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Not an anvil but a stand... this came out of a cutting die shop that was incorporated in 1847.. The shop closed its doors 3 years ago due to a family dispute and the company was divided between 2 people... All the equipment was given to 1 person and the building to the other.. the person who owns the building told the other person to get the equipment out or he'd throw it out.. the person had 2 weeks to remove 2 power hammers and 20 anvils on stands, 4 forges and several thousand stake anvils.. I missed out on the forges and power hammers as I was retired then. But when I started to get active again I bought a 198lbs HB mounted on this stand.. The point was/is. They had bought all the equipment brand new.. Lots of the anvils were custom ordered.so many of the anvils don't have standard shapes/ sizes.. all the stands I had seen were composite stands with sockets for stake anvils.. and the anvils were bolted on with leather pads between the block and anvils.. Most all the dies were bent cold... with some hot work... so you can see damage on the anvils consistent with the cold work.. Nearly all 6 of the HB anvils had broken tails at the Hardie hole, one had part of the face plate removed from where it delaminated.. the Peter wright anvils faired very well and out of 4 there was little damage.. but the PW anvils were short Like the colonial pattern.. where as the HB anvils were longer then normal. There were only 2 HB anvils with no damage on the tails.. one was a 230lbs that was a very short old style HB and the 198Hb which I bought.. the face is only 4" wide and the feet are huge compared to any other HB anvils I have ever seen..

A ball bearing 1/4" and larger will work just fine.. 1" or bigger just looks cooler... Ask any garage/Auto repair place if they have any bad axles in the scrap pile.. you will end up having to deal with a greasy mess but turn the CV joint past 90 and you can usually pluck out the bearing.

That's beauty.. Farriers model? Dual pritchel holes?

So today I sat down and finished polishing up the Fork and Spoon from the "How to" Videos.. Still have the knife and the holder to make.. Found some moose bones in the woods today so the knife will have moose bone scales..

Latest one on forging a spoon to match the fork.. Each video is part of a series.. This series will be a spoon, fork, knife and holder.. https://youtu.be/7vSgWb64tII

one other thing.. I started to look at all items made before like 1940's.. All forged stuff that is and then tried to apply the same level of finish.. 99% of the items are beautifully finished.. Hammers, tongs, axes, Etc, etc, Hand saws.. Wow..

Back in my much younger days as a starting out smith.. Because I had no examples of work around me i didn't know how to judge what was good work or not.. I started out making knives and swords an things of that nature so had examples of factory finished knives to compare to.. Not being hand made it was a bad comparasion.. fast forwards 6 years, and many knives, swords and such later.. STill only factory stuff to compare to.. A person I was working for doing carpentry ( I was 15) he knew I was forging knives and he asked if I could make a thumb latch for him.. He handed me a copy of an Acorn latch.. I went home and hours later I came out with this.. It was hideous.. I just didn't have a reference and really a lack of skill in regards to really forging metal.. Knives were easy, Sq make flat, round, make flat.. Mind you there are curves and such but there was no forging metal only sideways.. The guy was not impressed.. LOL.. Nor was I.. My thinking I had a skill set worth a salt was devastated.. It became my goal to be able to forge a latch, or hinge or anything there was.. The chase/game was on.. I started to try to find any old hardware I could.. I also started to look for any reference books or instructional materials on making hardware.. I found none that showed me what I wanted to know.. How in the smiling face does one do this stuff.. I started to forge any chance I had.. I had no car. little money and would spend any money I did have on coal, My first 2 years of really forging I had built and destroyed 5 forges.. Only to finally be able to come up with enough money for a Centaur firepot and was able to put together enough money for some cinder blocks.. A friend of the family his father was a blacksmith and I borrowed his Buffalo silent 200.. and I finally had a real forge, a real anvil and a lot of time on my hands.. so, 10-12hrs a day I would just practice.. Read the old blacksmithing books and practice.. Day in, day out.. 6-7 days a week.. So, on the side note I started to find hardware at flea markets, old houses, and then bought Early American Wrought iron.. I started to try to match what I had seen in the book.. Eventually it took hold.. By 17 I was smithing full time... Anyhow, Of note and what was instrumental to "know when enough was enough" with hammer and anvil is/was.. 10minutes at the forge is 1hr at the bench.. The ideal from the old smiths was/is "It should look factory made" Not hand made or cobbled together.. Quality speaks for itself.. Shakers Believed " Hands and hearts up to GOD".. Each piece was made and finished to the 99999'sssss.. A textured surface was considered a non finished piece or poorly skilled smith.. LOL.. So, a forged piece will have a softness to it.. The edges will be slightly soft, well defined lines by still slightly soft.. will be pleasing to the eye but not overly so.. it should be finished accordance to what it will be used for.. When I say finished I mean forged.. filing and grinding are a minimum. The piece should almost raise the question whether it was machine made or made by hand.. Yet someone in the know will know it's made by hand and wonder how it was completed..

It was a joke all the way.. Sorry if the sarcasm was lost.. But I think you caught it.. I like it Orion.. That is so awesome. Can't wait to see the stuff you make on it..

Ah, he paid to much.. !!!!!!! LOL.. Who said that.. Yes, that is a great anvil.. Maybe it's a boy anvil vs a girl?? My new anvil is a Mr.. Mr Peddy.. to be exact..

If they were vintage pitch forks,, 2 or 3 tine (3 tine were rare on small farms) then they most certainly were hardened and heat treated.. A vintage 2 tine pitch fork in the normalized state will twist up like a pretzel in use.. (I have made vintage 2 tine types for moving loose hay) They have to be hardened and then a peacock or purple temper.. Just like a spring.. As a bragging rights kind of thing.. It was said who ever could make a pitchfork to the exact pattern, model, thickness.. etc, etc.. And the 2 tines would bend to touch and then spring back with no distortion was consider a master/ workman of the day.. Oil quench then smoke off should work great.. Real question is.. What kind of pitch fork? They only made 200 different kinds.. Thus a picture would help pin point the right way to solve the problem..

That's excellent.. Looking forwards to you getting it up and running.. Are you going to start a separate thread? I'd certainly like to know more..

I have been finding time and time again I wish there was a thumbs up button..

You just missed the NEB anvil repair day... What make anvil and pictures would really help...

Nice few more pictures in better light would be nice for the HB fans...

Very neat.. Thanks for the info.. Where did you purchase it from Retailer or private sale?

Wow, 2 nice ones.. JT what's the hardie hole size?

As to you forge and coal prices etc.. Anthracite coal needs a deeper firepot vs soft coal.. You all ready have an electric blower which is another thing hard coal needs to burn well and produce a good forging fire..

There was a smashing good deal on Zoro.com. 25% coupon.. free shipping.. I paid more and had to drive 15hrs to get the 368HB I picked up last year.. This was the second time I got the coupon.. first time it expired before I could checkout, so I said if I get another coupon I'll just do it... As a bonus all of the Hardie tools from the 175HB fit perfectly. Congrats on getting your dream anvil...

My Newest addition to the tribe..

Thanks.. No, just a cool project to show that more then boring nails (nails aren't boring to me ) can be made with a nail header.. I took about 3-4X longer to make anything on the videos since they are supposed to be learning or instructional videos and going to fast would detract from their usefulness. A door with edging I thought would look pretty cool with skull nails.. Someone could make all sorts of faces and such..

It goes beyond just filters.. The problem is calibration of all items used in the process.. From camera to computer to TV's to cell phones.. Etc etc.. Each has there own color palette (Gama) and spectrum of colors the software converts to.. White balance on the camera and the ambient light as well as iris of the camera and lens play in.. The 3D cameras I have been using work great when there is ample ambient light but as the lighting fades it starts getting brighter as the CMOS sensor starts trying to scavenge more light (algorithm).. so the image takes on a halo effect.. Once the the bright metal drops off enough the color seems to get a closer to what I am seeing in person but you can't see anything in the back ground details are washed out.. Once the ambient light is bright enough then you have to mess with ISO settings and F stops .. I find it is even different between camera.. I do find that camera today try to do a better job at processing the colors without filters vs my Digital 8 camera but back then it was going from Digital 8 to VHS or I should say Super VHS... My Samsung S7 edge shoots amazing video... With a few of these set to HDR It might actually produce a decent film.. The footage on the chain making video of the forge with chain ring inside was shot with the S7 and the chain ring with flux on it.. On video I shot few days ago with both cameras set exactly the same, the video was brighter on one vs the other.. When I can come up with 4000.00 I'll buy some new video cameras

You are the lucky one.. Nice steel..

See that.. I can be as nasty and as crazy as I'd like.. My journey is all ready planned..

They make a Cast iron filler rod for Tig welding.. But with any cast iron item it comes down to cost of replacement vs damage done from Brazing, welding or the like.. I have an oil pan from a 32 backhoe that someone butchered when repairing it.. Now it will take 4X longer to fix it.. Personally I wouldn't weld or fix it without having a practice piece to experiment with before the real fix..

I don't have a definitive age.. I can tell you it's a true American Trenton vs the German made ones because of the feet.. I'd have to get the book out to find when they transitioned over but I'm sure someone will be around soon that can give you more information.. Nice anvil.. I like the shape of this style..