Judson Yaggy

I'd rather build on Grant's modular anvil idea and mill a dovetail into the top that could receive tool steel inserts. The milling would be way less energy intensive ($) than heating the whole thing up to the point where brass would flow.

Sorry, I have to disagree. Definitely NOT a Peter Wright. That is a cast anvil, PWs were forged. If it's high quality cast STEEL it could be a good anvil, little or no work needed to start hammering. Nice and flat, still plenty of space to work around the edge chips. However, it could be cast IRON which would make it a lowest quality anvil, worth little money and good only if you can't find anything else. Get a closer look at that maker's mark down between the feet, and bounce a hammer on the face. No bounce=cast iron, energetic rebound means you have something better.

The biggest Fisher was supposedly 1400#. I've seen a few in the 500-700# range. Even better than their anvils thou were their double screw leg vices, the jaws always stay parallel. I love mine!

Xxxx, I thought my $100 #6 fly press was a good deal! You've got me beat, you're gonna love it. Folks that think they can't find a good price on a fly press haven't looked in S. New England or have and don't want to pay the shipping.

I'l add a vote for Hay Budden given the shape of the underside. Also looks like it sat in the dirt for 50 years or so, or the depression was forged with a ball pein. Thomas- at first I also thought it looked like it had a face plate, but one of the photos looks like it has a forgeweld at the waist as well which points me back to an all steel top.. Assuming my reading of the serial # is 17xxxx Anvils In America would date it to around 1910, the same source indicates that HB went to their famous solid steel top half around 1909, but perhaps I'm misreading the serial number. Good anvil none the less.

Sam Salvati, on 04 April 2010 - 09:29 AM, said:
Let's see the KA150! I bet Nathan Roberston would be interested in that one!

No smithing here but this is a Cor-ten project I just finished. 8'x10'x1/4" plate held off a concrete retaining wall by stainless brackets and folded around the top of the wall. Railing is also cor-ten but painted as they didn't want the rusty look everywhere. I will second what everyone else has said, it's tough stuff. Had to use a bigger brake than usual to fold the stuff, it punches and shears VERY hard in the iron worker, and I went thru more than the usual number of bits for the mag drill.

If you are going to weld it look for rod with a -w at the end, I've been told it stands for "weathering". Supposedly ESAB makes a mig wire that matches as well but my local place couldn't (or wouldn't bother) to get it.

I've forged a few pieces just to see how it works under the hammer, works ok but it gives a green tint to the forge flames at temp, my first reaction was "Is that toxic?" and my second was "Am I changing the chemistry of the steel?" Not knowing the answer to either question I stopped forging.

That is a beautiful little hammer! I'd clean it well, perhaps paint the lettering some bright color to draw the eye, and polish any brass or bronze bits.

Bob has it right, I should have explained better. The block can be placed flat or on edge, any position you want, and the working surface will be at the same elevation as my anvil. Thus the slot thru the center of the stand, it lets you stand up the 14" dimension of the block and still have it at a good working hight.

Looks good. Here's mine, four 8"x8"x30" white oak timbers glued and bolted together and cut and routed so the block can be used in any position. Also pictured is the shop dog, Wayland, a Chessie so his head is hard enough to form sheet metal over.

When your dog that is afraid of guns and thunder doesn't even wake up when you run the power hammer!

The Anvil's Ring from sometime in the mid 80's had an article about someone setting up a big industrial hammer, IIRC bigger than yours. Might have had a few photos of foundations or forms for same. There may also have been an article or two on the huge hammer at the Bethlehem Steelworks. Will try to remember to look thru my back issues this weekend to pin it down some more. It'll be a LOT of concrete.

Here's what I did, but it looks like Grant and Steve G. beat me to it, not surprising. I didn't make my connection as massive as Steve's, I used 1/2" plate thruout. Drawing is section thru tup and connecting plates, washers etc. not shown. flex connect.pdf

Bob- If I were you I'd track down the owner of that rusting busted old hulk of a Fairbanks off of 27 in Edgecomb and make a fair offer, then fab an air cylinder onto it. IIRC (it's been a few years since I drove past there) it's a C or a D, +/- 100lbs missing some parts and would take a LOT of work to run as a mechanical again. Failing that I'll second JNewman and strongly recommend getting in touch with Ralph over in NH, he's got a darn good hammer design and is more than willing to share his knowledge.

At least over here in Vermont I see more Fairbanks (DuPonts) and Champions than I do Little Giants, LGs are tied for third with Beaudreys. All are fairly thin on the ground, I've had my hammers shipped in from points south. As for local groups and inclusion, I couldn't say enough good things about NEB, I highly recommend joining if you haven't already. I haven't noticed the standoffishness that you mentioned, thou I've heard that there was some of that in the 70's and 80's. VT might be different than ME, and I'm a native so I might pick up different cultural signals than someone who's not. Yankees can indeed be curt and prickly at times. Anyway I've heard that there is an informal group that meets in Portland every now and then, the NEB Director from Maine should be able to hook you up. Hope this helps.

What are the relative speeds of the hammers mentioned? Do Masseys run faster than same size Nazels or Cburgs?

Hi Evan! I'm a blacksmith in Vermont as well, for around here that's about an average price for an anvil of that weight if it's go no major defects i.e. cracks, missing parts, delamination of the face, etc. There's only about 1 every 2 months on our craigslist, so factor that into your decision. Do you know about the hammer-in at Lucian Avery's shop next weekend? PM me if you need details.

I've done it, but... I have an Edwards 55, has a station for bolt on tooling that I've made some hot press parts for but I'm not thrilled with it for the following reasons. First, it's in the wrong part of the shop, by the stock racks and saws and fab tables rather than handy to the forge. I could move it but why bother with the power hammers right by the forge. Second, hot pressing generates a HUGE amount of scale, and I didn't like it getting into the nooks and crannies of the ironworker, scale is immensely abrasive. Third, ironworkers are designed for cold work, none of the hoses or cylinders are guarded or shrouded to prevent a fire in the event of a leak. Again, if there was no other option I suppose I could cover everything. Finally, the throw of the ram on the station really limits the hight of tooling and stock that could be reasonably worked. If all you want to do is a basic squish it can be done, but I'd build a stand alone unit like a lot of the knifemakers use.

My first thought was steel on bronze, but then I realized why mess with a proven design? Every perfectly functional 100 year old hammer I've seen runs cast iron against cast iron (with lots of oil). Lots of folks that do a home built hammer use UHMWPE (polyethylene) for ram guides.

Mills- IIRC that broom I got from Blacksmith's Depot, it's bristles into wood and you can either thread the end of your tool and pass thru the wood and screw on a nut or TIG weld on a lag screw. There used to be a guy around here that would tie better looking brooms onto your handle, but he retired.

The only complaint about the wood rack is that it keeps needing to be refilled .

"Squiggly parts" is in fact the correct technical term, they don't take too long when you step on the treadle and the power hammer goes "THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP...."

Thanks

Some recent projects. Enjoy!

I'll add another vote for 5200, good stuff. It's a 3M product, not sure if anyone's mentioned that yet, something like $25/tube thru McMaster. If I recall the various colors relate to cure time. As for finding a vac bag set up, any good cabinetry shop should have one for gluing veneer panels, they should also have scrapers and rollers to help you get an even coat, and most cab shops might be glad of a little extra work right now.

Looks like an ash dump/clinker breaker from an old coal stove or furnace. All the ones I've seen around here have been cast iron.

Ha, looks like everyone was typing at once!

My wierdest anvil is a 100# sawmakers? anvil. Appears to be cast steel, hard enough that a new file barely bites. I leave it loose on the floor or on the bench for a backup block when assembling tennons, etc.

My big anvil is a 425# Peter Wright, the little one a 125# Hay Budden. Each useful for some stuff, not so much for other operations, I probably use them equally.