Steven511

The edges are all squared, if that's what you are asking TomIre.

A 68lb (weighed on a home scale), London-pattern anvil, 1inch hardie hole with a relatively large horn. Made presumably in 2018/2019 (bought 2019), made also presumably of ductile cast iron. 95% rebound on the face over the body, 85% on the heel, 80% on the clip, 50-60% on the horn Bought from Centaur Forge online. Personally, this anvil is great. I've heard that NC is the runt of the litter in new anvil brands, so to speak. Being made of ductile cast iron and sold pretty cheap, they get an underwhelming reputation. However, this anvil seems to pass all the checkmarks and, if not for prior knowledge, I would have called my little anvil a cast steel one of very high quality. A ball bearing drop produced great results, as did the file test. The hardened face and clip of the anvil skate my Nicholson file even better than my hammer, though the horn is as soft or softer than mild steel. I've had limited time with my anvil, but it seems to be well made, holds no dents, and works just fine as a portable anvil Overall, I would recommend this anvil/anvil brand to anyone not doing heavy work. The primary 70-80lb anvils NC-Tool sells just aren't cut out for heavy forging, being too light. However, someone looking to do work like knives, hooks, or even just small hammers would do well with this anvil. The knifemaker anvil in particular is good for most smiths, because it lacks the turning cams and general-use hole in it's heel, which get in the way in most non-farrier forging. Overall, the brand's only downside to me is the farrier-centered design in most of it's anvils. However, buying the more general-smith style one (as I did) makes a fine tool, and if you can get past the farrier add-ons of the other anvils in their repertoire, NC provides the best bang for your buck out of all the new anvil brands and, with rising prices, even many craigslist anvils.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll take a notebook, ask them some broad questions, and if things are going well I'll ask if they are ok with me checking out their shop. Thanks Glenn for the links, I've got a class for Friends of the Fort already, and I've joined NV Blacksmiths.

Of course Glenn. I forgot to mention these questions would be asked personally after class. I wouldn't dream of disrupting what might be a sparking moment for a soon-to-be blacksmith!

At my school, a guest blacksmith artist will come into to the class to talk about making/selling his art. This is the first time I'll ever get to (in person) ask detailed questions to someone who's done this for a long time, and likely the only time for a while. I know I can ask many questions on this forum, but I was wondering if anyone had any area/blacksmith specific questions that I would want to ask him? Thanks!

An inventive design to use it as a handle. Great job for your first leaf! Along with some nice woodworking, I'm sure your wife will be quite happy with her present!

A bit of a fumble on my part, SLAG . I tried editing the post, but my upload speed is quite slow. It'll be fixed soon.

When I was walking past the train tracks the other day, I found this laying on the ground. I thought it was kinda cool, so I picked it up. (This was ~20 feet from the tracks, I don’t think it’s important) I was just wondering why the workers might have taken this sliver of rail off? Whatever the reason, it definitely makes a cool trinket, and it’ll be on my workshop wall quite soon.

I was walking along the train tracks (I know, I shouldn’t, but I was) and came across these strange specimens. What could they be from? I assume heavy railway equipment, but they are so rusted I have no clue. The amount of rust on them makes them look I n c r e d I b l y old. I found a 100 year old hammer left untouched in my backyard, and it had less rust than this. The pattern of the rust reminds me of wrought iron. Is this wrought or is it just because of how long it’s been rusting? Overall: What was this used for, how old is it, and what is it made of? Thanks!

Sorry for the slow reply, busy school work kept me away from the computer for a while. Due to procrastination, the earliest class I could get was on Dec 8. Which are you going to?

Nice to have you join, Theophilus. I'm taking a class too(I assume you are talking about the Old Mormon Fort classes?) maybe we'll see each other there! In the mean time, to quiet noise I would recommend securing whatever you will use as your anvil tightly, and bedding it in a thick layer of sand. Those precautions took my hammering noise down from literally busting my eardrums every hit to being only slightly louder than a bouncy house blower. Good luck!

What a collection! Sincerest apologies about your injury, I think I speak for everyone on this forum when I say that it is a shame that an individual as admirable as your self had to be so unlucky. As to my specific interests, they are focused mainly on the relationship between different cultures and blacksmithing, especially cultural influence on the style of blackmithing tools.

Thanks Thomas! I'll be sure to check out my library very soon for some of those texts. How many of these have you read? Just the list of titles makes my head spin a bit, so I'll be sure to get started right away! Maybe I'll finish by the time I'm 200, if I'm lucky

In many of the questions I've asked and read, venerable smiths have answered questions with facts/statistics that aren't found anywhere else on the internet (at least as far as I've found). My question is how these smiths came to find these oft quoted facts, especially that relating to blacksmithing in the past. Many smiths talk about how blacksmiths would work historically, but I've seen little to no facts online about it. How do they find thee things out? Is it books? Other smiths? Something else? I'm very interested in history, so I'd quite like to know of any sources I could use to learn about blacksmithing in the past. Any help is appreciated, and recommendations especially so. Thanks!

Thanks for the clarification on the markings, Thomas It was good for around here- $150 for it, though at your prices I feel cheated. I'm hoping to get a knife or two out of it before I sell it to someone else refurbished. I'd feel guilty for passing it on so soon if not for how much work I had to put in getting the rust off. The thing was covered in about a quarter inch of crud, it was probably 55lbs when it was first made. Someone really didn't appreciate this thing- that much rust, and the chunks off the sides make me believe someone used and abused this thing for a very long time.