Daghrim

Alrighty, was considering building a new anvil anyways. Thanks for the help fellas. I will see what I can do.

My anvil right now is just a piece of round bar tool steel. I was looking to get something with more weight and use. The vulcan is 250 lbs and the Farrier is 125 lbs.

For use? I am just a hobby smith right now honestly. I have several friends that have become more and more interested as I get more involved with this so, I figured upgrading from a piece of round bar seemed to be in order. 

Again, thanks for the info and also any further advice fellas, You are awesome as always.

I have been popping around different places to see what kind of anvils I can find. I was lucky enough to find a couple places that told me they would give me a call when they get a few more back through their store as well. I decided to settle down and look over the internet again as unsuccessful as I have been with it thus far. I found a couple that interest me, but I am still such a novice at trying to ID them. Here they are and thanks for the help fellas.

 First one is a decent deal depending on what it is. He wants about 3 dollars on the pound. 

The next one confused me a bit with the lettering and numbers on the side. hes wanting a bit more with just over 4 dollars on the pound. 

Once again any help is appreciated fellas. Hope you are all having a great day. 

On 3/16/2016 at 8:12 PM, John McPherson said:

Turn it on edge.

 

I really would love to make one of these. What kind of steel is that? 4130? or some sort of mild steel?

Can anyone tell me if this is an ASO or possibly something to look into? He is wanting 175 for it, but I am skeptical before even going. 

This second one has a seem down the middle which makes me skeptical as well. 

At last this trenton is a 60lb and the fella is wanting 7.5 per pound coming up to 450 bucks. Worth? or make him come down?

Yeah, thanks for the find. They also do some workshops I might take a peek at in Tulsa. Gonna have to see about signing up soon. 

I am starting to ramp up a bit more on the construction of my forge and my machinist friend was helping me with making a makeshift anvil for the time being. I wanted to see if any of you would be willing to point me in a direction for coal around Oklahoma. I am still learning obviously when it comes to coal identification. So any suggestions is greatly appreciated.

Well, I am not out of luck when it comes to that, I just got in contact with an old machinist friend that has a personal shop. Gonna see about helping me out and he tends to let me have his scrap if I want it. 

That thing is really beautiful, Grats on the great find! Like everyone else said, I would love to see it when you get it cleaned up. 

On 2/15/2016 at 3:50 PM, Klorinth said:

Here is my ugly new friend.

240# of old metal.

 

 

Very nice Klorinth, Where did you find it?

Just now, JHCC said:

You are learning, Grasshopper. Now, try to snatch this lump of coal from my palm....

LOL, next thing will be a fly from the air with chopsticks eh? lol

1 minute ago, JHCC said:

You may not be able to; there's a time window on how long you can edit posts. Just something to keep in mind. 

Yeah, Oh well, I will make sure I don't quote photos in the future. 

11 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Check with local welders, especially if they do any oilfield welding; I've bought both heavy chunks of steel and "real" anvils from them and most are probably feeling some financial pressure right now.  (Don't want to tell you how many anvils i bought in OK and took with me when I moved away...)  There was a 5th generation Blacksmith is Stroud that would have to be 6th generation now...

I actually know a bunch of machine shops and the welders there, but I don't know any Oil people honestly. Though I do know exactly where to go to find them. I appriciate the suggestion. Gonna see what I can do. 

1 hour ago, JHCC said:

Daghrim, just a practical detail: it's generally better not to include copies of photos in your quoted sections. It really eats up bandwidth in the forum, and people will understand just fine if you refer to them without actually including them. Thanks!

Sorry about that, I will go through and get rid of the photo portions. 

I wasn't able to get the video to play sadly, but I am super excited to see more on your project!

Wait never mind, I didn't look past page one... I am so stupid...

I hear ya guys, I am putting together my forge now actually, when it gets closer to being finished I will post on here to show some progress. I have actually had the opportunity to work on a friends anvil and forge in the past, It was simple stuff, I was only helping him with my arms essentially. He would place his hammer and I would strike it from the other side with a sledge and made quicker work out of some of his projects. I loved it personally and that is why I am trying to get into it myself. I have since moved from there and don't have someone near by to give pointers and all that so that is why I am here. Thanks for the encouragement and suggestion guys!

PS: sorry for the story, figured I would give ya my reasons for starting to some degree since we were on the subject. 

On 2/15/2016 at 11:02 AM, Quench. said:

Daghrim, mine came from a metal recycle yard.  120 lbs; I added the hardy hole.  Keep your eyes open.  A real anvil is nice, but sure not necessary when you're just checking it out.

 

Gotta say that is actually really nice! I sorta assume, but I figure I will ask, did you harden it yourself or was it already fairly hard?

On 2/16/2016 at 6:15 PM, Anachronist58 said:

Like Glenn said - FIND a reason to get started - get a claw hammer, a rock some coat hanger wire and SAFETY GLASSES. Get pounding. If you and the forge are meant for one-another your passion for the craft will call you out. Here I am using 6013 welding electrode, which may even be worked cold if you are driven enough to Just Strike the Iron!

Robert Taylor

 

I was actually considering doing just that, I really want to start with either making some tools for the craft or possibly some cruddy knives to get started lol. 

On 2/15/2016 at 11:12 AM, Glenn said:

Quit looking and FIND a reason to get started.

Anything with mass can work, the heavier the better. Parts from agriculture equipment, rr track stood on end, heavy plate steel an inch thick or more, sledge hammer heads, FIND something and get started.

Do a site search for TPAAAT and ask everyone you can for either a piece of heavy metal or an anvil. Carry cash as it moves an anvil into the trunk of your car faster than anything else you can put on the table.

I definitely agree, money in pocket goes a long way in acquiring anything really lol. My reasons are more or less hobby based. I don't have a crazy amount of needs yet, but I am sure I will find them as I progress in skill in the craft. I am going to be heading by a scrap yard soon and I am working on the forge, so progress is happening, but just want to make some solid decisions to begin with. 

1 hour ago, odblacksmith said:

I would just recommend going to a scrap yard that sells to the public or to a machine shop and ask if they have anything they would be willing to sell.If you go to a scrap yard take a 1-2lb ball pein give the piece a tap if it has rebound(even if it dents slightly) there is your new starter anvil.If you go to a machine/fab shop a worker or owner will be more likely to know the type of steel,i would try for 4140 or something that is tough but unhardened,another good suggestion is as Charles said 2'' solid can be found lots of places because nearly everyone has known someone with a truck...once you start looking you will realize whats available to you.Best of luck

Thanks a bunch, gonna keep my a lookout at this point now. I was considering buying a section of rail, but if I need to stand it upright(which makes sense), I might as well see about finding something more solid and with more surface area to work with. 

Hmmm, See the anvil is one of the things keeping me from going ahead with learning blacksmithing. I like this suggestion for the sledge head. I think I might do this to get started since it is inexpensive and it wont be terrible if I destroy the sledge head while I am learning. 

I can not explain the level of jealousy I have for your setup there, very nice man. If you are willing, you should post a video so we can oogle some more . 

Wow, I am far from considering a power hammer but, I wanted to say how awesome this is. Very nice job. I hope at some point in the future I might build or get one, but for now I am just looking to build a small shop of tools. How long did it take you all together to make your power hammer by the way?

I have to say Ivan, I was climbing with excitement for you at the beginning of this thread and I can only say now that I can say I was up and down the roller coaster of emotions for you there. I do hope you finish your work if nothing else for a bit of closure, that and I am stupidly interested to see it done myself. That is of course very easy for me to say, since I am not the one doing all the work.  Anyways, sorry for your loss man, also hope things are looking up now in 2016!

These are a wonderful read and quite informational for a new smith like myself. Thanks again!

On 2/11/2016 at 9:58 PM, odblacksmith said:

My first anvil was a 25lb block of mild steel and trust me that's plenty to learn the basics,read around on the site there is plenty of info on starter anvil/homemade anvils,what you want is depth of rebound(as much steel under your hammer as possible) a 3 inch piece of round steel vertically mounted is better than 12x12x1 mounted horizontal.

I wouldn't mess with any ingots associated with George Washington...

I was going to post but I think you answered my real question for me. I was going to pick up a piece of rail to start blacksmithing with, but from the sounds of things a piece of round bar vertically is better to start with. I agree, I was hearing that I needed to get the rail on its end to use it more effectively for more mass below it and it makes total sense, but maybe I should hold off on the rail and nab a piece of 3 inch round bar. Could you suggest any kind of steel specifically? Also do I need to harden it I assume?

I gotcha, I am looking for it today, I was a bit busy sadly so I wasn't able to get to it sooner. 

I was going to make one similar to the one in the book, The Modern Blacksmith. in chapter 25. From what I can tell that is being advised against here. 

Oh and to clarify, I totally understand what you mean by mass under the blows. I just figured the working area would be so small that it confused me, so I am looking around for the discussion on it. 

One more edit to finish this up instead of flooding the wrong section with this, I found the section I believe you were referring too and understand. I think I will start another post in a correct section/thread, that way I don't flood this any longer with more questions. 

2 minutes ago, JHCC said:

Remember, if you stand it on end so that the full mass of the rail is under the hammer blow, it'll work a lot better. 

On end? I don't think I understand. 

Gonna be picking up a 12" piece of rail in a couple days, I will post it when I get a chance.