jyatulis

Thanks Anvilman. The anvil is in great shape, only as few very minor nicks here and there. It came out of a farm equipment manufacturer here in Ontario. There is a nice patina on it under the paint. It wasn't much work to clean it up. Let me know if you come up with anything else. 40's-50's, cool. I too am very fascinated with the history of the tools we use, its what got me interested in the first place. I am the same way with my older woodworking tools. Several of my other smithing tools came with stories from the previous owners. I would like to be able to pass this on with the tools, either to my kids or to others if I sell or trade. I look at it as if I am the current caretaker of the tool and I had better look after it. I have been lucky to find some decent tools over the last couple of years and have made some friends in the process.

I just got another anvil from a friend. It came out of a local factory where it was used. Its a nice Fisher anvil in decent shape with the eagle on the side and Fisher cast in the front foot. I am trying to figure out an age and the weight. The only other marking on it is a "3". I am kind of guessing from looking through AIA at dimension tables that it is around 150 lbs, but am not sure. It seems to be in good shape, just some weld mess on the base that I ground off a bit to clean it up. It cleaned up nice after the layers of paint were removed. Best shape of any I have.

I took two courses with David Robertson, both the basic and the intermediate. I also highly recommend him. You get alot of smithy time for the buck. He moves through the material at the pace and the ability of the students. He always leaves time in the courses for you to work on a small project of your choosing. It makes for a great weekend. Also there are some good B&B's in the area to stay at. He also designs and builds gas forges and air hammers, so exposure to this stuff is an added bonus. Check out his web site and eBooks. Ontario Artist Blacksmith David Robertson

I think I may just leave the anvil alone. Its about 135 years old from my research. I think I will just clean it up a little and get rid of the red paint. I like the idea of using the shears in a table. The guy who sold me the anvil did suggest that it could have been used in the Hardy. I think they are really cool and were made right here locally in Hamilton, Ontario. I am planning to build a small table for welding and putting a big post vise on the corner. I think I will try to accomodate for the shears as well.

I picked up an M&H Armitage Mousehole Forge anvil 177 lbs (well, at manufacture) at a garage sale last Friday on the way to work. By weight it was about 50 cents a pound. Its in decent shape except for the damage around the hardy hole and back. The face is in decent enough shape for its age and has a nice rebound. That is red paint on there and not blood:). Any ideas for a simple enough repair for the hardy, or should I leave it alone and make an adapter of some kind? The other item is a neat Brown Boggs shear. I haven't cleaned it up yet, but I think it will be a useful addition to the shop. I imagine it would have been mounted to something. I have never seen one of these before. Jay

Yes, please post some pictures. I just bought one of these last week and I want to see how complete yours is and if indeed it is the same or similar to mine. I need some more details on mine to get it fire ready.

Thanks for the envious complements on the forge Wagonmaster and Frosty. I will show them to my wife who basically wants it off "her" patio. It is sweet and in relativley good condition for its near 100 year age. I love old tools. I feel I got a great deal all in for $250 CAD with the tools. I will still build my propane forge this spring, but really want to use this one as well. I live in the city and want a real clean burn. Is there anything I should be using other than regular blacksmith coal to have a real clean neighbour friendly fire? I will have to figure out what I will do with the downdraft aspect of it. I suppose I could fill in the space. The equipment junky in me wants to build a scrubber to draw the smoke through.

Thanks Brian. That is the picture I was trying to refer to. I couldn't figure out how to post a link within the forum. The company in Montreal was the Canadian subsidiary of Buffalo Forge from the U.S. From what I have read it was started up in Montreal in 1903 and later moved to what is now Kitchener, Ontario. It was also renamed to Canadian Blower and Forge. I have got one of those manual drill presses by them as well.

Thanks Fe-Wood. I consider myself very lucky to find it. The down draft works like one of those cook top down-draft units. The hood it would have had helps to trap the smoke to get it to the exhaust. The big slot at the back of the unit would have been filled in with the lower part of the hood I guess. There is an excellent pic posted by Don. under "nice-old-picture-anvil-chorus-11123" There is one on either side of the bottom of the picture. The exhaust would have gone down through the floor of the shop. I imagine it was a powered exhaust. There are several in the book link I posted. I imagine there would have been a perforated plate over the hole in the center. I was told there was an electric blower attached originally. It was funny when I went to pick it up because it was a bit of a lawn ornament. He had it outside for several years just sitting under a tree. I like your idea of not painting it. I am true to original with my antique woodworking tools as well. You can't beat the original patina. I am not sure about this one though. After I get it all cleaned up and working I would be concerned about it rusting up again. Jay

Got a nice forge and some much needed tools the other day (at a great deal). The forge is a down-draft style exhaust. It

tech413, Yes, I did take David's course. It was well done and reasonably priced. Beautiful country up there too. I will likely build the gas forge or a derivation of it from his plans e-book. I am also interested in building an air hammer, but don't want to go totally crazy in the first year. I am just going to start collecting metal.... cheers, Jay

I will probably start with a small forge, single burner, probably square or a round tank style. I have seen some made with propane tank bodies with Kaowool linings and brick floors. I imagine it won't be my last forge so I think I will bite the bullet and just make a simple one to get going. My main interest in getting into smithing was making hardware for woodworking projects. I am also interested in getting some welding skills as well, which will be proven with the forge construction. My only real concern is fabricating a proper burner and not getting any flashback (or enter correct term here). The likely place will be a small backyard shed type arrangment for 3 season use weather permitting. Just open the doors and get to work. I will definitely check out the Blueprints section. Thanks, Jay

Hi all, I am new to the site. (My second try actually) New to blacksmithing. Took a 2 1/2 day course last summer and am hooked. Just finally got an anvil a couple of weeks ago, a nice 249# Peter Wright that I am quite pleased with. Just need to build that propane forge. I hope to pick up some tech help from the site. cheers, Jay