Marc1

Hi Obert ... where are you located? Heating up the anvil with propane in a makeshift oven may be possible if the insulation is good and if you have at least a couple of burners. two 10K bottles? I don't know about that, it depends on what size burners. But that is the easiest problem to overcome, just take 4 with you. A coal forge would be the way to go. Here is a link to a you tube video on the subject. Just take out the brackets at each end of the link. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5noM1NnXeE]

Henry, a press for forging is a project in progress. You will be making tools for it, modifying it and try to improve as you go. A change of motor is nothing and motors are relatively cheap in the overall context. You will need to see if the speed is enough, may be you want to change the pump ... Sure you can buy a ready made press, and ID is the man to talk to for that, he actually makes them in any size if you talk to him nicely It's your call. You can use it as it is, if your convertor works for that motor, change the motor or buy a new unit, or buy an old unit that works on single phase.

I can see in this last photos that those 3 are indeed holes and not round marks like it seemed in the first photo, to me anyway. Do they go all the way through or are they blind holes? Also ... your anvil is a very nice one. I like the round edge on those anvils, come real handy. If you have 90% rebound between the holes, that is all you need really. That is the area you forge on and where the rebound is required to help you hammer. Considering the difficulties in hardening an anvil, something most folks would not attempt nor have the equipment to do it, I would give it a miss. By all means rebuild that corroded corner on the foot. No harm there. Make sure you grind all the rust out before you weld it. PS We must have posted at the same time. Let me say something about language. I have a CB radio on my truck, because I drive a lot on rural roads that have no mobile phone coverage nor commercial radio. I also thought I could make my journey shorter by having a chat with the truck drivers and other users of the civil band radio. I was mistaken. Besides the emergency channel, the other 70 odd channels are chockablock full of people swearing their head off using profane language every second word. It is truly amazing that anyone can possibly put a sentence together with so many superfluous words in it. It is some form of idiomatic prop for the vocally disabled. Sad really. I am sure you can see why no one wants to have it in written format.

You can replace that motor with a modern 3HP 240v single phase and be well ahead. Your 3 phase converter will have power losses and suck up a lot more juice then necessary. Best thing is to go to a place where they repair or rewind motors if there is any left and buy a second hand one. I would take the old motor to them to see if they can match the bolt pattern and the pulley size. Note that your is 1400 rpm and not 2800. Best of luck and post your findings.

What are those 3 round marks on the face? That is a very nice anvil. I am not sure I understand your reasoning but it does not matter, it's a bit like those who buy a 1929 Ford model A and chop it to put a V8 in it, wide tyres and lowered body. A heresy to some, an achievement to others. Actually a better simile would be to take the old Ford engine out and put a chainsaw motor in it I hope you can figure out how to harden the face. May be before you try that, you can do a test. It may not need it and it may be still ok after your operation. To harden an anvil is not easy nor small job. You need a river with a boat ramp or a friendly fire fighter station to cool it fast enough.

Good start with those tools. Now you need a forge and a post vice. Oh ... and a handle for your hammer ... is it a rounding hammer? Bent handsaw blades ? I thought you toss them? Small anvils are plentiful for some reason. I have a small Kohlswa I believe it is 9k or so, very handy to move around for small jobs

You make a good point. I say there is no value in "Period correctness" unless it is for a museum exhibit. For a blacksmith the only thing that counts is the product, not how it was achieved. if someone wants to mill a piece of damascus steel before forging, good for him, let's see what he can produce that way.

You took 2-3mm off the face? Gasp. Welded with soft wire around the hardy? And now want to "rebuild" the tip of the horn ... needle sharp no doubt? This can't be real.

Cut the achilles tendon? No need to be so drastic, that would preclude walk altogether ... just a bit of arsenic poisoning will do. And that would also be period correct.

You are burning off galvanised pipe?

Well ... it looks much better already. So what are your planing to make? And what other tools do you have? As far as anvil, be assured that if you get into forging you will buy 3 or 4 or more anvils as they come along. This will be just one of many. May be in the distant future you can take it to a meeting where they can repair it for you if you really want to.

What is the conclusion of what constitutes "traditional blacksmithing" ? Exclude electricity? (Unless used by a famous blacksmith then it is OK) No to any power tools (but power hammer and hydraulic press are OK) No gas ( Unless you are a blade smith then you are excepted) I think that Thomas hit the rivet on the head when he said Just like a painter does not go back to mashing up ingredients to make his own paint to claim "traditional painting" (and die of saturnism), there is no added glory to make a nice piece of art with one or another method, it is the end result that counts, the method is mostly irrelevant and the choice of the artist or blacksmith.

That is the best re enactment of medieval metal production I've seen. Clearly our ancestors worked hard for basic results and needed to develop an array of skills we no longer need. Japan is another country that keeps this tradition alive. I have to say that as admirable as this activities are, be it by choice or necessity, they can in no way imply that this are the "real" blacksmith. It would be like telling a butcher he is not a real butcher because he did not hunt the pig down in the forest with a spear. Metal work process evolve and we do with them. Primitive ways to achieve a result are not more "real" than more modern ways. There are results and there are skills, and there is the satisfaction of achieving a result. Loved that Dutch video and the re enactment of the village life. Perhaps the best part of it is precisely the need for many to be involved for a common result. If there is one thing I miss from my time working in a busy smithy is the interaction in a busy shop as opposed to the lone work in a shop were I am on my own.

I don't get the idea that a blacksmith must be bad at welding or conversely that a good welder is not a blacksmith ...

Could be also "Fortunato Anvil" since that is a person's family name, but finding it with one line post and no location? .... you will be fortunato indeed to find it without more information.

Hi Streetcore! Usually the best advice is to use the anvil as it is and concentrate on your forging. Unfortunately from what I can see and hear, I think that anvil had it's time in the sun and will with further use delaminate more. If I had bought that anvil, I would keep on looking for another anvil and sell that one as it is, hopefully for the same money. Surely a good wire brushing and a bit of wd40 will make it look more presentable.

Hi Balyrion. If you want to make knifes, a gas forge will do, if you want to make bigger decorative stuff, you may have difficulties fitting what you make inside a gas forge, particularly scrolls or other larger pieces. A cheaper way to get started is with a coal forge, If you can place the forge outside the shop, you can forego the need for a chimney. Gas is very convenient but has it's limitations unless you build a monster forge, and then it will suck a lot of fuel. What other tools have you got? Or do you need to buy everything? As for political statements, if politically correct or incorrect, I wouldn't worry about them too much. Everyone has an opinion and likes to express it. You can agree or disagree. After all no political comments is a political comment in itself. Blacksmithing is more interesting though.

Now that is a vice !

if you look at what is sold in the shops this days, you will see why someone would call his work traditional blacksmithing. 99% of lamps, gates, outdoor furniture, beds with some attempt at shaping them in scrolls, are made with hebo or similar machine and have never been heated, all worked cold and slapped together with bad electric welds that still have the spatter under the paint. I think that whoever sells his work as traditional blacksmith work, is simply attempting to differentiate forged from cold metal work and has no intention of going into intricate definitions or pretense of perfection. Sure, one can speculate ad libitum what constitutes traditional and this thread is proof of it. If to warrant the title of traditional one must use coal and can not use gas, I say pull the other one. What about steel? or we must use wrought iron or bust? The list goes on and it becomes immediately rather obvious that one can do a piece of art, forged in a way that the masters of 300 years ago would be proud, and use modern steel, gas forge, air power hammer and a Hofi hammer cast with modern methods. I am positive that the name "traditional" is used simply to say forged in fire and not twisted by a machine in India. That is my take

Interesting subject the one about stands ... I always tried to explain without success why it is not possible to "make" a 100lb anvil into a 200lb anvil by strapping / bolting / welding it to a 100lb stand.

The letter is described to show '1000'. The prefix 'kilo' is derived from the Greek word chilioi or khilioi. Its short form was used for the metric system. So 5k could mean $5000 if de discussion was about money. Since the context is weight, it is rather obvious it means 5000g ... if you want to say kilometers you need the letter m after it. Unless we are hiking and you tell me we have another 5k to go. I will understand then that I probably must give up. In a metric country 5k is perfectly acceptable for 5 kilograms. Now if you want to enter the kilo force vs the kilo mass kaboodle, I pass. Too boring. By the way ... a much more interesting subject is the weight of hammers people refer to as their prefered hammer. Usually the weight of a hammer is related to the job and not the strength of the arm in question. I have to smile when people seem to make a contest about the size of their prefered hammer. The classic ...is bigger better? comes to mind. I try to use my 10k sledge hammer to forge my next scroll ...

I have a 5k and a 10k ... what's that? 11lb and 22lb. They surely get very little use.

From someone who does not use swage block and does not even own one. If I really needed to use one ... it is clear that using the block on its edge on the same stand designed to use it on the side is not a good idea. Unstable and way too high. i would make a stand with a slot in the center to fit the block down the slot and so having the working surface at table height. A shaft through the center and two removable supports at each corner means you can turn the block around without any lifting by removing the corner supports and replacing them. if you want to use the face you can build a contraption to lift it out of the slot and lay it on the stand or ... have a second block permanently on the side. PS You could have one permanently on top, flat, and another on the side of the same table mounted on a shaft that allows you to turn it ...

It's an old superstition. A knife is a weapon and can be misused. If you gift a knife that is later used for the wrong purpose you would probably feel responsible. if the receiving party buys it off you even for a token amount, it is not longer a gift. A bit out there but in Europe it extends to other objects like ties you can hang yourself with (apparently) or handkerchiefs that can bring tears ... just a superstition with not much logic to it. Lovely anvil Jason, hope to see it polished with elbow grease

Alec uses mostly just the one burner, the second occasionally and the third one in the middle he got rid of.