Leatherneck Donald

Hammered my very first steel today!  Made this coal mover.  Not very pretty, but I'm happy for my first effort.  I made a second one that I like better, but I gave it to a good friend who hung out with me today.

I gave up on the handcrank blower and made my leaf blower work.  

Semper Fi, Marine.  I can't offer any advice to you as I am also brand new to this art

7 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

As was recently posted Don't use an old artillery shell as an anvil!   

Makes me think of that old Bugs Bunny where Bugs is hammering the fuse of shells on an assembly line and if they don't explode he marks them "dud" 

Thanks all for the welcome and feedback!  I was going to jsut use a wire brush on my drill to get rid of the anvil paint, but Frosty's idea with the hot pan sounds better 

As for the heavy beast, yeah, I guess something I can move by myself can't be but so heavy.

Frosty - all the terms are great to know.  My clinker breaker has a weight wired on one end, and a clogged hole on the other.  Guess I need to drill out the clog and put some sort of stick or rod in there to use it.

I think I'm going to like it here!

Howdy,

New guy here.  I posted pics and info about my set up already in the "Show Me Your Shop" thread, page 15.

I should be hammering steel for the first time this weekend.

Other than that, I'm 49, and married to a wonderful (and patient!) wife.  As the screen name implies, I'm a Marine veteran (artillery, so speak up).  In addition to my new blacksmithing hobby, I also mess around with my 72 Jeep Commando, Celtic festivals, and emergency preparedness.

There looks like a ton of great info on here, and I'm really looking forward to learning from folks.

Donald

I'm brand new here, and just getting ready to start smithing.  Hope to hammer my first steel this coming weekend.  Not quite done with my set up.  Need to get some piping to go from the blower to the forge and arrange things just right, and I'll be set.

The anvil is 110# Columbian.  Got it at a farm auction a month or so ago. $85.  I haven't tried a ball bearing, but a hammer bounces very nicely and it sounds great.  Also got a beautiful Columbian 504 1/2 vise at that auction for $35.  I need a better stump, but that one was handy and should hold me for a while.

I have two Champion 400 blowers, given to me by two different friends.  Both were seized up with rust, but I got the shorter one going great, bent the crank out to its proper position, and put a new wooden handle on it.

One of the aforementioned friends gave me these two Hardy hole pieces.  The smaller one is too big for my hole so I need to file it down at some point.

That same friend also gave me the two tongs and the straight peen hammer.

Last but not least, that same friend gave me the forge table.  It is a heavy, cast iron beast.  My brother helped me fix it up yesterday.  We put a new clinker trap door (is there a proper name for it?) on the bottom, drilled out and reattached the part that the blower pipe goes in where the ball valve thing is, and put three new brackets to hold the fire pan on to the table.

PPE, another straight peen hammer, and a book with 40 beginner products will be here tomorrow.

Today I picked up 40# of antracite coal, a heavy ball peen hammer, some steel chisels, and some bar and flat stock.

I'll get the new blower air piping this week and make something (I'm thinking a fire poker/rake thingee for my first one) this weekend.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or critique.

37 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Hundreds of foundries cast forges that look almost the same.  If it's not marked you just don't know.

Most likely post American Civil War, pre WWII

I didn't clay mine. if you do clay it don't clay the firepot.  

Will you be burning coal or charcoal? If charcoal you may want to tweak it for better performance.

Thanks.  Too rusty to read if anyting is marked on it.  Anthracite coal.  Did some restoration on it this weekend.  had to secure the part the blower hose goes in, and build new brackets to support the firepot

On 1/22/2016 at 11:59 AM, Michael said:

I'd replied to this about 5 yesrs ago. Pic ssems lost but here's my corner of the patio setup. 104 # PW, pair of vises on stand, tool table, Tiger blower, forge table, grinder/wirewheel and power hacksaw. Not seen are a homemade swage block and the freon tank propane forge. 

This is my first post here... that forge (pan, is that the right word) is almost identical to mine.  Two questions... do you know who made it and how old it is?  Do I need to line it with clay of some sort?   If so, do I line just the rectangle part, just the bowl, or both?  Thanks!