HWooldridge

I live just north of San Antonio.  Aside from installing an AC unit, there really isn't much I've been able to do other than drink Gatorade and use some type of fan.  My old shop had really big windows that were hinged at the top and propped up with a stick so it would catch breezes but it was often calm at that location.  My current shop is located at the top of a hill so the ambient wind is better but it's still d*** hot this time of year.

 

Get acclimated, drink fluids, take breaks often, etc.  It only hurts between June and September...so just think of all that time you can be in the shop during December. :lol:

Yunque is anvil. Bodega is shop.

Jim,

I would not presume to try and talk you out of a new anvil but really nice used ones come up on Craigslist all the time. There is a nice Trenton in Cleveland right now that looks decent from the pics. At the least, it's another source of information.

Best of luck,

Hollis W

You want pressure and not huge amounts of CFM for solid fuel.  The old centrifugal blowers (and bellows) could put out 200-400 cfm with a couple ounces water pressure, which allowed sufficient oxygen to enter the fire push its way through the fuel mass.

 

Pressure is not so important for a gas forge since all you need is enough to mix the fuel gas and supply the proper air/fuel mixture.

 

I tried an experiment many years ago using a common 500 cfm squirrel cage blower that came off an air handler with a coal forge - it worked but not as well as an old Canedy Otto paddle blower.  Just for fun, I tried using compressed air, which also works to a point but you need enough volume to keep the fire hot without blowing coke out of the pot.

 

So to summarize - it's a balancing act of CFM, which is needed to allow the fuel to burn - and sufficient pressure to make it through the fire.

You could cleft someone in twain with that beast.  Great work.

It's correct as pictured.  I always position my clinker breaker in the "down" position when running a fire and rotate it to the "up" position to lift clinker and clear cinders from the hole.

I agree with asking for a bigger discount but in reality, there is a lot of anvil face to work on besides the shelf.  The cracks are likely voids from the casting process so rather than welding on it, those areas could be radiused with a grinder to blend and possible remove the imperfections.  I seriously doubt the shelf will break off unless you start whaling on it with a sledge.

 

But in any case, it's probably closer to a $600-$800 anvil if the seller will go that far.

You likely won't be spending a lot of time doing heavy forging on the shelf. If the price is good, I would jump all over it.

No lid needed for bronze if you add some broken bottle glass for a cover. I have used steel crucibles in a pinch but commercial graphite ones work better (steel always seems to spring a leak at the most inopportune time).

You could also rebuild that entire lower area by welding - would take some rod and you'd need to make sure the anvil face didn't get too hot but wouldn't take more than a few hours work to restore the profile.

I see several comments about the rings being behind your hand and secured by a ball or other feature so they won't come off - but I typically compress the reins by hand (after gripping the part), then drop the ring on and drive it forward to lock near the hinge point of the jaws.  The holding hand is located well behind the ring so you can easily know if it slips or otherwise becomes dislodged - it also provides a tighter grip on the work.

Cards are something of an afterthought these days - as Ric says, they are simply a convenient way for people to remember your website and/or email address.  I did the craft show route for many years and the only repeat customers I got were the ones who came back to that particular show.  On the other hand, I always got a lot of visitor traffic to my website (which I closed down last year since I'm semi-retired from the trade).  I subsequently believe anyone who doesn't have a website in 2014 or in the future is at a great disadvantage - business cards don't need to have anything on them aside from your basic contact info.

I visited Ed Brazeal's forge recently and used some of his "rings", which were just like how petere76 described: squashed square tube. I believe they were 2", and they worked like a charm. These were use with some bolt tongs with the balls on the end.
 
Aside from the convenience of quickly making many (made easy with a portable band saw), the other advantage that I think makes these such a good option is that the squashed diamond shape slides oblong over the reins, then turned 90 degrees which locks the reins into the angle of the short side.

You also automatically have two ring sizes when you squeeze a piece of square into a diamond - so several "squash" sizes will yield a wide variety of combinations.

Your decision may also depend on what you primarily are producing. I used to make a lot of repetitive craft items (hooks and such) and I ran a homemade tumbler to clean small pieces. A few pounds of sand and a couple hundred parts tumbling against themselves and the media would clean up nicely. Now, tumbling would not work well with fence pickets unless the process was specifically designed for that purpose - but it's great for small stuff.

I have used acid but experienced occasional problems getting a good "kill" on the process and rust became an issue at a later date. A lot of people use acid successfully but it's more trouble than it's worth for my personal use.

One good solution to the safety questions surrounding sand/bead blasting is to use an enclosed cabinet with an exhaust/filtering system. Your hands are protected and no hazardous fines circulating to wind up in your lungs. I have one that's 30"x48" inside dimensions and it does a good job on anything I can get inside the box.

Would make great patch knives for muzzleloaders that shoot patched ball.

Looks like it's in good shape.

You could call it, "Hambone"...;-)

Nice job regardless.

It's a Beaudry, looks to be in the 100-150# range, hard to tell with that guard!  Big anvil sitting next to it as well.

Agreed. My 100 lb Beaudry weighs about 3000 lbs and that hammer looks similarly proportioned. Williams and Wilson was the factory distributor who sold it initially. Mine has a tag in the same place with a different name.

The entire shop is a forging station - look at the forges and other equipment.

Decarburization layer?

If you are planning on adding power hammer(s) or other equipment bigger than a drill press, you need to plan for how those items will not only gain access to the shop but how they will be placed. I put an overhead I-beam with a hoist and trolley inline with the door and have dropped a heavy lathe and shaper under the beam without difficulty. However, I have to drag equipment to any corner that's not in line with the hoist. A better solution would have been a bridge crane to access any part of the shop instead of the single beam but I built the roof too low - so now I live with a less convenient setup. Moral of the story is to plan ahead.

The only trouble with acid, IMO, is that you have to get a good "kill" on the reaction or the parts will rust. I used to produce a lot of wholesale items for the craft trade and always tumbled those in a large drum with a little blasting sand added to help with scrubbing action. BTW, you can get a pretty decent kill with a mix of ammonia and baking soda dissolved in tap water - but the metal needs to be protected quickly or it will flash rust from exposure.

Osage is mighty tough so I bet it would hold up pretty well under hard use - even with the grain pattern.

 

That's a heckuva chopper you posted - I would not want to meet some 6'6" dude carrying that in a dark alley...

Sometimes form follows function, i.e., a rolled and welded eye lends itself to straight tapered handle because an end swell won't fit through the axe head. When poll ends started getting split and wedged, then the familiar sheep's foot could be used for a better grip when the handle was wet with sweat or blood.

The Frankish axe was a war weapon and designed to be thrown - and every picture I've ever seen had a straight handle - but it also had a wrapped eye. It's pretty clear that a straight handle will slip out of the hand easier so it's something of a "chicken or the egg" question.

If required by circumstances, your axe design ought to throw just fine if someone holds loosely above the swell and releases smoothly. The Japanese say, when practicing shuriken-jutsu, one should release as though a bird has slipped from your hand. The same might apply to axe tossing.

EDM now exists - but wasn't invented in 1942. Cool video - wonder if they made one about forging?

Good point. I will have a a container of water to put the anvil in once the top gets cool. I will put two bricks in the container, and flip the anvil face side down into the water raised on the bricks. The entire anvil will not be submerged the the face will be. 
The water will not get above 100 degrees Celsius, any water that evaporates I can just pour more back in. Also, while it is face side down I will be spraying it with a water hose to get the heat out.

Sounds good - let us know how it goes. Best of luck!