arftist

I'd go with the 220. It will run on 208, 220 or 240

I wouldn't get too frustrated. One of your PMs went to me, and I am pretty sure I wasn't looking for any anvils, other than a 400 pound Hay-Budden for a buck a pound.

Can't wait to see your report. Looks great to me.

Good for you man. It is a start, and most likely better than a block of steel. When you figure the work to add a hardy hole and shape a horn, you may not think you paid too much after all. Like Anvillian said, now that you have one, they will start turning up. I find one for sale about every other year, and now and then I buy one, but often a freind or aprentice ends up with my latest purchase rather quickly. I have three that I will never sell, a fisher-eagle, a hay-budden, and worn beyond all recognition sway-backer that I use for straightening, often cold, which I wouldn't do on a good anvil. Enjoy your new toy!

There are complete instructions for hardening a rail anvil in Alexander Weyger's book, The Complete Modern Blacksmith, and it would be a very good book for you to have and read.

How close are you to Molalla or Forest Grove? There are cheap anvils listed on craigs list at both of those towns.

This is true. My cousin was a long haul mover, and he was always looking for a few more bucks. Perhaps if you could talk to some drivers at a nearby truckstop.

There is no reason you can't refine the peen end with a grinder or beltsander to a more effective size (say 6or 7mm radius). Just go slow so as not to "lose your temper"

RC Racers diagram is exactly how a proper air system is installed. Copper is suitable, but iron is perfectly usable as well.

Skip the powdercoat. Powdercoat is way overrated anyhow, and extremely expensive. As mentioned above, any good powder coater is going to insist on sand-blasting the piece first. If you want it as natural as possible, just wax it. Plain butchers wax and some elbow grease. Tell the homeowners to wax it again if it ever starts to rust.

I use one when forging bronze. Because ambiant light changes colors of temperature, I always check the first piece, then I am comfortable with the temperature.

Nice work.

Making your own blacksmith tools is a great way to practice and learn forging and also aquire tools. Tongs, chisels, punches, drifts, hammers, etc. In the blue prints you can find instructions for most of these.

Laquer thinner is a good cleaner for old things.

Isolate the amount of metal needed for the spearpoint, using spring fullers with a kiss block so they all have the same width at the base of the spear head. A "blacksmiths taper tool" would be helpful to gauge the taper of the stap as you shape it. For this one job, I would weld four pieces of stock together to form the silouette of the strap, not counting the spearpoint. Work from your fullered spot back when forming the taper. This way if there is a length discrepancy it is easy to rectify. Before you roll the hinge barrels on the end of the strap, taper the end about 1/2" long, to 1/2 it's original thickness. A grade 8 bolt makes a good pin to roll around. Start the roll the way you would start a scroll over the edge of the anvil. If you haven't rolled hinges before, practice before you use the straps you already put a lot of work into.

I use an oxy-fuel torch, but another thing you can do is make a draft diverter that can swing out of the way once the fire cleans up. Pipe it so your blower draws the offensive fumes back through the tyere.

The thing about a post drill like that, is that it can actualy drill larger holes in steel than most small (also known as sensitive) drill presses, because it doesn't have a motor.By hand cranking, the speed is low enough for large bits. Small bits want to go fast, so a motor would enable you to drill smaller holes, but I would hesitate to motorize it myself. Higher speeds kill old worn sloppy improperly lubricated babbit bearings quickly. Much preferable would be to have a cheap bench top drill press, say for holes up to 3/8'' and reserve (and preserve) the post drill for it's specialty, drilling larger holes in steel. Does it have a chuck?

Yeah, that is interesting. I thought you were talking about a cold shut on the end of the bar.

Find something with the outside diameter the same as the inside diameter of the circle you want. Wrap your steel bar around it to form a coil, whether it overlaps by a little or many turns. Cut off each wrap or coil, flatten and weld the seam.

If you can't use oil, at least heat the water. You can heat it by contiualy heating and cooling a good size piece of iron. Also be sure to not let your metal get to cold when you are working it.

Try beveling the very end first, either grinding it or hammering it if you can.

None of my belt sanders have graphite pads. Some have cast iron (lots of graphite there) and some have pollished sheetmetal. Have you tried playing with the tension of your belt? Sounds a bit tight to me.

Same problem here. When I first looked for it, the price was $45. Seemed to high at the time. The next time I searched it out, $140. Also seemed to high, but from what you are saying, I shouldd have bought it then. Acutaly, I think the title was "Blacksmiths Cookbook"

I was just on craigslist and saw a nice 179 pound Hay-Budden in Oregon for $350. I would have put a link to it here, but I don't know how.