matei campan

I have two old forged French double horned anvils, both of them have the horns hardened. one has a thick (~3cm) plate for the face and thinner plates on the horns, but all are hardened. for the London pattern anvils, maybe it was too difficult, due to the step, to bother facing the horn with steel, as it wasn't absolutely necessary.

thank you guys. I like the clean designs. when I design something, I try to find something that makes you feel that it's exactly like that it has to be, that you cannot change nothing, nothing to add, nothing to remove. and usually I go by removing as much features/elements as I can, rather than by adding as much as I can, like a lot of people do. and that's not by laziness, because my way is harder. a good design has a "perfect flow" and nothing has to stay in it's way. also, very important for me is the "tactile" aspect of my work, that it has to have synesthetic effect, to make you feel that you could touch it with your eyes. another feature of a good design is the "sleep-with-it-under-your-pillow effect".

ouch, double post!

congratulations, you're a happy man! you didn't put your bed near it to sleep at it's side? It's a pity that the US is quiet deprived (I don't know if I'm using the term right) of the european double-horned anvils which are, in my opinion (and some experience) way more versatile, especially when it comes to ornamental work. and that smooth transition from face to horn is also a great feature find on the southern-german pattern, some french patterns, or austrian patterns... even great is that little triangular flat surface when the face "blends" into the horn. this design is maybe the best one available, a well thought design, everything is useful and nothing stays in the way when you work (except the side-shelf for certain people, but the others are big fans of it). I think that design extracts the maximum of usefulness an anvil can do. once you have it, you'll ask yourself how you could have been able to live without it. unfortunately, in US it seems that the best way to have one is to buy new, (or the few old ones at very high prices), but is a life-long investment. and in no time it pays for itself.

I think a bit more than 6/8

here is a razor, my razor. I made it scaleless because I'm lazy and because I wanted to try how the shaving works with such a razor. I also made it to try the "german silver steel" (115CrV3) as razor steel. it turned out great. that steel was really great to sharpen. each stage was easy and very straight-forward, unlike some steels on some other razors which are a PITA to get a good shaving sharpness. since I started to use it (more than 2 years ago), the other razors are just collecting dust... I prefer it mainly because it has a curved edge ("smiling blade" as the razor fans are calling it) and I can shave myself better in the concave areas. you can also see a copper bracelet I made for my wife.

they are about 60/90cm (2/3feet) and the stock was 12/12mm, 10/10mm square and 50mm/5or6mm flat. I forged the wider parts from the flat, then welded to the 12/12 square stock "stems" (welds reforged to make the pieces look as one piece)

I'm glad you like my work, It's even better when your work is appreciated by the fellow craftsmen. @DSW - the connections are welded, drilled/punched/riveted would be overkill, and even as they are welded/grinded/filed/finished/burned as you cannot see the welds wasn't easy at all. like always I far surpassed the time expected to spend on them...

here are some "art nouveau" inspired window grilles. [/url

the problem is that every work I do is different and most of the time is difficult to figure out all the difficulties and the needed time. the fact that every work is a challenge (and an opportunity to learn) makes the beauty of the craft, but it has it's drawbacks :)

well, I split it with an angle grinder with a cut-off disc... boring.

well, next time I'll make it laser-cut :), I asked a price for 3 days of work, as I was thinking I'll make it in 3 days, I don't know were my mind was - it took me 10 days to finish it and it wrecked my wrist as I was working with an 1lb hammer with awkward movements to submit the scrolls. bending sheet metal edgewise is not quiet piece-of-cake. the corner protections were made by bending a piece of sheet in the shape of a square with a triangle cut out of it, I hope you imagine it. there was a "lip" let on the side which was overlapped by the other side when the piece was bent close. that's roughly what I did. the problem was that the edges of the chest were rounded, so I have to make the protections fit the shape. also the resulting 3D corner had to be rounded by hammering, at the beginning cold then hot. after making the rough shape I cut it to give it the decorative look. maybe on monday I'll upload a close-up picture of the piece.

here's an old restored chest which i had to decorate with some iron-work. it was a lot of work in spite of the simple design. bending/scrolling 3mm (1/8inch?) edgewise was a nightmare and making two identical pieces was another one :) also I had to make the corner protections and the blackmith nails. enjoy!

thank you Gergely for the appreciations! I already saw several 250kg "normal" JEB-s for sale, but here, the problem is the prices are so high (and the anvils are not in v. good condition), that, for same money, you could buy one or two great anvils from France and ship them here...

speaking of JEB anvils (recent posts from eastern Europe) - take a look at the one at the bottom, a real monster (300-350kg?), and an unusual pattern around here, where 98% of the anvils are the Austrian (Steyeriche) which look like this: the one below it's an anvil I know from 7-8 years now, and the seller haven't sold the anvil yet as she is asking too much. maybe If I go with a reasonable amount of cash i'll get it... if so, there will be a problem, moving/transporting it. I have a 160kg+ anvil, but it looks quiet tiny in comparison to this. an interesting feature is that the anvil has the edges chamfered along the first 1/3 of the face length. apart of a slight depression in the sweet-spot area, the face and edges are in a very good condition. in fact you have plenty of flat face, which I would call it rather a table - it's so large that you could even take a nap on it :) on both anvils posted here, the example and the anvil I'm speaking of, there's the JEB and the 2 angels marking

In Romania (neighboring both Hungary and Bulgaria), 99% of the anvils are of that pattern, part of them are JEBs, for sure pre WWII era, others made locally, also pre WWII and other no name communist era copies, some good, some bad quality... I have a JEB in very good condition, my first anvil, 32kg, 98%rebound. unfortunately, most of the JEBs, even that they have a quiet hard face, are dished. I think the hardened thickness is quiet thin. apart of that JEB, I have the other two makes too. a friend of mine has several of that hungarian production, as the ones above - good anvils. well, they are nice anvils, but I'm a little bored by that pattern as It seems to be the most popular around here (even that I prefer it over the London/American pattern, from the functional point of view). for my kind of work I prefer the double horned anvils like the french designs or the southern german ones.

I have the "classic" type (austrian) JEB anvil with the same logo and angels. that's my first anvil, a very nice 32kg one. what's the most popular type of anvil in Bulgaria?

Merry Christmas! but sadly, it seems that a blacksmith missed his gift this year...

I'd look for a double horned anvil, It's more versatile than a London pattern, and, it seems, much harder to find in used condition. what about a new Ridgid Peddinghaus? something very quickly found, there's a Peddinghaus in as new condition, except the paint: Or...: in Europe would be much more easier and cheaper, check this, for example: it would cost you the shipping more than the anvil, but's a VERY good anvil, big one (180Kg) , good condition... I own a similar one (101kg - 222lb) and it's my favourite. I also own a Fisher anvil, but I have to force myself to use it and I eventually move on the double horned almost every time. the only one pattern as good as this one (that's my subjective opinion) is the southern german pattern. that also has that nice transition from the round horn to the face.

is that your anvil? it appears that it has a nice decoration chiselled on it too. make yourself tools to put in the swage block or in the vice , it would serve you better an you won't ruin that beautiful anvil's legs. I also own 3 austrian pattern anvils (similar to yours, not so beautiful, without decoration), but I don't use the legs to forge on, it haven't seemed to have any advantage and haven't felt the need to do it yet. but's your anvil...

well, it's not mine (sadly, as I am a big fan of the French anvils), I'm just contemplating it - a thing of beauty, which deserves to be shared... and I think a rarity too: '' target='_blank'>> I didn't find a way to post the image, so I used the link enjoy!

paint it with some melt tar or some tar diluted in some kind of thinner, even gasoline will work?...

could it be that, even though the faceplate has some thickness, the hardening penetration to be less than it's thickness, as the plain carbon steel I suppose that it is, has lower hardenability...

a good source for double horned nice anvils, for good prices, could be the France. especially in the north-west, for you just across the water, and just below Belgium, there is an anvil rich area, it seems. I've seen many great anvils up to 150euros, in great shape. I wanted to buy one of those, a 250kg+, with upsetting block at 80 euros, in perfect shape (except some rust), but I didn't find someone to get there to pick it up in time and I lost it. I saw another one, in perfect condition, over 350kg for 150 euros... and so on... just keep an eye to this: http://www.leboncoin.fr/annonces/offres/ile_de_france/occasions/?o=1&q=enclume

it's a (by far, I'd say) more versatile design than the London pattern, and the side shelf compensates for the lack of the London's pattern heel, I'd go for it. and it's not an everyday find... so, I'd say something to get really excited about.