JamesSr

Frosty, it’s great to hear your advice. Years ago when I first started I posted on the set up I bought and being over zealous ended up getting a dead piece of (cast iron) you know what I mean. Anyhow you gave me some pointers on safely setting up my forge. I was determined and pounded that cast for a good while but man did it beat me back! This one is 160 pounds as far as the ball bearing I lost mine so I’ll have to get another but I can say I tapped it a couple times wit a hammer and it felt very responsive and the ring is sweet. Honestly I don’t see any reason to repair at this point, I’m thinking it will serve it’s purpose just fine until someday I can buy something top notch. It’s funny this popped up as I’m in the middle of an old unisaw rebuild. Just bought the thing from Erie Penn as I’m just outside Buffalo ny. Alll in all I’m under 300 fro the anvil and the unisaw so I’m doing good I think. Your pic is great, that there must be one of them hollow anvils? I wasted a half hour drive to go look at a hollow anvil not long ago. I wasn’t happy when I got there just like this new one the guy had two pics but one was it laying down and it kind of was like trickery as I got there and sure enough he was hiding the side with damage. Oh before I forget on the identification of my new anvil I’ve been finding faint letters on it. There’s an S on each side of the front base, I also uncovered two p’s, three markings for the hundred weight. Im pretty sure it’s a pw on all accounts. Thanks for sharing your wisdom it really means a lot to me.

Cool I was hoping you’d say that, I was concerned with the left side edge missing some & the sway. There is a p left on the side but who knows. All I care is that it works and it does, great rebound and a nice ring to it. Thanks for the reply’s

Hi, just picked up an anvil locally and for the price couldn’t pass it up. Upon inspection I initially thought it was a PW but further inspection looking at the feet and on the underside of the base is a triangle and I have never heard nor seen anything like it on a PW? Now I have two clear questions 1) what do you all think it is and 2) use it or restore it or????? Here’s some pics for you to check out. Thank you for your time I truly appreciate it. Jim M.

Thanks Frosty, you made me feel a little better about the aso. I just started a new shift at work, I'm doing four ten hour days so I'm going to have a nice three days to bang on some steel/iron. I'm desperate to get going in fact yesterday after work I fired up and started my first project. I wanted to stick with suggestions but couldn't help myself so I did what came natural. Here are some pics of my very fist attempt. I needed to do something even if it was wrong:) Thanks John, I wish I could sit it upright but I'm not compfotable with that but as far as 180 would I want the material direct on the bottom of the flame footprint? Thanks I will do a search and check it out.

Hi everyone, I just wanted to say how grateful I am for all the great suggestions again. I have not been online as I have been overwhelmed with work, kids and more. However I have made some progress as far as my setup goes. I now have a piece of r/r track and I tried to return the aso which I feel like a dummy as I rushed into buying it, I acted foolish and did not do my homework before buying. I guess my wife will have a new decoration for the garden. I have a high flow regulator that I took of my torpedo heater. I have a bunch of angle iron to start some projects. I believe I'm in good shape but I wish my forge was designed better especially the placement of the burner! It drives me crazy. I did rotate it so the burner is sideways instead of having a hose dangling near the flames. here's a pic of my test run and later I will take some of my rr track and iron to see if I can get some ideas on where to start with the shape and size of the material I have. Oh and yesterday I was at work and I found an old railroad spike! I think I will save that until I gain some experience. Thanks again

Well I'd also like to make many different knives with a variety of different types of steel. I also want to make some hammers, I have seen layered steel hammers that looked so beautiful and I would love to someday have the tools and the skill to achieve such a project. Id love to have a power hammer but as far as I have seen they are very pricy. I wish they could be bought under a thousand but I figure even if I could get one under a grand I'd rather pay my dues wit hand hammering until my skill set advances. Here's more pics Ok so I did the best I could with the pictures. Thanks again everyone!!

Thomas, I feel that everything you said is very understanding as I would agree to every word. I am here to learn and hopefully make some like minded friends. I am a big believer in giving respect and having self respect. I am brand new to this and it will be I while before I'm giving any suggestions regarding smithing. I wouldn't like if someone was giving me suggestions not knowing the first thing about this fine art. I admit I am somewhat intimidated, this is not something you just jump into! I have some tools and as far as I have gone is cleaning them, making sure all the lines are sealed & safe etc. I am taking this slow and taking all the information I am receiving and using it. I am ordering books today, I am linking up with ABANA asap. I value the information you all have given me and I will use every bit I can. I am not trying to bite to big, I said I wanted to do a set of tongs but I'm green and made a mistake thinking it would be a good place to start instead of going with the urge to forge a knife LOL. I think that it would be ridiculous to think I could just buy a forge and successfully make anything the first try. Though I thought tongs would be semi-possible meaning I might have been able to make an ugly but decently functional after trying for a lot longer than it should take. That is a good reason I'm here, to bring me back to reality:)

I did start looking into ABANA, I found the schedule to their next meet in my area which is Buffalo, New York (niagara chapter) as for the anvil stand that's something I threw it on to check things out. Id never really work on it, yet I have to admit it's more stable than I anticipated lol. Man I have to say you all are AWESOME! I have tried other forums and the response is 2nd to none her! In fact I felt as if others where a little too high on the horse but here I really feel good! this forum is truly priceless.

Thomas, I'm sorry but I don't understand what you mean by= "Quick before the short editing period is over---delete the pictures on the duplicate posts!"??? I am not the greatest tech stuff.

Hi guys thanks for the info! Pics are taking forever and a day to upload due to my phone. I will take all the pics requested. I already think I found one of the major issues being that the regulator looks like it is for a cheap grill but to be honest I wouldn't know the difference? I'm going out right now to see. Oh as far as what I want to do with it, I want to start by making some tools, such as tongs being first. I would like to work my way into knives and razors. After a while and a lot of practice I want to work my way up to forge welding wootz, Damascus. I'm not in a hurry and I'm not unrealistic I know this is an art and it doesn't come without a lot of work. I have the patience and the passion I need experience and some guidance. Can't forget more money to buy more tools & materials. Thanks again

P.s. I know there are posts that already ask part of my question and I'm not trying to beat a dead horse. I just mainly want to connect, make some friends and get input on my new setup. I'm trying to upload a pic but I'm on my phone and it is slow. I am really grateful to have this opportunity and appreciate all who may help. Thanks again, Jim

Hi, my name is Jim. I am 37, a father of a two & three year old. I am a carpenter by day & well a busy father after. As my life is chaotic and I'm always busy either with work or taking care of others I needed some serious me time! So the adventure began, first it was straight razors but that just wasn't enough for me. I buy, sell & restore them. I got involved with the forums but I don't feel as if I actually fit there. I have nothing bad to say it's just you can't fit a square peg in a round hole. Now after taking a serious interest in blacksmithing & after long careful consideration I started buying tools. As I stated in a father and everyone knows that means "on a budget" so I bought a used 70# anvil without a makers mark, the only mark it has is on the left foot a 7 stamped in there. I paid just over a $1 per pound. I'd like to I.D. It but I have so many more important questions, like #1 being I have bought a forge to save time and hey the price seemed right ($130.00) it came with a 1" Rex burner and the forge inside diameter is six inches round by twelve long, made with refractory cement and by eye I'd say near 1/4 inch plate steel. So from what a have read it seems the burner is more than sufficient for the space. My question is do you think this will work out well and most importantly how do I tune the burner? I have played around with different air/fuel ratios and I just can't seem to get a " jet like" blue flame. In fact all I'm getting is a weak flame or I get what appears to be an invisible yet loud flame? I can't help but wonder if I should have went with coal?? Anyway I am going to end it here as I have so many questions I don't want to over load one post. Any help getting this burner flowing right and opinions on my setup even constructive criticism is welcome. I just want to learn & learn the right way. Sorry that I'm all over the place but I wanted to introduce myself and get my first questions out. Thanks, Jim.