JHCC

Leave it alone for a couple of years. If you decide to grind it smooth at the end of that time, go for it, you'll be making a decision formed by the experience of working with this anvil and seeing how a ground face will help you, rather than a guess about how it might.

Got together with IFI member Lou L at his home forge. We made wineglass holders and a pair of tongs, and afterwards we drank bourbon. Fun was had.

Nice!

MY EYES!! MY EYES!! Great work, as always. Good luck!

Nothing wrong with rail, especially if you stand it on end. If you haven't seen the thread on improvised anvils, definitely check it out. Is that you in the photo with the vise?

No idea what prices are like in SA, but we have some other members there who (hopefully) will be along to weigh in. If you do a site search* on the ball bearing test, you'll find what we mean. *There are tips on how best to do this on the link I posted above.

Nice vise! How's the condition of the screw?

Another great video with a lot to think about. Thank you, Jennifer. Interesting thought about the weight of the hammer. If the lighter hammer is half the weight of the heavier but you have to swing it four times as much to get the same effect (since it's much harder for a lighter hammer blow to penetrate to the center of the workpiece), then it makes sense that a heavier hammer would actually be easier to use in such a situation.

Hello, and welcome to IFI! If you haven't yet, please READ THIS FIRST!!! It looks like the heel got broken off this anvil and took the original hardy hole with it. Like ausfire says, if the rebound is good, it should still be functional. Anvil prices vary widely by region, so if you could tell us what the seller is asking and put your location in your profile settings, we could give you a better idea as to whether that's a decent price. Half the price of the others isn't a good deal if the others are priced at four times the local going rate.

Maybe the blood sample was too high in iron.

So, they had the competition locked up?

If you can’t buy tin pants, steal a pair.

Glad you had a good experience. It’s been fun to watch from a distance.

We’ve all been sheltered from something.

Oy gib mir a haym, Mit a vaybele shayn, Ver der shepsn und de tseygelakh loyfen, Oy gib mir a hoys, Mit gisinten cowboys, Und a couple hundert kettle tsu farkeyfen!

The best way you could honor your friend's husband's memory would be to take that anvil and learn to smith on it. (The second best way would be to send it to me.)

Matthew, this isn't a hammer, it's a punch. A hammer is something you swing through the air and hit something with; a punch is something you put on your workpiece and hit with a hammer in order to make a hole. I would say that if you want to make hammers, make yourself a proper hammer eye punch and a drift from scratch (or more precisely, from a car axle or torsion bar), and keep this punch for other uses. Just because you have it and it's kinda like what you'll need does NOT mean that you have to modify it for that use!

I've been trying to get a grip for years.

Yes, you id.

If anyone doubts that ours in a noble calling, please direct them to the works of John Lord Bacon.

There are some photos I took of my old rivet forge (no longer in my possession) at https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/48129-need-a-couple-of-rivet-forge-dimensions/

Update: turned out to be bituminous or something that produces similar amounts of smoke. Given that my garage workshop has no smoke handling capacity beyond an open door and a stand fan, I won’t be using it again — at least, anytime soon.

Hardened and tempered the long hammer: Also made a new hot-cut from a jackhammer bit and another yarn bowl. This last is an important experiment: a woman who runs a local yarn store wants to sell these, so I wanted to see how long it would take me to make one start to finish, uninterrupted. This first one has about an hour of work, so I’m thinking about what to charge that will both compensate me adequately for my time and still give her room for a reasonable markup.

More specifically, something that’s supposed to be an anvil but isn’t, such as the cheap cast iron “anvils” one finds at discount hardware chain stores.

That’s a top-quality anvil at less than 40 cents per pound. You, my friend, are a lucky bug.