Marc1

Yes, I see your point ... actually the anvil's point ha ha. A northern German pattern would be better for a mandrel than a PW with their true conical horn. I suppose that in order to do this activity safely, one could build a stand that can hold down the anvil in different positions. Not hard to do. I just hate anvils that walkabout. The very essence of an anvil is its stability. I work with horn on either side, and suppose that the north or south pointing horn is just folklore right?

Yes, I can see the value of a progressive application of different grit flap disk on the edge of a vice to achieve a perfect polish ... to then whack a red hot 2 inch flat bar with a 3 pound rounding hammer on it ... Oh my.

Mm ... usually I like your ideas Glenn, but moving your anvil in any way off it's stand seems a bit out there. If I had done that when I worked in a smithy I would have been kicked out the door quick smart. Sure, in theory it is a valid idea. If you don't have a cone mandrel use the anvil's horn. Not the same but it will work. How do you propose to stabilise an anvil standing on it's heel? I don't know, I don't like the idea. People have their anvil poorly fitted and rickety to begin with. Make it movable? ... I have a small 20 kilos Kohlswa I can move around and it's not even on a proper stand, just on the bench or the floor. Another 40k farrier is also off it's stand and portable but anything bigger seems not safe to move to me.

That should clean off with a worn flap disk. No point leaving it as it is. Good score! polish the top with some hot steel and some elbow grease ...

It's coming on a truck from interstate, that's the easy part. They will load it on a trailer with a forklift at the truck's depot. Then it's up to me. I can reverse the tailer up a (steep) hill and onto the side of the workshop. From there I drop it on a piece of plywood sitting on top of a car tyre and put it on a trolley and wheel it in the shop. There I have a chain pack attacked to a beam to lift it on a stand ... when I have made one If I ever find a 600 lb anvil, the procedure will likely be different

I always check the ads for anvils. It's not easy to find anything decent down here. Occasionally something comes up but usually at outrageous prices. To a point that Refflinghaus new is cheaper. I kid you not. Example ... wanting price is $1000. According to the owner he already refused an offer of $700. That's alright with me. Offer and demand I suppose. To me it's worth about $50. That PW came up out of the blue. Well used but not abused, have yet to get the story. Good ring and rebound, minus the edges (I will weld and make razor sharp again just like from factory.) Paid $1100 after a bit of bargaining down from $1500. Now I'm committed to make a nice base for it. May be a variable height one (?) wait an see. I am very slow with projects since the list is long. Currently renovating my veranda, now that is some monkey business ...

407 lb PW in need of a new home found it's way down under. 180k of beauty. Now I have to figure out how to grind it flat and weld the edges straight ... Only kidding ha ha

What size vise, it's a bit of a how long is a piece of string kinda question. it totally depends from the task at hand. I had to replace the bearing on a 1/4" shank roundover bit for a trimmer and it was a bit funny to see it inside a 6" vise. I am the one that thinks big is good, bigger is better, but I am aware that that is not necessarily true, only that it pleases me. Still looking for a 8" post vise

I agree with most that was said. The only thing I want to add is that post vice belongs on a post and parallel vice belongs on the bench or a stand. To do hot work on a post vice, particularly if you want to make scrolls on a jig, you need to walk around the vice unobstructed. No little shelves, trays, hammer holders of any description. Just a post and ample room around it. At least that is how I learned to work. Still learning by the way

I bought a PW anvil from a 65 yo guy who at age 15 hid the anvil in the parents garage on behalf of an "old guy" friend of the family, that asked him to get rid of the anvil. After parents passed away, still liviing in the same house, the owner put an add on gumtree and I bought it off him. i had to ask more than usual to get the story and noticed the guy was not very happy that I was loading the anvil on the back of my 4wd. The funnies part is that the anvil has a name and surname welded on the side of it. Who knows what the real story is. I also thought in grinding the name off the anvil, but changed my mind. The name will stay put. Part of the story I guess. As far as price, at $200, it is a good price even if it was a vulcan ... what am I saying, even if it was made in China. That anvil would be worth $2000 here give or take.

Sure they are not great. I had one, not chinese but made in Argentina. Slowly the surface became filled with marks and there was so many that they sort of blended in and flattened out. The edges mushroomed like an old sledge hammer and the square horn sort of bended down a bit. It was funny yet somehow I managed to make stuff on it until I found a kohlswa that cost me about 10 times more. i am still kicking myself for not buying a few meters of that monstrous crane rail. At the price they sell anvils here, i could make $1000 out of 2m of rail.

Yes Frosty, not a big fan of ordinary railroad track regardless of steel quality. May as well forge on a church bell A cheap 40K chnese cast anvil may sound anathema to someone who has a PW but can be a godsend for most beginners. It will not last, will not be the best, but you can work on them and get started for little money. And if the heel brakes off, you can have a laugh about it. Having said that, there was a scrapyard nearby that had a pile of Crane rail chopped in 2 meter pieces. Man that stuff was HUGE! That would have made a few hundred of little anvils for beginners and not so beginners. The 'head' of the rail was easy 4" diameter ... Unfortunately they closed overnight and all the stuff has disappeared, probably in some furnace somewhere.

I agree with you that a cheap new cast anvil is not particularly good but if you can buy one, it surely beats a railroad track. There only problem is that they are soft and will mark when you miss, so don't miss and hit the hot steel only. And I don't agree that you buy your first anvil for the rest of your life. I have 5 and will probably buy some more. If you search this forum you will find hundreds of post that address your question, from forklift tines to vertical railroads, lumps of steel from the scrapyard and the occasional suggestion of a rock (dismiss as a joke of course) Most people get on the quest of buying an anvil and eventually find one after a more or less long time. And that is fine, but anvil is not all you need. You need a forge, a few hammers, tongs, safety gear, vice (s) punches, chisels etc. All achievable with little money if you have the time to look and ask around. Best of luck and let us know what you find

Solingen was famous for it's steel and was a blacksmith hob for a very long time.

Wow JLP ... that is a massive stand.Can you elaborate on it? Is the anvil sitting in a sand box? Can't really see. And what is the purpose of the SHS sticking out with a locking bolt? What do you fit in there? Nice work, will take a forklift to move around. Sure Thomas I agree ... but from there to implying that poverty and misery is somehow a choice and that we are different is going too far. There is nothing good in poverty or malnutrition or working without any protection.

David, I agree with your points 100%. You see so many videos of Smith who seem to have talent yet working on wobbling anvils and vices that are kept in place by a few nails. It's the case of the mechanic driving a wreck or a dentist with missing crumbling teeth. What you are proposing is to lift the game, to have some pride in your set up. Couldn't agree with you more. As far as the video from Ethiopia. What is your point ede? Are you saying that crouching down on a rock is just as good as standing in front of a modern day anvil using goggles and hearing protection and a leather apron?? Why? It isn't! not for a minute. it's bad for the back and knees, the eyes, and is certainly extremely limited in what can be achieved. The social implications are a completely different subject and the long bow of "different" is equally distasteful. Surely the skill and endurance of people working in subhuman condition must be admired. i wouldn't last long, that's for sure, but from there to say it's just as good as what we do? Please.

When this and other videos showing how some can do work with very little may be interesting, I don't share the general enthusiasm for the way they must work. Somehow it makes me sad. And no, I don't feel the inclination to try to use a rock for anvil or an old truck tube for blower and I certainly will not even attempt to work crouching down with no eye protection. Would certainly love to ship him a dozen safety glasses.

I would take it as a practice exercise and add a plate to it. I would use the Gunther method to weld a new plate to it all around and as an experiment, plug weld the plate in two places or three in the centre. Better than 50/50 chance of success.

Found this little 150 lb beauty, rescued from the dirt floor in the back of an old shed. The owner cleaned it up a bit and changed a few bolts. He also added a piece of wood where there should be a steel spacer ... ... I hope to do a better job soon. Can someone tell me how are this supposed to be fixed to the bench with the bolt heads sticking out? Drill a hole in the bench? Make a purpose built plate for it? Use the same bolt holes with longer bolts? What is the role of that fin under the front jaw?

I don't think that one foot addition to the ramp will make any noticeable difference. In fact I know it will make no difference. May be at 2' it will start to feel less steep. The additional weight will be a consideration but if you want to do it, butt weld and gusset on each side and centre of the channel will be stronger than the channel itself. Or ... get a couple of wood blocks.

Very strange post. You say you stopped listening to experts. Yet you acquired a degree by listening to them. And then you worked with others with more experience and again learned from them. So clearly you listen to experts and learn from them like any other mortal. Your problem seems to be one of trust. You don't trust or believe what you are told by those whose experience you discard as incorrect. We all do that, it is a survival mechanism. I have a very healthy mistrust of politicians, climate experts and financial advisers. But my mistrust is based on ignorance, because I know my knowledge of this subjects is basic at best, and I fear i will not be able to discriminate between what is truth and what is a loaded statement with a hidden agenda. So I apply a blanket bias and reject the lot as a survival strategy. If I had an array of deep knowledge in a subject, and encountered someone else with a stack of experience in the same field I would welcome the opportunity to engage in intense discussions and exchange lots of experiences and research results and would consider this a blessing to advance the topic that I have at heart. To get stuck in petty disagreement over very basic facts, or dissent over definitions or semantics happens when one or both sides have very little at hand to use and exchange and each party fears to lose something in the process, not least to lose face, something a scientist or expert has no fear to lose since he or she know well their own value and need not defending. I am sure I can learn a lot from an engineer or metallurgist and conversely I am sure you may be able to learn a thing or two from me, let alone from others way more astute than me. It's a two way street. No one is trying to convert you to something you don't want to be. This is like a conversation in a Pub, over a beer. Doesn't get much more serious than that even when what is discussed is life experience in some cases stretching many decades. I am ready to learn something if you are. Cheers

Well that surely beats the slow press I've seen in action. Needs finishing sure, but you are very close. Foot pedal for sure, and with your fabrication skills, a silencing box for the motor and a long exhaust pipe over the roof would be a good addition.

You are not wrong, and that applies to much more than horses You are not wrong, and that applies to much more than horses

Mate ... I don't want to dampen your enthusiasm but that hammer is way too big for you.

Aiaiaiiiii ... bananas! Mate ... yes! ... a rounding hammer is useful, run and buy one before you get hit by a bit of stock squeezed out between a fuller and a cross peen hammer whacked by a cross eyed striker on a round edged anvil with a small base and a square hole that is too far back. Mm ... should have included the horn there somehow ...