Xaraph

Hah. I think it's great.

That's awesome! I'm glad it went to someone who will use it and not an antiquer. And thanks for the tip on Valley Farrier I will check them out. I'll definitely be at the Spring Conference this year.

I think the Nimba's are sexy as hell, but the small one is at the top of my current price range. Since I'm in state and pay sales tax, the price on the 120# is up there. I can get a Ridgid Peddinghaus drop-forged 160# for the about same price shipped, since Ridgid has a lot of people selling their stuff at a discount online. Just more of the stuff running constantly through my head.

Thanks guys. I think at this point I'd settle for whatever quality anvil pops up at a good value. I'd prefer around 150lbs to start, but 20 pounds of steel would be an improvement over what I'm working with now. I just need to learn to be patient. Living on the West Coast seems to be the wrong coast however. 80% of the used anvils I see are coming out of North Carolina. The irony is (using the word irony is ironic enough on this forum), I live in Kalama, which has a major steel processing plant. I may have to stop by and see if they have any heavy chunks they want to get rid of.

I've been pounding on a cast iron 15 pound doorstop for a while. It's been good practice; although mostly I've been learning to work with my forge, what color the iron should be when I pull it out, and how it responds to getting hit at different temperatures. So far I've got a pair of badly made tongs under my belt and a combination fish bonker/gill cutter made from a railroad spike. What I haven't been learning is good hammering technique. At least I don't imagine that's the case working with a junk anvil. So I've been keen on point looking for a real anvil to take its place. The search reminds me of my other hobby, fly fishing. A lot of expectations, a lot of emotion, some disappointment but ultimately, the reward isn't the end goal, the reward is the journey. I keep at it because it's all a learning process. I'm constantly torn between new and used; heavy and light. I've read "get the heaviest you can afford". But that kind of scares me. I passed on a decent 300+lb Vaughn on craigslist with clean lines for $900. If it was more local I might have gone for it, but I'm not even sure how to move something that heavy. And for that price, I could get a new anvil in a more manageable but still serviceable weight. On the other hand, I missed a clean 70lb anvil for $100 on craigslist this morning. For that price, I would have gladly forgone a heavier anvil for the time being. But by the time I'd emailed the guy it was already gone. Then I look at Craigslist again, and someone's popped up a Nimba 450lb for $1800. Sure...if I just had a few more months to save. But I want one NOW!! Oh well...I'll stay on the hunt. I ordered some heat treated round stock off ebay that I'll mount in cement for the time being. But I'm going to keep pressing refresh on craigslist, it's become an addiction. And wondering if I should just opt for a new Ridgid #9. If only someone local stocked them. Why couldn't the settlers have hit the West Coast first?

I'd definitely err on the side of caution. The railroad industry may be old, but at one time it was one of the most powerful lobbies in the US. Theft of any railroad property is a felony in many states. Many states also grant the railroads their own police force that have wide police powers in all states the railroads own property in.

Doh. Double post.

Thanks guys, I had not considered the effects it could have on the propane cylinder. This may solve the "thwoomping" problem I've been getting when firing things up.

I've set up my 2-burner gas forge in my backyard instead of my garage. While it's nice for ventilation (and the view), I'm wondering how great an effect the ambient temps will have on reaching forge temperature.

I purchased a CK forge two burner a few months ago. The first thing I noticed is that it seems finicky. With a neutral flame I get a solid and persistent "whoomp whoomp whoomp" instead of a steady burn. If I tune it higher it starts shooting flames out the top burner holes and if I tune it lower it just gives me orange flames instead of the blue I want. I also can't block up the back exit at all or it again starts shooting flames out the burner holes. I'm very new to forging so this could just be my inexperience. I'm thinking I'll purchase a better regulator with a PSI guage to start and see if that helps. I had no problem getting rebar to temp, but with thicker material like railroad spikes I just can't seem to get it hot enough.

My first post, but I wanted to say that seeing the beauty of knives like this is what's inspired me to get into smithing. Thanks for sharing.