CaptainSpaulding

If I did choose to go with the wire wheel, I guess I could keep a spray bottle on hand and just spritz it with a little water as I went along to keep the dust to a minimum. Would that change the effectiveness of the wire wheel?

I just got myself a pretty beat up 134 lb old anvil which may or may not be a mouse hole, and it's got a thick coat of grey paint on it. I have no idea about the history of the anvil or the paint so I'm not going to use an abrasive to remove it for fear that it could be lead paint. This is a backyard hobby so I'm not in an indistrial zoned area and I have a relatively small property so chemicals and toxic waste aren't really something I know anything about or want to deal with at this stage. I also have a 3 year old who loves playing in the backyard and I do a lot of gardening, reinforcing the 'no chemical' option. I've read a lot about cleaning up old anvils and there seems to be a split in opinion between those who recommend cleaning it up and others who say to just leave it alone or cover it in a more attractive layer of paint to make it look a little more appealing. The problem is that when I look at it with the chipped milky grey paint it looks bad. Not "character" or "heavily used" bad, I mean just plain bad. My first inclination is to just paint it black and move on but I'd like to try to figure out what kind of anvil it is and I can see that there are markings under the paint but it's so thick I can't make anything out besides the 1 1 1 weight across the waist. With all the research I've done all I seem to be able to find are references to either abrasives or chemicals. Nobody ever mentions a paint stripping heat gun. I know I can't be the first one to think about that so why doesn't anyone recommend it? It is as simple as the fact that the heat would damages the anvil? I'm lucky in that the paint has worn off down to about 3" below the edge of the face plate so I'm not worried about heat damaging it. Mine gun gets up to about 1,500F but I wouldn't be heating anything beyond the stage where the paint could be scraped off so I don't think the heat would go much deeper than an inch or two. Someone help?

Hey, whose drill are you calling dinky? That' thing's a 30 year old black and decker I'll have you know which is easily one step up from dinky. I'd say it's at least in the "Mickey Mouse" category of tools, haha. Yeah, I figured. I've never been accused of being a rocket scientist or brain surgeon but I'm smart enough to know that there's a lot I DON'T know, so I'd rather something take a bit longer but be safe doing it. I pondered getting a nice honking grinder a few weeks ago but when I picked it up I knew it was too much tool for me right now. I think the 5 amp import might be a decent starting point for grinders, after I get a firm command of the electric drill. I have a complete set of Bosch 18V cordless tools that has done me very well but all I was doing was building tool sheds and work tables out of dimensional lumber...it's become quite clear very quickly how different of a game iron is. I also have a 3 year old daughter who is fascinated by all the noise and ruckus I create outside and she loves watching me "bang the orange thing with the hammer on the pointy table" so I really want to set a good example for her too. She sits inside the kitchen window watching everything I do, and then when the high speeds and intense heat are all done for the day, she comes out and helps me bang on some modeling clay with a rubber mallet. To be honest though, I'd take the Cooper over the Expedition. Those babies are fun to zip around in.

Maybe being a complete newb has its advantages. Having only been exposed to power tools since I became a homeowner in my early 30's I have a great fear of any power tool, including 18V cordless drills. Having said that, I've been using a 3" wire brush or cup in an electric drill to clean up a lot of stuff so instead of holding the material and taking it to the abrasive, I've been clamping it into the vise and holding the drill. Am I missing something? Do the higher speeds of the grinders make a huge difference?

Ah okay, gotcha. I thought you meant there's an easier way to do it from a solid piece of steel.

Wow, really? As a complete newcomer I feel like this is something I could tackle on a smaller scale fairly early on. What IS the easy way?

Thanks MO. I just called him back to confirm the dimensions listed on his ad and he says it's only 35 lbs and 14" L x 3"W x 7"H so I think I'll take your advice and pass on it. I'm willing to sacrifice one or two aspects of an anvil to get something usable to start with but this one is too small, too light, the wrong material and in pretty rough shape. It fails in all categories. I thought this might be the one. Oh well...moving along then.

G'morning everyone! This anvil is available to me for $35. I spoke to the owner and he says it's cast iron, not forged and he used to use it to make rivets and work leather on it. Even as an ASO, as a first anvil it must be worth it. The owner says there are no identifiable markings on it so neithe he or I can ID it. Thanks!

I noticed that too...although I'm obviously too late for the 24th. Does anybody know anything about the demo next weekend in Kitchener? Specifically, what the times are? The info on the OABA website seems to somewhat contradict itself. I'm coming from the east end of Toronto and even if it's a 1 hour demo by one person, I'm going to go but I can't seem to figure out how long it's going to be. I need to make arrangements for babysitting and although my wife is interested in my new hobby, I'm not sure she'd be interested in watching 4 - 8 hours of blacksmithing demonstrations.

Excellent, thank you steve sells.

This brought me to tears. Thank you.

Just bumping my own thread to clarify a couple of things...is there a specific place for those of us who are new to this forum and blacksmithing in general where we can ask the "simple" questions? I know some communities really frown upon starting new threads just to ask "should I use a 2lb or 3 lb hammer?" type questions and I hate hijacking/derailing someone else's on-topic discussion just to ask a really basic question. At another forum that I frequent, there's a "small, simple questions" thread. Do we have something similar that I haven't found yet? Thanks!

This is the same reason I do it (and I've only been doing this for exactly 10 days). If I keep the same grip for the entire duration while I'm striking I'm guaranteed to get blisters on my not-yet-toughened-up hands. As you said, letting the hammer head rest on the face of the anvil allows for a quick release of the handle and then a re-grip, all in a single motion. Over time (again, 10 days) the quickness of that motion has already developed into what looks like extra blows but in reality has an actual function. I've chopped down quite a few trees and pounded a lot of things into the ground and I do the same thing with the axe/sledge either on the ground or by resting part of the handle on my leg.

Thomas, it absolutely rockets the hammer back. I'm afraid to give it a good strike because just the weight of the hammer bouncing on it causes a really quick snap back. I had my wife give it a tap and she thought I was doing some kind of magic trick. She couldn't understand why it came back with almost as much force as it went down with. Excellent...never thought of that. A bickern was my second thought so yeah, I'll just go with that. As for it being hardened, when I tap the corner with a hammer it dents very easily. I don't know if that means anything but it's definitely easy to deform. Thanks for your input.

Not even started yet but here's what I got today. Long story short, I got 143 lbs of steel in two pieces (70 and 73lbs - the taller is heavier) and I have no idea what they are or exactly what they are made of. I met the nicest stranger I've ever met in my life today and he sold them to me for $30. He was already my new favourite person before he offered them to me. I don't know much about rebound but these things are really bouncy with the hammer. For a horn I have a pickaxe kind of thing that I want to cut one side off so only the ring and one point remain. I want to then use one of those side stumps as a base support for the soon to be horn. I would just keep heating the ring and base and hit it into the corner until it sat perfectly and then heat it from the base up to the point, upsetting it until it fattened out enough that it looked right. I would also 'flare' it from the width of the stump on the bottom up to the width of the top. Once the shape is perfectly lined up I'll have to figure out a way to permanently attach it. I know absolutely nothing about welding but I do know these are different materials so I don't know what that means for weldability. If I can get it welded on so that they become one I'll try my hand at sanding/grinding and clean it up and finish it off. This would be my first project so I'm a little intimidated and I'm thinking I should get used to hitting hot steel for a while before undertaking a relatively advanced project. Maybe if I find myself doing something more than something else I could customize it to my exact needs. I also see a lot of pritchel holes there too, and I really hope there's a way to make one or two of them square so I could have hardy holes too. Maybe turn it into a swage block? Any ideas or opinions are welcome because the only knowledge I have is from watching youtube videos, some very light reading and heating a rebar on my charcoal grill to make a coal rake on that vise anvil. I'm really glad I didn't break it. That white stuff is sticker residue. Obligatory new guy comment: if this is the wrong place for this, please move to proper thread. I can't seem to figure out how to submit more than two pictures so as soon do I'll have them up. Edit - hope this works... http://imgur.com/a/xpR0b#0

Great, thanks. All I'll be doing for now is practicing hammering and shaping techniques with rebar and sections of coil springs for a few hours at a time on weekends. I'll assume that's a long way from a LOT. I wasn't really looking forward to heating these things up and then quenching them in anything so I welcome the news that I shouldn't do anything to them. That's what I was hoping to hear. As for OABA events, I am actually planning a trip out to Kitchener for the christkindl demonstrations in a couple of weeks.

Thanks. From what I've learned here so far, the more mass there is under the striking surface the more effectively and efficiently you can move metal. Everyone who has gone from laying the rail flat to standing it up has said the differences in rebound and sturdiness have been night and day. Maybe I've interpreted it incorrectly but that's how I read it.

Hi everyone, Just like most others I spent a fair amount of time lurking to get a feel for the place and it seems like this is one of the most genuine, helpful forums I've come across. In the few weeks I've been here I don't think I've seen a single snarky comment or harsh word directed at anyone which makes for a great learning environment. Anyway, I've spent the last month or so collecting scrap materials to work with (rail spikes, coil springs, leaf springs, etc.) and I've built a brake drum forge in an old stainless steel grill/bbq so I've been ready to go for a few days except I didn't have a striking surface of any kind until today. I have a few friends who work for CN rail so getting a piece of rail isn't going to be hard but there's something about rail that scares me. Considering the fact that the striking surface is so small when they're stood up on end, I'm just afraid of hurting myself if I miss. I've been on the hunt for an anvil but I need something in the meantime which is where today changed everything. I stumbled across a tool and die maker's shop while out looking for someone to talk to about anvils and just walked in, introduced myself and told him what I was looking for. He offered me a bit of advice and gave me a few names and numbers of people to call who go to tool auctions and I thanked him profusely. THEN I told him that in the meantime I'd still like to get my hands on anything steel and flat to use as a striking surface, described the dimensions of what would be ideal (I just picked a10"x10"x10" cube out of thin air) and he walked me to the back of his shop where he had two honking chunks of steel that look like they were used as dies (I'm just going by what I remember him saying). He said they were in a lot he bought at an auction but he had to take them to get what he wanted and they've been sitting there for 6 months and he had no use for them. $30 later and they were in my trunk! They ring as loudly as anything I've heard in real life or on a youtube video so I know they're not cast iron but they seem really really soft as the corners/edges seem to dent very easily even when lightly tapped with a hammer. Since I'm still new here, I'm unsure which subforum I should use to get advice and information on how to go about hardening it. If someone could point me in the right direction I'd really appreciate it. Thanks in advance and I look forward to actually interacting with you all and learning as much as I can. I'm at work so I don't have my camera with me but I will edit/update this post with pics as soon as I get home tonight (about 8 PM Toronto time). 10 PM updated with pics: http://imgur.com/a/xpR0b#0