gote

This is nearly exactly what I have built for myself. I have the forge about 4' away from the back and left walls. The free wall space is useful for hanging stuff, it is useful to be able to position longer pieces any way I want and the distance from the wooden wall makes me feel safe from fire. In my corner of the world, most old blacksmiths shops are built in wood and one has been in use in thre hundred years. I second Frosty on not covering the wall. I only take half sticks in to cut them so the ceiling height is not a problem. The space is enough for me who who usually work alone. The only gate I have had in the shop was around 3' timea 4' so it did not pose much problems.

Whale meat is quite tasty but no longer an option

Now this is something many women would like to have. Not for coffe cups but for handbags. There is always the problem of where to hang the bag when taking a break at a coffe shop or a restaurant. X-mas present!! I will just have time to do a couple for the family females. Cheers I am off!!

We are talking about dynamics and deforming the stock. When we hit the anvil, a compression wave travels downwards (and sideways depending upon the shape of the anvil.) It take some time - even if very short before the wave hits the bottom of the anvil and even more until it hits the floor. The deformation of the stock is a very brief thing. The contact surface between hammer and stock will not travel down with the speed of sound but the travelled way is very short so I think that the deformation of the stock will usually be over when the wave hits the floor. With a good sized anvil, it will be over when the wave hits the stand. What happens to the shock wave after deformation is over is of no consequence to the amount of deformation you have in the stock. We need to keep some things apart here. Rebound is a good way to determine the quality of the steel in the anvil but when we are smithing we do not want any rebound. We want the energy in the moving hammer head to be mostly absorbed as deformation of the stock. If that shall happen, the anvil surface should move as little as possible under the impact. That is; the used part of the anvil should have as much inertia (=mass) as possible. This is why London pattern anvils have a sweet spot. This is where there is most mass under the hammer. If the stand shall have any appreciably influence on mass under the hammer it needs to be of a similar material and the same cross section as the waist of the anvil andt hat under the waist with no sound dampening material between. I have yet to see the stand that conforms to that requirement. All are substantially more flexible than the anvil and have less mass. The closest we get is when we use pieces standing up as a fork lift tine or a railroad rail - or a Brazeal anvil. These make best use of the mass by putting it all under the hammer. To get into the original question, I think that it depends not only on the size of the stock but also on how hot it is and of what material it is. I think we all adjust the weight of the hammer to these parmeters. Then the anvil should have so much inertia under the hammer that its upper surface does not move downwards appreciably and that brings us back to the original question. Since I use Swedish cast steel anvils I do not expect any damage as long as I have the stock under the hammer when I hit.

I disagree Kozzy. You forget inertia and that an anvil is a solid chunk that is not as elastic as the stand.

Usually more or less across since many operations mean that the piece to hit is close to an edge or that the edge is used. I do not have much of "sweet spot" since my two horn North Swedish has very little waist. I use lengthwise when it is convenient to support a piece of stock without holding it - like when splitting using a chisel. Also when straightening stuff.

Absolutely right! Get yourself a south-German or north-Swedish two horn anvil.

Thomas, Please get well, we need you! Seasons greetings by the way. Göte

Smen's häst och skomakarns kärring har de sämsta skorna = The blacksmith's horse and the shoemaker's wench have the worst shoes.

I did not say that. I said that you can do that if you do not have a hot cut. It works and is obvious to you and me but not necessarily to one who is calling himself a beginner.

I am sometimes a sloppy reader Now I do not understand why I got the impression. Anyway, working with long stock is the easy way (I think Frosty said that the best tongs sit at the end of your arm) but you will want somewhere to rest the cold end so you are free to do things when the stock is heating up. Have that in the back of your head when designing the forge. I have my workbench adjacent to the forge and put a piece of wood under the cold end or occasionally rest it on the vise. The cold end will eventually heat up and then it is useful to have a longish tub of water in which one dips the left hand with the cold end keeping the hot above the water. (Not the hammer hand, it will become slippery) You do not even need a hot cut in the beginning. A sharp ege on the anvil can be used.

Steel is cheap even if you cannot get drops for free (=a sixpack) I pay 26 SEK/Kg regardless of wether it is a drop or not. If they have to cut for me (6m bars are awkward in my transport) there is another 30SEK. A SEK is approximately 10 US cents, I use that stuff most of the time because I can start on a known material of the right dimensions. However, here it is definitely a sales argument that something is made from recycled material. That most steel is already recycled is not something the general public is aware of,

Melting steel is a magnitude more difficult than blacksmithing. It is cheaper to buy a top notch brand anvil than getting all the gear expenses and experience together to cast a steel anvil. Since you are beginning, I suggest that you start using stock that is so long that you do not need any tongs.

My first shop light is a 400W halogene lamp. The second is newer and similar in size and output but is LED I am happy with both except that the led disturbs my radio but I do not use that much anyway. Here in Sweden it is now diffcult to buy a lamp of any kind that is not led.

The tool I MADE and use most is the humbly rake. Second is the U I set in the vise and use for bending (more than one actually). Third: pieces of water pipe cut to suitable length to use when bending stock (Never on vise handles). Very simple things compared to hot cuts and hammers and all that stuff you guys make. Thinking it over, The shop as such with benches and lighting is of course what I always use and have built myself but that hardly qualifies as tools.

I do not think ALL of those asking abut their anvils are asking because they want to sell it. They want to know if they have been cheated. Also they may have learnt from someone that Söderfors is the ultimate one and hope they have got one, Blacksmithing is a trade with historical roots and it is a good feeling to know that a main tool is old enough to be called an antique. In this part of the world, the limit is 100 years so a lot of you guys are using an antique the way this type of antique should be used. Old tools may be better than new. I cannot afford to use Japanese handcrafted chisels (wood working) so I use the next best. Old second hand ones made in Esklistuna - older than myself in fact. They take a much better edge and hold it better than any new one (Chinese?) that I can afford to buy. I cannot understand those people who misuse old equipment as garden ornaments. I want a sculpture or a beautiful urn in my garden. By the way some may hope to be able to tell the domestic Goddess that they made a brilliant buy

NO!!!!! for reasons stated above.

I am presently trying to get the true dimensions of the tongs. If I get them I will post them as soon as possible.

Yes Glenn You are right on all points. I know but i still do it occasionally . The good feasture of that tape measure is that you can measure and lock. It has two hard points that allow you to set off the measured dimension on another piece. Works beauyifully on wood but also on mild steel even if not so visibly.

Many flintlocks were rebuilt to percussion leaving more or less traces of the original design Oops already said

Yes Glenn REMEMBERING is the key word. In Sweden we have a (very good) type of tape measure where the box has a 100mm flip out extension at the back for measuring inner distances. Thus they have two sets of numbers; red for the +100mm and black for the others. Please do not ask me how I know this so well . It is also possible to use a two meter ruler, turn it upside down and cut at 95cm instead of 105 Can anyone explain to me why one always cuts too short when getting the numbers wrong. Never too long ort

You, Littleblacksmith, are obviously not married. The Telephone is a kind of leash that she will put on you.

I try to refer to customer's feelings Steve.

I think that you are forgetting one point. To many - at least on this side of the pond - it has a value to know that, whatever the implement is, knife or candle stick, is made from repurpoused material. It gives a feeling of not overusing the planet's resources. Of course Glenn is right but I should think that 99% of the tools made by smiths are not used in critical situations.

This is a very beautiful hammer and obviously the style is used with great success by many smiths - not only in Japan. Personally I feel that it somehow would feel awkward but that is my idiosyncrasy. I am back to the question of balance again. If the Hofi hammer is so great because the distribution of weight in reference to the hammer, this hammer should be useless but is obviously not - at least not in the right hands. Comments please