Drbobski

Just superb.

Like the Anvil Stand, off to hunt Railway sleepers :D

Found this among my Grandfather's things today. 6" tip to tip, good for making little things, quite happy I found it.

Cut the top of an old gas bottle, tough as old boots and has a good base (de-gas it PROPERLY).

If you are just wanting to twonk a bit of metal, then get to a scrapyard and find a truck disc or drum, I went for a disc (ex Citaro bus) as it provides a lump of thik steel around the edge to hammer onto. Then make friends with your local railway depot and you are almost there, some coal, a hairdryer, a hammer and you are away. All of above was free, so for $50 you should be laughing.

Thanks for the feedback, suffice to say, I will be attempting NO repairs or dressing of it. Was considering getting it shotblasted but I dunno if I should even do that.

Cleaned out all the holes now that were filled up with old bolts, been sat next to the car crusher at the scrappies for 10 years, glad he didn't bin it.

I am sure I will find a straight one in the future, now I have this I am happy enough, just need to find something solid to sit it on.

Anvil purchased for $60 and returned to the Manor and given a quick wire brush. No Maker's marks that I can see

Blacksmithing on the Island is indeed a dying thing. There is only one commercial blacksmith over here now. I do a lot of Metal Detecting, so going to knock up the farmers who have given me permission to search their land and see what is in their barns etc. Also know of a couple of people who had Blacksmiths as Grandfathers etc so might turn something up there.

In negotiations with the scrap yard, all being well I will pick it up tomorrow.

Can it be repaired?

Being that I am just starting out and do not even have a working forge as yet, I have started my Anvil search. Already got a few feet of railway track as a backup, went to a local scrap merchant today, best he had was this..... He still wants £40 for it though, as something solid to bash metal on it is still ok I suppose, has a good ring to it. What do you guys think??

Cheers all, my foundry build is probably in the wrong section, not done much with it as I am still reading up on refractory mixes whilst waiting for my home found fire clay type stuff to try out.

Heating oil from a recycling place and filter it myself. I know what you mean about volume, been looking at Crucible measurements and will probably chop it down about 4-5 inches.

ok, cheers

I see a lot of "2 parts this to 1.5 parts that" but generally on these forums are you guys talking weight or volume? I have my base materials ready but do not want to screw up my first mix, perlite is very light, so by weight it is 3-4 times more volume than the sand or fireclay of the same weight. Thanks in advance.

I have made myself a mission to build a furnace capable to melting up to bronze for casting and forging. Being that I am on an island, the cost of shipping anything here is pretty high so I am trying to source whatever I can locally. First hurdle was fire clay for the refractory mix, after some research I found a beach cliff which had collapsed to reveal white clay, so off I went. Once I had collected a bucket of it and got home, I quickly fired up the blowtorch to see if it was the right stuff, seems ok. Once I had done that started drying it all out and sieving it into a new bucket and ended up with this. Next I turned my attention to the burner to make sure it was working ok. Once that was checked, I picked a 47kg propane bottle, de-gassed it and threw it on the fire to remove the paint. I then cut the bottle in half (I do not know if I am going a bit too big here for what I need but I thought better go large and not have to make a bigger one later) I then cut some 5" heavy pipe and the corresponding hole in the side of the bottle. The jury rigged the burner to test it for fit, I am hoping to be able to vary the heat by moving the burner in and out of the furnace on a rail. That is where I am up to so far, and comments or criticism appreciated ;)

The name is Chris, over the past few months I have been looking to build a furnace for forging and casting. I have a keen interest in the Celtic and Viking history of the Island and would like to start making some replicas of their tools/weapons using (as much as possible) locally sourced materials. You will mostly find me asking silly questions in the furnace areas as I finalize my design, then off to the other sections, I will use the search function as much as possible ;)