bluecurve

Jacques, now that's one solid work bench! My thoughts on the bench are unless you specifically want to bend and fabricate to the radius of the jig, it's just in the way and if you grind it off, you have a great flat topped welding and fab table. As for the bin, well apart from being a huge slack tub ;-) I would be cutting the tub out of the frame and using that for scrap, and then using the frame to fab another very heavy duty work bench - either for your own use or to sell, welding tables and benches are a reasonably popular item (depending on how much you paid for the tub in the first place...) just my 2c worth. cheers, Tom

Greenbeast, I am not fully aware of the regs in the UK, but I do have some familiarity with this area. It varies by state in Australia, but in some places you may be able to sell one off's labelled as "Second Hand Electrical Equipment" provided it has been tested and tagged by an authorised electrical tester (there seems to be an obsession in Australia with putting test tags on everything...). Pricing for this is reasonable if you are talking about a custom piece of artwork that may sell for $200+ I know it may not suit you but have you considered looking at this avenue in the UK? Check the legality of this in your jurisdiction!! whatever you do, your light fittings need to be constructed to the applicable lighting and electrical standards in your country for insulation, earth attachments etc etc - this info on which standards apply should be available somewhere from your regulator. cheers, Tom

Thanks for your comments guys. I don't have a suitable ball bearing at hand, but I did the "hammer test" from the same Anvilfire page as the ball bearing test - just by eye looks to be about 30% rebound with a 400g hammer. So not too bad, will have to get a BB on the weekend. I-have-to-wait-till-the-wwwwweekend-to-use-it.........can't....wait.... cheers, Tom

Hi Guys, Have recently got into blacksmithing and have been applying TPAAT. I just picked up my first anvil, to augment my piece of rail track... (and quite happy after a fair bit of searching...) See pictures, it looks to be relatively modern German style anvil, except the Hardy hole is at the other end, and there is no Pritchell. I bought it off a woman who's dad had it for years, along with a collection of tools. Any idea who made it? It's about 71cm long, about 11cm across the face and about 30cm high - oh and 85Kg as you can see:-) The Hardy is 25mm/1". It's rebound is reasonable, and it rings slightly. The horn is not truly conical - has flattish sides, and the body overall is still fairly rough cast, as the horn looks to have been originally. I think it's too old to be one of the more recent chinese knock off's, and the finish of the face looks good. It has not been dressed at all - square edges all round. Not to upset if it's an ASO, if it is, it's a good one. Got it for a reasonable price and the tools for an even better deal. cheers, Tom

Photoshopped? No heat marks that I can see along the top of the rail, no scorching on the sleepers... I would have thought that any train wheel that got this hot would be melting itself...

Thanks Frosty! Yes i was reading the TPAAT post last night. Turns out I have put some of it into practice unwittingly already, though not very intentionally. I mentioned my new found interest to a friend in passing a few weeks back and now I have a rail track anvil inbound to me from his dad's shed. I hope this counts for "breaking the seal" on my TPAAT journey LOL! cheers, Tom

G'day, Tom checking in from Central VIC here. (Macedon Ranges). Just starting out, some basic tools, etc, bashing red hot metal when I can. Interested in it as a hobby, and to make some gates/ornaments/etc for the garden and home. Have to say it's quite addictive so far. Cheers, Tom

G'day to all, Tom here, been following IFI for a couple of months now. Very new to this - made a forge from truck rim and blower a few weeks ago and have butchered a few very basic scrolls into existence so far. Far far from perfect, but having a great time beating red hot metal - seems like magic to me! Have acquired some basic tools, leg vice, but a real anvil still eludes me - currently using two truck hubs stacked on top of another truck rim - not pretty but mostly working. Will post in the Aussie roll call too! cheers, Tom