Archerdan

I have it home. Now I have to get it over the fence and to my anvil. I will make a trip to the scrap yard to find material for a stand for the post vice. If fortune smiles on me, I will be forging by tomorrow night! I have a tomahawk and a knife I pounded out of a large roller bearing, to thermal cycle, harden and temper. I have a ton of tools to make. I spent $600 for the forge and vice as a package deal. Hope I was in the ball park. It was worth it to me. My wife....... not so much. :unsure:

I was surprised that it has both a screw sleeve with a coil spring and a leaf spring. I thought that it was just new to me since I haven't looked at that many vises.

Found this forge and my first post vice at a tool sale today. I can't wait! Can't pick it up until Tue. Things are going to be so much easier, with the exception of my sleeping arrangements. :D

Just bought my first post vice. Now I have to to build a stand. I can't wait. It will make so many things so much easier. I haven't had time to clean it up and look for identification yet. Bought my first real coal forge from the same shop today. Yes, I am in the dog house tonight. :D

This deposit was about 50 miles from the Ochre Mountains. I could just take a drive over there, but I believe it's fenced off etc. Kennecott Copper mine is there. We may take a road trip to Iron County and pick up magnetite. A 4 hour drive. It is in octahedral crystals there.

My 16 year old said he didn't want to forge a knife out of purchased steel. He wanted to find the ore, and learn how to smelt it, refine it to carbon steel, then forge a knife. So we hopped in the car Saturday afternoon and took a drive. This is what we found. The rock turned to dust when we tried to pick it out. Add water and it looks like red paint. I am not sure if it is a rich hematite or not. We are looking for those of you here in Utah that smelt Iron ore. Hope you enjoy the prospecting pictures.

Got it up to temperature for stress relieving.

Got a big barbecue going on this 4th of July. Stress relieving the anvil before I harden it. This is the biggest item I have cooked in my fire pit since I put it in 20 years ago. :) Cooking well.

Thank you for your help. We would only have the forklift tines without you. I will begin stress relieving in about 6 hours. There is a hickory long bow I hope to be shooting by Friday. ;-) I have to forge some arrow heads!

Waiting while I make enough coke to stress relieve and harden. Today I look for a suitable place to build the forge and quench.

How much is that dog in the window? The Erickson ranch is a museum. I don't think it is for sale. Like the dog in the window, it doesn't stop me from wanting to take it home:-) It has to be 12 to 13' tall!! Where would you put that monster? Easier to build a forge and quenching facility next to it and forge anvils once or twice a year. The local blacksmithing association was going to cast RR Rail steel anvils at a local foundry, Maybe they could arrange for forging anvils on this power hammer. They get a black smith to come in every year for work their blacksmith shop for the tourists. They may let us use it. we could see if we could round up the people who actually ran it. They have a lot of antique heavy equipment they could use to move the steel. It doesn't hurt to ask :-)

I talked to a blacksmith who worked at the steel mill where this and 2 others came from. he said the master blacksmith would sit in the tractor seat and give instructions, as other workers moved the steel. He said it was a 1500 lb hammer. the other 2 were 750 lb and 350 lb. They were still being used when the mil closed. The one in the picture was being used as recently as 10 years ago. The 350 is still in use. I want to forge anvils on it too!

Even light taps on the face of the anvil leaves dents.

The owner of the company welded it himself. He wanted to trade work on the anvil for blacksmithing items. He liked my knives, and his best friends father was a blacksmith when he was growing up. I won't grind these welds. They are a thing of beauty! I understand sectional density for the tine. But it is already 8 inches tall the way it is. I will pound on it this way for a while, then grind off the torched end and try it standing up. So much better than what I was using already.

The problem is, how do I get it home???? Found this at the Antique Power Show yesterday. It was so big that it took a while for me to realize what it was :blink:

Thanks for the info Timothy. I may have got a false impression when I read of 1045 plates being forge welded on new anvils, and Pedinghuas being drop forged out of 1045.

I can't get to my anvil to my welder to do some cosmetic work and grinding before I have it heat treated. Tired of working on my RR track, I hauled one of my 3"X8"X36" forklift tines to my forge, did a quick prep on it, and started working again. Much better. Actually, really nice! I was fortunate to find such wide thick tines. They weigh about 225 lbs each. I am not sure what the steel is, but it is about perfect for my hammer. (Actually, my sons hammer.) Hear are some pictures.

Sometimes pictures help. Hope these do. We are looking at upgrading to forge larger items. We may retro fit this with a table or shelf. The air plate does a good job of spreading the air flow to the whole pot, as it sits on the bolt heads, and air comes up around the edges as well.

Nice anvil. I can get a soft high copper brass as scrap from embossing die plates sometimes. about 3/16" thick. If their is a book bindery in your area that does hard cover books, see if you can get some of their discarded die plates. (I also use them for knife bolsters and finger guards)

David, I will do the rebound testing, or I should say, I will have a more experienced blacksmith do it for me, and will post the results. To be honest, I am so tired of using a RR track, that I was tempted to start using this anvil soft. A black smith friend, Mark Henderson, talked me out of it, and is loaning me his Russian cast steel harbor freight back up anvil until I can get mine back from the heat treat. Mark was president of the local blacksmithing association for several years. I will have him do the testing. I have a lot to learn about everything, including what gives good rebound. I had hoped that the good sectional density of this plate would help.

I have to admit, when I first came into possession of this 1045 plate I was concerned about how a welded horn and upsetting block would work. I was afraid of the welds cracking, or failing. I considered hard facing. The problem is the cost. Also, I am not sure which will give the best rebound, hard facing, or full heat treating. I am curious why some believe that 1045 doesn't like welding. With no Chromium, medium carbon, and between 60 and 90 points of Manganese, I thought it would be safe. Historically, isn't 1045 one of the traditional steels used as a face plate for forge welding a face plate to an anvil?

Almost ready to heat treat. All 1045 steel construction accept for the base plate. I built it with a short thick heel, with the heel ending at the edge of the hardy whole. The idea was more support when working with hardy tools. Face is 18" X a little over 4 1/16", Hardy is 1", Pritchel is 3/8". It was 280 lbs before adding the 1' X 2' X 3/4" base plate. It stands 14 3/8" tall. My guess is between 310 and 330 lbs. I have a 3 week wait on heat treat. I am chomping at the bit!

Horn shaped, Face leveled and radius added to heavy use area. Hardy squared out to 1 inch and radius added. Just about ready for heat treat. Been pounding out knives from large bearings on a RR track. I can't wait to use something with some mass behind it! I am not sure how much weight the 3/4" X 1' X 2' base plate added, but it was 280 lbs before it was added. I am guessing 310 to 330 lbs. Face is 18" X 4 1/16"

Nice anvil. I'll keep looking.

A little closer. Lots of hand work. I had a small local welding shop cut out under the hardy, and weld it on as a upsetting block. They cut out a base plate and welded it on as well. Can those guys weld or what! and to think I almost welded it myself.