Marc1

The physics at play in hammer/anvil/hot steel system seem simple and many try to explain them with the Newton laws. There is more to it than a few forces. To begin with when one hits an anvil with a hammer, and lets keep the hot steel aside for a moment for simplicity sake, what we are talking about is a collision. When hammer and anvil collide, according to Newton, the same force is applied to the anvil and to the hammer. However what we need to know is what happens next. The effect of the force applied to the anvil is what entertains the thought of it's suitability, and here is were mass, hardness and shape play a role. When the hammer strikes the anvil, or rather when it strikes the work and the work transmits the blow to the anvil, the molecules of steel transmit the force to each other, and each molecule in turn returns the favour in the opposite way. The force of the blow that was vertical to begin with, will fan out into the mass of the anvil and each molecule will transmit some of the force to its neighbouring molecule. Imagine a tin bucket full of bearings. You hit the bearings at the top of the bucket with a hammer. if the blow is fast enough and the bucket soft enough, the sides of the bucket and not only the bottom will bulge out and the bearings will mark the whole of the bucket. In the case of an anvil shaped like a cube, a good proportion of the force will go in the base, in the case of an anvil shaped like an hourglass, very little of the forces have a chance to transmit to the base. The cube and the top side of the hourglass behave like a single object and no amount of mass added to the lower section of the hourglass will contribute in returning forces upwards. For whoever is interested in the physics of anvils and hammers, it is much more complex than just Newton laws, and the way to start is to study the laws pertaining collisins. Here is a small article on the subject that when not covering all aspects gives a good indication of what happens. I love the conclusion at the bottom in relation to the much tooted "rebound" . Rebound should matter but it does not ... https://www.calsmith.org/Resources/Documents/technical_documents/techdocs_thephysicsofanvils.pdf

I have one like that but it is in very nice condition. It's a Simmons Broad Axe Cohoes NY number 6. The writing is clearly visible. Definitely hand made by a blacksmith if with the help of a mechanical hammer or not I can not say. Some were sharpened flat on one side to aid the manufacture of planks or square beams. Eventually someone would sharpen them both side and turn them into an ordinary axe. There are some broad axe tragic who collect them and know everything about them. The photo below is not mine. Mine has no handle and sleeps on my desk. Bought for a song at the markets. (And my singing stinks) https://www.facebook.com/HistoricalSocietyTownofColonieNY/posts/the-rise-and-fall-of/498167230343134/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cohoes,_New_York

The dirty lazy one is oppressing the worker one. What else is new

Not really ... I'll try to explain in my own words. The anvil mass has an inherent potential energy or inertia if you prefer. The kinetic energy of the hammer needs to get into the work to do the forging and the inertia of the anvil return as much as possible rather then fiddle away into the ground or shaking about. The anvil can do this according to mass, hardness and shape. The part of the anvil that works best is where the centre mass is. An anvil shaped like a prism or a cube will work as a unit. An anvil shaped like an hour glass will only use the potential energy stored in the upper section. The lower section will be almost useless. Just like stands will not add mass to the anvil in any measurable way or a second anvil welded to the upper one will not make the anvil twice it's size. Sure making the mass more stable will avoid losses from vibration or lateral movement, but that is as far as the stand can go. The mass of an anvil needs to be continuous, no gaps, no waist, no little legs, no welds to another shape or change in density for the anvil to work as ... well ... an anvil. One could make a bigger anvil by cutting an anvil above the waist where it is still the full size of the body. Machine it nice and flat, and place on a mass of metal of similar density and fully weld it to it. Not that anyone would want to do such a thing

Sure, so what if you actually do a full weld between your steel stand and your anvil? And what if the stand is 1000 lb of steel? In other words, can you add mass to your small anvil and make it into a big anvil? After all some anvils were built by adding pieces together and welding them. And if not why not?

I understand what you are trying to say, but anvils are not made bigger to make up for poor anchoring. There is and always will be a disconnect between the anvil and it's stand. Good anchoring will minimise it and a good relation between hammer mass, work mass, and anvil mass is required to achieve optimal results. A more interesting debate would be ... can the stand be made part of the anvil mass? So if my anvil is 100 lb and my stand is 100 lb, will the anvil behave like a 200 lb anvil if I anchor it appropriately? What if I push two universal beams in the ground until I hit bedrock, weld a 3" plate on top and weld the anvil to it? Will the earth became part of the mass of the anvil?

Steven, I think you must clarify what you mean by 'better'. I have two PW, one is 280 lb and the other is 480 lb. Which one is better? Neither. They are different, made for different jobs. They are both just as good as each other. If someone says the bigger anvil is better, that means his smaller anvil is not suited for what he is doing on it and not that the additional weight on an identical quality anvil somehow makes it better. I also have a 20 lb Kohlswa. Are the bigger one better? Depends for what. Is there such thing as a better anvil? Sure, a Refflinghaus is better than a Peter Wright regardless of weight. A Peter Wright is better than a Chinese ASO regardless of weight. When is a larger anvil better suited than a smaller one and therefore 'better' to use than the small one? When you are forging a heavier object you want a larger anvil ... however ... when you are forging a smaller object, say you want to forge the details on the fingers of a hand, you will be hard pressed using a 300 pounder and you will be better off using the smallest anvil with a small diameter horn ... or using hardy hole tools. You could argue that having a large anvil is "better" because you can make smaller size tools in your hardy hole but you can not make a larger anvil if you have a small one. That would be a valid argument. However if you are forging a small hook with a one pound hammer on a 80 pound anvil or the same job on a 500 pound anvil, besides feeling a lot better for the satisfaction of the large anvil, there is no difference in your work providing both anvils are anchored appropriately. On that note, a tour of blacksmithing videos will reveal the little attention even seasoned smith give to the anchoring of their anvil and I cringe at the site of wobbling and wandering anvils. In those cases, the better anvil is the one that is firmly bolted down on a solid metal tripod or large wooden stump. At this stage it is fair to say that "better" is overrated and very subjective.

If the anvil is a ski boat, the horn is the bow ... if the anvil is a duck hunting punt ... the bow is the heel. But I personally would like to see more action and less auctions.

Make sure you build a clinker breaker for that fire pot. Also ... if you build a large fan don't expect too longer life out of that fire pot. It will burn rather quickly. You will need a gate to reduce air flow. Fire pots can be made of plate rather than buying expensive cast pots, or resort to automotive parts, but plate should be 10mm or so. Even 6 mm burns if you have the fan on all the time.

I don't know what a swage block goes for in your area. I looked up e-bay US and found a few for sale, the cheapest $900 and the dearest $9,000. Oh My ... those prices are wishful thinking. A swage block is always less than half the price of an anvil of the same weight ... or even less. Depending what you do, but I find they are not that useful, especially the monster one that need a hoist to flip around. If you really want one, get a smaller new one.

Happy independence day to all Americans, and remember that Australia also celebrates the 4th of July. Today (yesterday) we celebrate 100 years of Australia-America alliance, that started in the battle of Hamel in WW1.

Two of the most deadly snakes in Australia, he king brown and the red belly both have smooth small heads like a tree snake. The death adder appears to have two heads both triangular and it is as deadly as it's name. The diamond python on the other hand, a snake so docile that will let you handle her straight from the wild, is a python and harmless despite its size and arrow head shape. Around here it pays to get to know each species. and the one you are not sure you leave alone

Dave. I have not made this modification but thought about it a couple of times (not too much) My little air chisel has a spring that screws around the body of the air-tool and at the other end the spring end is bent at 90 and pokes sideways a bit. To stop the chisel from rotating you need a fixed point. the only two fixed point available are the body of the air tool or the spring itself. To make a slotted flat bar attached to the body would be possible but a bit complicated. I thought that the easier way would be to weld a small flat bar to the shaft of the chisel, bent backwards and slotted to take the end of the spring. The spring should be flexible enough to force it back and into the slot and the chisel should stay there during work, if the slot is longer than the travel of the tool. Of course is you mount the air chisel on a stand like Jim has, you can have a guide for the chisel attached to the stand and not the airgun. A sort of slotted arm that can be as long as you need it to be to stay away from your work. Hope it makes sense

Why with a spoon? Why not an ax? Because it will hurt more you ....

Nice! Is it Anyang? What size?

Our summer temperatures in Sydney can be 40+ depending on location. But only on some days and then with very low moisture it is not that bad. Most of the summer month are between 25 and 35 with the occasional peak. i don't know how it is up there but in Australia the media tends to report peak heat as if it was the end of life as we know it. We have one suburb in Sydney that is in a valley and tend to get extreme temperatures, even when the surrounding areas have much more moderate temperatures. Invariably it is Penrith that hits the news with it's record temperatures. I like to look at the weather dudes reading the temperatures and pulling grave faces as if we just declared war on China.

Mine folds in half, and I skinned a whole cow once. Works ok, although my wrist hurt when I finished. Should have used a bigger knife but was the only thing I had at the time. Cow died from poisoning with Cestrum and I did not want the hide to go to waste.

I have a skinner knife that looks like that. More like the first picture actually.

I agree that epoxide and their co-reactant are numerous and formulated for different purposes. However a quick search using the string " Storage of epoxy resin" brings up recommendation from different manufacturers including west system and they all say the same thing, almost a cut and paste of the text below. It is possible that there are a lot of resin that will store better in 5 C, that is in the fridge, I have a few marine caulking materials in the fridge that are still usable after 2 years. Two parts epoxy is not one of them apparently. Lower temperatures make the resin crystallise. This can be reverted with heat or in the microway oven but I am sure it does not make it any better. Store Epoxy resins and hardeners at room temperature (65°F- 85°F) in sealed containers until shortly before use. As with many high-performance epoxy resins, repeated exposure to low temperatures during storage (<55°F) may cause the resin to crystallize. Be aware that containers placed near outside walls or on the floor will often be at a lower temperature than the ambient conditions. If crystallization occurs, warm the resin to 125°F for 8 hours and stir to dissolve crystals. Hardeners may form carbamation when exposed to CO2 and moisture in the atmosphere for extended periods of time. Prevent carbamation by keeping containers sealed and pump reservoirs covered until immediately prior to processing.

Hi Frosty, two part epoxy should be stored between 18 C and 30 C ... whats that ... 65 and 90 F Refrigeration helps store a whole lot of glues and resins but not two part epoxy glue unfortunately.

Is this wiht empty or full glasses?

Store epoxy in a dark place, no sunlight nor fluorescent lights. Buy one hour and not 5 minutes. If your epoxy is crystallizign it is not bad. You can put in the microway and turn good again.

The idea of a combination vice is to be able to hammer on the little anvil at the back and have a vice to hold things at the same time. Not particularly useful for blacksmithing, may be of some value in a metal workshop, farm barn or mechanic shop for small items. It's an old idea and there are many combination vice with the most bizarre concepts. Modifying it to a post vice is not practical. Post vices are forged steel and are designed to withstand a lot of abuse. However ... if you mean to say that you want to mount your vice on a post, that is possible. You can either weld a square tube to a base or concrete it in the ground and mount your vice on top of it. Just don't go hammering on the moving jaw. As for mounting the vice, because it is missing the base, you may be able to use the threaded lug and perhaps drill a couple of holes in the base to bolt it down.

We are most likely our own worse critics. I find your work pleasant to look at, complex and intriguing, and it screams ... long hours! i hope you get good money for them. Clearly not ugly. As for the person in that photo ...

Bravissimo Adriano! I haven't seen this kind of work for a long time. No knifes? Only kidding. My father was born in Florence. My blacksmith teacher in Lombardia. Do you get the new re introduced brown bears there? Keep on posting. May be a video of you making something. Mi raccomando Adriano ... sempre in gamba