way looks like a great anvil to work on

OOPS. :0

The seam under the horn and heel and flashing on the bottom would indicate it is cast. Does it ring or go thud when struck? The waist looks to be skinnier than the face which if memory serves me correct indicates it is from Sweden and if it rings would be cast steel. If it thuds that would be cast iron. Its appears to have too nice of a shape and finish to be a cast iron ASO. Hope this helps

The seam under the horn and heel and flashing on the bottom would indicate it is cast. Does it ring or go thud when struck? The waist looks to be skinnier than the face which if memory serves me correct indicates it is from Sweden and if it rings would be cast steel. If it thuds that would be cast iron. Its appears to have too nice of a shape and finish to be a cast iron ASO. Hope this helps

Usually the valves by the burners are usually on or off so you can isolate them. What pressure have you been running it at? My forge is also running 2 burners at 3 to 6 psi on the main circuit and around 1/2 psi on the idle circuit to save fuel. Check out Ron Reils website lots of good info,pictures and links.

It appears by the photo that you have 3/4 inch naturally aspirated burners without any chokes so by changing pressure is your means of flame adjusment. A yellow flame will indicate a fuel rich environment, lack of oxygen which with your setup will be low pressure as the venturi effect isnt strong enough to draw in air for the combustion. As your fuel pressure rises you should see the jet cone start to appear with a greenish color, (still slightly rich), then it will become more blue indicating a neutral flame, (correct ratio of fuel to air). As the pressure rises more it become a purplish blue (lean condition) an excess of oxygen. Sound can be a good indicator as well, a rich condition is much quieter and it will roar more as it leans out. The neutral flame is the hottest And the temperature drops off when going either too lean or rich. The lean or oxidizing flame will cause more scale buildup and even burn the steel due to the excess oxygen reacting with the hot metal. A choke is a means to limit air supply to the burner thus helping to "tune" the combustion I dont have the means to post a video right now but a search on you tube will find something Im sure. If i have made any mistakes please post to help both of us! Im a beginner as well and am sharing what I know which might be relatively little. :o

According to AIA this Trenton would have been made sometime between 1943 and April of 1945.

You should be able to use a round file and try and get to the bottom of the crack then weld in the groove. The horn is not hardened steel and as long as you keep the face from getting hot there should be no adverse affects. I wouldnt worry about the weld at the waist, it appears to be sound and since you get a good ring other than the slight buzz in the horn thats a good indicator. We all go thru life bearing some scars just like your anvil, dont abandon it! :)

Its at 160.00 per lb right now. Makes a new one look inexpensive! At least you can send thru the post office in a flat rate box:)

You can kinda make out where it says PATENT then below that ENGLAND and the SOLID WROUGHT in a circle around the center number. That would, according to AIA, place it being made after 1910. 341lb for $250 bucks! Nice.

Alloy and heat treatment determine hardness and strength. Here are some samples 1100-0 13000 psi. Brinell 23 1100-H13. 24000. 44 2024-0. 26000. 42 2024-T4. 68000. 105 6061-0. 18000. 30 6061-T6. 45000. 95 7075-0. 32000. 60 7075-T6. 82000. 150 If it alclad that lowers the numbers slightly. It also is sensitive to the grain direction if you are bending it and requires a bend radius to avoid cracking. Aircraft undergo extensive inspections at specific intervals to avoid metal fatigue failures.

Refering to AIA and Mr Postmans book on Mousehole Forge this anvil should date between 1820 and 1830 with the markings that can be seen and the lack of a pritchel hole. Should be about 196 lbs and looks like all it needs is a good stand and some hot metal worked on it! A powered wire wheel and some linseed oil/beeswax mix will give it a nice dark color!