new guy

yeah, that kinda does look like a weld bead, mauybe due to the repairs the pw is beter. and thank you for saying thanks. but $3 a pound for a used anvil is pretty steep. maybe a new anvil would be better, but it is your choice not mine. good luck.

id go for the kohlwasha. thats just me, mainly beacause it is cheaper. good luck picking one of them up.

how big is that? great finish however big it is, keep at it.

i heard that a salt shaker welded on a handle will work, but i have only used the hot rod and it works.

i (tried) using boric acid. it bubbles very little (based on hearsay it is my only flux so i have no comparison). but hey it works and it de scales everything.

touche. as i said thoug i do not weld. he does, and there is a thread on here that shows a leaf spring being put on an aso.

edit to my earlier post( actually two ago): the second person who i heard this from (not on this froum but face to face) is a legitamate black smith who has been at it for longer than i hvae been alive. i think it may not have been 7018 rod but i am not sure.

there is someone who has done this on the forum and i will see if i can find a link. also i know a guy who did it to a cheap grizzly. i will ask him. i know he said to stress releve before and after welding it on. i know nothing about welding but he probably used oxy/acetaline with some 7018 rods (i think). i am just passing on what i heard. don't do this without proper reasearch, i would feel stupid if someone got hurt beacasue i was wrong.

this thread should be kept alive and maybe made into a stick. there could be a lot of useful stuff added here! happy hamerin

i am sure that my fuel is fine for welding, but the smith and forge is not:( i just cannot get a good enough air blast in my sewer pipe. oh well wood burns and it works. pine is way better (i have used that too). happy hamering to all

have fun with your anvil search. if it is a better brand pick it up. if it isn't the vulcan will do. or i can take it off your hands :0

that there is a very nice anvil. better shape than most and i hear they are very rare. have fun using or looking at her.

i hear axles make good hammers too and you may be able to get some snapped sections of leaf springs. those are good to weld on top of a cheap anvil or make tools that need to be sharp. good luck finding an anvil.

i use wood (pine oak, any wood) and i burn about 10 or 15 lbs and hour. not the best fire but considering it is wood, that is not a problem. i am at the forge evvvery other day so i get about 500lbs to last two or 3 weeks. it is free from the family wood pile so that helps with my costs.

well just to throw this out there for smiths in the danbury area, i may be voulenteering at the danbury railway mueseam and they have one of the few surviving rr smithy in ct. they have a few really good smiths there (not me other people). they do some demos on holidays and such or when stuff needs repairing. and working with 3 smiths is way better than a lesson. 1. its free (good in a down economy) 2. instead of 1 person helping 12 people you have 3 people helping one. 3. it is way more fun to get to come back and have a continued work and devolopment of skills over a year or 3

cyo tie plates ring like the devil!! i had one as an anvil for about 15minutes and i am convinced i could wake the dead with it. i went back to a mild steel plate. however they are flat and tough so they do work. nail it to a stump at a height you like. i used old rr spikes. it will work but wear earplugs and those ear muff dohickeys that go over your ears. well happey hammerin and good luck.

so why do you do all this testing? is there some smithing magazine that pays you to review anvils? if there is sign me up! ;)

what kind of anvil is the other one? it may be a better anvil so try to get that one if it is a trenton fisher norris hay budden or peter right. good luck on you anvil quest

even a rr track or steel lump will work. just beacause it does not look like an anvil does not mean it cannot be used as one. good luck

it seems if it burns you can use it to forge. anyone used birch? now that might burn a little hot, with the bark you know.

oh yeah i did not know that thanks dragon lair. as i stated before i am a noob. oh well, worse things can happen.

touche, but i was making a joke about locally made assorted things like wall hooks and door handles, not blowers. but i am a fan of an old hair dryer or even a pair of bellows. but a hand crank blowers like those will probably work. well good luck with your smithing and so forth to all.

hey yeah i just noticed that too! but i am a young person so i guess im used to the good quallity pics.

um. thanks unkle spike (i think). well yeah it is most probably a reapair. good luck with your anvil.

those blowers look cheaply made. i would avoid them but they probably will work. also arent we all for locally made products, bein blacksmiths and all? well just my two cents worth