newbieforge

Watch out, Wayne. I posted links to that page in the past, and the entire posts were summarily deleted without explanation. ;) They did not pay to advertising on IForgeIron.

I like the bottle opener! Copper looks great, but I don't think it's very suitable for handling. It can leave marks on your hands, and it makes your hands smell "coppery" or "metallic". Both are caused by the natural acidity of your skin. If you've ever handled pennies (the old ones, before we had copper plated zinc alloy) you'll know what I mean. Some people's body chemistry is more neutral and doesn't have such a reaction with metals.

I would love to know what causes these marks. Two of my anvils also have them. My first impression was that someone unloaded a few rounds of buckshot into the anvil sidewalls. Could it be from some big tongs used to handle the anvil during manufacture? Regards, Markus

Seriously. People post all kinds of links that get left up. Why does this get X'ed out? And without any comment from the person responsible?

Looks like it was made in Guelph, Ontario. I didn't realize anvils were made this close to home.

BobL, That was very informative. Thank you. My thinking was that it would be enough to create positive pressure inside the forging area (garage), in order for the general air flow to move toward the outside. How do you make your air flow measurements? (I would imagine it might involve lighting a match in different parts of the room, and watching where the smoke trail moves?) Would you figure that a couple of well placed ceiling fans, one blowing down, one blowing up, might help mix the air better? I realize that proper commercial solutions are one thing, but I can't justify nor afford that kind of investment. I'm looking for something that will move enough air, while controlling my costs. That said, I'm willing to drop a bit of cash (maybe up to several hundred bucks -- the cost of an anvil, say) since I both value my health and enjoy forging. Regards, Markus

oclement, I have also been thinking a lot about ventilation for my gas forge. Here is my current plan for ventilating my 2 car garage, where I use my forge: - Install an Air King 9155 or 9166 window fan in the garage window - While using the forge, set the fan to suck in outside air, and leave one of the garage doors open about 12-24" - Place the forge somewhere between the fan and gap in the garage door - I may leave an oscillating fan on in the garage, to mix the air even more This way, any CO emitted from the forge should be quickly carried away in the air draft from the fan. The rated capacity of the Air King fans is 2500 cfm for the 9155, and 3500 cfm for the 9166. My garage is 30ft by 30ft, 10ft ceiling, or 9000 cubic feet. Even the small fan (9155) should exchange all of the air in the garage every 3.6 minutes. The oscillating fan will ensure that all the air moves around, with reduced stagnation in corners of the room for example. The fans are very cheap (around $100-130) for their rated cfm capacity, and I won't even have to cut any holes in my garage roof for exhaust ducts or air intakes! More info on the fans: http://www.airkinglimited.com/pages/industrial/window1.html Regards, Markus

You need to show some pictures of your burner, and share some details of your design. Also post some links to any articles or guides you followed to build your burner. If a burner doesn't perform properly, it is usually due to simple reasons, such as not following a design exactly. A common place where people skimp is the burner flare. The rest of the burner can usually be made using a drill press and other simple shop tools, but the flare can be a bit of a catch-22: it's easy to make a flare if you have a forge with a working burner, but you need a flare to make a working burner. :-) Show us some photos of your burner showing the details of your construction, and we'll go from there.

If you're stuck between nothing and this anvil, you're better off saving your money for a couple more months and getting a brand new one. I've bought bigger anvils, in better shape, for less money, in the anvil-sparse region where I live.

I wouldn't be so quick to trash the quality of Chinese goods, i.e. the cast steel anvils you passed over. I've used a lot of hand tools and machinery from China. For good or for bad, many of them outperform American or Canadian made goods, both in terms of quality and price. Of course, some are complete junk. In general, however, the trend of quality over time is sloping upward. Chinese steel working in particular is highly developed; I'd bet money those were some decent anvils. That said, if a $45 hunk of random steel of unknown origin suits your needs better than a purpose made anvil, then great, you saved $155 which you can spend on other things. Having done business in China for about a year now, I can say from experience that the level of enthusiasm, engagement, customer focus and detail-orientedness of Chinese business and manufacturing puts the majority (not all) of American and Canadian business to shame. My company gets lukewarm reception at best in the US and Canada, and it's incredibly difficult to find anyone to commit even small amounts of resources to undertake pilot projects, or even just to trial our technology. This could be a reflection of the so-called economic conditions in the US & Canada. But contrast this with China, a developing country, where people literally throw money at us just to get a product to market faster. Everyone talks about how important "buying local" and "supporting American business" are, but when it comes down to signing the cheque, almost everybody hums and haws and backs away from the table. Like it or not, the reality is that Chinese goods will continue to increase in quality & performance. Regards, Markus

Hello Andy, I have built a couple of metal stands, and they are great. I cut some thin rubber mat, and put it between the stand and the anvil. It is thin enough that it doesn't absorb too much of the energy, but is thick enough that it absorbs acoustic frequencies well enough to null the anvil's ring. You will most likely get responses from people who say that only metal stands are good, or that only wood stands are good, and that any debate to the contrary is foolish. I would say, just use whatever material you think you will like the best. If you don't like it, it's not that hard to try another. Regards, Markus

It is definitely an attractive piece of metal. Has anybody had a chance to touch one, and get impressions what it's like in person?

Funny how the rules work around here... In the past, I have posted threads where I asked for opinions on new anvils advertised for sale from manufacturers. Each time, they've been deleted by moderators because they contained links to commercial products.

Earlier in the evening, this ended up in my web browser: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/02/diy-weapons-of-the-syrian-rebels/100461/ I thought it was worth sharing, because for me, this puts into perspective how the work that you or I would do as a fun hobby can be a means of survival for others. It is good to remember that the lathes, milling machines, welders, forges, anvils, and hammers we keep in our homes and garages, and our skills in working with them, were once cutting edge weapons technology. In some parts of the world, unfortunately, they still have to be used for weapons. I am thankful to have the opportunity to work metal as a form of recreation, and not as a line of defense of my homeland and my life and the lives of those close to me. Regards, Markus

Your 4 1/2" spike is probably from a 2' gauge industrial or mine railway. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrow_gauge_railway As to how it got to DC, it is anybody's guess. I'm sure that state has its share of heavy industry and/or mining, just like any other. Maybe it fell out of some other blacksmith's pocket! Regards, Markus

Based on the shape of the legs, and the fatter mid-section, it could also be a Wilkinsons. The shape is very similar to my Wilkinsons. If you wire brush the other side (opposite the one with the 1-1-13 weight marks) then you might find the Wilkinsons crossed ovals logo, and some other writing. Regards, Markus

Why not make a 3-legged stand? You could take off the 2 legs on the horn end, and put one of them back, centered under the horn. It would solve the stability issue, and it might make it easier to work around the anvil because there will be fewer legs getting in your way. Regards, Markus

Great video. Thanks for posting. I watched 1/2 of it at work and now I'm a 1/2 hour behind. :-) I'll watch the whole thing again later on, when I can enjoy a cold one or two with it. Markus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformer :-) Markus

Stalerock, Good to see someone else is making bottle openers from railway spikes! My bottle openers look about the same as yours, except yours have the pretty cool "cube twist". I used a simple twist, without any extra embellishments. I am not sure if you are finished working out how to make them the way you want. I am still working on getting a nicer claw on the end, and thanks to some members here on IFI, I have some good ideas to try out. I really like that railing. Can you post some more photos of the process and finished product? Regards, Markus

Hi SGreene, It would be helpful if you had some larger photos to post. There are many people here who could help you tune your burner if they could see your flame better. Also, can you show your entire burner? It would be good to see your choke and any other adjustable features. Regards, Markus

Phil, It looks to me that with a little bit of modification, the T-burner might be made more easily tunable. I am thinking that you could drill out a brass bushing and use a set screw to hold the 1/8" pipe nipple (that holds the welding tip) at the proper distance from the burner throat. It might add 30 minutes or an hour to the build, but it'll save time on the tuning. Markus

P.S. I found this link with photos of other Wilkinsons anvils. http://maritimeblacksmiths.ca/Gallery/thumbnails.php?album=19 Markus

Nice anvil. I think you also have a Wilkinsons anvil. Key clues are the unique leg shape, and the "Queens Dudley" stamp. There seem to be lots of these showing up lately! I have only seen this style of legs on Wilkinsons anvils. There may be others that have it but I have not seen them so far. It may be a diagnostic feature, similar to the "shelves" on the front and back legs of Peter Wright anvils. Here is what the side of my 217# Wilkinsons looks like: There is the "Queens Dudley" text below the crossed ovals symbol. A view of the legs: How does your anvil ring? Long/short? Bright/dull? Since the labels on our anvils have a different appearance, it could be that they were made some years apart. As for the hole in your cut off block -- it could be that it was used for a replaceable cut off plate. Possibly there was a circular cut off surface made of soft metal (wrought iron, copper or brass, etc.) about 1/4" thick, mounted on a stem that fit the hole. This may serve at least two purposes: (1) breaking through the work piece with a sharp chisel would not damage the chisel and (2) the cut off surface mounted in the anvil can be easily replaced when needed. All the best Markus

The same way I'd describe the ring on my Wilkinsons. Chances are good that's what you have, based on appearance and sound. Maybe some wire brushing on the side will reveal some more markings? Markus