Jackdawg

Lovely bit of work.

I assume a glass top sitting on some felt pads to finish it off?

Most of you have probably seen this before, but I only came across it this morning and had to share it. I was absolutely gobsmacked at the equipment in this place.

Then I was sad, all of it just sitting there not being used..... Probably enough anvils in this place for every member on here to have a couple each with a nice leg vice chucked in.....

Anvil collection

Hope your not about to get in trouble with the missus....... 

It looks good!

2 hours ago, David Kailey said:

A 5" wide cross peen die in my Big Blu power hammer.....lol. 

that would do it!

Will be interested to see how you go with the "squarer" sizing.

Have to give that a go, see what sort of results I get. Might take care of some of my dodgy hammering marks.... 

Very nice, what is your technique for the texture on the flat steel?

 The pit did the job easily!

I use wood all the time. Wood used has been old hardwood fence palings my son scrounged from his girl friends place (nearly all gone now). I'm starting to use iron bark (what grows on my land), plenty of fallen branches etc to get rid of.

I cut it to length so it will sit down in my forge (dont want "ends" hanging out of the front or top) then split it in to about half inch to inch wide strips. It converts to coals pretty quick, you end up with burning charcoal in the bottom with fresh strips on top. Much wider and your waiting to long for it convert to coals and it all slows down.

Prepare lots of them, takes a bit to keep the beast fed, it burns away reasonably fast. That bucket full of wood usually lasts a couple of short half hour sessions, if I remember to shut off the air when I dont have steel in the fire.  

bad luck! Looks like you had a fair of work invested in it when it went too.

4 hours ago, Urthman said:

It's all mild.  Top plate is 6"x14", 3" thick.  Hope my coal forge is up to the challenge of heating it.

So why will you be heating it?

walking distance of a pub, that sounds like some prime real estate you have there!

Big hardy and pritchard for a smaller anvil.!

Similar size to my anvil, mine is a 20kg unit, probably 10lb lighter, but as mine doesn't have the second horn probably similar mass under the main face. I find they do the job at that size quite well.

75 x 75mm or even 100 x 100mm rhs frame for those babies.

No dont wear rings because of the risk of getting gloved, having said that I did nearly exactly that a few weeks back when a fishing trap rope got caught around 2 fingers while our boat was in gear, other end was tied to a tree.

Nearly took the finger,  fortunately when I realised what was happening I had the presence of mind to lock down on the rope with both hands and let it drag me through the boat. Still off work due to the infection I ended up with in my damaged shin, but I still have the finger (very lucky the finger healed up cleanly) .

I consider myself very very lucky, cut 3/4 of the way around the finger, but didn't damage the blood flow, tendon or nerves.

If I had been wearing a ring, I suspect it would have been worse. It only takes a second for something to go wrong.

It is very important to have such labeling, the people who self diagnose a problem and determine the effective treatment to go with it are generally not from the end of the gene pool able to determine the contents of products via deduction or without explicit labeling......... 

Don't worry about it littleblacksmith, just tell them it is totally expected that a young man of their age would have very soft and supple hands, particularly their right hand, its the "mosituriser"......  

Hi Eddie, I am having similar issues, I figure it is probably a need for hand and eye and hammer to come to a better agreement with experience!

Some sort of flatter might make life easier for me, going to see if I can get hold of one - but in the interim until the "agreement" occurs -  I am leaving a fair bit of fat for grinding to make up for my lack of craftsmanship.

And not a mashed finger in sight!

8 hours ago, tanglediver said:

I still have another chunk. 

 

Looking up the paper I had been reading on Australian rail steel, if yours is of similar design over there, you wouldn't have an issues, the hardened zone is near fully the depth of the top part of the rail

You milled off the hard face, rail steel is extremely hard on the top. No idea what your rail is, but here in Australia standard rail straight out of the Whyalla steel mill is rated at 900 mpa, or special top hardened 1200mpa on the top / running surface. Special heat treatment process, you wont duplicate it / reinstate it after it is lost.

You may be luck enough you still have some thickness left.

Planning on terrifying the local kids?

"tech grade" .... interesting description. The usual term in my neck of the woods is "analytical grade" for better quality than standard industrial grade.

Ask for a copy of their MSDS, probably little difference, just be whether it is cheaper or not.

very nice.

2 hours ago, Charles R. Stevens said:

Try googling "another rail iron anvil Iforgeiron", Jackdawg

Cheers Charles, I believe that was where I first got the idea to try it, shall save the page for when I get around to it now you have helped me find it again!.