nc_cooter

devins, machining to a square would work. You would need at least 7" round stock to end up with a 5" square. A 20 " length of 7" round would weigh appx 217#. Machining cost might be a bit high unless you have a friend.

Avadon, as far as mounting an anvil, every one has their own preference. I assure you the method seen in my photos will work very well. My stand weighs about 100# and sits on a crushed stone floor. After the post was placed in the stand, thin wood wedges were driven between the post and the angle iron frame. There is nothing hanging in air. Your idea of welding feet to the post and mounting to wood will work also. My Hay Budden anvil sits on an oak log base on the same floor. My Mouse Hole anvil sits on a stacked wood base.

Avadon, I would suggest a 5"x5" square and a weight of about 100#. Make the stand with some height adjustment. Chris, you can forge any size blade you want on a 5"x5" square. With the short heat of blade steel, you can only work small area at a time.

Matt87, thanks for your input. The "modern" anvil has developed into a multi tool in the last 200 years. By the way, I already feel old enough so call me Mike. ;)

Mark and Chris, Japanese blade makers have always use similar anvils for forging. The entire mass of this type anvil is concentrated under a small working area. The mass of western anvils is spread over a much longer area. I have a 147# Hay Budden and a 128# Mousehole, both in excellent condition. The Mousehole has a shorter horn and heel. It "hits" like it weighs more than the Hay Budden. After using the post anvil only once, I am convinced. It will be my blade forging anvil from now on. For general forging, the other two will stay busy.

Chris, I have been looking about 4 years for the right piece of steel. This came from a local scrap yard. It's hard to find square stock in large sizes. I did not want round stock. This was actually in one piece when I bought it. I had to have it cut in half. Check with your local scrap dealers and let them know what you are looking for.

Thanks Chris. You can read about the anvil here: http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f83/wip-post-anvil-build-13137/

Finally got to use my new anvil. Wow, does it make a difference. I needed some thin stock for a couple of small paring knives. Started with a piece of 1/4"x5/16"x6" 1084FG and drew it out to about 1/8" thick. Then forged a couple of blades. Total time a little over one hour. Thanks for looking and all comments are welcome.

Welcome to the mad house, cablemonkey. Since you are into knife making, you might want to consider a post anvil. I just finished making one and for a knife maker it's really great. That's the first thing that came to my mind when thinking about forging from a wheelchair. Here's a pic.

BP0918 Finally got my post vise stand built. I used 1/2" plate and 2" square tube. The vise is only a 4", but it's in great shape. Thanks for looking.

Finished all the welding and added some tool holders. Had to figure out how to get the anvil into the rack. Wasn't that bad. All that's left is grinding out the saw marks.

I decided to document my post anvil build. Pic #1 This week I had 2 pieces of 5"x5" 4160 follow me home. They are a little over 29" long and weigh 206# each. One is going to be my post anvil. Pic #2 and #3 I wanted some lifting lugs, just in case I decide to heat treat the face. There was no way to get a 206# piece of steel on the table of my floor model drill press. Sat my little 5 speed table top Clarke in the floor and used it to drill two 27/64" holes, 1 1/4" deep. Had to go very slow or the little Clarke would stall. Tapped for 1/2"-13 bolts 1" long. Pic #4 For the stand, I used the stock I had on hand. The base is 1/2" plate, 16" square. The frame is 1 1/2"x3/16" angle. The cross braces are 3/8"x1" bar. With the cross brace spacing I have now, the anvil face height can be adjusted from 32" TO 34" IN 1/2" increments. I will post more pics as the build continues.

That one is sweet.

My first post vise and 412lbs of 5" square HR4160. The post vise is only a 4" one, but it's in great condition. The 4160 was in one piece, but a friend cut it in half for me. That's two 206lb pieces at a little over 29" long. I will keep one piece for my knife anvil and sell the other one. Went through my scrap stash this afternoon and I have enough stuff to build stands for the post vise and knife anvil.

Thanks for the nice words. I probably average giving away one knife for every six I make. I love making knives and like to know that my knives are used and not kept in a drawer.

The Hofi method of hammering has allowed me to keep hitting hot metal. After breaking my shoulder a few years back, I thought forging was over for me. It took months of practice using a drill hammer, modified to a poor copy of the Hofi hammer, to rid myself of old habits. I now have a 3# Hofi and it has become my primary hammer.

Here's a couple of knives I finished today. The top one is a HS graduation gift for a friends step daughter, Miranda (AKA Randi). Randi is a beautiful young lady who loves to hunt. Years ago I gave Randi her first 22Cal rifle, so I thought it fitting that I provide her first custom made knife. The handle is a white tail crown, provided by her step dad. The blade was made from some of Aldo's 1084FG and was clay coated for heat treat. OAL is 8" with a 3 3/4" blade. The next knife is a gift for the yard boss at a local scrap metal dealer. Steve has been very kind to me and I though it was time to show my appreciation. The handle is curly maple and the blade is 1095. The OAL is 6 1/2" and the blade is 3". Thanks for looking.

Very nice , Rich. What are the dimensions?

Thanks guys. Robert, my friend, it's good to be back hammering and making knives.

I am finally feeling good enough to start making knives again. I started forging last Saturday morning about 6 AM. I lasted about one hour. Did the same for the next three mornings, doing a little better each day. Finally got 4 blades rough forged. I really like the new 3# Hofi hammer I got for Christmas. All the blades were forged using Aldo Bruno's 1084FG. It moves great under the hammer. The first 3 were forged from a piece the size shown at the top of the pic. The last one from a smaller piece. Thanks for looking and all comments are welcome.

Is your stock 3/8" round bar or flat bar? You could make a small knife from 3/8" round. To overly simplify the steps, forge the round stock flat to about 1/8" overall thickness and set the basic shape of the blade, ricasso and handle. Next refine the bevels and distal taper. Use files or a belt grinder to further refine the blade. Make sure you leave the edge thickness at least .030"prior to heat treat. Keep your steel hot while forging to avoid stress cracks. When you are ready for heat treat, I'll try to take you through that mess. Here's a pic of some of my rough forged blades. The bottom one is a small black smith knife with a 2 1/2" blade. You might want to try this style for your first kinfe. The second pic shows the finished top and bottom blades from the first pic,

Great idea Frosty. What size stainless stock did you use? My wife saw the pics and now I have to make some.

Bentiron, that's my shop mascot. He is cast iron and feels right at home in the forge area.

Jimmy, it took all day to clean up everything. I even found some things that I forgot I had. It won't look this way again anytime soon.

I have not been doing any hammering lately, but I haven't been totally inactive in the shop. Over the last 5 months I have been reorganizing my shop and adding a dust room and dust collector. My main shop area is now measures 10'x32' and is insulated and cooled by 2 small window AC units. Picked up both AC's used for $50 total. This old Phart can't take the heat like he used to. The dust room was an absolute necessity. Everything in the old shop was covered by grinding dust and saw dust. The first 2 pics show the new dust room. Everything is on wheels for flexibility since the room is only 10'x10'. I built a grinding dust separator that actually works. It has a baffle between the inlet and the outlet and water in the bottom. It is attached to a Steel City 1 1/2 HP dust collector, wired for 220vac. When grinding, the dust bag is not used and the exhaust just dumps into the room. For sawing, I can hook it to either the band saw or the table saw in the normal manner. The next 2 pics show the rest of the main shop. The next 3 pics show my forging area. It has a crushed stone floor and measures 12'x27'. thanks for looking.