Hyper Iron

Research ductile iron and it's properties a bit more. It's a very good read and will answer all your questions. Look at my review on the TFS smithy special!

Here's one project I made. Tripod campfire kettle holder, and of course that beastly beauty sitting atop her throne. The Trenton beside her is about 145lb without the horn.

Ok finally I have arrived with a full review of the TFS smithy special 300lber!! Better late than never, after a nasty surgery and a divorce later I finally am back on the anvil!! Lol! I'll break it up into several sections, and if you have any questions gentlemen please feel free to just ask!

1. Shipping was absolutely free! If you have a farrier supply place any where near you, have them order it for you on there next big shipment! It was delivered way faster than I anticipated. TFS was more than helpful and so was Natures Farm farrier supply here in Norman Oklahoma, helpful and knowledgable people!

2. The price was just so tempting, it seemed to good to be true. I paid 1400$ flat for my 300lb. They didn't have a 400lb double horn available when I ordered mine, and they would have to make you special order which greatly increased its price. Even with that being said the 400lber was just 2100$ to 2300$ If memory serves.

3. The finish and paint are absolutely beautiful! There are a few things that bugged me about the paint, as well as it's final finish though. Mind you it still did not affect the performance of the anvil in anyway! The round horn was painted on the bottom, which is quite annoying and so was the upsetting block. Nothing a elbow grease won't take off, but still an annoyance none the less. The angled horn was not squared as nicely as I could have been at the very end. Instead of it coming to a nice square point it was a sloppy angle, which again is easily taken care of. The hardy hole needs some slight dressing as well, but again assuming you're a fully capable smith none of these should hinder you in the slightest!

4. The rebound, ring, and all around performance of this anvil is a dream. With a proper stand. She will move the metal beautifully! I even had to strike the top of her with a 6lb well dressed sledge to seat her in my stand! Not so much as scratch on the top! It seemed to just polish the top on the spots I hit, not dent it. The rebound is easily 90%, when I placed her on her final home it increased even further! Striking anywhere in the anvil you get the same rebound, which I was worried about when I first purchased the anvil. I wasn't sure how ductile iron would do with uniformity on rebound. She rings like a bell, much more so than my old Trenton, and the TFS has a huge waist and working surface. Now with that wide working surface I did notice it's very difficult to get the anvil warm so that it doesn't suck the heat out of your work.

5. The design is a perfect double horn smithing anvil. Complete with large pritchel hole, a side table, a 1inch hardy hole, an upsetting block, nice wide base, beautifully finished round horn, and a huge work surface!

6. My final thoughts on this anvil. I'm more than pleased with my purchase. It was everything I needed. Everything I wanted, and all at a very reasonable price. I've made several projects on her so far, and it surprises me every time in use it. Would I recommend anyone purchasing them. Yes I would. Do I know how she will hold up after years of everyday use by a professional smith? No, but she fits my needs, and she gets the job done.

Pictures!

I always love when an axe head that pretty is complemented by a handle of equal beauty. Nice job sir.

Wow two amazing videos. Awesome to see.

I really like the way you did the petals. Very impressive.

Wow that sounds cool! I will definitely have to go to one soon.

Stunning.

Man those are sharp. Pun intended.

Beautiful is an understatement.

Those all look pretty awesome. They look kinda wizardly,zombie apocalyptic,mean, and artful at the same time lol. I really liked the one with the super shinny ball at the end. That second machete is huge! More like a giant meat cleaver/ machete. I really like the wavy twists you've put in those handles. All around cool stuff.

Hahaha. I really like that article. I always hated the myth about katanas being the best sword period. Best sword for what? Each sword has a perpose.

Hey it definitely looks the part. Now all you need is some clean up and a handle piece. What did you have in mind for sheath/handle? Are you going to try a hammon on this? Is this after quenching? Or did you just forge the bend(sori) into it?

That's really cool. I like how you used a piece of antler for the hand guard.

You take such awesome photos. They look so professional! That anvil looks monstrous. Congratulations!!

Amazing! How did you get the finish so vibrant?

I finally got ahold of some good quality and properly sized copper. I have been working mostly with mild steels, and a few mid to high carbons 4140,5160,1090,etc and decided I wanted to step into the bronze, brass, copper world. I must say copper is a joy to work with, and it keeps its heat very well. I forged 2 copper rings. The first is a leaf, and the second is a failed penny scroll. I need to work on making the fail point a bit smaller and make sure it's plenty hot at that junction as well. I didn't do any polishing I just soaked in red wine vinegar, scrubbed with a cloth and brush then repeated. It started as 1/4inch round and worked it down to an 1/8.

I don't really believe they would purposely put a small tang on a blade so it would brake when thrown for the only purpose of not being able to throw it back. If they were as primitive as you say I doubt they would waste all the months and months it took to gather the raw metal to actually get some type of billet made, then spend countless hours forging it. To only have a 1 shot weapon. But I think you did pretty well getting its basic shape down. Hammer control is a hard beast to tame. I'll forever be working on mine lol. What type of wood did you use for this time period accurate piece? Is it something native to Africa?

Glad the thread came back! Beautiful stuff. Add to the to do list. That owl is insane!

I did some editing on it.

Sam

That's a good idea Thomas. A good piece of sucker rod would be pretty good.

Have fun heat treating that long of a piece too. You might find a local business that does heat treating. Sounds like fun though. I really like the idea. I'd also try to make it as smooth as possible. That metal will give him some serious blisters just from a little use. Even perfectly ground down it will. What about some nice leather wraps at different intervals along the piece? That might help his hands.

Hahahaha very true. I just set it there for size comparison. I wish I could just leave work now to to start cutting and welding the stand ahhhhh it's driving me crazy lol.

I just can't wait till the stands fabricated to post it. I just got my 300 pound smithy special in yesterday. Boy is she beautiful. The rebound is way better than I thought it was going to be. Shot the hammer right back at me and that's it not even put on a proper stand. I can't wait to make beautiful things on this baby. I will give a full review on how she performs for people looking at buying a TFS smithy special.

This actually had my attention for a very long time. I'd suggest trying it out if money is the primary issue. http://zoellerforge.com/firebrickforge.html