oregondave

thanks. this is exactly the kind of information I need. now I need to lookup the meaning of the details you provided. what I guess I should have mentioned, is that I need practice in all of these areas. I need to make mistakes and learn from them. I'm stubborn and have to learn the hard way. I was not planning on using Iron, but outside of blacksmithing it was something I wanted to do (weld iron). I had a old Fordson Major tractor that had a crack in the oil pan. For whatever reason, back in the days (before the 60s), tractors were designed with the front axles supported by the engine though a "wish bone" front axle. In fact, the entire tractor weight goes through the engine block. For whatever reason, Fordson decided to put the weight of the front end of the tractor on a cast iron oil pan. It cracked (it had a loader, so of course) and was cast iron. At the time (in the field) I tried to take the oil pan off, and take it to a master mechanic/expert welder to weld the cast iron back. But I decided to sell the tractor instead when I determined that I was probably going to die under the tractor from an accident after adjusting the jack three times to different locations.

Hi thanks. I literally have 6 months with nothing to do. I work on my farm April through October. November through April, I have to keep busy on something. I think this would be productive and enjoyable project to do. Other then that I could get a job, but I have no expenses (hence the zero budget). Absent of doing repair work on my tractors and building onto my shop, I've got nothing else to do with my time. So this is an effective use of my time, otherwise its nothing and I've already seen everything on netflix it seems. Want to stay busy with my hands. Can you comment on the technical aspects of my idea?

Hi I wonder if this idea would work I want to take a bunch of scrap metal (100lb or more), and some scrap cube. I take the scrap cube, and I cut and stick weld a minimal anvil block. Nothing special, it can be ugly, just something extremely simple. The key is that it is minimally viable. Then I take the scrap metal, forge it, and blacksmith it into more cubes using the minimal viable anvil. I weld the cubes together (it can be ugly), until I get to 100lb or more. Then using a cut off blade and regular angle grinder blade, shape a real anvil. (Yes, a lot of work, and Yes wearing massive protective gear expecting the blades to explode at any moment) I have several boxes of 60XX and 70XX sticks and a 160 amp AC/DC welder and a huge box of angle grinders and bits, but no budget. Do you think this would work as a starter anvil? Yes I know people are going to say just buy one, but I'd like to start another topic another day when I have the budget to buy one so "just buy one" isn't what I am looking to discuss about at this time (thanks though) Scrap prices are very low and I can find steel on the street being given away.