Black Frog

Here's the table I bought for this. 1" thick plate welded to the top, the top plate does not quite cover the entire table. The full table dimensions are 24"x24" Quite substantial for its size.... Thought I'd mount the forge off the side where the pipe vise is now. The cast iron casters roll nicely in spite of the weight on them. I thought by mounting my gas forge to the side of this table, it would allow me to roll it out of the way when not in use. It would also give me a 'table' next to the forge at all times that can handle red-hot pieces. This seem like a good idea?

Thanks guys, I was thinking about something like Dave's sketch. I'll have to post some pics of the little rolling table I got for the purpose of mounting a forge to it....

I don't have a LG, just toying with the idea of someday finding one. And if I did, how would I mount it. I have about 1 stall worth of my garage to use as a shop. The concrete in there isn't the best, several cracks through the main floor. Fine for parking a car, but not so sure about mounting a LG. If I could find a big slab of plate steel, that might be a nice option. But those seem hard to find so far.....

Wondering about a 25lb Little Giant, and mounting or securing it. I see on the LG website an old sheet about having mounting bolts 16" down in reinforced concrete.... That ain't happening where I am. Wondering what those with the smaller 25lb LG's have them mounted or secured, and the results you've experienced?

Interesting- I hadn't thought of placement in relation to the anvil for a gas forge. On my little rivet forge I had it setup like I've seen in the books, forge on the left and anvil around 90 degrees to it. I dunno what kind of work I'll be doing as of yet. Being a newb I'm just getting started so I'm not sure where this winding road will take me. Right now I see myself doing trellis work, maybe attempting a chandelier for Christmas.

I picked up a nice 1" thick top 24x24 welding table on heavy metal casters for a deal on CL. Very heavy, with 1/4" thick 4" angle iron legs, two guys had a hard time loading it my truck. I thought I could mount a platform off the side of this table for a forge to mount/bolt to. Then I could move it fairly easily when needed, and also have a nice 1" thick steel 'workbench' next to the forge at all times. I'm quite new to this- first gas forge, and wondering how high most people seem to like their gas forges. With the smaller port openings of the forge I'm guessing around the 48"-54" off the floor. I suppose I could make the mount adjustable to find the sweet spot I like...

...Deep Lake. best of luck. ;)

Cute little portable setup- and not a whole lot of cash involved. The vice on the stand was $15, the forge with the Buff-Co blower was $100, and the avil was $250. ....stump was free, I just had to cut it. ;) All fits in the back of my Ranger truck, and I can do this anywhere with no electricity needed. Until I get my gas forge going for my garage, I'm limited to using the portable setup where I won't bother any neighbors with smoke. Dad loves his new fire poker, almost too nice to use it he says. Now that my mom sees some potential, she says I can put together a chandalier for her. I agreed and I'm starting to collect ideas for that. Maybe that would make a nice Christmas present.

I'm shocked and horrored! I just went and dumped it in the lake so we never have to think of that anvil again..... ;)

Whoops! Forgot the pic of my setup for the weekend!

Finally, I got to play. I've been collecting pieces here and there over the last few months before recenlty falling off the anvil-addiction cliff, but due to my living in town with neighbors close, I haven't been able to tinker much yet. I'm in process of building a gas forge, but not completed. I've been scouring the archives here and reading tons. I had bought a little rivet-type of forge with a Buff-Co blower on it a while ago but didn't have a place to play with it. I found a heavy vise on welded tripod stand for $15 at an estate sale. I found a nice Budden anvil for a nice price. I bought a 25# bag of coal and packed in some hammers/tongs/tools I had collected, and visited my parents in northern Wisconsin this past extended weekend. Had nice warm weather, and some cold beer, and a ton of fun. My dad needed a new fire poker for his wood stove in the shop. That was my first attempt at playing as a blacksmith. Couldn't wipe the smile off my face. Then I attempted something a little more difficult for me. A new candle holder with cube twists. I'm happy with how it turned out for a total newb. I saw this idea in a thread here, and I loved the look. I blantantly stole the idea for the candle holder from member Dave Hammer in post #6 of this thread: http://www.iforgeiro...wist#entry75944 I was going from memory, and now looking at mine compared to his I notice how much more 'finished' his looks. Mine seems more like a 4yr old having a blast with some Play-Do. ;) But I had a great time. Not enough hours in the day- I had to quit at dark when I couldn't stand the mosquitos anymore. This motivates me to get my gas forge done even faster....

Found this Covel saw anvil, made in Benton Harbor, MI. Weight around 85# or so. Anyone ever see one of these? ...haven't heard mention of this make before.

I do a lot reading and watching as I'm trying to soak up as much info as possible with me being so new to this. When I'm reading up on preparing to weld, I see Mark's nice video on the subject: [media=] And his scarf and weld positions are like shown in the picture below. On the other hand in Randy McDaniel's book, "A Blacksmithing Primer" on page 117 talking about forge welding he shows the scarfs almost the opposite way. So that the two angled scarf faces are lapping each other. Is one way considered more 'right' than the other?

Anyone ever see an A&H this size or larger? I'm still sort of surprised that Postman mentions in his AIA book that he didn't think any A&H's over 500# were made....

Getting the anvil, or not being married? ;)

Now that I think about it, I suppose it is a rather unique combination to own both, since both are rather limited in number. Helps a lot not being married and no kids.... I use my side job as my Fun Money Fund to buy the fun things. Not being married, there isn't someone holding the "veto power" on my purchasing decisions!

Rune, with some mods, and lot of chroming done to it:

I just got my copy of 'Anvils In America' the other day, and reading into the section on A&H anvils, page 264: Seems to me I would qualify for that statement.....

I can think of a home none better for this old girl.... :) I was home by 10pm having a celebratory beer.

The 'girl that got away' is probably the best thing that ever happened to me. The distance of time and experience can give great clarity to the situation looking back. Lessons learned in the past, both good and bad, help shape your future outlook and actions. I've missed or passed on enough things I've kicked myself later on about it. Now I try not to do that, even if the acquisition at the time is difficult. Sometimes I might have bought something that later on I'm wondering why I did that. That doesn't bother me too much as I can usually get most, if not all my money out of it. What really bugs me is the deal I passed on, or waited too long on, and then it was gone..... Now, when I see something I'm very interested in acquiring I have a simple question I ask myself that encompasses the cost, time, travel, and effort. "Will I be mad at myself later if this item is gone and I missed it?" Amazing how asking myself such a simple question has helped my decision (both directions) when considering purchases.

Yeah, you're probably right.... How about this- I can guarantee that leveling bolt was put in that corner of the stand sometime between 1920 and yesterday. ;)

Don't know if there would be a way to tell if that bolt was a factory thing or not. From the rust on there and the surrounding base metal, it looks to be about the same age as the stand. So if it wasn't a factory feature, I think it was probably added soon after.

Cheap and easy to get, Harbor Freight 1 tonners, $8 each: http://www.harborfre...ling-44847.html Seem decently made to me. I'm lifting that anvil on the HF Gantry Crane, and HF hoist. Works fine for my uses. I don't think I'd be trusting all that will a full 1 ton unless I had to, but for anything 1200-1300lbs and under I have no worries. All bought during a big sale, and then I had another 20% coupon to use on top of that. :)

There were at least three coats of paint on the anvil at some time, most of all three coats were still on the underside of the heel. Tough stuff to get off... Would this anvil have come painted from the factory? Or did they sell them bare?

I know the stand is about 13.5" to the top of the mount plate. I'm pretty sure the anvil is at least 16" tall, probably more, so I'm thinking that is the minium height of the combo. And of course I haven't used this anvil yet, so my qualifications of height may be a bit influenced by my giddiness of having the big girl home in my possession! I'm not dead set on leaving this anvil on this Fisher stand, I can always un-marry them.