WestByXXXTexas

Not getting a lot of sparks, so its prolly cast iron

I guess I got lucky.  I picked up two of them from a local scrap yard for scrap price.  In the process of re-finishing the face on one.  I need a bigger grinder.  LOL

Well just got off the phone with Jock Dempsey.  He gave me some good insight.  I need to go get a bigger grinder and some fast cut wheels

I'm 4 hours Northeast of you Jerry

How far west are you?  Balcones Forge is having an all day get together in Devine, Texas this weekend.

I'm 4 hours Northeast of you Jerry

I'm 4 hours Northeast of you Jerry

What scrap yard did you find these at? Most of the scrap yards around Lubbock don't sell to the public and won't let you in without a load to drop off. I would love to find a yard where I can find cheap materials.

 

I have not found any flap disks that last long. I would do the bulk of the grinding with a hard grinding disk and just use the flap disk for final cleanup.

I'm not in Lubbock kubiack.  I tried the hard grinding discs and smoothed them out in no time

Howdy from West Texas!

I'm new to this forum but have been smithing for about 14 years now.  For the last 13 years I've been using a 55 pound Austrian anvil and its done fine, just it can be a pain for bigger projects

The other day I was perusing a local scrapyard.  I was going to try and find some 4" thick plate steel and simply build a bigger anvil, as even the 100 pounders nowadays can be expensive.  I walked into the recycle building and asked the feller if he had any thick plate or anything I could use as a big anvil.  He smiled and said "Lemme show ya these".  He walked me to a corner and pointed to two 340 pound bridge anvils that had "Pittsburg PA" on the side.  When I asked how much he said "26 cents a pound; They're just scrap to me"  Needless to say I jumped on that deal like flea on a fat dog.

I got them home and unloaded.  As these things are 50+ years old at least they show some wear and tear.  Edges are broken here and there and the faces have been chiseled on, leaving some decent sized cuts in the face

I went down to my local welding supply and picked up some ceramic flap sanding discs.  I refinished a cast anvil for a guy a few years back and those worked just dandy.

I put the disc on my grinder and went to work.  This anvil is obviously a lot tougher than that cast one.  I've got some polish to it but still have the gouges, and from the way its going I definitely have my work cut out for me.

The question I have is can you all recommend something else that wont wear out as fast on the face, or is this just gonna take awhile to get it smooth?

Thanks in advance