ThorsHammer82

The cheapest way to get steel is to either get drops. Basically the stuff that's left over after someone else has used up most of the useable length of a given "stick" (full length). Or buy a full stick. Stick lengths will vary between the different sizes/shapes of metal you're buying. some come in 20' some in 24' and some in other lengths. You can ask about price per inch, price per foot, and price per stick. they all very. The larger the thickness, the higher the cut cost. Basically they are charging you for the time of the cut/the wear and tear on the saw.

It took me three years to finally go through my scrap buckets to toss the stuff that was not going to be useful. I recycled less than 1/4 bucket of scrap.

Mac, thats like walking into a buffet and asking if anyone came to eat. I look at it as selective hoarding. I only keep what I think can be useful. Typically, anything that is over 2" in length I consider to be potentially useful unless its rotted out with rust, or covered in welds and torch slag if it has those it needs to be more than 3" in length.

you did good. Is it all in working order?

you could start by getting the 9 layers of paint off of it so you might be able to find the markings.

Wow, great story. Sorry about your shop though. but part of the joys of smithing is building and acquiring the tools.

the heating coal isn't good for smithing, but the supplier probably either has a stock of smithing coal, or knows where to get it.

I've built my forge, and obtained two anvils and a small supply of stock for the grand total of $10 with scrap I had laying around and asking nicely of the right people. the $10 was spent at a garage sale to buy a bucket of coal and a shop vac because the shop vac I had intended on using was broken. be resourceful, keep an open mind, and always ask nicely. and get to reading. there is so much on here to learn that you'll be on here for a very long time.

question, Would the Tooth pins from excavator buckets be good starting points for hammer drifts, and punches and stuff?

I have to agree that my scrap pile and my stock pile are two different piles. scrap goes it buckets and is the small cut offs and such that will rarely have a use. Stock is lengths of material that can easily be used it other projects.

Here are my "anvils" both are from a rock quarry. and both are cast steel This one is from the rock crusher. It's half of one of the rock anvils. basically the rocks are thrown at it at high speed and break on impact. It's approximately 70 lbs http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/37487-it-followed-me-home-anvil-type-item/ This is a broken tip off the rock breaker. The rock breaker goes on one of the large excavators and makes big rocks into slightly smaller rocks. It imparts 35,000 TONS of force into the end of the tip. and will be used as a post anvil. It weighs approximately 90 lbs. http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/37486-it-followed-me-home-post-anvil/

You might want to make your tuyere longer. as I've noticed mine gets hot enough to melt plastic and it's further away than yours. As for the anvil, I'll be be best suited by standing it vertically. gives you the most mass under the impact point.

as in everything skill and experience help. There are many people who can be very accurate with a long handled hammer. but that is more of a learned skill than an innate skill. In my limited anvil time I've noticed on heavier hammers, I choke up. And I'm sure I'll do this for a while until I get used to the weight of the hammer. But with a normal hammer I'm perfectly comfortable holding the end of the handle.

shorter handle for more precision. just like choking up on a bat. The handle is a lever. and extention of your hand/wrist/arm/body. The longer the lever the more movement you get at the end in comparison to the movement you've got at your hand. The closer the head you hold the hammer, the more control you will have over the head. The other aspect of this is power. The longer the lever, the more power you have at the head of the hammer. Power is a distiction of force+speed+Mass. You can get more power by adding force, adding speed, or adding mass. The lever adds the speed. as the head of the hammer is moving faster the further away from your hand it is. Just like the tread of a tire is moving faster than the hub. They both have to be at same point in the circle at the same time, but as they have different distances to travel the larger diameter must travel faster. In this case the elbow would be the center of the tire, The hand would be the rim of the wheel, and the hammer head would be the tread of the tire. There isn't a lot of movement at the elbow, There is more at the hand, and even more at the hammer head.

Don't worry frosty, There are enough wasteful people out there to supply all the blacksmiths of any generation.

I would say in my area its fair to rich. A quick look on Craigslist had 5-6 anvils up for sale some at good prices some not. but based on some of the rumors I've read on here. Larry tends to grab up a lot of the good ones. And with Nimba almost in my back yard it kinda scews the results. Though, none of the ones on CL are Nimba's

you know what they say. It's worth what ever someone will pay for it.

well youre scandihoovian anvil could be addorned with firs or blood red to commemorate the Vikings, and the 'Merican one could do with a nice "General Lee" paint job. lol.

why would it be mothballed? Sounds to me like you haven't had anything cool follow you home lately. lol. :D

"They've gone PLAID!" "Spaceballs! There goes the Planet!"

....? Did you happen to ask how he came across this knowledge?

if I remember right, The road runner would stand on the X, than say Beep Beep and be gone in a puff of dust. and than the Coyote would come over and look up, wondering where the Anvil was at which time it would land on him. So, Sure, I'll be your road runner. lol. Beep Beep.

1, we need to know what kind of fabrication you're capable of. Can you weld? or is it all going to have to bolt together? Note, anything that can be welded can be done with nuts and bolts, it will just be bulkier and take longer. As for attaching to the legs, I wouldn't because you're risking cracking the table. You're better off making a cart that the legs sit in. This can be done in either wood or steel, but if you use wood, you'll want to use steel for the handles to keep the wood far way from the burning stuff. 4 wheels, steering if you want to go that far, or casters. handles on the cart so you're not pushing on the table to move it in and out. What size is the table? I'd say pnuematic tires you should be ok with 8" or bigger tires, but you may be limited by the size of the door to your shed/shop and stuff like that THe larger the tire, the higher your forge is going to sit. My forge sat outside long enough for me to Clean and organize my shop. It got rained on once. but I built a cover/damper for it so the coke and ash didn't get wet.

Sorry, I'm no Road runner.

I'm sure for now I'll spend more time making the tools than the actual project. It's just the nature of the beast when you're starting out.