MC Hammer

No piece of metal is worth losing your life. My brother in law is a mechanic and he's seen struts shoot across the whole shop and through the wall - dangerous as heck and not worth it. Work smarter not harder, find an auto repair shop and see if they will let you pay for scrap leaf springs, coil springs, etc. that you can just pick out of a bin. I wish you luck and stay safe over there.

Yes, by all means give that anvil a cleaning. You can use a wire brush, but you'll still be working on it for weeks to come. Get a round wire brush and attach it to an angle grinder. Lightly get all the surface rust off but leave the rich patina on it. Wash it with soap and water, dry it really good then oil it with new motor oil or some of the other things others have suggested. Don't grind any part of it until you've used it for a good year. You'd be surprised at how well it polishes up with use. Square edges are not necessary and many don't desire them anyways myself included. You got a very nice birthday present. Honor the past smiths that have fed their families with that anvil and do some fine work on it. You are it's latest caretaker and you will pass it on some day to another. Bringing the anvil back to her best glory in appearance is a good start as a caretaker.

It seems here in the northeast U.S. I just finally get rid of the snow and the driveway starts to dry out and we get more snow. I can't wheel out my heavy stump and 179 lb anvil out of the garage as the cart with metal wheels will sink once it hits the mushy dirt driveway. I thought about bringing out my square block mounted on a post and do some forging but there's something wrong with a hot forge going and snow flakes falling all around. I use this time to make new tooling, put handles on hammers I"ve bought, and other non-forging but blacksmith related stuff. I also design projects I want to get going on as soon as the weather breaks. I have lantern hooks, a towel rack, and some decorative door pieces I've designed and thought about all winter. What also stinks up here in the north is that I can't visit the scrap yard as everything is covered in snow. It melts off and I think "Good, I'll get up there Saturday morning" and........it snows again. Old man winter just won't let go this year. I'd rather have early snow in November and have the March's I grew up with where it was warm and things were muddy.

Yes, please clean that paint off and get her looking nice so we can see it better. Looks like a nice big vise.

Looks like a great anvil. You now know everyone is going to want the low down on what you paid for it Let's see the other tools too! I bet it feels good to have a great anvil finally.

Jerry - Way to stay active and not quit! I had a neighbor who was cutting wood into his 90's, and not just cutting up some to burn for himself, but cutting up stacks of logs to sell the wood to others. That guy was always doing something, always moving around and I think that is what kept him going.

TP - That burns my biscuit as well that stuff never surfaces because the auctioneer knows of someone looking for that particular thing. To me, you are either a picker fulfilling orders to your customers as you roam through barns and estates, or you are an auctioneer. I have relatives that are auctioneers and their common statement is "Well if you want that stuff come to my auctions and bid." I've also heard of the choicest stuff never making it to auction because the auctioneers save it for themselves or buy it outright from the sellers / take it off their fee. I'm with you TP on the buyer's premium. It's like an additional tax on an item that was already charged sales tax. They've got you, because you've already bought the item. I think the buyers premium should only attach to things that went too low, not every thing people paid up for.

That's a relief to know there are many of you out there still forging with the hip replacement. I've been having hip trouble for the better part of two years. The local doc told me it was just arthritis and that he could inject me with regular cortisone shots. I did some research and got a second opinion this week from one of the region experts on hips who does these surgeries regularly. I was prepared for everything but what he told me. I'm 45, and the doc came in and said my hip was shot and I needed a total hip replacement. I was in such shock that my mind went blank for questions. He knew I was a blacksmith and his only concern was if I was lifting extremely heavy loads. That's a tricky question because as a hobbyist, the answer would be "not regularly". I'm in the process of starting to build a smithy and thought "Nuts! Maybe I won't be able to forge after this." Thanks everyone for sharing and encouraging me that there is plenty of forging that can be done after hip replacement. I plan on scheduling a follow up with the doc to ask a million questions and get his opinion on the several ways the procedure can be done and on hip resurfacing where I keep more of my own bone structure. I guess after this, metal will be a part of me literally

Nice one C-1

Greebe - Yes a wire wheel on a grinder. Be gentle with the pressure and just let it take off the surface rust. Then wash it with soap and water, dry it really good, and finish with a coat of new motor oil to stop the rusting process. You can coat it with boiled linseed oil or some people even spray them with clear acrylic. I find the motor oil is cheap and easy to do. I used the same process on my anvil. It keeps that wonderful patina that has taken so many years to do yet keeps you from having something that looks like a rusty piece of crap. Truly, all you need to do is clean the screw and box, lube up the screw and use the post vise. Rust doesn't affect how it functions. Me personally, when people see my set-up I like my equipment to look like it has been cared for well as it adds some value to your smithing work. Just my humble opinion.

I'd look the anvils over, pick out the top 3 anvils and decide not to bid on them. They'll go high if there's other people there who are knowledgeable about anvils. I'd pick a mid grade anvil that is solid but might be really rusty or have some not so perfect edges (which by the way is not a huge deal as they will get smooth with use or you can flap disk them to touch them up). No doubt the better anvils will go last if the auctioneer knows anything about them. Like others have said, set your price. Mine is $2 - $3 a pound. If you overpay, you'll just be starting to get over it when you see a better one at a garage sale for $50. I also find you do better at auctions where the anvil or blacksmithing equipment doesn't quite go with the bulk of the other stuff. The interest is in the other stuff and you get the anvil for cheap unless there's another guy thinking the same thing, then it's just a matter of a bidding war.

I know a guy in the flintknapping community that moved to the central hub of one of the big name circles of this craft. Now 2 of the big names are dead and he's just kinda hanging out there as a retirement home with none of those people around much anymore. I don't think I'd base my living place on a hobby personally. Think about where you want to live because things happen and you may be medically unable to smith or perhaps the hobby loses it's luster with you in 5 years and now you are kinda stuck where you are at. With that said, anywhere in the midwest or southeast would put you in concentrations of blacksmiths.

I know it's a bit personal to ask, but has anyone had hip replacement surgery and kept on forging? Is it a career ender for blacksmiths or does it prevent an older guy from taking up smithing? I figure this group is big enough that someone here must know or at least know another smith that had hip replacement surgery.

I think the lesson is that what Jclonts82 has done is make it take longer to steal his anvil. The thief would be longer on target and having to break some sweat just to free the anvil for stealing. The last thing a thief wants is to be noticed and spend a long time at his target. The thief wants an easy in and easy out scenario, so if you can make it time consuming and difficult it helps. Make it so a thief can back his truck up to your anvil and roll it in, and he's going to target you for sure. We also have to realize that you'd need a specialized thief who would be willing to try to steal an anvil. He's not going to get much at a scrap yard worth him lugging it away and it's not a really easy thing to fence at antique shops, so the guy would have to expose himself by selling it on Ebay or Craigs List in which case you can monitor those things and report back to the police if you see it. I think most of your thieves are looking for a quick and easy score. Trying to make away with an anvil is work, and if thieves were good workers they wouldn't be stealing everyone's stuff. They want easy, that's why they prefer to steal your stuff instead of going to work and buying it themselves.

Being a newer smith, I certainly can't justify the prices swage blocks are commanding today. I really can see them being useful to have and one of those tools that you are glad you have when you need it in a pinch. Personally, I have a 40 lb block of steel that I plan on dishing out the round spots on and making into my own wage block. I think I'll use the dished out spots a lot and even a leaf depression or two more than anything that a swage block could offer. I'd love to get a few different sized holes machined through it and size up the sides for round and square stock someday. I'd like the capability to make frying pans with it.

How do you vent the Carbon Monoxide from the new shop? I didn't see any windows or large doors where you could get the CO out and fresh air in. The shop looks very nice otherwise. I did see the little holes on the bottom which I assume are for fresh air?

Let's see more pictures please! Never heard of a Fagersta Bruk from Sweden & would like to see it.

It strikes (pun intended) me as something that maybe was used on the battlefield or as a traveling anvil. I think it would serve well as something used in that manner. I must admit I've never seen one like that. Thanks for sharing.

It'd be hilarious to make a foam replica of your anvil and film the thief getting ready to heft that thing and flinging it clear across the room thinking he was lifting something heavy. Only real men use anvils like the big one in the picture.

I guess I'll weigh in on this. Having worked in the security sector for decades in an earlier career, I can say that there are two things central criminal actions.....desire and opportunity. You can't do much of anything to change a criminal's desire but you can do a lot to curb his or her opportunity. As has been said by others, if someone wants to steal your anvil it's going to happen. They'll come prepared to defeat your security systems and ready to transport the anvil quickly to a waiting truck and be out of there in a few minutes. I favor the high tech and low tech approach together. It doesn't hurt to have a REAL camera mounted high and very visible outside your forge. This will deter most amateurs from trying. Don't waste your time on the fake cameras with the little red lights because nobody is truly fooled by them. REAL cameras don't have red lights and everyone knows that. Noise making devices inside such as the cow bells are the low tech side. Some laugh, but one of the oldest narcotics house tricks is to fill a tall jar with marbles and place it next to the front or side door. Tip that over and you have a lot of racket. No boobie traps as has been said, but things that make noise and motion detector lights work. Thieves don't want to be seen or heard. I always said to make the thief work at it at least. Get decent locks that are hard to pick that also have a deadbolt. That's two locks to defeat. In a forge, have small octagonal windows that a person can't fit through for light. For your swing-out barn doors to the forge, have an old fashion medieval wood board slide down across both doors - good luck kicking that in. Make your anvil hard to steal by locking it down to its base. The more time it takes a thief to break in and steal stuff the more uncomfortable he becomes. Make him work for it. We are all metal forgers, so get creative about a way to lock your tong and hammer racks down to make that harder as well.

I'd say the telephone pole would not be big enough for a 200 lb plus anvil. Don't skimp on the anvil stand. I burned my finger really bad starting out with an undersized anvil stump. I had a little 75 pounder and the stump was too small. As I hammered away the whole anvil tipped and the hot steel just touched my finger but almost burnt it to the bone. Now I'm somewhat of a freak when it comes to making sure your anvil is secure. You don't want that anvil to tip on you and they do "walk" when you used them even if they are heavy. You can even build a good stand out of wood from the hardware store. There are several threads on the different anvil stands people have made. Nice score on the anvil. It's in usable condition and you didn't make the newbie mistake of overpaying for it. I'm not that far from the newbie stage and I remember wanting an anvil really badly but waiting for a good one to come my way. Looks like you got yours for about 1/3 of what it is worth given that weight. Looks like it could be a Peter Wright - the writing looks like I can make that out. I could be very wrong.

Nice find, can think of a lot of good uses for it.

I think the railroad spike can make a lot of things, but good knives would not be one of them. There's so much spring steel out there why risk getting arrested for a few railroad spikes. It's like breaking into the bank to steal rolls of pennies instead of dollar bills. Look around for a spring shop and humbly go in there and tell them what you do and then ask really nicely if you can look through their scrap bin offering to pay them scrap prices. That's what I did, and he said I could take what I wanted. So I resisted the urge to be greedy and took a nice leaf spring set and thanked him. He said to come back and show him what I was doing. I did go back, but the owner wasn't there so I plan on going back to show him what I'm up to and give him something. Now I just stop in and the guy tells me if there's anything good in there. If there isn't and I have time / they aren't busy I'll chat with them a bit. Doing this I learned that all the newer u bolts they are getting are case hardened and not worth picking - good knowledge to have. The last time I was there I resisted the urge pick some new leaf spring drops because the guy was busy and I don't want to tie him up so that every time I stop buy he says to his hired help "Oh great, here comes that blacksmith guy and I don't have time to mess with him today." I try to cultivate those good free sources rather than risk a good reputation by lurking on the railroad tracks. Make your scavenging time count. You get a good scrap yard or a good spring shop and you can spend 15 minutes there and come away with good stuff vs. walking miles of track lugging around what you find in a bucket or backpack. Just MHO.

A nice anvil.

Ok, so I liked the videos a lot because the whole rebound premise that it bounces the hammer back and reduces fatigue never made sense to me really. The only time I've had the hammer bounce back is when I miss the hot metal or I'm pounding on something small and and narrow with the hammer head making partial contact with the anvil face on either side. I think when we experience less fatigue with the harder faced anvil because it allows us to move metal better as some have already said. It also makes perfect sense that blacksmiths wanted hard steel so that the anvil lasts longer. I think when you were hammering to feed your family, you wanted to be sure your investment in an anvil and tools was a good one. They'd spend all day everyday at that anvil so it had to be worth what they paid for it. I noticed a huge difference when I started forging on my Trenton vs. the ASO I was using before. I could definitely forge longer and moved way more metal. Of course the anvil was 100 lbs more in weight and mounted on a big heavy stump, but I used that same stump with the ASO so the harder anvil had to have something to do with it. Maybe we just overthink things sometimes missing the simple reason that they wanted a durable surface that wouldn't sway and mushroom. This makes me wonder also if it was the reason they switched to a solid plate of tool steel welded to the face vs. the plates welded in sections that we see with the older anvils? They knew the multiple plate welds tend to get sway in them more so than the solid plate would. So........they were looking for durability and if the solid plate gave them more hammer time (I couldn't resist saying that) with far less risk of sway, then they were all for it. It seems the smith was always looking for a more durable anvil and not seeking rebound as a matter of saving them energy or saving them from fatigue. It's why many of us steer newbies toward the hardest steel objects to start forging if they can't afford an anvil. To my knowledge we suggest sledge hammer heads, railroad tracks stood up on end, etc. because those are the hardest and most durable things someone without money can find to have a starter anvil.