Allen Corneau

Large anvil and swage block with stand, approximately 700 lbs (rough estimate).

Howdy folks,

I would love to tap into the knowledge of anyone that has experience buying and shipping equipment from overseas, either Europe in general or specifically Germany.

I found some smithing equipment at what seems to be a very good price (even considering USD/Euro exchange rates) but I don't know anything about arranging shipping, VAT and other possible taxes, etc.

I'm happy to either discuss on or off-line. Thanks!

It's supposed to be a Fisher Blacker anvil, comes with a 250# cast iron base with "Blacker Engineering Corp, New York" in raised letters. No pictures of the other sides showing any stamps. (It's up on an auction site so not much info is provided.)

So I found some pictures and video clips but I still can't understand what the cut-out is for. The hammer hits in the middle of the face but there doesn't seem to be any correlation between the power hammer and the cut-out. 

Can anyone educate me on what the purpose of this cut-out is on this large (~500 lb.) anvil? I've never seen something like this and can't guess what it could be used for.

First time posting in this thread so be gentle!

Yesterday I made this bracket-shaped hook based on one I saw on Torbjorn Ahman's website. I was going off my (admittedly questionable) memory so it's not an exact copy, but not bad for a first go. I put it up in my garage so I don't have to inflict it on anyone else.

JLP, nice video.

If I might ask, what is the advantage of forge-welding the bend versus just leaving it bent and not forge-welding? 

3 hours ago, CWest said:

... I think you could benefit from Mark Aspery’s third book on traditional joinery. 

Thanks, I've got that exact book sitting in my Amazon shopping cart, just haven't pulled the trigger on buying it yet.

I guess I should be a little more specific on the things I'm talking about. If you needed to make a tenon and could use any tool you wanted, would you use a swage block, hardy-mounted bottom swage tool and handled top tool, a spring swage tool, a guillotine tool, or something else? I've read many statements on the guillotine tool threads here saying that now they have one they couldn't live without it. So should I take their advice and just head towards the guillotine tool, bypassing the others?

Howdy folks,

My partner in crime and I are slowly getting our tooling made (chisels, punches, fullers, tongs, etc). We both are working on all kinds of beginner projects like bottle openers, hook racks, etc. but I'm finding myself drawn to more complex projects. I already dove in the deep end and made a brazier (medieval fire basket) with some old rusted steel that I got my hands on for free (picture below). I'd really love to learn how to do mortise and tenon work and other multi-part/riveted/collared pieces as well.

There are tools I'm starting to look at to help me head in this direction; swage blocks, simple spring tools, adjustable swing-arm tools, bottom/top tools (hardy/handled), guillotine tools, and on and on.

So here is my quandary... Which version of tools should I focus on making or buying? If I'm going to eventually end up with a certain tool system because it's just the best tool for the job, I'd rather start heading there now instead of accumulating a bunch of tools that will eventually just sit unused in the corner of the shop.

I know it's a rather vague question, but I'm looking for advise on what tools you may have started with and eventually abandoned for your "I should have gotten this right from the beginning" tools.

Oh, and as promised, a couple of shots of the brazier I made last month...

Thanks everyone for giving me some perspective on these tongs. Maybe some day I'll have need for some tongs this big.

Howdy folks,

I found these big tongs at an antique shop this week. They are roughly 26-28" long and the jaws are about 3/4" to 1" apart when they are parallel. I'm guessing due to their size these would have been used in an industrial forging situation? They were asking $55 for them, and since I'm still working on getting tools together I have to admit that I thought about it, but ultimately did not buy them. 

Anyone care to share any thoughts on these big tongs? Are these just "kind of large but nothing special" in the grand scheme of things? (Noobie trying to learn here.) Thanks.

Thanks for all the info and suggestions folks. I really appreciate it.

Now we just have to mount the anvil on a stand, build a forge, make some tools, find a place to put all this stuff, and find the time to start working on things! 

See you 'round the forum.

Don't hate me, but the guy asked for $100 so I took it at his asking price.

We've got one stump on standby, a cut-off from a new telephone pole, but it may be a little too small for the whole footprint of the anvil. We were expecting to start off with a smaller ASO which would be just about right for the stump.

There's also a tree in the neighborhood that came down recently due to Hurricane Harvey, we may be able to get a bigger stump from that. If all that fails we will look at welding up a steel stand for it. 

Well, the offer came via my friend and I went ahead and bought it... well, more like I stole it. 

By the way, how can you tell it's 141 pounds?  Is the "1 1 1" some kind of weight code?

Howdy folks, absolute noobie here. 

The short version...

Just getting into blacksmithing and don't know hardly anything.   A friend is moving into a new workshop and the owner is moving out (mostly). He's got an anvil that he supposedly wants to sell but I don't know how much this anvil may be worth. I was able to visit the shop and get some pictures which I will post below. In my estimation it's about 100 lbs. and noticed all the edges are pretty chipped/rounded over. I hit it with a chunk of steel and it had a good ring to it, no dull thud or funky vibrations that I could tell.

 Any information you can provide as to it's general condition and value would be greatly appreciated. I have a feeling this guy is going to want to sell it real soon so I'd like to know if it's something I should pounce on or let it go.

Thanks!

Howdy folks,

Complete noob here. My buddy and I took a one-day blacksmithing class a few weeks ago and made our first little project, a three-hook coat rack thingy.  Looking to learn more about blacksmithing and metalworking in general, mostly as a side hobby right now with potential to be my "retirement job" in twenty years or so. (Ha!)  Making this quick introduction here first and then heading over to post up in the Anvil section. 

Thanks.