metalanton

I have finally come up with a revolutionary way to incorporate both high temperature and high pressure into one forge.... well not exactly. But I did find a shiny stainless steel portable autoclave at the scrapyard that is about 10" diameter and 12" long, with a cool bolt on removeable top lid which should make changing insulation a snap. I did not have the ability or tools to weld stainless steel so I had to bolt on all the accessories, which in retrospect added a lot of work to the build, but I am happy with the results and the stainless' reflectivity may add a tiny bit of efficiency to this forge.. and definitely some flux resistance. The forge opening is 5 by 4" and again is about 12 inches long, so a chamber of about 250 ci. the lining is 3 inches of kaowool plus a little extra wherever I could get a little more in. the kaowool was rigidized and then coated with itc-100. it does have a 1/2 inch kiln shelf bottom. the rear opening is a piece of channel, and the front opening is just a flatbar supported with angle... I do believe I will make this shelf larger so that I can place firebrick around the opening. the flange that the burner sits on is 1 1/2 inch pipe that is welded onto a circular piece of metal that I robbed off of a home satellite.... space-aged huh? the bottom support is also the base of the satellite. I plan on making a bench mount stand that this flange fits into as well as driving a piece of pipe into the ground in my back yard, because outdoors is my favorite place to forge... when it is not 20 degrees below. This should make a very stable and flexible mount... maybe eventually I will even drill a hole in my concrete in the garage and have a "post mounted" forge. I did what beginners should not do and modified frosty's T-burner design, but it turned out quite well. It is actually kindof a "crucified" frosty's burner since I used a 4 way pipe instead of a T-connection.. this allowed me to make a compression fitting that allows the jet to be inserted at different lengths into the mixing chamber which is absolutely not necessary since once it is tuned it is never moved again. Also I used a holesaw and cut out the threads on the horizontal portions of the four way fitting to add a little smoother air flow there. The forge runs pretty hot, and I have been forging some 4140 with great success. but I have not gotten it to welding temperature, so I think the burner design is not perfect or maybe I just need to crank it up past 10 psi. I may be switching to a Trex hybrid burner when money allows.

I agree with erring on the safe side, denting vs. chipping, but I would say why error at all! I have never heard of the refflinghaus anvils being prone to chipping, due to their proprietary alloy. so hard and no chipping. if someone has had problems with their refflinghaus or peddinghaus anvils chipping please chime in.... not to say that nimbas or any of the American anvils are not wonderful tools worth every penny and will still last many lifetimes.

that rathole is still for sale on the tailgating section. shipping fedex would be around 200. I don't think you could possibly go wrong with the peddinghaus if that is in your price range. when I was looking at them I just thought I could get a 200lb refflinghaus for the price of the 275 peddinghaus and I liked the shape much better... and I really don't need that extra weight. Are you sure you do? other than that is the consideration of buying American vs. foreign. From what I have read these two german makers and kohlswas probably have the best hardness and therefor are the top tier of modern anvils. buying American is an important priority, I think the rhinos are a solid anvil, but I do not love the heel being midway between the german and London patterns in width. to my eye the rathole is a stunning anvil, but I am not in love with the horn and I like the side shelf on the opposite side more. nimbas look interesting also. So I think the differences are very subtle, and you really can't go too far wrong. you just have to decide which elements are the most important to you!

I would go for a refflinghaus without any question, I like the smooth transition of horn to face on the south german patterns far better than the peddinghaus shaped horn, just doesn't seem as useable to me. I also really think rathole anvils are incredibly beautiful, but the faces aren't as hard as the refflinghaus or ped. there was a rathole anvil on the tailgating forum in the bay area for 1k. I think that is a screaming deal. rhino anvils are another option

yes I would say that is a great score, I looked for over a year ( I live in red lodge) and found a few at auctions that were beat and sold for way too much, finally just bought one on ebay and had it shipped. Hay buddens are awesome anvils. that one definitely has been ground on but if it still has good rebound looks good to go. Hey you should check out the northern rockies blacksmith associations spring conference since it will be in roscoe this year, if you can make it.

that anvil looks to be in great condition but 6 dollars a pound is new anvil prices.. get a 250lb rhino anvil for that price. I am still looking for my first anvil and have looked for over a year. I have seen fishers as nice as that one go for 6-800 in other parts of the country., if I could get one for that price range I would jump on it here in Montana, but if I am going to pay more than that I am going for a new anvil. I have seen people ask that much for 200 lb fisher anvils on craigslist and ebay and they just sit there and don't sell, so I would definitely talk him way down... really nice anvil though

sorry, I meant to say striking anvil, not swage block

I dream of finding nice pieces like that. I would make a swage block with the one with the square hole and something like a brazeal anvil but wider with the other!

the link matei sent was very helpful, the picture is of a 280 lb anvil, and it looks like it is the one in that thread that did not have good rebound, looks like it is a legitimate craigslisting, so anyone interested in a beautiful anvil with no rebound there it is in san diego... if i was closer would go check it out, but i am out on this one. thanks for all the advice

Thanks, for all the input, still haven't heard back from the guy, maybe it is just sold, can't imagine it lasting a week on craigslist if it wasn't a scam

I think it is some kindof craigslist scam, this is the second CL scam I have found this month, basically they stop contacting you once you offer to come and get it, apparently they want you to wire money to them for payment. here it is by the picture the proportions seem wrong to me for a 330lb as well, loos too small. http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/tls/3844895732.html

It looks exactly like the one on anvil fire: http://www.anvilfire.com/anvils/ferd_anvil_012.php except I can't see any markings for maker on the picture of the one I found. SAC? I am kindof getting the feeling the one I found is a scam, just seems too good to be true and the picture looks like a smaller anvil than 300 lbs.

i found a bohemian anvil in the 300 lb range that looks to be in mint condition I believe it is one of the sas brands with the two cathedral slots on the sides and offset table towards the tail, with the hardy hole centered, no pritchel. any idea what it is worth? just deciding if I should jump on it, since it will be quite a drive. were the faces on these anvils well hardened

thanks Dave so much for this contribution, extremely thorough, informative, and a quite flawless design, I really really am looking foward to the insulating the forge video as well!

yeah those look really nice too. any idea on price, couldn't find them?

I have been looking at new too. I definitely have a liking of the peddinghaus and the nimba's, any other suggestions? I really didn't want to spend a 1000 at the auction, just was hopeful that this one would have somehow been worth it. I never actually tested the ring, because I had pretty much resigned myself from this one once i saw the "repairs" . I also forgot to mention that the weld on the top was starting to crack again already. no doubt this was a very functional anvil. I just was looking for something more collectible and functional, I know it seems completely snooty for a guy that doesn't have an anvil at all, but It truly breaks my heart to think of the injustices that have been done to that anvil.... though I am sure it created some amazing things in its time too!

well, I went to the auction with 1000$ in my pocket just in case it was the dream anvil, with every intention that it would be mine. turns out it was a peter wright with 1-2-17 on the side so 200lbs. the first thing i noticed was a small area of mig welding on one edge, maybe a 2" strip. overall the edges weren't too bad, and the top seemed pretty flat, although it did have a quite a few dents and chisel gauges on the top surface.. no surprise since it was a ranch anvil, undoubtedly being used with with cold metal, removing bearings, beating out bolts, etc. really not so bad and I would still have considered it worth bidding up to 3$ a pound just so I could finally get an anvil into my shop. then I noticed a slight wave of metal near the hardie hole.. and then reallized it was a weld going accross the top and down the side. welded and ground and patina'ed it was very subtle. apparently some meathead had done something like use a sledgehammer out on the corner of the anvil and cracked it. I saw a blacksmith acquaintance that I knew.. that was also there to bid on it, and it was something even he had overlooked... so we thought if we could get it for 1.50 a pound maybe it would be worth it, it definitely had a lot of life left in it, but it was flawed and corrupted. the bidding went quickly and was soon up to 450$... and ended there. I don't think anyone else realized the flaw, but considering it, that price seemed high. so my search continues.. thanks for all the help. sorry I didn't get any pix of the flaws, if you look at the original post and the auction site pix you can see a line going down the side where the crack was.

thanks for all the input, I will definitely go and try for this one and expect to bid decently high...I was hoping to get a deal but it is time for me to have a real anvil. hopefully I didn't shoot myself in the foot by advertising the anvil here! I will definitely confirm the weight too.

the welded stand seems like a cosmetic devaluation of the anvil, not sure how that reduces it value, definitely not its usefulness.. although I plan on getting rid of that stand. if it is a peter wright is it worth less? hay buddens seem like one of the most sought after anvils. thanks for all the input, is there anything very distinct that I can look for to ID it when I am at the auction site?

I found this anvil at an auction site and am debating going to look at it. since it is a bit of a drive. I am a newbie and this will be my first anvil, so I really have no clue what I am looking at .. any input would be greatly appreciated: http://rickyoungauctioneers.com/detail.cfm?item=18155

My last visit to the scrapyard turned up this portable autoclave, that I am going to transform into my first forge (I am new to all of this great stuff!) I intend on lining it with kaowool/ITC 100 and running a single burner atmospheric air burner. I think i will have some reinforcement welded onto the front for a door and maybe a flap door in the rear. It is about 11" diameter and 12" long. Any suggestions? It looked perfect and almost too easy when I first saw it, am I missing anything.. thanks in advance.

Try acupuncture before trying surgery on your shoulder, people always come to me as a last resort after they have surgeries, but i know i could have prevented a lot ot them. also blacksmithing is not the only factor in your life that may be injuring the area, sure it is hard exercise hammering metal, but do you get out and do other basic aerobic exercise? getting out and being active is the way we recover from our everyday repetitive activities that become bad for us because they are the only exercises that a person is doing. doing things like exercising, acupunture, massage, etc. is how we reset the musculature surrounding our joints and detox lactic acid and other biproducts of metabolism that get trapped in our musculature and lead to pain and discomfort and eventually calcified regions of muscles that are stiff and nonfunctional. this further stresses the muscle by only a smaller segment of the entire muscle working with our movements. Ask around your town if there is a good acupuncturist, don't just go to anybody because there are plenty of them that aren't that great. and don't be afraid it doesn't hurt.... blacksmiths shouldn't be afraid of little slivers of metal anyway! good luck