bajajoaquin

I went to look at the Blacksmiths Depot website because I wanted to see the retail pricing on Grant's induction forges, but all the links are bad. Grant, perhaps you can let us know if you're still importing these, and where we can find them. I'm not in the buying cycle quite yet for a forge, but I am in the buying cycle for a house, and I wanted to see the electrical requirements and options. If I remember from other threads, you have a 15KW, 25KW and a 40 KW. Since I'm just a hobbyist, I'm mostly interested in the 15KW, because I can't really justify the cost of one of those, and if you start adding in complicated cooling systems, there's no way I'll be able to put one in my shop! So I guess my question is a bit more than source. Can you also talk a bit about systems requirements for one of the small induction systems? Electricity, cooling... anything else I would need to know?

I have a cast iron rivet forge I picked up at a show a little while back, and I was thinking of getting it in firing shape. There's nothing written on it that says, "line with clay" like I saw on another post here. But was this something that is assumed with these things, or can I just put on a firebowl and tueyre and make a fire?

A 76-lb piece of steel? I'd take Glenn's lead and use it close to as-is. It looks like both of the 7.5" sides are identical, so I'd be tempted to make one into a flat face and use it on edge that way.

No "Brooks" in the index. Not surprising, though, considering that it doesn't really focus on equipment outside the US. Really interesting design, though. I hope someone has pictures of a complete one, so we can see it.

Can't see it clearly, but the face looks to be at least as good as the one on my anvil. I say use it as-is.

There's some discussion of these differences in Pounding out the Profits, but I don't remember exactly how he describes them. He does mention the same thing about steam hammers, that they were originally used for lifting the ram only. I actually had the book upstairs when I posted my earlier comment, but I was too lazy to go and grab it. Part of the discussion in the introduction is about the way that names have been used "incorrectly" for a long time, and trip, tilt, toggle, power, and lots of other names have been used interchangeably over the years. Then, as now, manufacturers chose names or marketing slogans that conveyed a theme, or made an impression, regardless of how strictly-speaking "true" it was.

I'd say that a "power" hammer is anything that is powered by something other than yourself: water, electricity, wind, donkey, whatever. The other things describe the power mechanism or mechanical attributes: tilt, helve, spring, etc. Following this nomenclature, Drop hammers would be gravity hammers, where the upstroke is powered by whatever, and then the downstroke is gravity powered. Tilt and others would be examples of drop power hammers. As I think of it, the process I'm laying out is trying to follow the way the NIGP code is built: "bigger" classification to more detailed. Powered/unpowered work-stroke type mechanical attributes Which is not to say that I'm trying to be definitive. Just thinking about how the names would make sense to me if I were coming up with them from scratch.

UVEX makes safety glasses that block out IR. If you do a search, I think I posted a part number, but I don't recall. You can also go to their website and download their product brochure. Or search Amazon.com. I got mine for something like $15. I wear them for forge welding, but clear lenses for regular forge work.

I agree with the above, but want to go on record that your rail road track is waaaay better than what is termed an "ASO." Generally, an ASO is lump of inferior material shaped like a london-pattern anvil. The most common example is the cast-iron Harbor Freight "anvils." It won't stand up to forging, and is generally a waste of money. A rail road track section, on the other hand, is an anvil. Its generally made of high quality steel, and is a very serviceable piece of forging equipment. You should jump on the opportunity presented to you, but look back fondly on the anvil you used to get started.

If it works for you as-is then you don't need to rush to buy a replacement. The advice here to save your $250 and buy a heavier blacksmith-pattern anvil is solid. If you look around and read some of the threads about anvil size, you'll see that one of the things that's important is the amount of mass under the hammer. The farrier-pattern anvils have a lot of the mass in the horn, not directly under the face. It's a compromise that may be worth while for a single task, but is generally less useful for most forging. I found a 185-lb Hill wrought anvil on eBay just 45 minutes from my house for $200. It took about 8 months of searching Craig's List and eBay almost daily. Since then, I've seen several other anvils come up for sale in my area. They seem to come in waves. Wait and get a general forging anvil over 100lb. You really won't be disappointed.

My coworker came back from Ohio for the Fourth, and said he went to Beaver Creek State Park in Ohio. There is apparently a "Pioneer Town" with a volunteer blacksmith. Anyone live near by? Have any information about it? I'm just curious.

A little pricey, but with negotiation, it could be a really good setup for someone: Anvil and Forge Actually, now that I look at it again, that's a nicer forge and blower than I have. Might be right, spot on. Really not such a good deal: Vulcan Anvil A farrier's setup: Farrier's anvil A TFS in the SF Bay area: TFS Anvil A more reasonably-priced Vulcan in Hayward: Vulcan I think I've seen this guy's ads before. He ain't cheap, but there are some nice "travel size" anvils for sale: Anvils I'm tired of cutting and pasting, now that I found those in SF Bay Craig's List. If anyone in that area complains about not being able to find an anvil....

Regarding just getting started, Thomas put it pretty well in another forge thread: Don't put too fine a point on it. It's better to build and start than design and agonize. (I may just use that quotation in my signature line!)

That's how the blueprints are for the sketches we use in Level 1 at CBA-Vista.

They're limited in their speed by gravity (9.8 m/s/s, to pick nits), but they're also limited in their speed, as Phil mentioned. Because they're gravity-dependent, there is only so fast that you can raise the tup without its inertia carrying it up away from the lifting mechanism. Too fast, and the hammer can't stop rising, then fall in time to keep up with the cam profile. In Pounding Out the Profits there's some discussion about the percentage of the rotational cycle you want to have for lifting versus dropping, but I don't recall it off hand. Mechanical spring hammers change that, and will tend to operate best in a speed range that matches with the spring rate and ram weight. (Someone may want to check me on that. It may not be a function of spring rate.)

Anvils don't come up for sale in San Diego very often, so I guess people think they're rare: I am selling a 1940's Bohemian Anvil. It was originally installed on an American battle ship, weighing 330 Pounds and comes on a forged stand. Craig's List Anvil for Sale

You're close. It was made for shoeing Left-Hill horses. Anvils for Right-Hill horses are down by the heel.

As you noted, I only put an equation into Excel that was provided by someone else, so I don't have any axe to grind here. But it seems that the equation is valid in understanding the effect of mass on efficiency, even if it doesn't describe the method or amount of energy transferred to the work piece. I did a thought experiment to try to see how the "rebound" equation might be applicable. What if we take a massless workpiece, and put it on "anvils" of various masses. We could start out with no anvil at all, and because there's no mass in the work piece, when we hit it with a hammer, it just gets pushed aside, and zero energy is transferred to working the piece. Now, if we put in an anvil of infinite mass below it, 100% of the hammer's energy will be transferred to the work piece. Somewhere in between zero and infinity, a fraction of the hammer's energy will be transferred. This is a function of the mass of the anvil (ignoring differences in elasticity in the anvil, otherwise, we'll be talking about wood and concrete vs. steel). Here, the "rebound" equation tells us the percentage of the energy that is available to do work. The elasticity or plasticity of the workpiece would be the determining function in how that available energy is converted into moving the metal, or doing work. At least, that's how I see it. I'm open to correction.

Oh, and be careful trying to apply anything out of that spreadsheet. It was generated with simple math, based on some very high-level understandings spit-balled around a bunch of guys. It helps illustrate the effect, but it's certainly not accurate enough to make any real determinations.

I think the consensus is "no." There's a lot of material, here and on Anvilfire, about anvil construction. From all of that, I gather that it is critically important that the anvil be all a single mass in order to be most effective. Any flexibility or absorption between masses will reduce the efficiency.

It's not a case of what size you can work, but the relative ease of working them. Try this thread: Monster Anvils - I Forge Iron Although it's not quite about that topic, it might answer your question.

And "better" is the enemy of "good."

Awesome. That's just awesome. Having been to the Saint's festival at a small town in Mexico, I can only imagine what that place looks like later in the day. Festival de San Juan Bautista

You're exactly right; that's a really good way of summing it up. That's another thing I should have put in with "it depends." How much money do you have? Is $600 a financial strain? Just to put it in a personal perspective, I started smithing about a year and a half ago. I went and found a local group that offered lessons and has an excellent facility at very reasonable prices. I haven't spent $650 for all my smithing combined. (That's not strictly speaking true, because of the Hammerfest, Spring Conference, and some other stuff, but if you take what I've spent on the necessary tools, all my lessons, all my open forge time, it adds up to way less than $650). But, if you have more money than time, and you're starting out from absolutely nothing, then $650 is cheap. Kind of like the answer when people ask if an anvil is a good deal, people need to know more if they're going to offer meaningful advice. Thomas's comments and mine are like bookends on the range of possibility: help us narrow it down more.