urnesBeast

So, I am part of the way there. I have the hofi hammer, and I am soon to be mounting my anvil. Especially with a Hofi hammer, I am not sure what the proper height of the anvil face is. I have searched the site here, but "Anvil height" gives a lot of wrong hits. I have gathered that it should be 'knuckle height when standing straight and arms extended down." I however have three joints on every finger. Which is the proper height? I note that some tripod stands allow your feet underneath the anvil, but stumps do not. Is that a feature or not really important? -Doug

As someone who lost his entire wood floored shop to a fire April 16th, I HIGHLY recommend removal of the wooden floor. -Doug

remember to point out to them that is is good luck to have a blacksmith at a wedding, because they can forge two pieces of metal into one. A story about the Scottish town would be good too.

Ah yes! Does anyone know how to make an s hook for this application? -Doug

The cribbing idea is brilliant. I just used five Harry Potter books and lifted the anvil up six inches (or five stories! ha ha). The anvil is long enough to tilt back on the horn, then the heel easily. Strap a 2x4 on to the top for some real leverage add some cribbing and I will have this thing up in no time. Thanks again. I have no idea why I find this so exciting... Doug

Many of these ideas are good, if I had open beams. There is drywall covering everything, so I can not strap around the beams or drill all the way through and put in washers. Thanks for the advice. When all is done, I will make a list of things I should have done for a new construction smithy. I think putting some overhead Eye bolts exposed above the anvil area would have been good. I think to remedy this, I can put a beam over the drywall (actually under since it is the ceiling!) bolted to several joists. I can easily pre-install the washered eyebolts in this. I am sure a good ceiling hook will have many uses. Though these ways of lifting the anvil with cribbing and such seem like a fun learning exercise so I might not install the ceiling hook for the come-along. Thanks, Doug

This is brilliant. I am doing the lift this way just for the experience of it. Thanks! I think I will order his video some time! Perfect, Thanks Doug

I did not say it in my post, but I was going to run a rigid bar between them so the load is straight down on each of them. Thanks for the reminder though.

Che, Honestly, even in this economic environment, I have had a difficult time finding cheap labor. With the new construction, I have a dumpster so I am cleaning out the basement. You would think someone would want to carry loads of light wood up from the basement for some quick cash. In the ads I put out, I do not even put a labor rate. So it is not like I am offering too little. nothing. -Doug

This #325 monster is more than two of us can really lift. I had to take it up some stairs, we had to lift it one stair at a time. That was about 9 inches. I figure the anvil stand will be more like two feet up or so. How do you lift a monster like this? I think that I can tie into my roof beams through the drywall with these: 3/8 In. x 4-1/2 In. Stainless Steel Screw Eyebolt Bolt Name : Eye 325 lbs. safe working load Use with rope up to 7/8 in. Will not rust when exposed to the elements I figure I put two or more of these in two or more roof beams, put a rod through them, get a come-along and chains. This should get me the vertical lift I need. Had I thought farther ahead, I would have drilled all the way through the roof beams and bolted and washered through them. That is not an option now, I have only blind beams to go into. My contractor says the beams are plenty strong for this application. One eyebolt is rated for this weight, so I figure two or more should be more than sufficient for what I assume is going to be about two minutes of loading. Do you find uses for a sky hook like this for other applications in the smithy?

I asked a similar question here: http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/shop-layout-ideas-wanted-12757/ I had a 10x12 to start. It burned to the ground. I replaced it with with the 10x19 in the thread above (still constructing as of Aug 2009). The original is twice the size you are talking about, but for just plain forging I was really only using 1/3 the space anyways. I recommend the Hofi side draft chimney. Made a drawing of what I propose. A second post vice for dad (or a machinist vice on Dad's side) would work out pretty well too. I also attached pic of a small smithy at an old mill house. It was mostly "fake" (I looked inside when smith was not there, from the scrap I saw around, he only made s-hooks for tourists) the hardy tools were too big for the anvil, so I know most of it was "for show". It was big enough to house the important stuff, though he was primarily outdoors while forging. This is attached design is similar to how I worked when having a guest smith. -doug

I am just learning to weld, and I am in need of a new anvil stand. I suspect I will start with a stump and then weld a stand as shown here. I am at the point in welding of "Unconscious Incompetence" (I don't know enough to know how bad I am at it!) I plan to do something like Hofi or Avadon have done. I figure I need to buy the base since it is way thicker than I can cut. How will I know my welding is up to snuff enough to accomplish this task? I really do not need a #325 anvil falling. -Doug

Brand EuroAnvil (Euroanvils - Traditional European Anvils - Quality Anvils at Discount Prices) Weight #335 Condition Newly cast Price paid and year $985 + $200 shipping, 2009 Next to last one of this size cast in Europe. Production moving stateside now.

I searched on Craig's list Boston and found an industrial cleaning place gets their cleaning powder in five gallon buckets. They are happy to sell them, with lids for cheap. I can store more coal than I can haul in the truck at once now. You might be able to find similar deals in your area, it would make for easy to store, and transport coal. -Doug PS. Any Boston based smiths want to buy some buckets?

Frosty, Weighing it and calculating volume, that is brilliant! I just thought of another way, in case the density of the two materials is different: * Submerge in as small necked, narrow and tall of a bucket as possible. * Fill to top with water. * Remove piece via string I forgot to mention above * Insert rod into bucket until water is at top like before. This covers volume directly. The less the diameter at top, the easier it will be to see the change in volume.

I made a forge out of refractory cement. That price sounds about what I paid for it last year (2008). Some things I would do different: * My design was too deep a pot * My air pipe was too small * I expected the cement to hold the vertical air pipe with friction only. Not good. * I got water on the hot firepot several times, it started to crack. * the form was made of 2x4s. They were a pain to take off, so I left them on. They start to charcoal after about six hours of continuous forging. * I would reinforce the concrete with wire and mesh This being said, the refractory cement did not get clinker stuck to it (though the clay I used to raise the bottom did...) All in all, it was a good, but expensive choice for me. Good if you do not have the ability to make your own firepot in metal -Doug

Apparently the heat treating part of blacksmithing goes back to before metalworking: Early Humans Shaped Stone Tools with Fire : Discovery News

I have never used a hydraulic press, but I am interested also. Here is a 35 ton. - Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices since I do not know much of this area, I have to ask "Would this work for forging?" -Doug

@avadon That is an excellent idea. I remember seeing those in the background of some forging videos. Thanks. Doug

The coupon I got was printed directly from Lowes.com. From the link, it was obvious that this person had a bot that was signing up for the coupons automaticailly (the e-mail address embeded in the link was formulaic ie. (email address removed) I think the coupon is a legit "New in Town" coupon, just gotten under false pretenses and sold. -Doug

Since I am about to purchase a new drill press, I thought I would look for coupons online for Lowes. Turns out some people have figured out a a way to get coupons for 10% off, and then sell them on-line for about a buck. I like to know how something is done before I get scammed (even for a buck). It seems like what they are doing is filling in a form on lowes.com for the "New mover into the neighborhood" and then selling the link that they get to you. Lowes seems to have it set up such that when you fill out this form you get a link to the coupon a week later (to avoid people filling it out for instant gratification right before heading to the store) The other way they do this is more questionable. They are using their employee discount coupons on-line for Home Depot (they have a unique code), then selling them on eBay telling you NOT to use them at HD (they won't work) but to use them at Lowes because they accept competitors coupons upto 10% off. $40 off a $400 drill press soudns good for a buck to me! -Doug

I have seen much smaller scale pipe done on a hydrolic press. How long is the pipe? The Foldforming book has examples of this in copper. -Doug

After searching around, I had three major choices: 1.) Good bench mount, put on a pedestal ~$100 2.) Harbor Freight high end floor mount ~$300 3.) Delta floor mount ~$360 (10% off coupon from $400) I am strongly leaning towards the Delta: Delta at Lowe's: 10-Amp 16 Speed Drill Press The swing is long enough to go through 2x4 the 3.5 inch way, important for the first project. The reviews seem strong for it. The market for used drill presses around here runs in the $250+ range for presses that do not seem discounted very well. It looks like they hold value pretty well. -Doug

The window protective film sounds like an excellent idea. Guards and being careful only go so far. Also, the contracto said sealing to the floor does not work, the compound drys out he says. Might do it myself... -Doug