Michael Cochran

Gotcha, thanks. I might bereally wrong, this looks like an interesting project. I might start it and my short attention span make me go another direction lol. Did you mention how much time you have in it so far?

Thanks Biggun. I am a decent welder but thought about taking classes at the little community college so I can improve my technique and put my skill on my resume. I'll look into it.

That looks amazing. I wish I could pull that off. do you have any suggestions for those of us who might want to try to replicate what you've done? Maybe someone like me on a much smaller scale, say 80lbs.

Me too, Michael, that was the reason I brought it up but I guess it's just one of those things where someone who doesn't know anvils is trying to describe one from a couple days prior and has no idea what he's talking about. I guess it was just another anvil, nothin special.

Supposedly he has paperwork where he traced it back to some time between 1850-1880. I think it's like John said I think it's just hype. Most of the stuff was way over priced from what I was told so it's probably just a story to sell an 'old' anvil.

Thomas, I have no idea how to respond to your comment. I have no idea which part of my post is 'bs.' John, I showed him some pictures of anvils, including the bridge anvils. From what I gather from his comments it looks similar to a London pattern with a few key differences. He said the waist was fatter and the horn has a slow curve from the bottom just above the base with a shelf on it roughly 4-5 inches long. He keeps saying the way the horn comes up looks like the front of an old ship. Other than that I have nothing else to go on. i guess it's just one of things lol.

Lee, I messaged Sam after seeing that video you shared. I was hoping he could clarify a few things about that hammer but have yet to hear back from him. :(

My inlaws went on a 3 day 'junking adventure' this last weekend and I am curious about an anvil I was told about. My fatherinlaw was telling me about one anvil he saw that the guy told him was a 300+ pound confederate railroad anvil. He was asking $8999.99. I have searched and searched and cannot locate anything with pictures even close to what he says this one looked like. So I'm asking if anyone here knows anything about them and maybe has some pictures you could share with me. I was told it had about 8" wide face and was close to 24" overall length and about 30" tall. He said the horn looked 'like the front of an old ship.' I told him he should have gotten a picture lol. Any help appreciated.

I got a chance to fire up some coal and work with it today and wanted to come back and say thanks again for everyone's help. I have to say that I wasn't expecting the significant difference in heat difference between coal and the charcoal im used to but it was a very pleasant surprise. I had a small billet tack welded together ready to forge weld and was dreading the amount of time and fuel it was goin to take with charcoal but with two heats I was able to get a good solid weld. DSW, it's was a little difficult to light (the first time) but after I had to relight it a couple times I found it not too bad. I just had to be patient with it. i have to say, I'm looking forward to using it some more. I guess that means it's time to find a good local supply :)

Thanks for the tip. I'll dig out one of my old ones and give it a shot.

Ok, anvil fire is back and the chart they have shows 25lbs being run by at least 1/2hp. A 1/3 I'd imagine is only gonna be good for about 10-15lbs. I could be wrong, it's happened before.

I've seen them mentioned a couple times and haven't looked yet. The last bottom blast charcoal forge I had was a 30 gallon drum with about half of one side cut out and a hole in the top and bottom. The bottom hole had an old metal saucepan and the hole on top had a cast iron collar and a 6 inch chimney about 4 feet long. Still have the body but not the chimney or pot.

Thanks, glenn. I'm looking right now at my scrap pile (mentally since it's dark and I don't have lights on the back of my shop lol) to make sure I have what I need to make a decent small coal forge. I'm thinking about using a rusty old farming disc as my firepot with some sheet metal welded to it large enough to make a decent little table around it. It's not gonna be deep so I think I'm gonna have to do some research before i finalize my build.

That's great news Sadly I don't have one of those, just an old fart fan i salvaged during a remodeling job I did last year. Glenn, thanks for reminding me it's hotter than my char. I've only once ever burned steel enough to sparkle but only briefly. I like the preheat idea, I'll have to remember that. thanks guys for your help so far.

Are you talking about 12 hours give or take?

So nothing to get too excited about. It is funny theres a chance of 'gold' in it since when I found it i behaved as if I had just found gold lol. just curious, how long does coal last before its burned up? Is it enough I'll get an hour (or more) out of what I have? I am really looking forward to lighting this stuff this weekend after I finish rebuilding my bottom blast forge but have no idea what to expect. If I'll only be able to get an hour or two of of what I have I'll hold off using it until I have a little more.

Well, I spent a little time busting coal into usable bits this afternoon after work. I have a little over 2 1/2 five gallon buckets as of right now. I plan to go back and get more, I hate the idea of it sitting there being useless almost wasted. I did find something interesting while breaking it up, I found a few pieces of small silver something in some of the pieces. I am at a loss for what it could be so I have to ask, does anyone have a clue what it could be?

Thanks ptree, that's awesome. I might have to make one :)

I know it's a play on airstream and I assumed it was anvil shaped, just curious what it looked like. I'll search elsewhere and see if I can find it.

So light and go. Got it. Just to clarify coal likes more air than charcoal? Or is it the other way around? I just remembered what I forgot earlier. Most of these pieces are quite large (softball size more or less) I know obviously that I need to break it up. Should I be good at about pecan size or should I go for a different size?

After answering a call at work today as I was wandering back through the woods when I noticed a piece of coal at my feet. As I usually do when I find one piece, I looked around to see if there was any more. Well I found more and more. I brought home about 50 pounds with probably at least that much more left out there. my problem is im used to using charcoal for forging but really want to try my hand at coal and have not a clue the best way to coke it or if it even really needs to be coked ahead of time. I know the basics of fire maintenance but are there any tricks I need to be aware of? I feel like I'm missing something obvious I need to ask but it's been a long day and I'm tired. thanks in advance

Well it's worth a shot I guess. I currently have a used 1/3 hp and a used 1/2 hp motor. I thought about using the 1/2 for my hammer and using the 1/3 for a planishing hammer or some other project. However if yo can get decent results from the 1/3 I might save the 1/2 for something else :)

This is what I was referring to.