LukeDM

That's great, thanks for the info! Exactly what I was looking for. A quick Google search didn't really tell me much, so it was only unusual in that I hadn't seen any before. My grandpa was a tool pusher for years so it makes sense he had one laying around. Stroud is only about 1.5 hrs from me. Would be neat to see if any evidence of the old smithy still remains. This anvil has definitely been used, but the face is in decent shape. Refacing it seems like an interesting idea. It wouldn't take a lot of filling to true it up.

So I found this anvil halfway buried near my grandpa's barn. What can y'all tell me about it? I haven't had much time to inspect it yet, but I saw that it had "225" stamped on the side. I'm guessing that's English hundred weights because it felt much heavier than that to me. It has a pretty worn hardy hole on one side and no Pritchel hole.. I'll be able to get a better look later today. It's hard to see because of how it blends into the bed of my work truck, but the rectangular base is part of the anvil.

Wonderful. Thank you very much Frosty! I can't say how much your posts have helped me. You synthesize information well, and spend your time helping people solve the same problems ad nauseum. I wonder how many people wouldn't have begun to forge if it weren't for this forum.

Hello all. I've recently assembled my first forge shell and Frosty burner, and would like to invoke the forum's expertise. My burner has what I'd call a "woof" and will blow off the end of the burner and extinguish itself. I tried inserting it into the shell of my forge (without kaowool or rigidizer) to see if back pressure would solve the problem; it did not. In fact, it seems to make it a little worse. I was wanting to get the burner going properly to cure my rigidizer before I lined the forge. Here is a video of what it does in the forge shell. It will eventually extinguish itself. The burner is built to the specifications in Frosty's write up: a high pressure regulator to a ball valve, 1/4" copper to a 1/4x1/8 flare x male thread tapped to accept a .035 mig tip in a 1x3/4 tee with a 6" nipple and a thread protector. My forge is an old expansion tank for water heaters, a little smaller than a 20 lb propane bottle. What does it look like to y'all? Is it just an alignment issue? I think I have the hole and threads centered in the tee, but I'm not so confident in the threads I had to tap in the flare fitting. Additionally, I'm having trouble locating any more of these fittings. To make matters worse, I'm a plumber! It's not from lack of knowledge or connections, none of my suppliers have been able to get them. If I had more, I'd just try another. I also tried to bend the mig tip into alignment, to no avail. Looking forward to hearing your ideas!

Looks like a good first hammer! I know you'll be proud every time you use it. The beak of it looks a little long compared to most other welding hammers, but I can see where it would come in handy for some welds.

Maybe so. I only know Bradley as a speed trap on the way to Chickasha.

Most people from Lindsay dabble in one form of dark art or another. LOL! You're just 40 minutes from me over here in Pauls Valley!

There are a handful of the tongs small enough to be used very often. They're laid on a 4x8 welding table top, for scale. Many of them were used to handle larger billets than I can see myself using regularly. Thanks, I'll sure let you know next time I'm passing through the panhandle. I've looked at the Saltfork Craftsmen, but I've had to miss all of their recent meetings, during hay season. I can see myself getting to do a lot of forging come Winter, when it gets dark early, and you want to huddle around something hot!

Thank you Ben, I'm in Garvin County, about halfway between Oklahoma City and the Red River. Included are pics of the aforementioned loot.

Hello all. I've lurked on this site long enough, and it's time to begin posting. It took my best good friend suggesting that we begin to smith blades and work our way up to axes and hammers to ever put smithing on my radar. As friends do, we talked it up big and proceeded to do nothing about it. About 6 months later, my grandfather gave me quite a gift. I had been at his house to bale his hay (since he has been unable to do so himself lately) and he told me to go to the southeast corner of his barn. I immediately recognized that before me laid a pile of blacksmith's tongs. He told me that some of them had been hand forged by my great-great-great-uncle. I was pretty floored, to say the least. I still can't believe that I had spent so much time wrenching underneath farm equipment 10 feet away from these tongs without ever noticing them laying underneath a large generator. Since then, I've begun to collect more pieces, including a 128 lb Peter Wright anvil, which was gifted to me by an awesome neighbor of mine. Of course, living on a farm, my father and I work with metal and have most of the metal working tools you'd expend to find on a farm, plus a few. I've been thoroughly enjoying the 101 sections on this forum, along with the advice given to newcomers. The wealth of information being shared on this forum is really something else. I don't think I've ever spent time on a forum so well mannered, civic, and informative. (I've spent a lot of time on forums, mind you.) I'm in the process of gathering knowledge and materials to build a forge, and looking forward to engaging in the community here. Thanks much, Lukas