JHCC

Depending on the shape of the steel block, you can quiet it down further by wrapping chains around the middle, adding a magnet under the heel of an anvil, or attaching it to its stand with a layer of silicone caulk.

IFI doesn't permit reposting of external advertisements, but before this gets taken down, let me just say that the edges of that are horribly mushroomed, probably indicating that the hardened face plate is missing and the anvil got a LOT of heavy use after its loss. You can probably get a hunk of scrap steel that works as well or better for less money. See the thread on improvised anvils, and save your money for decent tongs.

Handsome blade, Theo. Great work, as always.

Probably not good, especially the softer varieties.

Have you read the Burner 101 thread? Pictures would help.

Consider it a sacrifice to the learning gods — a burnt offering, if you will.

Not to mention the fire risk!

Funny you should ask: https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/25474-granite-anvil/ https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/49776-make-an-anvil/

Graphite would crumble under the hammer blows. What on earth gave you such an idea?

Looks like a good start. As for the size, the question is always "Too big for what?" In other words, what kind of work do you plan to do? If all you're making is nails, this would be too big. If the smallest stock you use is 30" square, it will be too small. I kind of like your air slots, and they should be fairly easy to clean out just by sliding the point of your poker around them. You may have a problem with them burning out over time, though. Don't enlarge them for now, as you'll get coals falling through if you do.

So hard to translate puns! "ReForge"? "Hungarian Irony"?

That's why we're here!

To quote @Mikey98118: In other words, Yes, you'd be asking for trouble. Beer kegs make decent slack tubs and quench tanks, though.

Adam Smith notes in The Wealth of Nations (1776): "A common smith, who, though accustomed to handle the hammer, has never been used to make nails, if upon some particular occasion he is obliged to attempt it, will scarce, I am assured, be able to make above two or three hundred nails in a day, and those, too very bad ones. A smith who has been accustomed to make nails, but whose sole or principal business has not been that of a nailer, can seldom with the utmost diligence make more than eight hundred or a thousand nails in a day. I have seen several boys under twenty years of age who had never exercised any other trade but that of making nails, and who, when they exerted themselves could make, each of them, upwards of two thousand three hundred nails in a day. "

My anvil got NO use at all from about 1991 through 2015. Don't worry, though: it may rust a bit, but it doesn't spoil.

Or if you have the keg and are looking for a use, they make decent slack tubs and quench tanks.

You certainly could normalize a medium carbon steel hammerhead; you could also just use mild steel. My soft hammer is an old stonecutter's hand sledge with a head made from wrought iron. It mushrooms, but I don't have to worry about it chipping the striking end of my punches and chisels. You say, "...too soft to be useful" -- well, what use? If you suit the tool to the task, it's going to be useful for some things and not for others.

Réaumur.

What are you planning to use this for? If you're thinking a hammer for striking punches & chisels, you should be fine. If you want to use it for straightening twisted sections of stock (or something similarly detailed that you don't want to mess up), a brass hammer (or better yet, a wood mallet on a wood block) is probably your better bet. Suit the tool to the task.

Finally got around to trimming the legs on my anvil stand. Somehow, I hadn’t noticed that it was significantly out of horizontal until I turned it around and started forging horn-to-dominant-side (right, in my case). So, shimmed it level, marked it all around all three feet with a block of wood and a sharpie, and cut off the extra (up to 1-1/2”!) with the Portaband. Nice and level: @Lou L was right: once you get a Portaband, you start looking for more projects for it!

In the video I linked above, Jennifer punches all the way through from the bottom and then hot-rasps off the burr, leaving a single-tapered hole that’s apparently narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. Is that right, @jlpservicesinc?

Then there's the old joke about the two guys in NYC who get a truck, drive to the farms in New Jersey, load up on sweet corn for $6 a dozen, and bring them back to the city to sell for 50 cents an ear. At the end of the day, they're completely sold out, so they count up their money and see they have exactly the same amount as when they started. One of them turns to the other and says, "Wow, we need a bigger truck."

If you want to sell it, put up a post in the Tailgating / buy / sell section, making sure to read THE RULES first.

Maybe a swamp cooler?