Furnace1

I think there is one other consideration that has not been mentioned yet and that is the size of the anvil face. I started with a 155 pound anvil which worked fine except I kept wishing I had more room on top of the anvil for layout and orientation of the piece I was working on. Naturally, the piece is hot so it makes sense to use the anvil face for this so I can adjust it right there and not for instance, on a metal bench top. Even when I went to a 230 Peter wright I still did not have the room I preferred. I seem to have a hammer and another tool along with the work piece that finds itself on the anvil throughout the creative part of forging whatever I am trying to make. I just kept wishing for more room. This was the driving factor in looking for another anvil which I was very fortunate enough to find in a 400 pound Fisher. After using this anvil with a 6" wide face and 20 something inches long, I finally have the room I have been hoping for. It is an important factor to me but it may not be as much to another. There are several new anvil brands that wide and long, TFS, Rhino just to name a few. Just something to consider.....hope this helps......Scott

How big is big?........I take it it's bigger than 400lbs?......how about pictures? I never seem to get tired of looking at anvils or vises for that matter!! :P

Those big ones are very rare. I had never even seen one other than in pictures before this one. I knew it would be big but until you stand next to it, you just don't realize how massive and hard to move they are!!!

Thank you, I will check out the horn where you mentioned. Yes, I don't think people understand how important these finds are to guys like us. I had no problem driving that far to get that anvil....would have gone farther actually. I knew it was worth much more than what I paid for it but that's the way auctions are sometimes....not very often! but once in awhile you kind of fall into these things and be very thankful for it as well! Thanks ...Scott

Thanks guys for all of the input....lets see I'll try to respond to all of the comments in this post, please forgive the generalizing. Yep, I'm pretty happy with it and I knew someone would notice it from last weeks Ebay auction.I'm almost ashamed of what I paid for it all of $574.98....yes, I know but they had a "pick up only" which I'm sure had a big factor in the low final price.....I would have paid more but there was only three of us bidding. Rest assured, this is an anvil that will be used and not just sitting in a collection somewhere....this weekend if all works out!! As for the horn, I did take a file to it as suggested and then a sanding disk in my grinder. That worked pretty good but I'm going to wait for warmer weather as another had mentioned to try filling it in some with my mig welder....after pre heating as noted also. I am wondering about those holes in the base underneath and as soon as I have another hand, plan on flipping it over and see where they are. I do have one question though, there seems to be a varing of opinions as to how thick that steel is on the horn. I did look at the side and at it's widest I'd say it was close to 1 1/2" until it hits the cast but I remember reading somewhere that at some point Fishers developed another way of reinforcing the horn by continuing the steel into the body of the anvil "This way assuring the horn will never break" if I recall that correctly but I can't remember where I read this. I'd love to see some of those old ad's if anyone has them? It sure is a big beast and rugged. The person I won the auction from had known where it lived for the past 45 years.....some scrap yard that used it for whatever they needed it for but, they were going out of business so he bought it from them and that's the story. I don't know where it was for the other 65 years but other than those marks it seems to be in great shape. Thanks to everyone again for all the input. I'd be glad to hear more!.......Scott

Just wanted to show my new anvil purchase. It's a 400 pound Fisher made in 1901. It took a 14 hour round trip to bring it home but, it was worth it. As you can see from the pictures it is in great shape other than some knot head using the horn at some time in it's life, for a chopping block. They are not too deep and I should be able to weld it back to almost new. Any thoughts on what would be the best rod for that fix would be appreciated. I've seen hard facing and hard build up rod but would rather ask first. Also, does anyone know how deep that steel face is on the horn before it gets to the cast iron? it looks pretty thick but it's hard to tell.The anvil face has almost no marks at all and the rebound is great with a 1 1/2" hardy and 3/4" pritchel hole. Just have to build a block for it now and back to work it goes!

Thank you for the response. I did talk with owner of the Blacksmith depot the other day in detail about these anvils he sells.I very nice gentleman, he said they used a 300lbs one for years in their shop and they sell a ton of them every year and have not had any troubles with them. I may take you up on the referals to other shops that own these, thank you. I'm still kicking the tires on a few brands right now. Thanks again for the imput....Scott

Just wondering if anyone out there has one of the TFS smithy special anvils. I've been looking at them more as they seem to have a much wider face than others I have seen. I actually prefer a wider face to a narrower one even though someothers prefer the later. I have noticed as I work on my 230lbs PW anvil that I can see that the double horn of these TFS anvils and that extra width would be a much more convenient surface to work on. They seem to be very substantial in the right places, I just have never came across one to check it out in person. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated Thanks, Scott

Well, I just had to share my shock at a resent auction I had gone to. The paper had listed a business going out in my area and the auction was planned for last week. Well, I don't usually like those things prefering to just buy whatever on a one on one basis. They had listed some blacksmithing tools and a few small anvils a post vise and a "400lbs ANVIL" well I had to see that!! didn't need anything really but you don't see those very often, around here anyway. Turns out I was sick as a dog that day but I dragged myself over just the same.....you know what I mean. Any way after much looking around there was this huge anvil sitting on the floor in the office area. It was all that weight no doubt about it. Thing is it was a mess, the top looked like the surface of the moon it had so many pock marks and pitting. It was painted black and must have been just for display as the other anvils were in use in the shop area but not this one. Couldn't find a name on it either and not exactly something you move around much as it was in the corner. I can just imagine what it would take to make that top flat again. Anyway I decided I didn't feel good enough to hang around all day at an auction just to see someone pay too much for it so, back to my shop I went. Just found out it went for $40 BUCKS!!!Now I feel sick again !!! I would have paid that easy, even with all of the work it needed...goes to show you never know whats going to happen at an auction. I'm staying all day next time.

I've had a beard since I was 17....that was 31 years ago. Shaved it once around that time and never did it again. I'm certain no one would know me if it was gone and I don't think I would either!!! :P

Well I thought I'd show my new block now in it's new stand! It's made from 2" and 1" maple I had left over from a few jobs. I'm glad I did not use a softer wood as turning that thing around a few times sure would ding it up pretty bad. It weights 40lbs and has no bottom to the base so anything hot that may fall through will not, hopfully catch it on fire. I had planned on making it out of angle iron but I don't think it would have been as heavy. The cut outs on the side work out great for handles even though I had not planned for it that way........Some details just make themselves. Now I just lift the whole thing and move it around when I need to. Thanks for looking.......Scott

I did get it from the Salt fork craftsmans web site as another gentleman had mentioned. They where very helpfull and other than FEDX ground being so slow everything worked out well.

Just thought I'd post a few pictures of my new salt fork swage block......these were taken before I started cleaning it up. They said I would have to do some grinding to remove some of the casting slag but it was not that bad.The die grinder made short work of it. Have lots of candle cups to make and I'm sure I'll find many other uses for it now that it's here. Thanks for looking............Scott

Well, thanks for all of the input on this. I have heard of some of the options mentioned but I don't think I like all of the chemical drawbacks that have been noted. I do prefer to have a piece finished from forging ready to have the final finish applied right away. Normally, I brush off as much scale as possible and while hot, dip in oil and back into the heat doing this a few times. This gives me the black finish I prefer but just not getting all of the scale off as mentioned. I have seen a few flakes come off later and that's what I'm trying to prevent. I like the sandblast option because I can do all of my work at one time while not far from the heating and oil process and have everything finished except for the waxing afterwards. Having pieces soaking overnight would probably result in them being there over several days until I have time again to work on them. I would think rust would be a factor and wind up setting me backwards in the finishing process? I have always appreciated the way I can go out into my forge and within a few hours completely finished a piece in that short amount of time I have. However, I do strive to make my work as best as I know how to do so I will try some of the suggestions mention and make adjustments as I go. As with any endeavor, we are sponges for knowledge......please keep any suggestions coming....thanks again....Scott

Just a question about removing scale. I have been brushing my work before and after forging but with scrolls and other areas that I can't reach I'm using a small sandblast cabinet to remove the rest. The thing is I don't like the surface of the metal when I use black diamond blasting media.I had some walnut shell stuff as well but that didn't work. I was thinking if the glass bead type would do any better without that surface finish I'm getting or is there something else anybody would recommend? Thanks for any help....Scott

Thanks to all of you for responding and the kind words. It did turn out to be a big hit with my sister and brother inlaw on Christmas eve as I had hoped. Couldn't wrap it so we just put a big bow on it. My brother inlaw said it should clear out at least one whole shelf of coffee mugs from the kitchen cabinet once it's all loaded up. Thanks again and Happy new year to all of you! Scott

Just thought I'd show my first attemt at making a coffee mug holder. It's a present for my sister and brother inlaw for Christmas. She had said that she has too many mugs to store and would like a way to hang them up. Well, here is what I came up with. It will hold 16 mugs, two on each hook. Not too happy with the finish, had to use black paint to cover the welds and then two coats of black wax but I think it came out OK. PS. to Frosty, glad your back! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you Scott

Thanks for the comments DennisG. Yep, it's a pretty nice anvil alright, thank you. As for the chain well, its one of two I have and they are all there, as chains go. Probably was an anchor chain at one time, their big enough. Got them at the dump one day. I have a friend that works there and he keeps an eye out for me for anything iron I could use. I bring back more than I take there sometimes............ Thanks again, Scott