Irondragon Forge ClayWorks

Like I said in your thread in the tailgating section, I've never heard of or seen an Albert Lee power hammer. I would say what you have is a Star power hammer made in Albert Lea Minnesota. Unless you supply more information like pictures of the hammer, I can see your posts being removed.

Welcome to IFI... It's a little small for any serious forge work. Looks like someone tried to repair the face by welding up one edge. It would help to know where in the world you are located. READ THIS FIRST

Welcome to IFI and the insanity, like Frosty said if you edit your profile to show your location it will help answering questions that require knowing where you are located. This thread is full of hints on how to get the best out of the forum and I always suggest reading it. READ THIS FIRST

No the gas I referred to is Co2/ argon for MIG (metal inert gas) wire welding.

The other good thing about a MIG welder is you can use flux core wire without the gas, if your budget is low, always get the gas tank & regulator later. Still welding with gas is so nice & cleaner, that it's worth it to use it and save a lot of grinding the splatter away.

Once you get the screw box out clean it inside of all the years of grime & gunk then just oil it as well as the screw. I've found that grease there will collect scale & trash quicker than oil then once in a while squirt some oil on the screw & it's good to go.

The nut is the screw box, it should come straight out the back, probably needs soaking in a mix of acetone & trans fluid 50/50 mix. The handle won't come out of the screw unless one end is cut off or forged down so best to leave it alone. The leg should be solid (doesn't screw off) unless someone has modified it. A wire brush is what I use for cleaning, just be sure to wear PPE they are notorious for sticking wires in ya.

Just wipe it down with fresh oil.

Yes it will handle welders.

I wouldn't it looks like a good cross peen that only needs a little dressing. Ball peens are a dime a dozen around here in junk shops.

I've seen buggies & carriages with steps like that. Buggy step gets my vote.

Nope...

Yep, it's a monster all right.

My wife uses one in her kayak.

All of the sash weights I have seen are cast iron. No good for forging. They can be useful for counter weights in the shop, like motorcycle chain hold downs for the anvil.

Looks good to go, nice job on the rebuild.

Just make sure the screw & screw box are in good shape. Several I have looked at the screw box was stripped out and had to pass on them because the seller was firm on the price.

Welcome to IFI. In my experience concrete that is exposed to the heat of a forge will explode (called spalling) in the rapidly increasing temperature of a forge. Lining the concrete slabs with clay may help with spalling. The BBQ briquettes will work but are not the best fuel due to the fillers and glue that holds them together. It will be better if you can find lump charcoal or make your own from scrap wood. As far as the forge you designed it looks good for a side blast design. You might look up the JABOD (Just A Box Of Dirt) forge threads. What are you planning to use as an air source?

Welcome to IFI Spoonman. Hope you hang around to add your expertise to some of our guessing. Have you read this thread, it will help with getting the best out of the forum. READ THIS FIRST

Good find for both of them. Hope you have read about not doing any grinding, milling or welding on the hardened faces. Fishers are nice and quiet but still top of the anvil pyramid IMO. Have you read this yet? READ THIS FIRST It covers using the forum like using the quote feature and resizing pictures among others.

I like that idea Daswulf. Another would be to weld the spikes together with filler stock in the middle to make up the width, heads on the outsides. Then wood or metal slats over them to make up the seat & back. The RR spikes would be spaced evenly running top to bottom on the back and front to back on the seat. Could use RR rail vertically for the legs, make it heavy enough so it would be hard to cart off.

My old Tombstone stick welder was donated to me from a friend who closed his body shop 30 years ago. I learned how to weld with it and still use it for heavy stock welding. That's a very good choice to learn on.

That's a good sized Trenton Farrier's anvil.

Harbor Freight has them from around $180 U.S. and up. I've had one for years and it will do light duty work, although the first one I bought failed after about a year (which they replaced). I would recommend looking for a used name brand MIG welder like Miller, Victor, Lincoln Electric or Hobart though. You would be money ahead in the long run. We bought a used Hobart Handler 187 with tank of gas, cart, 40 foot extension cord and tool box with tools for $600 and haven't touched the HF machine since.

When my wife was in Ireland she struck up a conversation with a grounds keeper, talking about landscaping our place with large rocks. He said to her " you own land?" which is only for the rich there. He was dumbfounded that regular folks could own land.