intrex

Thanks for all of the feedback, 

I worked on the anvil for a little while today. I already had the 3/4" carbide lenox cutsaw so I decided to give it a go.  It actually went surprisingly well.  After about 20 minutes of slow drilling and constant oiling I had the original hole perfectly cut back out.  I think that is all I am going to do until I have worked on this baby for a while.  

I have seen a video of a guy who made a rotating bolster plate that fit in his pritchel hole and then allowed drifting through the hardie.  I plan to do the same thing when I can find something at the scrap yard that will work.  

One of my friends cut down a large oak on his property and is supposed to cut a 21" piece out for me for the stand.  As soon as I get it all together I will post some pics and rebound tests.  This makes my 128lb cisco superior anvil look like a toy.   I can't wait to actually start using it.  

Hello all, 

I had been looking for a 300+ anvil for over a year now and finally stumbled across one on craigslist last week.  Unfortunately it was at 9pm the night before I was leaving at the crack of dawn for my beach vacation.  To my wife's great dismay I dropped packing up the car and drove 30 minutes out to check out the anvil.  I ended up having to move the anvil by myself without any equipment other than hand truck and didn't get packed until 2am in the morning but man was it worth it.  

It turns out it was a 308lb sodefors 1929 anvil  which at first appeared to be in almost mint condition. It looks like it has been very lightly used, there were only a few very minor dings on one edge of the face.  They guy told me it had been sitting in his barn for at least 40 years.  He wanted to make sure I was going to use the anvil so I brought my Hofi hammer out to test rebound and show him that I planned to use it rather than reselling it.  

I was just about ready to buy it when I noticed that it didn't have a pritchel hole.  After looking at it closely I saw that the pritchel had been filled (looks like it was welded shut?).  Then I looked under the heel and noticed that it had some deep strange marks in it under the tip of the heel.  I am pretty sure they aren't power hammer marks from drawing out the heel.  When I noticed this I thought that heel must have been broken and repaired but I couldn't find any seams on the face or side.  The top plate line also looked clean and unbroken on both sides.  I have missed a few large anvils in the past and didn't want to let this beauty go so I decided to get it and figure out the pritchel hole issue later. Does anyone know what the strange work under the heel was for?  Maybe the person who welded the pritchel was trying to heat the anvil from the bottom to make sure the weld would take?  

I am planning to cut the pritchel hole out from the bottom using a 3/4" holesaw which is the exact same size as the pritchel hole.  This seems pretty straight forward but thought I should ask here before cutting into this beautiful anvil.  I am a little worried about the shape of the heel and can't figure out what was done to it.  I am also thinking of putting a very slight radius on all of the edges so they won't crack more while using it.  Is that a bad plan or would you suggest doing anything else before putting this anvil to use?   

Hello Bladesmiths, 

Let me start by saying that I haven't forge a knife yet.  For the past year I have been making small things (bottle openers, tools,  etc..).  I am just finishing up a project and thinking about trying to do a steak knife next.  

I have successfully forge welded mild steel in a few projects.  For the knives I was thinking about trying to use welded cable.  Steel cable is always sitting around at my favorite scrap yard but I haven't picked any up yet.  

My main conern with using a forged steak knife is maintenance.  My wife will definitly eventually put it in the dishwasher. Should I be thinking about doing this in stainless or something else?  

Any general suggestions for this first knife project? 

Hey Everyone, 

I can't believe it has taken so long to get all of the regulations worked out.  I have been talking to city and county planners/permiting officers for probably a month now.  Everyone kept directing me back to someone else or wouldn't get back to me for week.  In the end it looks like somehow I wouldn't be violating any codes or need any permits to use the shipping container as a shop.  Of course I will need to get it inspected for electrical but that looks like the gist of it.  The main reason I was interested in the container is because it can be placed in the location I want to put the shop by simply cutting down a few trees, building 4 footers and then getting a crane to drop the container on the footers.  If I go with a traditional shop I will need to cut down the tress grind down the stumps or have them completely removed grade the entire plot and probably build a retaining wall.  Just getting the area prepted would cost more than the entire container build.  

It looks like venting the container and vibrations from the anvil are going to be my main issues.  I am planning to use a plasma cutter to put windows and a main door on the shop and cut a 22" hole in the roof for the forge vent.  I am still toying with the idea of putting a leaning roof off of the container where I could keep the anvil, pole vice and forge.  That would mean that I would store most of my tools in the container.  I was really trying to get out of the business of having to move all of my tools everytime I started up and shutdown the forge but it may not be possible with my current setup.  

Thanks for all of the ideas and input as the saga continues

MetalMangler,

The mark on the hammer is a D and an M in a circle like the attached illustration.

Thomas,

My anvil is dinged up enough that I am not worried about a few more :).  The hammer rebound is so dead compared to my other hammers that is really messes up my rythm when I tap the anvil in between work piece strikes. 

Hey Jim,

I don't think it was actually made by Hofi.  I believe it was a Hofi inspired hammer.  When I first used the hammer it felt really dead on the anvil.  I have never used a real one before so I am not sure how it should feel but It just seemed like it should feel much more lively. 

Thanks for all of the info,

Do you all think it is a waste of time to heat treat it? 

I have a nice Hofi style hammer that I got used on craigslist.  Unfortunately the epoxy type material that was used to keep the handle on the hammer has failed and the hammer is pretty much unusable now.  I am planning to get a new handle and recondition the hammer.  I have a few questions before getting two far into this. 

The hammer never had as much rebound as my 17$ cheapy "blacksmith" hammer that I bought from lowes.  Does this mean that the hammer may not have been hardended well.  If so, should I try to harden and temper it now that I am going to replace the handle? 

What kind of handle should I get and where is the best place to buy handle blanks?  I really don't like the epoxy design to hold the handle in place.  Can I use a more traditional method with this hammer?

Any tips or pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Well, I learned something about silicone today.  It can go bad!  I used two unopened silicone tubes left over from the bathroom remodel I did in my old house (probably 5 years old).  I thought the consitency was a little strange when I was spreading it on the anvil bottom and on the stand but not until this afternoon did I realize how bad it was.  None of the silicone had cured at all after 24 hours.  It was just a muddy paste consistency.  Apparently you really do need to pay attention to the expiration date on silicone based sealers.  They degrade while they are in the tube.

After removing two tubes of bad silicone from the stand and anvil then cleaning everything with alcohol I reseated the anvil again with brand new silicone. Hopefully everything will be nice and set in the morning. 

The silicon is drying on the stand as we speak.  I am going to let it start to set while watching game of thrones then go out and put one light fresh coat on the anvil and set it on the stand for the evening.  

I am kind of in love with this anvil and may end up taking it to a machine shop to mill the bottom but not this time around.  Maybe on the next stand build :).  

Hey guys,

Thanks for the suggestions.  I wish I had a sheet of lead laying around as that seems like it would be a great way to do it.  I guess I am going to go the new age silicon route though. 

I have been using a filtered respirator while sanding to keep from breathing in the treated lumber dust. 

Hey Everyone,

I decided to build a new anvil stand this weekend because my current stump stand is starting to rot on the bottom and it was getting a bit unstable.  For the new stand I used 4 6X6 landscaping timbers laminated together with a ton of wood glue and eight 10" log lag bolts.  After getting everything setup and letting it dry for a day I put the anvil on it and realized that the anvil didn't sit flat on the stand.  I had already belt sanded the top of the stand to death to get it even but as a final measure got out my hand plan and leveled the entire top.  After putting the anvil back on the stand the wobble was even worse.  This is when I realized that of course the bottom of the anvil isn't perfectly flat. 

I could keep sanding away on the top of the stand until the anvil fits perfectly but I was wondering if there was some easy trick that someone knows of get the anvil to be flush with the stand base?  I read about someone using a bed of silicone but I am a little worried that won't stand the test of time. 

After looking at all of the options I am leaning towards a tall 20 foot shipping container.  The location that I wanted to put the shop is going to be a nightmare to clear and it occured to me that I would only need to cut down the trees down to the ground and then build four concrete footers for the four corners of a container.  I have a friend that has a crane and said he could place it on the footers for me :).  I will need to do some modificatons to it (doors, windows and paint) to make it acceptable to the wife but I think I can do those on my own.  People are doing some crazy things with shipping containers and I have seen some really interesting designs.  The hardest part is probably going to be building a hood for the forge and getting electricity to it.  i will probably just end up running an extension cord just for the blower at first as that is exaclty what I am doing now.  The really cool thing is that if I end up needing more space I can just buy another one and put it on top of the existing one or right next to it then cut holes in them to join the space.  The cheapest I have been able to find so far is aout 2k but for ease of install and what I would get in the end I think it makes the most sense.  It is probably going to take several months before I can get everything together but I will post pictures once it is all setup.  

Thanks DSW, 

The shipping container is an intersting idea.  I will have to look into that as well. 

I think I finally have a space worked out that would be perfect for the shop.  it is going to take a litlte bit of grading and cutting down some trees but it is completely tucked away.  I like the idea of the run in shed Vaughn but if I get that the wifes horse fever is going to go berserk.  Thanks for the auction site old rascal.  I will try to make it out to charlotte to check that out.  I am always looking for remodeling supplies for the house and the kitchen is next on the list.  it looks like they had a ton of kitchen cabinets from the pictures on their site. In the meantime I am going to be trolling craigslist to see if anything interesting pops up for trusses or building supplies. 

Thanks for all of the input, 

Good point about curved sections.  Those are going to have be done by hand for sure.  Do you all have a recommendations for purchasing small chisels?  I don't currently have anything small enough that would work for this project.  

Hey Guys, 

Thanks for all of the input.  Just as a test I tried doing the angled cuts inside of an initial kerf with a dremel cutting disc.  It actually worked surprising well and was much quicker than hand chiseling.  Hopefully it works that easily on the finished piece.  

Wow, 

Nice video.  I am not sure I have the patients or time to do that over the area I was hoping to cover. 

Hey Everyone, 

I have been trolling on iforgeiron for about a year now and have posted a few times.  I am just a backyard hobby smith that makes what ever comes to mind.  I have been in martial arts for most of my life and originally got into smithing because I wanted to make an authentic as possible katana.  Funny that I haven't even made a single blade yet.  I got stuck making bottle openers, hooks, jewelry, tools and stuff for the house.  It will probably be years before I actually attempt a sword but I am completely obsessed with making anything with a hammer and anvil.  The entire process of making something from a steel blank is just incredible.  If I could only charge $150 for a bottle opener and sell lots of em I would quit my day job in a heart beat :).  

I just wanted to say Hi and thanks for the great community.  Someone has always been able to help me quickly when I had questions.

Hey, 

I am just about to start a new project where I am planning to inlay some 10 gauge copper wire into a finished Iron piece.  I am planning to chisel a very slot into the iron and then heat and compress the slot slightly so that the entrance to the slot is more narrow than the inner slot.  Then I was going to flatten and anneal the copper enough so that it will fit into the slot and cold forge it into the slot.  The idea is that it will form into the inside of the iron slot and since the top gap on the slot will be more narrow the copper will be tightly formed into the piece.  

Is there a different/easier way to accomplish this?  

Hey Everyone, 

I have completely out grown my parking pad as a smithy and my wife is getting a little sensitive about having the anvil, forge and pole vice sitting in the driveway :).  The neighbors have been stopping bye to see what is going on and I am sure someone is going to add a no smithing policy to the HOA if I don't do something in the near future.  

I have plenty of land in the backyard and am just starting to think about how to setup a shop.  I just smith as a hobby and have no plans in the near future to try to make money off of my work.  With family and my business I don't have time to build the shop myself and am looking for the most economic route to get something functional built.  I would love to have a power hammer and some larger equipment at some point but I don't see that happening unless I move to a new place that already had a proper shop on premise.  I was thinking I could get away with dirt or aggregate floor and a simple metal building.  Security isn't much of a concern where I am located.

Thanks for any input,  

Thanks for all of the help everyone, 

I finally got this all finished and like usual it was a little bit of a journey but everything turned out well.  

I tried to make some decorative clasps out of a copper pipe and some of the left over silver wire.  The clasps looked great but I was unable to successfully weld them to the necklace.  In the end I just flattened out two of the left over wires and then wrapped them around the end of necklace and heated each end until they just became molten.  This completely fused the ends of the necklace together with the crude claps.  Polishing the necklace and creating the claps was by far the most time intensive piece of the whole project. 

i always use my ox ace glasses when forging for the same reason you said - i never use anything else :)

Are you using the ACE Green IR filter glasses?  Those were the only ones I could find that were IR filtering and none of them were under $100.  Is the main advanced with using the ACE glasses that the colors are supposed to be more realistic?  It seems like a steep price to pay unless their is a huge difference in image quality.  If I buy them it will be more than I paid for my Pole Vice :).

Thanks for all of the feedback, 

After doing lots of internet research I am kind of surprised at how little definitive information there is about what is actually given off from a forge.  From what I have read by far the most dangerous aspect (other than projectiles) is the IR.  It looks like flares and UV based issues are pretty minimal in coal but may be more of a possible issues on a gas forge with the reflective insulation.  

If IR is the main concern it seems like the green shaded welding glasses or any other IR blocking glasses are the best bet for protection.  I also found some really nice glasses that fit like goggles for blocking IR for uses in laboratories with lasers but they are designed for certain wavelengths and I can't find any information about what wavelength IR a coal forge would generally produce.  

Do the green shaded glasses change the colors of a heated work piece and the forge fire?  

Hey Steve, 

You beat me to the punch.  I was just looking through all of the different didymium glasses and there are tons and tons of them with a huge swing in prices.  I would be using these exclusively with my coal forge since that is all I have at the moment. I may end up getting a gas forge also but that is probably a way off down the road.