C.D. Mitchell

Well gentlemen, I dropped the hammer and bought this anvil! Met a retired welder in the process and had a good chat. One thing I love about pursuing this trade is all the great people you meet in the process. After I gave the anvil a good look-over and did a couple rebound tests we manhandled the monster into the back of my truck by sliding it up a couple of 4x4's. Brought it back to my shop and cleaned up that marking on the side...most definitely an Arm and Hammer, and a beautifully forged one at that. I did a lot of research on Arm and Hammer anvils before I bought it and this is the biggest one that I've found any record of. The proportions are perfect, the edges are crisp, and after a little wire brushing it'll be clean enough to eat off of! It's dead flat, rings beautifully, and rebounds more than an NBA player. Being from Ohio, it's great to own a piece of industrial history brought to life right here in my home state, and I'm looking forward to getting another lifetime of work out of it. I'm now the proud owner of a 300 lb. Arm and Hammer and a 105 lb. Trenton...can't ask for much more than that!

I got the pictures from a guy who's selling it. Says he bought it at a farm auction 20 years ago. He's asking 500 for it, what do you think?

Any idea what make this is? Anvil is about 300lb., 32" long and 14" high. Here's some pictures:

Where in Ohio are you?

As I mentioned in my introduction, I'm a high school industrial arts teacher in Dayton, OH. In January I'll be teaching an introductory welding and blacksmithing course. I'm currently in the process of building forges for the students to use and would love some input. So far I've built a single burner square body forge with a 6x6x12" chamber insulated with two inches of duraboard all around. It runs off either a 3/4" or 1" mongo style burner depending on how hot I want to get. I've never welded in it...the 3/4 gets pretty hot, the 1" will probably bring it to welding temps but I've never tried it. The second forge I have built is of my own design. It's a 7" diameter round body insulate with 2" of kaowool and a stainless steel liner. The stainless liner is 1/8" by 3.25" D and creates an indestructable forge liner. The main purpose for building the forge with a liner like this is because it will be used by students who have never forged before. Needless to say, I don't think an unarmored forge liner would stand up to student use. I love the stainless liner and so far it has held up great. I designed the forge to allow the stainless liner to expand and contract as needed, sort of a free floating design. This forge also runs off of a 3/4" mongo burner and gets very hot very quick without much gas at all. The chamber is 3.25" D and 9" long, which is very small but perfect for making chisels, tongs, tools, and just about anything else that will fit. I hope to forge a hammer head soon, so we'll see how it handles 2" round and square stock. With all that being said, I'm looking to build atleast one or two more forges. I've only had experience with atmospheric burners, but I want to build forges that will be best for student use. Each forge will have 3 students working out of it in a rotation. So what are your thoughts? Should I go for blown burners? Stick to atmospheric? What do you think would be the ideal size and configuration for a big class of beginners?

Quad State will be on my calendar for next year. Depending on when the monthly SOFA meetings fall that could be a great field trip for my metal working class. I'm hoping a lot of students get hooked!

Thanks for the welcome macbruce. I think the need to continue teaching industrial arts is evidenced in the amount of over-educated and under-experienced college graduates who can't find a job in their field and have no skills to pick up the slack. College is great, but it's not for everybody. The world will always need people who can work with their hands. I'd be just as proud of a student who enters a trade and does quality work as I would be of a student who goes on to get a Phd. I'm beyond fortunate to be able to teach these types of skills, and even more fortunate to work at a school that is wanting to build and expand this type of program rather than shut it down.

Name: Collin Mitchell Location: Dayton, OH Occupation: High School Industrial Arts teacher What type of blacksmithing do I do? Currently tool making, and generally anything I have a need for at the time. How and when did I get started in blacksmithing? About two years ago I needed a new belt, so instead of buying one a forged a buckle, stitched some leather, and made myself a new belt. Then, while I was at college I met a fella who'd been welding and forging for a few decades and he showed me the ropes of blacksmithing and welding. My first anvil? A foot long piece of railroad track that I used to make a belt buckle. By a stroke of luck the lady who I bought my leather from had a 105 lb. Trenton anvil in beautiful condition sitting unused in her shop, and she sold it to me for $80. I've never laid down $80 so fast in my life. My first forge? With the help of the gentlemen I met in college, I built a propane forge out of a piece of 10" square steel tubing. With his experience and know-how and a little research I was able to build a heck of a forge that I still use to this day. Who assisted or encouraged me in the craft? Richard McDonald, the retired shop teacher, blacksmith, and welder that helped me get started in metal working. What event changed my attitude about blacksmithing? It didn't take much...from the first time I beat on a piece of glowing steel I was hooked. What tool has made my life easier in the shop? 1. A real anvil 2. A real forge 3. A real shop What advice would I give to those starting out in blacksmithing? Learn everything you can, use your head, don't give up, and when you don't know how to do something just do it and figure it out as you go. What advice would I give to those already involved in blacksmithing? Don't knock the new guys too hard, we all started somewhere. Also, never stop learning. The day we stop learning is the day we stop growing and becoming better at what we do. What are some interesting things that have happened to me in my life as a blacksmith? A few months after being hired as a first year teacher I was given an opportunity to develop a welding and blacksmithing class from the ground up. Needless to say, it was an awesome opportunity and I ran with it. I've been in the process of gathering and fabricating equipment, designing modifications to the facilities, and writing an official course of study that could one day become the Ohio Department of Education state standard for a high school metal working course. To my knowledge there's no other high school in Ohio that offers a course on welding, much less blacksmithing. I've been doing tons of researching and learning everything I can in preparation for teaching this course for the first time. Any advice/input/resources would be more than welcome!