LeDrew

40 minutes ago, Rupes said:

Here's my first anvil. Thanks to some good info here I bought this sight unseen from an old bloke about 1500klms away and had it freighted up. Turned out to be a bit better than the photos indicated and the rebound test/ring seems very good too.

Just in the middle of making a 3 legged stand for it. Almost done, just adding some foot plates so I can fill it with sand, and a few other bits and bobs.

Very nice!

Just now, B_HOSS said:

It may have read differently than I meant it. I really like this anvil. I'd love if it were my own. I'm just saying that I don't have much in general. 

No-no, I understand! I never thought I'd find anything to get going with, it takes time and money  (unfortunately) to collect the things you need in a reasonable time frame .  Keep at it and it'll come together !

17 minutes ago, B_HOSS said:

Here is the anvil I'm using. A good friend let me borrow it. It's a rough and ugly 150lb Vulcan. Not much but I like it. 

Nothing wrong with a Vulcan Anvil in good condition. I have a ~250lb Vulcan...it's a workhorse for most projects....I don't plan to weld grapnels or anchors on it (of any scale)...but it takes a hammering, gives good rebound, and conveniently enough - it's quiet. My Wilkinson  (Dudley/Queens Crossing) is great, but repeated hours of hammering coupled with exhaust fans gives me a headache!

Thanks for the replies

I bought the lot for $40.00, which if I had an avenue to sell them through, would make me a tidy profit.

I had considered some type of art project, or decorative venture, I'll see what happens. They'll come in here and there for the odd plumbing project or something, but not something I'd do every day.

I like the industrial wall hanging idea

Hey all,

   I've recently come across a large batch or 1.5" Malleable Iron lock-rings (nuts, threaded washers, depends who u are).

I'm wondering if anyone out there has ever worked with malleable iron before? 

I know the rough details of it, it's a white cast iron, no good, etc,etc..... but I have been able to hot-cut, bend, twist, and shape one of these as a test. I found that at anything above a dull red or maybe up to an orange shade, it seems somewhat useable, above that it can crumble under the hammer. 

Any thoughts or experience with this? I have 675+ of these... So I'm hoping to make them useful in the shop beyond their original use, which I don't need them for.

Thanks to anyone that can help!

13 hours ago, BattleBoar said:

This is my 124lb Foster 1855 I just picked up. Built this stand for it out of 2 3/8 pipe in a circle on two blind flanges. Filled the centre and the pipe with sand and chained tight.

I love it! ...Though I think your stand is worth aa much as the anvil, lol.

How high is it?

5 hours ago, JHCC said:

Is anyone else seeing some or all of this thread (both here and in email updates) in Chinese?

Haha! yes, I am too... odd..

That's amazing, and awesome. I hope you have the time and resources to put it to good use. Of course, I have some anvil envy ... but it really just makes me happy to know someone has this and can help it keep working the way it was meant to. Thanks for sharing!

5 hours ago, LeDrew said:

That's a  fantastoc find! Happy Forging !

I should really activate my spell checker when typing with my phone. **fantastic 

I'd work around that chip unless you have an idea for a specific benefit from grinding it into a smooth shape (as minimally as possible).

3 hours ago, Zeroclick said:

My new anvil I  just bought.

It is a Brooks 141 lb, not sure about the age maybe someone will know.

It has one chip about the size of my thumb. but nothing else and is a level as a snooker table. also got all the tools shown and a post vice.

That's a  fantastoc find! Happy Forging !

12 minutes ago, c.baum said:

@Kevin_Olson

" I paid in summary about US$500 to the supervisor and the maintenance brigade could pay their christmas party. A good deal in my eyes  "

 

I'd say more of a steal than a deal at that price! I'd love to get my hands on something like that! ....Then again, where would I put it? My work/storage/smithy area is a little crowded as it is! It's Beautiful piece of history, and a great treat to work on I'd imagine. Happy forging! 

On 19/08/2016 at 8:56 PM, Frosty said:

A slant or slope isn't particularly useful or harmful or you could just tilt your anvil to the angle you like. If we're talking about swale, the dip some older anvils develop at or near the center of the face that can be used to help straighten work. Failing a little swale you can do well straightening over the hardy hole.

If the steel isn't trapped between the hammer and the anvil any moving it can do is bend. So, if you use a hammer near or even a little smaller than the hardy hole and strike over the hardy hole the work can't forge, it has to bend. A little practice and it works well.

Myself I like a wooden mallet over a wood block. The mallet used to live at a yard or garage sale as a wooden baseball bat. The wood block lived happily in our yard as part of a birch trunk. A mallet and wood block won't damage the texture or sharp details of hot work making it easy to straighten, curve, scroll, etc without messing it up. I've never gone to the extreme and say tried scrolling a long basket twist but years ago I tied a knot in a piece of rope twisted stock that came out tight and undamaged.

Frosty The Lucky.

Yes, it's a swale we're talking about. Nothing too serious, but certainly obvious that it's been a working tool and not just a conversation piece. It's otherwise in great condition given its age ... or any other measure. I'll certainly give thought to keeping a wooden block and mallet around as well. 

57 minutes ago, Frosty said:

A slant or slope isn't particularly useful or harmful or you could just tilt your anvil to the angle you like. If we're talking about swale, the dip some older anvils develop at or near the center of the face that can be used to help straighten work. Failing a little swale you can do well straightening over the hardy hole.

If the steel isn't trapped between the hammer and the anvil any moving it can do is bend. So, if you use a hammer near or even a little smaller than the hardy hole and strike over the hardy hole the work can't forge, it has to bend. A little practice and it works well.

Myself I like a wooden mallet over a wood block. The mallet used to live at a yard or garage sale as a wooden baseball bat. The wood block lived happily in our yard as part of a birch trunk. A mallet and wood block won't damage the texture or sharp details of hot work making it easy to straighten, curve, scroll, etc without messing it up. I've never gone to the extreme and say tried scrolling a long basket twist but years ago I tied a knot in a piece of rope twisted stock that came out tight and undamaged.

Frosty The Lucky.

Yes, it's a swale we're talking about. Nothing too serious, but certainly obvious that it's been a working tool and not just a conversation piece. It's otherwise in great condition given its age ... or any other measure. I'll certainly give thought to keeping a wooden block and mallet around as well. 

4 hours ago, Frosty said:

That is a beautiful Wilkinson, that's not enough slope to notice unless you really look. It certainly won't get in the way of work. Nice score.

Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks Frosty, I thought the same. I wondered if I might be better off with a small dip if straightening a blade, where bounce-back might be an issue on the *perfectly* flat surface of the Vulcan?

I honestly didn't expect to find any anvils around here anymore, but I know a couple pickers that make it a point to call me first if they see anything remotely blacksmithing related. I bought this with intentions to hold it for a friend, unfortunately for him he cannot afford the cash right now, and I'm too much in love with it after holding it a couple days to let it go now, haha! 

I scooped it up for $400CDN. Much better deal than the $600 I paid for the Vulcan. As it turned out I later bought another Vulcan (identical save a few welding globs from an uneducated welder that used it as a welding block) for a friend at $350. 

I've started to realize that while there aren't many going up for sale, there's still a few around. Sadly, many will slowly rust away as lawn ornaments or as dust collectors in someone's rotting barn that they also don't use, just because they own it an you don't.  I grieve.

My anvil up to this point has been a ~250lb Vulcan. Shown mounted on the block.

Just picked up this Wilkinson's  (Queens Dudley) (sitting atop the Vulcan), it has a bit of wear from heavy use (dip towards the heel when using a straight-edge reference on the plate) but is otherwise in great shape. ~225lb

On Thursday, March 24, 2016 at 5:17 PM, rockstar.esq said:

Kozy,  I didn't mean to imply you were trying to drum people out of the hobby, no offense was intended.  I was thinking about my apprenticeship.  There were a lot of journeymen who were angry that home improvement stores were encouraging homeowners to take on their own electrical work.  At the time it seemed like electricians would be losing a lot of much-needed work.  In reality, the homeowners who really could wire a house weren't going to hire an electrician anyway, and the people trying to add one outlet on the cheap didn't have the funds to pay the going rate.

I'm sure there's an electrician who has lost work because of home improvement stores, but I haven't met them.  Today, it's absolutely amazing how often a commercial supply house will come up short on something that the home center's got on the shelf. They're truly a great asset for us.  That experience taught me that a flood of newbies chasing a fad (if you can call it that) could actually be a boon to the trades involved.

JHCC, I was going off the memory of what I thought a teacher said, thanks for the correction.

One thing I'm noticing is how blacksmithing seems to be translated into bladesmithing / knife making.  I have to admit that the amount of hokum and mysticism surrounding knife-making puts me off.  I love knives, but I don't believe that they're the pinnacle or the end-point of blacksmithing.  It's simply one thing that a blacksmith could make like a gate, a horseshoe, or an anchor. 

I've lost count of how many silly advertisement pictures I've seen of a flat-black blade that's been lovingly spritzed with tepid rose water resting on pebbles.  "Blacktical Operator XXXTreeme Freedom Edition"! 

Speaking for myself, I am interested in building wood-working tools like Roy Underhill uses on the Woodwrights shop.  I think there's a certain appeal to working with hand tools that won't deafen you or damage your lungs with dust.  I also love how sharp, well-designed tools are the woodworking equivalent of "forged to finish". 

The hobbyist there faces the exact same problem as blacksmithing.  To get started, you've got to take what you can get on the antique market, or you can buy new.  Neither option is cheap, and it takes a long, long, time to amass a good collection if you're not wealthy.  I figured I'd try to make the tools, which in turn lead me to blacksmithing. 

As "practical" pursuits go, blacksmithing is a pretty tough one to accommodate people looking for instant gratification.  Speaking for myself, I'd love to see an extensive blacksmithing tools section at the local home center. 

 

I think I'm in the same mindset here. I'm also a Journeyman Electrician, and the while part about homeowners doing their own electrical doesn't make me think I'm losing money, I see my qualifications being needed further down the line when they get to a major reno, and I have to "make it right" after they "make it work". Then I get to charge extra, lol. But I think there are decent handyman out there, just simply not having the funds to afford my rates.

Also, the  part about a bigger blacksmithing section, I'm on board for that. Making hammers and tongs can be a time consuming step that you'll avoid to do a simple job.

I was always somewhat interested in Blacksmithing, but was always told it was a dead or defunct trade. I remember an old man that was a blacksmith in his younger days, he was in his 90's about 10 years ago. That's as close as I ever got apart from the movies. A couple years ago I saw an "instructable" on making a knife from a railroad spike... I figured there was little chance of finding the tools, or any railroad related items in this area, but it stuck. This spring I saw more and more of these projects online, then found old books on the subject, YouTube videos on the craft, and then I found myself with a new set of skills I just HAD to learn. I searched for weeks and found an anvil and a couple sets of tongs, built my own forge with some scrap materials (table from a cover plate from old switchgear from a power plant, hood from an old dryer drum and scrap sheet metal, legs we angle from old bed frames, tuyere from pipe that was once a basketball net support, brake drum from my old truck for the fire pot, and a small blower I found in a client's basement that they didn't want). After taking all that effort - I was hooked.

A a side note - For my day job I'm an Electrical Contractor.