Ian

Great result there mate, free stuff is always good. I agree that this ones seen a fairly eventfull life but to be really honest anvil repair isn't somthing you can just go out and do. There are a few guys on here who know a lot about it but if I were you I'd be happy just to pound a little steel over it and see what it's like and what I can still do over it before I try and fix it. The horn you could perhaps dress a little if you find that you need a tighter circle to work around than whats there at present, as far as the holes in the base and in the middle I'd say they were for wooden rods to fit into to make moving and carrying the anvil around easier. Especially as I think you're right in the belief that the 99 is the weight in pounds.

I had to grin at what Mills said. Over here in Blighty (England) we have a phenomenom known as the "Boy Racer". This particular species seems to enjoy buying an old banger (jalopy) for say 500 quid and then spending about 3000 quid on the stereo and body kit to make it look all shiney and noisey.... WHY?!!!! Why not take the 3500 and buy a second hand BMW 300 series or somthing else with a bit of umph that already looks good? As far as the anvil side of this goes I agree it's better to find a decent second hander off the bat than spending money turning a pigs ear into a silk purse. Those Russians are okay just to try working over somthing to start with but a decent anvil is SO much nicer to work on.

Hmmm, I had a bit of a think about this and keep coming back to the wheelchair time and time again as the main issue. Most large tools are designed for the able bodied and adjusting their normal working heights etc would be a lot of work. Also a smith striking hot steel produces sparks (okay red hot scale) and even with a leather apron I wouldn't be too keen to end up with a lap full (even if I couldn't feel the burns) even worse is the idea of dropping hot steel into your lap when you can't physically get out of the way. My idea would be to redesign the wheelchair into somthing that would hold the disabled smith in a taller, more upright posture. Almost as if he/she was standing. Think along the lines of a climbers harness crossed with the seat from a 'suspended' rollercoaster. The chair frame would be taller and use two triangular shaped 'A' side frames mounted with four wheels, a top mounted attatchment for the actual seat/harness would pivot in increments allowing the disabled Smith to pitch himself forward or backwards to whatever degree he/she needed. That way there's no need to change an existing shop or go to the additional expense of modifying all the equipment. All you're doing is modifying the Smiths posture in relation to the workplace. I've put in a VERY quick and dirty sketch just to give you an idea.

Ron, if at first you don't succeed........ frustration is the brain telling you to leave it alone, not give up on it.

WANT ONE!!! WANT ONE!!! Where from and how much?????? :D

Diablowyrm (interesting name... Devil dragon?) You can make most of the tools you need to give Smithing a go, and hammers and such can be bought or found pretty cheap. For a start look at the Blue Prints section of the site. You'll find how to's on making a forge, and most of the tools too from junk. For an anvil look for a big chunk of railway line or anything else of suitable mass. It doesn't have to be pretty, just functional. There are a few WORLD CLASS knife and sword makers who post and contribute here, so do yourself a favour and do some research first, then you can ask educated questions. You WILL get educated answers (even to the odd 'bone' question ) Welcome aboard!

I've seen that done Jr, and ive seen the same method used under big hammers by a couple of Industrial Smiths. The bloke to ask for the names of the tools would be Glenn Moon. 33 years in the trade, one of the last fully papered Industrial Smiths in Oz, apprenticed at BHP. Forgotten more than most folks will ever know. If I get chance I'll email him and ask for his two cents.

Welcome aboard Neal, you'll find Blokes from all over the globe here so be prepared!

Maybe, but I've seen brushes for scale removal and BRUSHES for scale removal. One of the best are not so much wire as lots of little strips of steel on a rectangular brush. Those strike me as being easily somthing that could have been made back then, although the cost of steel would have made them expensive. just a thought.

Bendik, nice shot of the Domkirke! How are things going over the road from there? Are Odd Inge and Torgeir doing okay, did they finish the fountain? Tell them I said a BIG hello and thanks for the T-shirts and their wonderful hospitality. I'm in Australia now, but will be back in England soon, if I get chance (and the money) I'd love to come over and see them again.

Ha Ha Roger! 'Only' five? I thought it was more, seemed like a dozen when I visited I'd like to say thanks as well, it's fantastic that your posting so we can all see what your doing. Tack sa mycket!

Ron, Roger has about six BIG Beche power hammers, and can make all of them sit up and dance like you wouldn't believe. Ask him to post a link to his site and watch the video (it is in Swedish, but a picture speaks volumes anyway)

Nolano makes a fair point, fire welding is a lot of waiting then a sudden mad ten seconds I was taught (by Glenn Moon) that you should let the pieces really soak in a good clean, non oxidising fire. Then very slowly bring the heat up. There's absolutely no need to have the pieces coming out of the fire like a sparkler, and in fact I saw him fire weld loads of things (including a giant piece of pattern welding about a foot long by 10" by 2" that ended up 2" by 2" by three feet!) without there ever being a single spark from the fire. A long slowly building soak means you can watch the steel get to the wash point (that melted butter look), hold it there longer without burning it, and in some cases you can actually get the steel to weld at a much lower temp than you'd expect. All I have to do is put into practice what he showed me :)

Kogotana, In England, and several other countries in Europe, silica sand was THE primary flux used for forge welding. In fact a lot of the old Smiths in England didn't actually use a flux at all, and if you can get the right kind of non oxidising fire you can do it without, but flux does make the task easier Old casting sand is quite good and you can usually get it free from the Foundry (they just chuck it away most times) The main difference between sand and borax is the temperatures at which they melt and become liquid and the temperatures that they help you forge weld at. Sand works at a higher temperature than borax.

getting better everytime mate :D

I hope your granddaughter gets through the op and much better after it Woody. I hate to see children ill, my thoughts are with her and my hopes are that everything comes good for her.

I've worked a few PW's myself and I like them, but considering they are English I might be biased! Kholswa are good as well, as are Sodofors, Bofors, Mousehole, Trentons and many others. As long as it 'feels' good to you, it's good enough. Russian anvils are better used as door stops, although recently someone said after re heat treating theirs it actually wasn't that bad.

Smiddy, The Japanese have been using locked rings in armour and in decorative boxes and such for hundreds of years, look up some of the chain mail sites and you'll find examples. Essentially it's large rings with much smaller link rings that are 'just' big enough to go round two of the large rings and hold them tight. It makes geometric forms that are fairly stiff and looks amazing. I've seen boxes, jewelry, all sorts of things. A bowl would be no problem if your willing to spend the time making it.

Olifar, if you go to a local chapter of ABANA you'll probably find a lot of things you need can be made there, and the members will probably have contacts for the tools you can't. Don't buy anything yet, go and see a Smith at work, get an idea of wether this is somthing that really grabs you first, then set about getting all tooled up.

Not half bad at all mate :D

Har du bra Ulf? Welcome to the site As the resident indigent here I've been to Stockholm (last year in fact) and loved the place, I stayed at the 'Red Boat' Hostel and enjoyed the Santa Lucia festival. Lovely ladies with dangerous hats! :)

:D That people don't start calling you a 'Sword' maker instead of a 'Knife' maker perhaps?

Fredly, my current teacher reckons that you need as reducing a fire as you can possibly get (that is to say a fire with NO oxgen in the spot where your steel is reaching the 'wash' or welding temperature) so that there is virtually no scale build up on the steel. A good way to help with this is to line your fire with a paste made from coal fines and water. It will slowly burn throughout the fires life doing wonders for eating all the extra oxygen in the fire. The knowledge that you should work to the steel with the lowest melting point of all the pieces your trying to get to stick. A good fluxing agent to ensure that there are no extra contaminants in the weld. A lot is just down to time and experience, Glenn has been at it for over thirty years, I'm looking at around two, he can forge weld better than I can as a result! LOL Keep plugging away, experience is the best teacher

eh? Me? Well, yes I could quite probably have made a 'pattern welded' blade, maybe even a bit of 'mosaic damascus', but I had a bit of time waiting for somthing else to get warm (and that was what I was actually supposed to be doing) so I was playing around and this was the result. Next time I make a knife Richard I'll make somthing a bit more interesting. :D

Welcome Joe, this is a massive resource to anyone interested in the blacksmiths art. Make good use of it.