C.D. Mitchell

The shop is already heated and even if it wasn't I wouldn't be concerned about losing heat. I've had CO poisoning three times in my life and it's not something I want to have again. I'm teaching a class of students at a school and I want to make sure the students and myself are safe. I don't have pictures yet, but pending pictures I wanted to throw the general question out there to see if anyone has used a local exhaust or mechanical ventilation for a propane forge and how they set that up. Again, this is in a high school where backwoods jerry-rigging or "it's good enough" doesn't cut it. I want to teach these students how to forge steel...not how to get treated for CO poisoning.

Here's a new one that I haven't seen anything written about: What is the best setup/positioning for a mechanical local exhaust being used to provide ventilation for a propane forge? There is already a ventilation system in place for use with welding and sucks a lot of air. Cross draft or natural ventilation is not an option, which is why the local ventilation system was put in place. The openings of the vents are similar to a standard sheet metal floor duct like the HVAC system in your house and were positioned on the welding table next to whatever was being welded. The welding tables have now become forge tables, and I would like to use the ventilation system for the forges. So, to repeat the question: What is the best setup/positioning for a mechanical local exhaust being used to provide ventilation for a propane forge? Let me know your thoughts.

Nice find on your anvil. I also have an Arm and Hammer, and it is on the higher end of forged anvils. My serial number is 39193 and was manufactured in 1922-1923. I believe this would put the date of manufacture for your anvil around the turn of the century. As far as weight goes, Arm and Hammer stamped the weight in pounds next to the "Wrought Iron" stamping. Look around your logo at different angles, the stamping may be light. You can sleep well at night knowing you have a high quality anvil and a useful piece of history.

The safest way to cut on a tank is to not do it at all. If you're wondering why, spend 30 seconds on youtube and google looking up explosions from welding and cutting on drums and tanks that had flammable gas or liquid in it. A lot of people have been hurt or killed doing stuff like that, so do yourself a favor and don't add to the statistics. Even filling a tank with water doesn't clean it out enough to make it completely safe. With some flammable liquids and gases, even the smallest trace left in a tank can create enough fumes to cause an explosion. Probably not a lesson you'd want to learn the hard way. There's always other ways to get a pipe.

Stromam, I think you've done an excellent job on your anvil build. Not only does it look good, but it's your own creation and you're seeking good advice. I too will be curious to see the final result, keep up the good work. With that being said, the ingenuity and "outside the box" thinking represented in this post is great as well. For crying out loud, who else would have thought of a 1000 pound revolving anvil and swage combination? I've never seen anything like it, and probably would not have thought of it myself, but it's a great idea and I hope someone uses it. All in all I think all the ideas in this post are good ones. I'm sure Stromam is learning a lot from his anvil build, even if it's not related to blacksmithing in particular. I don't think it matters what we're creating, as long as we using our brains and getting our hands dirty doing it!

Put a crimped wire brush wheel on an angle grinder and go to town for the next few hours. My 305 pound anvil took me about six hours to completely clean up, an anvil your size could take longer depending on how tough that paint is. A crimped wire wheel will leave you with that "black steel" look, a twisted or knotted wire wheel will likely give you that gray blue look. Wear a mask when you do this, rust and old paint being ground off isn't too friendly to the lungs. Once your done you could repaint it if you like, I just give mine a good coating of linseed oil which protects but doesn't hide the metal. Don't put a coating on the top however, as it will burn off with use and that could make for some nasty fumes. Enjoy your new anvil, it sounds like you got a good one!

If it turned out as well as you say I think you did a heck of a job. That's a pretty ambitious thing to take on without any experience. There's a lot of folks that have had plans to do things like that but never actually dive into it because they're afraid they'll screw it up. You've proved that jumping in and tackling something with a "just do it" attitude goes a long way.

There's folks on this site that know a lot more about the history of anvil manufacturing than I do, but the fact that your big anvil doesn't have a pritchel hole leads me to believe that it is a very old anvil. As McPherson said, early 1800's would be my guess. I don't know enough about the different manufacturers to be able to tell who might have made it, other than the fact that it has a Mousehole look to it. It's actually in pretty incredible condition for being almost two centuries old. It appears you have an ASO and a very cool piece of history on your hands.

Looks like you've got a great start on your forge. As far as the doors go you have a couple options. You could run stainless screws through your forge door with the points on the inside, then press the blanket onto the screw points to hold it in place. You could also cut the blanket longer than your forge chamber, enough that the extra sticking out will fill the void in your door when it's closed. Then there's the option of pouring a castable refractory into your door. And lastly, you could eliminate the door all together and simply stand up fire bricks in front of the forge opening. I've found that most things in blacksmithing present you with lots of options...part of being a blacksmith is learning how to decide what's best for you. Keep shooting questions if you have them, and good luck with your forge.

Revtor those are some good ideas. In fact I've already got some things in mind for that. I was planning on using Simpson strong-tie concrete anchors to clamp down my anvils and attach tool racks. The nice thing about using an anchor like that is that I won't have to worry about casting anchors, all thread, or nuts into the concrete during the pour...I can just pour the stand, then drill and add the anchors wherever I need to after it's all dried. Not only will they hold plenty strong, it'll have a simple and clean look to it, which is something I strive for in my fabrication. I'll do my best to post pictures...computer technology is not my strong suit.

I'm in the process of building several anvil stands out of concrete. Each base will be 12x15 inches and the height will vary depending on the anvil. I made a simple wooden from and will pour them with QuickCrete crack resistant cement. Each stand will be between 250-300 pounds depending on the height. It's true that the heavier your stand is and the more solidly your anvil is attached to it, the less your anvil will move, which means you get work done more efficiently. By making the stands out of concrete and bolting the anvils to them, the combined weight will be well over 500 pounds, which would be pretty immobile under most circumstances. Another reason I chose concrete is that it is much cheaper per pound than steel is, even at scrap prices. I just finished making the form and will hopefull pour the concrete soon. I'll let you know how they turn out and how it works once the anvils are mounted to them. Here's a link that gave me some good ideas for my build: http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/21414-weekend-project-anvil-stands/

At first glance I would have said Mousehole, but the writing on the side obviously proves otherwise. It's probably a smaller, less common manufacturer that someone with a copy of Anvils in America could give you some info on. The numbers on the other side represent the weight of the anvil in the English hundredweight system. 1 = 1 hundredweight, which is 112 lbs 0 = 0 quarter-hundredweight, which is 28 lbs, and 22 = an additional 22 pounds. So on your anvil that would be 112+0+22= 134 pounds as it came from the factory. As far as usability, that anvil has a lot of life left in it. And as was said previously, you can't put a price on a family heirloom like that. Just think about all the work that has been done on that anvil throughout the generations of your family. Then think about how you could had to that history and have something to pass down to your kids one day. Pretty cool stuff!

If you build a 30" long forge you'll go broke paying for the propane to heat it. I'd suggest building a forge that gives you a chamber between 4 to 6 inches wide and 8 to 12 inches long. Build it in such a way that you can pass a long piece of stock through the back of it. That will allow you to work stock of any length, but also only heat as much steel as you would need to work in one heat. That will save you a lot of fuel, and still give you the capacity and versatily you need. As far as forging a sword, I have no advice to offer. However, I do know that blacksmithing at it's simplest is made up of a handful of basic skills. Once those basic skills are learned and mastered individually, you begin to learn how to use them in conjunction with one another in a way that produces whatever it is you're trying to make. Take the time to master those basic skills first and in time you'll know what it would take to forge a sword.

Looks like you have a fine anvil there, you'll get plenty of use out of it. What's even better is that you have the ingenuity and gumption to do something yourself. Those two things mixed with a little common sense will serve you well as a blacksmith...and in a lot of other areas of life too. Keep up the good work and be sure to check other sections of this site for forge ideas. Also, don't be afraid to ask questions if you need help with something. There's a wealth of experience and knowledge on this site and everyone is pretty generous with it.

I just built a little micro forge for bladesmithing and tool making. The interior chamber is only 3.25" diameter and 9" long. I use a single 3/4 inch burner to heat it. The great thing about the small chamber is it heats up really fast and gets really hot. You'd be surprised how much work you can do in a small forge like that. I wouldn't be able to forge a shephards hooks in it, but no single forge will be able to do everything. Buy or build a forge that is going to best suit what you want to do.

If you have a local steel scrap yard nearby, they may have plenty of useable anvils there. I'm not talking the traditional london pattern anvil, but you can usually find a decent size hunk of steel with a couple flat surfaces to beat on, and often times that's all you need for bladesmithing. And the nice thing about getting it fro a scrap yard is that you only have to pay scrap prices. If you want some ideas, check out the Sea Robin knifesmithing anvils. It's just a big hunk of square stock turned on end and used as an anvil. Don't think that just because it doesn't have a horn, step, heel, hardy, and pritchel that it can't be used as a fine anvil.

Welcome Steve! I'm a high school shop teacher as well, best job in the world. In fact I'm going to be teaching a class on welding and blacksmithing at the school here soon, both the students and myself are excited for that! Let me know how your experience as a shop teacher has been and any cool things you have going on at your school. I'm always looking for great projects and experiences to give my students. By the looks of the picture I'd say you have plenty of useable life left in that anvil. And at 250 lbs, that'll be plenty of anvil to make tongs, tools, or whatever else you want. Give it a couple hours with a wire brush on an angle grinder and you might be surprised by how well it cleans up. And in regards to the horn, you can always make a small horn to fit in your hardy hole. What's left of your horn is still perfect for drawing out stock, which for what I do is my main use of the horn anyways. Congratulations on your find, now put it to the good use it was intended for!

Use them as anvils. By all means don't throw them away! That way when a young buck comes along wanting to learn something about blacksmithing from you he'll have a nice hunk of steel to beat on while he learns how to swing a hammer. Then, if you're feeling really generous, you can give him one of those pieces to use as his first anvil. That would probably mean the world to a young guy trying to get started.

After all the broken anvils that I've seen in pictures and in person, I'm beginning to wonder how in the world someone would be able to break an anvil and what they had to do to cause it to happen. I've seen anvils with the horn or heel broken clean off, the face completely missing, and who knows what other kinds of injuries. The question I always ask myself when I see broken anvils is "how the heck did someone do that?" So my question to you all is have you ever witnessed the breaking of an anvil? Not just a chip or a ding, but the catastrophic failure of an tool that was built for the purpose of being indistructable? I'd be very interested to hear any stories about this, preferable firsthand experiences. Let the blacksmithing folklore begin!

That's exactly what I did. If I really want to torch something I'll break out the one inch, but for normal use I just use a 3/4. I can get over 12 hours of forge time out of a 20lb propane tank with a 3/4 inch burner. Have you looked into the Mongo style burners that Rupert Wennig designed? The first burner I built was a Ron Reil EZ burner, but since finding the mongo burner design I've started using those. They're easier and cheaper to make, more adjustable, and more effiecient. I've built both 1" and 3/4" versions and they both work great. Here's a link to the design: http://ronreil.abana.org/Minimongo.jpg These plans are for a 1" burner, but as long as you adjust your measurements and sizes proportionally you can build any size burner with this design. Keep up the good work on the forge! I've found that taking the extra time to do things right is usually worth it...but it's hard not to rush when you want to get to pounding steel!

I would cut it down to 12 inches in length. Not only will that make your chamber smaller, but it also allows the most efficient use of your insulating blanket. That stuff typically comes in a 24 inch wide roll, so having a 12 inch long forge body allows you to simply cut the roll in half which leaves no material to waste. Then you can add doors or bricks to cover the openings and you're set. If your body is 8 inches I.D. without the blanket in it, that will leave you with a 4 inch I.D. forge chamber once the blanket is in. A 3/4 inch burner would definitely heat up a 4x12 round chamber, and a 1 inch would make it searingly hot...not a bad thing. Just remember that a 1 inch burner will use about twice the amount of fuel as a 3/4 inch, so if you can adequately heat your forge with a 3/4 inch it will save you fuel in the long run. Keep asking questions if you have them. I've built two forges, a large square one and a small round one, and I'd be happy to offer an advice/lessons that I've learned in the process of building them. And congratulations on being newly married! My wife and I just celebrated our 4 month wedding anniversary yesterday. Life together is definitely better than life alone. Just make sure that your new hobby doesn't take priority over your wife...giving our wives the attention, love, and care they deserve usually results in a much happier life for everyone.

Nice job cleaning it up! My 305 pounder took 5 or 6 hours to clean up, but still worth it. After seeing those numbers stamped on the front foot of the anvil, I would almost positively say it's a Trenton. My 105lb. Trenton has almost identical markings...on the front foot it reads W105 A 94479. With the horn facing left, look for a diamond shapen stamping on the side of the anvil with the word Trenton written in it. The "N" in the middle sometimes looks like an "X". Post those serial numbers on the foot and I bet someone on this site could tell you the date it was made within 24 hours. While they're at it, could someone look up the serial number of my Trenton anvil? - W105 A 94479 - No matter what make it is you've got a good anvil. Putting some time and elbow grease into restoring it a little bit gives you an appreciation for the way it was made a 100 years ago...which in turn gives you the desire to make things with it that will be appreciated by someone else 100 years from now.

Congratulations on your find! My first anvil was also a Trenton, they're great anvils. Take a few hours to clean it up with a wire brush wheel on an angle grinder and you'll be happy with the results. It's slow, one square inch at a time, but the end result is worth it. Nothing like cleaning up a century old piece of history and giving it that "new old" look. After you clean it all off wipe it down with some boiled linseed oil. That will protect and won't dry off like other coatings, and also allows the natural look of the metal to show through. Again, congratulations...now use it!

Nice find! A wire brush wheel on an angle grinder does wonders. I'm working on cleaning up a 305lb. anvil currently....that's a lot of surface area to cover 1 square inch at a time, but the end result is worth it. Nothing like making a century old piece of history look like new again...and then using it!

I did a little wire brushing on the anvil and found a serial number. The number is 39193. I don't believe A and H used the hundred weight system, but rather stamped the weight on the side of the anvil under the logo. Could someone with a copy of anvils in America look up that serial number and give me any information?