JHCC

I picked up two ABC dry-chem extinguishers from the industrial supply place a couple of months ago, and within 48 hours my (ASD with no impulse control) son decided that the driveway would look good in pale yellow.

I think Fontanini Anvils offers their anvils in both finished and unfinished, with about a $200 difference in price.

Pictures when you're done!

Sweet! Thanks for the news!

Using something like a surface grinder? As long as it's reasonably flat, I don't see why not. Same goes for the smaller ones: if the milling dramatically increases the cost without adding any significant benefit, why bother? (Oh, and it's not "cheaper" -- it's "more affordable"!)

Go to your mechanic and ask if you can have a worn-out CV joint that would otherwise get thrown away (explain why you want it; mechanics generally think blacksmithing is cool and can be excellent sources of good-quality scrap). Take it apart and use one of the bearings inside. If you're lucky, the joint will come with some axle attached, which you can use later for tooling.

Lookin' good, my friend! Glad to see it working out, and thanks for contributing to the ongoing JABOD documentation project.

Or temper to a dark straw.

Ben, if you get a chance to have it professionally photographed, DO IT! That's the kind of work that can and should be the centerpiece of a portfolio: it really highlights both your creativity and design sense as well as your skill at production. If you can't afford a pro or there isn't one in your area, there are some good tutorials online that area easy to find.

Or as we say in my line of work, "Not asking is the same as a No."

Impressive! Has it been ground & heat treated yet?

I see what you mean, but without a better shot, it's hard to say definitively from this photo.

I had a wire rack shelf above and behind my old JABOD forge as a convenient place to set down things needing normalizing. One day, I left a sharpie sitting there, and the next time I fired up the forge, it melted, ran down the back of the forge, and lit up like a stream of gasoline. I figured it was the combination of melted plastic and solvent in the ink.

You have a fly press now? I'm definitely coming by the next time I'm in town!

A bird in the hand is a penny earned.

It may seem primitive to eyes used to industrial processes and products (especially in European contexts of the last couple of centuries), but there is incredible sophistication of design and technique, and the product is stunning. These videos remind me of one definition of Fritz Schumacher's concept of "appropriate technology", namely, "the simplest level of technology that can achieve the intended purpose." The whole channel is worth bookmarking: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvyqu9MfTzno1tN8IbxoDIQ I prefer Frosty's "minimalist" -- "traditional" is very much a fraught term, since what is "traditional" in one time or place might be innovative and/or foreign in another. The advantage of "minimalist" is that (like the definition of AT I give above) it emphasizes that there is nothing extraneous and every tool and technique is used to maximum effect.

Consider also that Mousehole started adding pritchel holes around 1830. If there's a slight bulging around the hole on the underside of the anvil, then it was punched as part of the manufacturing process; that means your anvil is roughly 1830-1835. If there is no bulging, then the anvil was probably retrofitted with a drilled pritchel hole and is probably 1820-830.

When we come to that bridge, we'll run it up the flagpole and see if it plays in Peoria.

Silicone will hold the anvil down on its own; no need for bolting. Hmm...listens to advice...I think this one's a keeper.

Welcome to IFI! If you haven't yet, please READ THIS FIRST!!!

The smarter sellers in my area use both spellings in their listings, presumably to account for the folks who will misspell their search terms.

Building a fire on top of granite can be an issue as well.

And not merely in the abstract.

That's absolutely a suitable answer -- if indeed it's the answer. If the answer is "because I need a bending iron", then we need to talk. He did say "refractory cement" in his OP. If that's what he has in mind rather than concrete made with portland cement, the explosive issue may at least be mitigated (apart from whether or not refractory cement is an appropriate crucible/mold material, which I doubt).

Yes, the "But why?" question does need to be addressed. In the words of Chris Rock, "Just because you can do it doesn't mean it's to be done!"