Stephen Olivo

The first two pictures are of my anvil and the really simple overly heavy hinges I made early in my blacksmithing career and which are still serving me well just as of yesterday and hopefully long into the future. The rest are of others anvils that I have run across in my time visiting people. In the background you can see a 400 lb anvil at one of my fellow smiths shops that inspired my anvil. It moves around like a dream when the wheels are down and sits securely when the wheels are up. http://s48.photobucket.com/user/nicrom/library/Ideas%20on%20Mobile%20equipment?sort=6&page=1

Welcome :D

And after re reading the original post for like the 5th time you just gave me an idea for how to better make two of my projects. :D I love ureaka moments :D

Thank you. It will soon, with a lot of work, be done and on its way to the metal museum. We started welding it at the center upside down striking on the bottom of the what would become the spike. Then worked our way out each horn welding as we go most of the time upside down with fullers, set hammer, and a flatter. Sometimes with the horn on the anvil, plate up and flatter on top. Finishing welding the first of the two horns at another smiths shop. http://s48.photobucket.com/user/nicrom/library/second%20time%20at%20Robert%20Burns%20shop?sort=3&page=1

Looks like a nice place. Far better than what I have(driveway). You even have a nice place for a cold working table right under the window on the right side. Natural light is great for cold and detail work.

When I have jump welded peices together including the spring steel plate welded to the top of my steak anvil I have often used tabs to hold the peice on and worked it continually at a welding/near welding heat. I only moved to the lower heats after all the forming had been done. The more forming at welding the better the weld will hold up. The steels will move at different rates when hit so the lower the temp the more likely they will sheer just from one hit even when the weld is perfect. You will see this on the end of horns or when drawn down to small cross sections as it will be easy to work at two low of a heat and there for start the sheering process. The best advice I was ever given was to work welded peices always at a welding heat so that the sheering doesn't happen or if the weld isn't complete you are always making it a better weld as you work it into shape. The pictures are from a steak anvil class Thomas Latane taught down at tunnell mill that I took a while back and of my steak anvil after all the forming was done. Still working on it but you can see where the leafe spring plate is. http://s48.photobucket.com/user/nicrom/library/Tom%20Latane%20making%20a%20coller/Steak%20anvil?sort=3&page=1 Hoping this helps.

http://www.spaco.org/chest.htm Ok lets try this link to a different picture of the same items Ianinsa: Hmm I may have to try some of that acid etching way. Sounds like a fun project to try.

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side draft out of clay is really inexpensive especially if you dig the clay yourself :D

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There are two ways I have seen a coller added to a bar. One is as two bars. A pin is captured in the parent bar and the additional bar is placed over it keeping the two together. You then heat and weld that joint and as the weld takes you bend the bar farther around the parent bar. Once you have it almost closed you cut the bar to length and finish the weld. Clean up and forge to a ball. The other way is similar to the way you tried it, but the key is the gap. It can't be closed to early on in the operation or it will push itself away from the parent bar sheering whatever weld you have made thus far. I know Mark Aspery covers it pretty well in one of his two books. Ok just pulled mine off the shelf and looked it would be book 2 chapter 8 and 9.

The older ones only had brick for depth and you could rebuild it as necessary for larger items a deeper fire etc. a flat plate with slots cut in it would serve well enough. Clay pipe is another way to go. As far as bellows go A good one that I use right now is a blower from an oil furnace. You could make a box bellows I enjoy mine. Or a great bellows. I have heard a hair dryer works well to.

I would recommend a pair of poz tongs and one ferriers round flat jaw tongs. If I was to go back to just two pairs of tongs that would be them.

awesome. I am glad to see that others are thinking this way.

look for a ferriers rounding hammer. It and the horn will help you move metal effectivly. 1.5 lbs is what you will want to start out with and be ware of the death grip on the hammer. The hammer does the work you just direct it.

A swedge block and steaks can be used instead of an anvil and allow for more versatility thanks to its design. I have 2 anvils and a swedge block myself and find them all very usefull. If I had to back down to just one of them it would be the swedge block because I can do all the same work with it that I would do on the anvil plus many things you would have to make seperate tooling for. So really Its like asking which type of anvil is better. It depends on what range of things you want to do. That would be the specialized anvil you get. Think of the swedge block like another anvil but with more options and more tool holding capacity. Really good if you work with someone who can swing a sledge hammer for you.

lol brass would be my choice or copper depending on what its going to be used on. Make several interchangeable ones for different uses. You don't want to mar a nice piece just to hold it. Many of the ones I have seen have brass pieces instead of the steel ones. Those hash marks have a tendency to mar stuff if your not careful.

On a taper you could chase the threads using a lathe. there are machines used to thread pipe (taper threads). I have been dealing with this at work lately. http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=tapered+hole+pipe+threads&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8#hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=die+for+npt&oq=die+for+npt&gs_l=serp.3..0i30j0i8i30.61961.62278.3.62663.3.3.0.0.0.1.164.391.1j2.3.0.eappsweb..0.0...1.1.8.psy-ab.hTU3ASlAxEc&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.44770516,d.aWM&fp=db38b4633ebdd821&biw=1672&bih=956

The same way peter ross did those are how I have made pintles before. Thanks for posting that video so I didn't have to go find it and post it :D

Might be draw-filing with a fine file. I have done some white work that way and the finish is pretty similar. Scraping is a possibility though it is much like draw filing only with one blade instead of many.

propane forge was my first. easy one is a hole in the ground and a box or bag bellows. look up some of the blacksmith videos from other countrys and you will see lots of forges made from dirt. Powered by simple bellows.

Well said by everyone above. I agree whole hartedly. (thank goodness you all said it now I don't have to type all that :D) I only have to add one thing and that is play with clay. Faster way to learn without waiting for the stock to get warm or burning fuel. Plus you can do it inside infront of the tv on a little aso with your hammer and its not loud. I still play with clay a bunch when starting a new peice. Then there are less practice peices of steel after trying to figure it out.

its a link to a tennoned legg vice that Tom Latane remade. You can see it on his facebook page. You might look at making a new attachment. A tusk tennon works pretty well for holding on both.

How does the tenon mount work on yours? just for an idea https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=265155900232702&set=a.265155796899379.63086.100002148835846&type=1&theater

I would say the heaviest anvil you can afford. I would agree that you should just use the rail road track on end if at all. Link removed at the request of Anvilfire.