Irondragon Forge ClayWorks

Very nice indeed.

I wish my projects that wander off path, were as fine as yours. That one is absolutely gorgeous.

I think it was an old Trenton or Peter Wright (could be wrong because it was a long time ago) about 150 pounds and in fairly good shape. It was ambient temp here in the summer time so not cold.

Welcome aboard, What material did you use to reline and coat the lining of the forge?

Sure enough, looks good so far.

The restoration looks good and like others have said a larger bolt would be prudent. Have you tried a small cold chisel to remove the broken part of the old bolt out of the hole? I think you could straighten the handle cold on the anvil. Bent handles are a pet peeve of mine.

I also enjoyed The Hammers Blow from ABANA.

I don't think you have anything to worry about using a hand hammer, given your description. That is provided the anvil has no weak spots (casting flaw or cracks). The only old anvil I have seen get the heel broken off was someone using the hardy hole to drive a hardy with a large stem into the hole to size it. If I remember he was using an 8 pound hammer and the heat had just about gone out of the stock. I blamed that on operator error, he should have forged the stem down closer to the right size. I have done some pretty heavy hammering on our MP cast steel Farrier's anvil's heel along with the 110 pound Vulcan, using my go to 2 1/2 pound cross peen hammer and they are still good to go.

A lot of good ideas here.

If you can't hold it, you can't hit it! ~JHCC

Yes it is what is recommended and a coating of an IR-re radiator like Plistix will help protect it and make a big difference in the forge heat and fuel consumption.

If the coal you are using is anthracite it needs a constant air flow to keep the fire hot.

This is the one I remember.

Very nice who ever gets them will be very happy.

Looks like it will work very well and a lot better than free handing it.

Moving the hood down closer to the fire would help more.

At 78 years old, I still have moments of less than optimal survival behavior and have the scars to remind me to wear PPE even for small projects.

It looks a lot like a Buffalo Forge # 7 or 8. You might look in some of these old catalogs.

Engels Coach Shop did one Youtube, I have enjoyed.

I'm pretty sure the Peace Flower instructions on Ken's web site will apply to the Rose too.

If you wanted to learn to drive would you be looking for a model T Ford in pieces?) ~ThomasPowers

I'm sure the many female members we have will disagree with that and can hammer most of us into the ground.

One tape I don't recommend is Duct Tape, ask me how I know.

I have a traditional (to me) holiday greeting. However it's a little political and don't think it will fit on the forum. So I'll simply say, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all.

The main thing I have found is to have a good fit to your face of the mask under the glasses. Try some adhesive tape on that area.