Old South Creations

Nice looking shop!

Frick that is a Fisher logo on that first anvil and it has the Fisher mounting lugs, aare you sure that's a picture of your "Trenton"? The second one would still hold a hardy tool---or a shop door, NM is windy especially in the spring and any swinging door has to be solidly held open...I usually use a large screw press and a large house jack... Anyone want to see if SOFA would like to put a "Destroyed Anvil" display on at Quad-State this year? I probably can't go but then I've drug most of my bad ones out there before...

Oops! Yes, of course that is my Fisher. Had Trenton on the brain for some reason. I corrected my "typo"

Just a point of information about the Fisher mounting lugs: They first appeared on Fisher anvils in 1892, 27 years after the end of the conflict. And the lack of the Eagle on the some Fisher anvil being related to marketing is still only a RUMOR. There has been no established documentation of this found. If anyone has historical documentation, please produce it. Everything in AIA is not correct. That is why Mr. Postman has produced a revised edition with a lot of corrections, including many I sent him about the Fisher family. He will be releasing this edition eventually. Hopefully I will finish my book about the Fisher family and company with all the facts I have gathered.

I realize that there are probably mistakes and just because something is in print doesn't nessarily mean it's true BUT just because something isn't documented doesn't necessarily make it false either. IF it is true, it wouldn't make any difference if the anvil is post 1892 because Postman says that the practice could have lasted as late as the beginning of the 20th century. I choose to believe it is true...we're pretty funny down here in the south! It's too bad there is no documentation one way or the other. Thanks of the info on the lugs.

Fe-Wood, I agree with everyone else...looks like a Fisher. If it's old enough it could be a "Southern Fisher". According to "Anvils in America", after the Civil War the southerners didn't want to buy Fisher anvils because of the union eagle on the side. Fisher removed the eagle from the anvils they sold down south. Postman says they may have done this as late as the the begining of the 20th century. I would love to have an "eagle-less" Fisher!

The first anvil, although damaged, is actually the one I use the most (the edges look TERRIBLE in this picture but they're really not that bad). It is a 1918 Fisher with the heel completely broken off. The rebound is great and it is quiet as a mouse...if I need a hardie or pritchel hole I just use a different anvil. The second one is an unidentified old English anvil that I just picked up at a local flea Market for 20 bucks. The horn is broken off and the face is banged up really bad. Someone did a terrible job of "fixing" the face and used bondo, yes BONDO, to try to rebuild the horn!

ashamed? they set the price, right? I'm sure they were happy to get the price they asked!

congrats on a great deal!

no guesses, huh? me, either.

I've searched AIA & a couple of sources on the internet and I can't find anything that comes close other than maybe Peter Wright but I don't think that is what it is...or at least it doesn't look like any of the PW's I've seen and the weight markings are much larger than anything I've seen on a PW. The style of the weight markings look very old to me (VERY similar to an Old English style anvil I have) but it doesn't seem old enough to not have a pritchel hole...as far as I can tell it never had one and that part of the heel isn't broken off or wasn't filled in when the face was "fixed".

I guess she shall remain a mystery for now!

I bought this anvil at the flea market this weekend for $20. It's in pretty bad shape. Someone did a terrible job "fixing" the face and for someone reason attempted to rebuild the broken horn with Bondo...yes, BONDO! The weight is marked 1-0-14 (actual weight with the missing horn is around 115 lb). I can't quite make out the maker. I can't read the first word at all and the second word may be "...IGHT" An early Peter Wright? There's no pritchel hole. Does it look familiar to anyone?

(I apologize for the size of the pics...this is the only way I can get them to work)\

very nice!

yeah, that's exactly what I'm going to do. I want to make something that will work with this forge first and later, as you said, I'll already have the other burner. The world of gas forges is brand new to me. This has been a good "experiment"...trying to learn from my mistakes!

I didn't need all of that hair on my arm anyway! Thanks for all of your help!

Great job!

either way, I think it's a neat little anvil. I would have bought it too!

Looks really good. You'll be a lot happier when you get your coal. I used bbq briquetts the first few times when I built my forge (because I didn't have coal and didn't know about REAL charcoal). You'll see a BIG difference when you get your coal! Keep at it!

I experimented with size of the contact tip and I think the burner is running much better...heats quickly with very little scale. My only complaint would the amount of dragons breath. The flame extends approx 10-12"...before it was more like 16". Is it possible that my forge is just too small for the burner? It's hard to capture the dragons breath but this shows it a little (sorry the pics are so big...it's the only way I've been able to get them to post)

if dropping the brake drum in is what you want to do, you can always use clay to make everything level

does it look like the heel has been broken off? I've seen many anvils where the heel was broken off at the hardie hole (my main anvil is a Fisher with a broken heel...someone has dressed it up very nicely as a perfect 90 degree angle). Maybe there was never a hardie hole because of it's size? 50lb is pretty small.

A great little anvil at a great price! Good score!

Thank you JCornell & Frosty. I had cut the tip down by 1/8" because that's what I read to do. I have plenty more tips to experiment with...I'll go with 1/64" at a time like you suggested. Thediameter of the burner tube is 3/4" and it is 6" long...is that long enough? I'll coat the inside of the bricks as well...I have Plistix already, will that be good enough or should I order some ITC-100?

Thanks for all of your help. This is a lot more complicated than coal! :)

^{Thanks...here is a picture of my forge. I'll try to post a couple of pictures of the burner working in the next couple of days. I used it for the first time today. I fired it up for a little over an hour and made a couple of "s" hooks out of 1/4" round and a RR spike tomahawk (still need to finish the hole for the handle). It gets a RR spike to a yellow/orange in just a few minutes. Producing a lot of scale right now. I'll adjust it a little and try again.}

I cut the contact tip down by 1/8". What a difference an 1/8th makes. Got a 1/8" rod to forging heat in about 2 minutes or less and a 1/4" x 1/2" flat bar to forging heat in about 5 minutes. Flame seems much more stable and uniform and the sound is very smooth and uniform. I still can't seem to heat past a orange to yellow/orange though.

A pic will really help but describing the burn might do. What's it sound like? What does the primary flame look like? Is there dragon's breath? What color is it? What dia. is the burner tube? What volume is the forge chamber? Frosty The Lucky.

I've never really been around a gas forge before so I'm not real sure what to expect. When I first light it there is a lot of orange flame and the sound is broken...like a put-put-put. It settles down pretty quick and there is a nice bluish/greenish flame and the sound is more of a steady low roar. There seems to be a lot of Dragon's breath...more than I expected. The burner tube is 3/4" and the tee is 1" x 1" x 3/4" and I'm using a .035" contact tip. The forge is constructed of fire brick and the inside dimensions are 7 1/2" x 3 1/4" x 4 1/4". When I lit the burner outside of the forge it sounds like a jet engine and the flame is what I would describe as very unorganized. A much bigger/wider/longer flame than I expected. I won't have any time the next couple of days to play with it. The first thing I was going to do was cut down the contact tip by an 1/8th inch and try it again. I know that the design is a very sound one and a lot of people are using them. I used Phil Krankowski's tutoral to build it http://www.iforgeiro...-and-made-this/ I have no doubt that it will work just fine, I just need to some time to "play" with it a little bit. I know it's hard to imagine what it's doing by my description...I will try again tommorrow to post a couple of pictures.

I tried to post a pic but it's not letting me...sorry

I finished my first propane forge today. I used Frosty's design for the burner. It heated a piece of 1/4" x 1/2" flat bar to orange in just a few minutes but wouldn't get any hotter. I think I need to fine tune the burner a bit. I'm only going to use it for small items...hooks, nails, leaves, etc...I'm planning on using my coal forge as my primary forge.

Welcome to IFI. I too use "found" coal...not the best but it certainly works. Good job on the slitter & knife. Looks like you guys are off to a great start!

I agree, great first effort. The tongs might be a little rough but they work! I've definately seen worse. I like your anvil and vise stands. Keep up the good work!

nice job