quint

Ive got a sodofers (my first anvil) and it to rings pretty darn loud. I have it on a wooden block with a slice of leather under it and a chain wrapped around it. Still kind of loud. Great anvil though. I really liked using it. My numbers and lettering were a little harder to figure out though. I am using my PW right now because on a stump with a little silicone and a chain it only makes a thwap sound. No ring at all which is good for my neigborhood. Its not as nice as the sodofers though. Would like to use the HB I picked up but that thing rings like a bell on steroids so gotta save that guy for when I find another place to live.

Usually something like 5160 from everything I have heard. I remember reading some old post somewhere about someone who was getting new springs and they worked pretty good. Ofcourse I have heard of people using old springs with good luck as well. The new ones shouldnt have any cracks in them. For 30 bucks I would do it.

Sorry about reviving an old thread but figured it wouldnt warrant starting a new one. So I got this guy mounted on silicon on a green pine stump. Wrapped a chain around it and got a little forging in today. First thing I noticed was it is very quiet. Decent rebound, not as good as my sodofors but its much quieter which is why I decided to try using it since I live in a neighborhood. The face is pretty soft compared to the sodofors though. I missed a hammer stroke (its been a while since I had a chance to forge anything) and it left a little dent so I made sure not to do that any more. Probably good I started out first on the sodofors because I was really suprised at how soft the top was in comparison. Overall not too bad, works pretty good and is quiet but gonna have to be careful with my hammer strokes. Probably a good thing to make myself more concouse of my hammering.

Thats pretty cool. Figure with the materials she works with probably softer then mild steel so should last a long time.

Take that back there is also a number 2 on bottom side of horn and a number 4 below that farther done on the body. Thats it though.

Got it weighed last night right at 159.8lbs so goes with the 160 under the budden letters. So far the only other numbers I saw were the serial number and then 02 on the opposite side of the anvil from the name.

Funny thing today I was cleaning it up and saw that the 1 on the weight 160 is actually upside down. Guess the guy doing the work goofed on this one.

Yeah sure did. You see it on the listing.

Thanks Sask.

Mine is a 160lber number is 212247. Guessing 1913-14 but could someone verify. Thanks.

Cool stuff thanks guys. If anyone has the AIA around would still like the rough date of this guy. Its always interesting watching videos of the old iron working in progress and how they did things. Think it was around here somewhere but saw how they were making the old anchor chains for the big ol ships from wrought iron. Looked like some hot rough work thats for sure.

Thanks Frosty, the face is very clean and darn near perfectly flat, well flat as I have scene. Its had I think pretty minimal use compared to my other anvils. I cant wait to give it a go after I clean it up a tad. Is it just the very top face that is carbon or the upper half? There is a definite line of sorts between the upper half of the anvil and the lower half (just under the brooklyn letters). Its harder to see in the pics.

Hey guys been a while since I was around here. A short deployment and a bunch of stuff at home (house needing renovating, my first baby on the way, ...... house needs a nursery lol......) anyways happened to be browsing CL like I do on occasion always search for anvils. They are usually either very pricey or are gone in about 5 minutes or both. Well got to this one first for a change, its a 160lb HB picked up off a gentleman for $300. Seemed like a fair price and thats what I told him while we talked about price and such. I didnt bother trying to talk him down as around these parts it is actually a little under what they usually go for. Questions, from looking at it the anvil looks like the upper half is forged onto the bottom half. I am under the impression that some of these were done that way with a tool steel upper and cast iron or wrought iron bottom. Is this a correct assumption? Also the serial number is 212247. Can someone with the BOOK let me know when this was manufactured. I would greatly appreciate it. Here are some pics, oh and it came with this little red guy which I assume is one of those chinese trinqets, also came with a little tiny hand made brass anvil about 2 inches long but didnt get a pic of that. Thanks guys.

Good start and interesting effect. Ive been bitten by the hamon bug as well and have been doing a ton of research on the stuff. One thing I would suggest is raise the thick portion of the clay a little higher and thin it out some. Probably only needs to be around 1/8" thick, also thin out some and do a little transition area of thinner stuff. Worth a shot. Im still playing with it all as well. They are fun, never quiet know what your gonna get.

Great looking blade. That hamon is amazing. I started playing with brine myself and have had very good luck with W2, 1075, but not so much luck with 1095. With w2 and 1075 I am around 3 for 3 with each type for success rate. With 1095 I am around 1 for 3 right now. Curious what your recipe is for your brine. I have mine with about 2lbs salt for a 4 gallon bucket with a little dish soap. I warm the water to around 100f (warm to the touch) before quenching, then do the 3sec in, 3 sec out, back in till cool to the touch.

If you like it I would try and get it stabilized and use it. There are alot of knives that use wood which doesn't have crazy burl or very peculiar grain patterns and they look excellent. Or maybe use it in more of a puukko style blade with some other woods.

Looks really nice Sam, maybe you will break it in a bit before passing it on haha. Have fun.

The nice thing about electrolysis is that you can put it in and go work on other stuff while it does all the work. Great score by the way.

No problem, hey was wondering do you like that peen side of the hammer to be that broad or full however you want to say it, all of the hammers I have are much sharper (for lack of better word) just curious if that helps you move the metal around at all.

I looked thru the Portland area and its just about as bad as up here is on anvil prices lately. Just gotta keep looking and jump on it quick.

Hope ya dont mind but resized the pics for ya.

Great looking stuff, was great seeing the video alot of things I can incorporate on my next forging session. That hammer your using, you make it yourself? Basically a larger somewhat flatter cross peen correct? Looks great for knife work.

Thanks guys and good idea Rich. My first couple of knives I made some templates to look at but was still struggling with the other aspects of it all. I think now that I have gotten a little better at this part Ill take the suggestion and start trying to actually accomplish the pattern I want it to be in the end.

Have been doing some forging and trying to practice as much as possible. Ive got a few types of metals on hand, was basically trying out different stuff. I think I am gonna stick with W2 for a while, forges relatively easy for me and I want to try some hamons. Right now Ive been really concentrating on getting the blades straight and getting a relatively smooth surface free from most hammer marks and what not. I need to work on getting the actual blade profiled more while forging so I need to remove less on the grinder but I think I really need to focus on getting the first parts down then move on to another part. Atleast thats my thoughts right now. The two larger ones are from 1/4" W2, I have begun profiling the one blade , the smaller middle one was the last piece of 1084 I had and the little scandi is some 8670M I picked up a little while ago (think it was 3/16" or 1/4"). I forged that little guy pretty thin and actually got the shape decent before taking it to the grinder but forgot to get pics. Ill update as I make more progress with these projects. Critique and what not always welcome. Thanks for taking a look.

That is an amazing find. Looks almost brand new.