MC Hammer

I recommend taking it all apart and cleaning out the screw and box, greasing or oiling the threads (there's been whole threads discussing which is better - I used bearing grease)and reassembling it. While apart, taking a wire wheel on an angle grinder will help clean it up, but cleaning the outside rust off is not necessary for it to function correctly. For $80, unless the threads are stripped and terrible, you done good. Shoot us a picture of the threads.

Make the best of it as the damage is already done. It may provide you with many years of good service if done correctly. Not all welders and machine shops know what they are doing from what I'm told. If you haven't bought it, I'd pass. For that money you can find an anvil that has not been welded like that one.

I'll second the notion that this is an interesting thread. I once heard someone talk about vacationing at the Barrier Reef. They snorkeled and were able to do limited exploring of the reef. One day this fellow saw a diver with a tank emerge from the depths of the reef and he got to thinking. Both of them can say they dove at the Great Barrier Reef, but which one of them can say they really explored the reef? He concluded that at most he'd only seen the top 10% of the reef while the guy with the tank had thoroughly explored the whole reef down to it's depths. I think we are really dealing with the same reef issue with this thread. Some of us think that the only true way to know blacksmithing is to strap the tank on and totally explore the whole thing. Others of us are quite happy "snorkeling" from the top and enjoying what we can see from there. I think most here don't have a problem with the difference until a "snorkeler" tries to pose as a deep tank diver giving advice about deep waters they've never been in. We have some excellent deep divers here and we have some excellent snorkelers. Me, I'm awkwardly learning to deep dive. I'm snorkeling some but also learning the complexities of using my scuba tank so I can dive deep. That path is not for everyone, but blacksmithing is a big reef and there's room for a lot of us here. Heck with FIF the snorkeling area is a little congested right now so I'm finding more peace down deep learning the craft and starting with the basics. I like it down deep because not everyone wants to be there. To the point of repetitive forging of the same thing.........I've found no better way to learn. Nobody says you have to make 100 S hooks, but I've learned a lot making them 6 at a time. Maybe the next time I make 4 of something different and so on. It's taught me time management and all the tricks to get all 6 or all 4 of them looking the same. This skill will help later on when someone needs for me to make a replacement of something. I'm learning A LOT by learning the basics and starting to make my own chisels and punches. That first knife I make someday will go much smoother I think.

Maybe I'm a little too particular, but after I grind the right profile, I go over it with a medium grit carborundum stone with water and then some sand paper. Yes, use will polish them but this gives it a head start for those who don't forge everyday like me. Some hammers that you don't use a lot will take a while to polish under hobby use. What has helped me is that i found a rawhide hammer at my favorite junk shop and I use it for finish work to adjust hooks and hardware. It doesn't leave a mark on the metal but does shape it/bend it. A wood mallet would also work.

Some good points TP. It seems to me that a lot of people just liked the idea of having an anvil in their garage or workshop starting at the decline of blacksmithing on through the 1970's. I think maybe the stores catered to that crowd with a lot of these anvils possibly (or at least that's my theory).

I second the reworking of the handles. It's nice to have a flare or swelling out toward the end of the handle. Some don't like it, but you may want to try it on one of them. Handles for forging don't need to be really thick. Once I thinned my handles out I no longer got tired arms in the sense that they locked up on me. Once someone explained to me that the thicker the handles are the harder the hammer is to hold onto, it clicked and they were right.

Dress them for sure. All that rough grinding texture will be transferred to your hot metal and the sharp edges will indent your metal as well. I always dress and then slightly polish all the hammers I acquire.

TP - your reference to "southern women" is what I call Prairie Tough. Those prairie women of old could chop wood, kill and pluck a chicken, sew clothing, and still dress up for Sunday church looking like queen of the ball. They could shoot a gun, but they were ladies in every sense of the word. It's how I wish to raise my girls. Maybe they want to be a fashion designer someday and that just fine with me, but they will have made that choice from having been exposed to many different options. If they decide to forge metal or be an electrician that's also fine with me.

My vote is cast iron. The first borrowed anvil I worked on was very similar and was around 70 - 75 lbs. Had the same seam running up the horn but not on the face. The face on it wasn't dead soft and there was some bounce to it, more so than medium steel. When I got a real anvil though, the difference was very noticeable. With that said, it will "work" and you can forge on it until you find an anvil with a hard steel face. The one I used had no markings on it whatsoever and my Dad claimed it was "really old". It had all the old coloring of a well aged patina but I can say it was not a quality anvil for sure.

Me, I started out trying to make a knife with a leaf spring after warming up on a couple of other items. I found out just how tough high carbon steel was to move and stopped realizing I was missing quite a lot of skill. Not wanting to produce a crappy knife, I began reading a lot and decided I needed to start with the basics first. I disagree with the notion that you don't need to start with hooks and things first. Can you start as a blade maker, yes, but I think it will be a tougher road learning hammer control, drawing out, etc. on knives. I'd personally rather make those early mistakes on hooks. I'll make a knife someday, but it's not my focus right now only being a few years into this craft. I think there's also confusion where some believe that being a blacksmith is only making hardware and such. A blacksmith is someone that heat metal and shapes it with a hammer on a solid surface. Rather you make blades or dinner triangles, you are a blacksmith. The dude with a break drum forge and a sledge hammer head in the backyard is a blacksmith. I think it's also important to point out that a hobby and a livelihood are much different. Someone can take up golfing or blacksmithing for a season and give it up with little investment, but if someone desires to be a blacksmith to feed his or her family the commitment is much more intentional as is their investment in tools and instruction. In America we have a lot of hobby junkies. I taught one fellow how to flintknap that I met while out looking for arrowheads. He dropped the hobby slowly after a few years and I'm sure is onto something else. Time will flesh-out those truly interesting in learning to be a craftsman and those that are just a hobby junkie. I think it's really important not to overlook the fact that some people are on a journey. Perhaps woodworking got them interested in forging after watching Roy's forging episodes on the Woodwright Shop. Some may have been into collecting old guns and in learning to make them decide they need to learn to forge their own parts. Some <sigh> may watch forged and fire and want to make blades. Is one motivator any better than another? As a flintknapper I was set up at a show next to a blacksmith and that peaked my interest and was my motivator.

I tell my girls all the time to be brave as they face things that cause them fear. Just the other day I overheard the younger one telling the older one that she could do it and just to be brave as to something they were doing. I also instill in them that we never quit. Took my girls to a family function and they just wanted to play in the creek, yet they love to dress like princesses and play with dolls / stuffed animals. I think I'm on the right track JLP!!

Well said George. Memorial Day is a time to remember those that gave all they had.....their life. We cannot forget. I second what Sfeile said as well on the anvil size. 100 - 150 pound anvil is a good size that can do just about anything you need to do.

Bought me one of those Jack Daniels half barrels from the big box store last month. Yeah, any bucket with water works, but you have to admit the half barrels look really cool! It will be functional too and give just a small nod to the blacksmiths of old. That thing smelled so bad of Jack Daniels that I was worried about what would happen if I got pulled over.

Welcome back. I used to think I was born to the wrong time-period then came to realize it's the ideals of the old ways that I identify with more than the way things were back in the day. Back then people took time to make things that lasted and the people bought them appreciating the craftsmanship knowing that they could not do it themselves or were too busy sowing the north 400 acres to mess with it. People weren't in a hurry back then and families / friends meant something. We've lost a lot of that today and start complaining while waiting at a traffic light for oh say 2 minutes (guilty too of this) in our air conditioned car listening to music on the car stereo system. So me and my wife are more and more identifying with the old ideals. The last time the power went out we lit the kerosene lanterns and she read a book by the last evening light and I sat next to her sewing up a bear fur. It was actually kind of nice. I barter and sell things to raise money for other things and we pay cash on the barrel for most things. I think there is a way to live back then, you just have to bring those good qualities back into your life today. It's the best we can do.

How true swedefiddle. I was at a family thing today and my cousin said "Anvils, I have like 12 of them on my property in the garage and in all my outbuildings, I'll give you one. I just gave a 300# anvil away to my friend last year." Um, yeah, I'm going to be calling him right away for sure. They could be total garbage, or they could be very nice, you just never know Biggun - yeah I feel blessed to have my Trenton and a year isn't bad but felt like an eternity.

Good point Biggun! I got a good deal on my anvil. Maybe Josh can find a good deal too, all depends on how much time he wants to spend looking. It took me a year to find mine.

Perhaps a staged photo like man of the old ones were, but this is the size child I was thinking of in this thread. He looks like he's using adult tongs, but they might be hard for him to use with one hand so they may just need the handles to be heated and brought closer together. The anvil in front of him would be too high for him to use, but he could step up on something and use it. I'm guessing a lot of old blacksmith shops had boys his age helping out like this and making nails, etc.

Josh you've covered things pretty well. I like that you are thinking things through before jumping in. My two cents.......spend your money on a good anvil. Certainly buying a new solid tool steel anvil is nice, but you can also buy a used one it just takes time to find one. Many people has said in past threads that what you spend on an old anvil could get you a new anvil made of tool steel and they are right, but, I think you can buy a larger old anvil. I spent $300 on my first anvil but it is 179#'s. It's not perfect, but I think I got more anvil for my dollar than what I could have afforded with a new $300 anvil. Network to find tongs, but I must also agree that you should buy a good pair of wolf jaw tongs or V-bit tongs. V's can hold round and square stock / wolf jaws can hold several different types and sizes of steel stock. You could easily buy a pair of wolf jaws to get started then look around at flea markets and junk shops. I picked these tongs up for $7 each and they are Champion brand. Price the equivalent pairs bought new. The solid steel piece in the middle was thrown in free. I plan on cutting it off and making a hardy tool out of the T section. Picked up a third pair from the same junk shop for $10 on another stop there. So that's $24 spent which is probably not even the price of one set of new tongs. But....it takes time to find these places and work on relationships with the owners. I second the eye and hear protection as well as having your fire to the side of your tarp. Keep your anvil in the shade under the tarp as that is where you'll be standing 80 % of the time. I bought my first gas forge new. You can make them for cheap, way cheaper but I just unboxed it, hooked it up to gas and started forging. Some things you need to take your time doing and other things are more efficient to just buy them to get started. If I were you, I'd come up with the total budget you can afford to spend and then maximize that money by listing what you want to buy. You may find that buying this or that used allows you more money for a new anvil or that you have a few hundred more dollars to spend on tooling. Good luck and keep your head on a swivel over there. There are those of us who keep you and your brothers in our thoughts daily. We haven't forgotten about the good work being done and the good work that still needs to be done over there. Oh, and the hammers hanging from my anvil stump - the ones on the left are two Harbor Freight specials and all the other ones were bought at antique shops or on ebay for cheap. I had to put handles or re-wedge all of them. I bought the HF hammers first to just get started - nothing at all wrong with how they move metal once profiled correctly and handles slimmed down to the correct diameter for good forging. But........it's taken me 2 years to build up the tools I have and it wasn't an instant thing.

I think efficiency comes into play as well. A small anvil, even if it is well secured to a base, will move around with every strike of the hammer. For a child you are not going to have a premium anvil stand set-up so it's likely a small anvil will be secured to a smallish stump set to the lower level which I believe will move around as the youngster strikes it. This loses some of the efficiency of moving the metal. My first anvil was a 75 # little thing and it moved around a lot. When I got my 179 # Trenton I noticed a huge difference. Sure, the 75 pound anvil was likely not quality hardened steel and may have even been an ASO, but not having the anvil move helped as well. I think If I had a youngster in the forge I'd just cut a large diameter stump or make a solid board platform that raised him or her up to the proper level to use a bigger anvil. One day the youngster will not need the thing to stand on and will be ready to continue on using big tools. There's a saying in the military : Train like you fight. I think this applies to this situation as well. Think about the old smithies back in the 18th and 19th century and much older. Boys helped in the smithy and got accustomed to using the grown-up tools. It's doubtful those old blacksmiths had little anvils for their little helpers. I'm guessing they found ways to raise the helper to the right level of the anvil or had the young apprentice step up to the lower striking anvil set up for heavy sledge work. Either way, I think they purposely wanted the boy to grow into the man tools instead of giving the boy boy tools and expecting him to outgrow the smaller tools. That's my 2 cent guess.

Smmmmoking good deal!!!! Biggun has a good point. I'd love to have one because I want to forge my own hardy tools. They are so handy when you need to pound something in a slot or hole with a sledge. You risk cracking your anvil if you try it in your hardy hole. I'd love to own either of those swage blocks. Good job scooping them up.

Many of us here are all about doing things on the cheap. So I admire you for trying to use scrounged materials. Here's the but.......it seems like an awful lot of work and trouble to build something in the end that may not really be much better a piece of large scrap steel. I think you'd be time ahead and possibly money ahead buying and anvil that is on the lower end of quality. Find one with a broken horn but a good face for a couple hundred bucks and you'd be all set. The design you currently have won't have a horn, so look for an anvil with a good face. Believe me, I understand wanting to make it on the cheap as I make hammer handles rather than pay the $8 for a new one at the hardware store so I get it, but I'd never consider making an anvil because it is the centerpiece of your tools. The anvil and the forge are the two key tools to blacksmithing and I think worth investing some money in.

Dave51B - Now that was a really good one!!!

I saw my 1st anvil the other day at my dad's shop and she wouldn't even look at me after I replaced her. I suspect she was an ASO anyways and once I saw that beautiful German Trenton, well she went back where I borrowed her. I thought about bringing her back home, but oh the jealousy and fighting that might ensue from the workshop.

Daswulf - Now that's funny Viking - Yeah, mind would be saying that too at times.

Time to have some fun here. If your anvil(s) could talk to you, what would it(they) say to you today? Mine: "Hey, I'm feeling a little unloved right now when are you going to spend some quality with me?"