Randy Bill

Inspiring and humbling. THE definition of "Holy Cow!"

Anvil stand parts test fit before welding. It's off to the welder now. If he goofs up it's your fault, Mr. Frosty.

Congrats to using the term concrete! First rule: run away from any contractor who can "pour cement". Portland cement is an ingredient in concrete and concrete is placed, not poured. Investing in concrete is not to be taken lightly; it is extremely difficult to find a contractor who knows the science of concrete and can provide the owner with a good value. The vast majority of concrete is incorrectly done and a terrible waste of money for most. Correctly done, concrete will NEVER crack. Proper base preparation and proper curing of the placement are the most often overlooked. Good info is available, this isn't a place for uncle Ed's reflections on his "help with the neighbor's cement" (worse if pronounced see-ment). Stick with dirt if at all possible and buy more tools! (In a previous life I was employed with the Bureau of Reclamation in materials testing (yup, concrete) and the job was to protect the taxpayer's investment in concrete.)

I'm going to try these; 4 1/2" x 9" x 1" (for woodstove replacement). Can add another set if necessary.

My take on image in post #17. So far. The geometry on a hand truck merits a mock-up for me. I'll be Securing my anvil to this Four dogs cut and fit from the drilled and tapped 1" square bar stock will be bolted from underneath

Sure. An image?

I'd like to see a few images of The watering can, please. They must be an unattractive tool. I NEVER see one. No "Show me your water can" topic.

While you guys are busy, I'm getting started on Securing my anvil to a column fabricated with these four 23" lengths. They are 4 1/4" tall and would be "53 pound" rail. Cut by local shop with abrasive cut-off saw; $2.50 per cut, my rail. Total column weight will be 136# with a cruciform cross-section. My welder is using wire feed w/70,000# wire, no preheat. This rail is HARD and the spark pattern from the cut-off wheel looks just crazy carbon. Rings like a bell. My welder says "I've welded it before just fine". Anyone care to share how they think the welding will work?

See Justin Wilson's Homegrown Louisiana Cookin', 1990, P.56-57 "How to Make a Roux". After consuming enough of the result, refer to images in posts 17 and 21 in this topic for possible self-transport ideas.

Larger wheels, detached. For dirt floors, 16" dia.x 1 1/8" axle.

Oops, beginner's mistake. Searched "badger anvils" and found previous posts on the subject. A cast iron body with tool steel face; that would explain it's excellent service for me. Apparently the horn gave a previous owner less stellar performance...

Thank you John McPherson for identifying Ethan B's anvil! I have used a nearly identical one (marked "6", horn broken cleanly off) as my only anvil for years. What can you share about the Badger anvils? I hadn't thought too highly of mine until lately when it occurred to me I've done LOTS of work on the poor thing and the face is as good as when I acquired it. Certainly a cast anvil but of what?

Do English factories employ vice squads?

Marked "PARAMO" and "No.6" on other side, 6" jaws. Good grief, will I ever stop thinking stupid comments when I read this side? No matter, it's excellent quality but I have no history. Can any of our friends across the pond identify the maker...

Uh, I meant to point out that a local plumber no longer had cast iron floor drain grates but I was still able to get one at the farm store. Was asking if the cast iron grate (in the image) was suitable.

Portable forge. I started this project last fall and hope someone will say "you're missing coal". Or better yet, what I need before coal!

No sir. A few numerals but no wording or ID. In my case "cart before horse" would apply. Jeez you probably saved my bacon on the clay advice; I've marveled at how thin the pan is (not from corrosion). Cast iron floor drain grate. The plumber had PVC but the farm store had iron. Is it suitable? 2 1/2" tubing swaged up at one end and down at the other to connect. Bracing fit to legs. Thank you guys for your input. This is new stuff to me and the replies are very much appreciated.

Whew! Imagine my relief finding out that what I have actually was a forge. Because my loved one was becoming increasingly harder to find when I wished to move it, I added wheels. They are from an IHC grain binder; the flanges prevented the side-draft of the implement from shoving the horses sideways and won't matter on my dirt floor. Ash dump door replaced. A blower was next, all the way from Pennsylvania. Champion #1(?) with 3" outlet reduced to my 2 1/2" inlet thanks to a Summit Racing part that I fit. LANCASTER on intake side of blower. In this position plenty of air would come out of the Tuyere(?) with only moderate cranking of blower. But, I have the 2 1/2' tubing to connect.

This is a long story, but for starters what kind of forge is this? The blower motor is inoperable and the fan is seized to the shaft; not much fix there. "Buffalo Ace Motor"? I thought the cast air inlet (Tuyere?, end just visible at right) was neat so bought the unit but why no usual "firepot" or clinker breaker? Grate and ash dump door were missing.

Thank you Joshua and Mr. Frosty for your kind words and helpful advice. What an odd but good feeling to actually have a real anvil here. A big piece of the puzzle. To think I'd walked by this anvil many times and always thought it cast junk due to the thick crud layer. Admittedly, I didn't even know what a Hay-Budden anvil was until I started reading IFI. I've looked at a lot of anvils around here (mostly farm auctions) and they are just plain worn out and way overpriced or simply not for sale. Peter Wright is the most seen quality make and these can often be traced back to some kind of shop; true farm anvils here are usually cast with no ID.

It took twenty-six years to find. Furniture refinisher removed the 1/8" of rock-hard grime; steel wool and oil (no abrasives!) revealed a gorgeous patina still blue in some areas. Guess these are a good brand but I think daddy let the kids go nuts with the number dies on "bring a kid to work day". We've got 8, 99, 3, 2, and 85 stamped. Dad must have done the 189132. Is there a "World's Noisiest Anvil Contest"? My cast-iron ASO with missing horn is much quieter.

The X and O are of course not for tic-tac-toe. The X denotes "hug" and the O is a stylized "kiss", i.e. "hugs and kisses". Jeez guys, you're lucky I came along when I did.