Chelonian

I checked with a local stone and gravel company, and they didn't seem to have any crushed limestone, so it may not be mined here.

Thomas, I'm not really sure exactly what the fines are. I assumed they were just fine sand or something, but it is possible that it's partially manure, since there are goats and chickens on the other side of the barn. I doubt there is ever enough dust in the air to become a combustion hazard though. I'll see if I can find any information about a county extension agent.

Arftist, the barn is somewhat well sealed when the doors are closed, because three of the four walls are stacked rock walls with dirt behind them (this is kind of the basement of the barn), but it's still not a perfect seal, and the large doors are open during the day.

Glenn, that may help somewhat, so I will try it, but I think most of the dust comes from the ground, which I can't really vacuum.

Thanks for the ideas!

About a month ago I moved my forging setup into a barn, which has been a huge improvement over what I had previously been doing. The biggest drawback for me currently is airborne dust. The floor consists of a mixture of sand, dirt, and fine particulate matter (this is what causes the dust). Just walking back and forth from the forge to the anvil kicks up significant amounts of dust.

What would be a good way to reduce the dust as much as possible? I'd really rather avoid having to wear a dust mask while I'm forging, if at all possible. I considered wetting down the floor a bit, but I'm worried the increase in moisture might not be good for the old beams that the barn is made of. Perhaps I could make some type of wet-filter setup? Currently I'm thinking about something along the lines of a box fan (I already have an old nasty one that would be a great candidate for this) blowing air at a wet rag, capturing the dust in the rag. Or would simply having the fan circulating air out of the barn be more effective?

Anyways, I'd love to hear any ideas you may have. Thanks!

If you're wondering about the 58lb difference of mass beneath the hammer, I don't think there would be too much of a difference using a 2.5lb hammer, assuming you aren't doing a lot of heavy work. A local smith I know does all his work on a 70lb Fisher, and he makes a LOT of really nice stuff.

I've had a truncated (heel broken off, stamped weight of 213Lbs) 185# Wilkinson anvil for about 5 months now, and it's a great anvil. For reference purposes, the face plate is 1/2 thick, and I don't think it's ever been milled or aggressively ground, since it still has the crowned face from the factory. I paid 125 USD for it ($0.66 per weighed pound). The largest ball bearing I have is 7/16", and that yielded a rebound of about 80%.

Hopefully some of that information is useful. Good luck!

If you're ever confused which is positive and which is negative (anode and cathode that is), just remember the word "PANIC" as an acronym. It stands for "Positive Anode, Negative In Cathode." I never used to be able to keep the two terms straight until someone showed me that trick, and now I never forget.

That anvil looks to be in very good condition. Have you read about not doing any grinding or milling on the hardened face?

Sure is shaped like a Hay Budden though. It even looks like it has a waist weld.

The way I look at an anvil with damaged edges: as long as there are still a few good spots on the edge to use, it's pretty much just as functional as if the entire edge was perfect. When do you ever need more than about 1.5" of edge at a time, apart from making it look nice?

It's not really possible to tell if the face plate is de-laminating just from looking at it. Does the anvil ring nicely, or is it more of a short buzz? If the latter, then I would be inclined to believe it is de-laminating. Otherwise, there's a good chance it's fine.

The feet do look like that of a Hay Budden to me, but there my also be other anvil brands that look similar.

Using the common rule of thumb to not use a hammer more than 1/40th the weight on the anvil, you would need to use a >1/2lb hammer on that anvil. Don't get hung up on having a "anvil shaped" anvil, or a hard faced anvil. Just find a large chunk of steel.

Great save. Looks a lot like my 3.5" jaw Wilton:

It's a great bench vise, just don't use it like you would a post vise (don't hammer on it). What is the jaw width on yours?

2 hours ago, JHCC said:

And let’s not forget the Mars Climate Orbiter that burned up in the Martian atmosphere because NASA engineers didn’t convert pounds of force to newtons for the software controlling the thrusters. 

Or the Gimli Glider. It was an airliner in 1983 that was accidentally loaded with 22,300 pounds of fuel, instead of the required 22,300 kilograms. It ran out of fuel and had to glide in for an emergency landing.

You are not mistaken. Cadmium is not nice stuff to have in your body.

Welcome to the forum!

Just as a proof of concept, you could go to a flea market or similar, and purchase a large old ball peen hammer head. (you can usually find them just about anywhere for >~$2) You could then forge the ball peen end out into the pick, reshape the hammer end if you wish, and make a handle for it. This would avoid you needing to punch the eye of the hammer yourself.

If you do decide to do this, I would go for a fairly soft temper. There's no way to know exactly what kind of steel the hammer head is, and you don't want it to chip and send shrapnel at you.

140lbs is a great weight for general forging.

If you're itching to get started forging, you could always go look around at a scrapyard to see if there is a large chunk of steel to use as an anvil until you get this one. It will let you practice your hammer control, and even after you get the real anvil, you will always find uses for a big block of steel that you don't have to be too careful with. Just an idea.

Weight code stamp looks like {1 , 1 , 0} to me. (though the 0 could easily be a 6 or an 8) If it is a 0, the anvil would be 140lbs.

Could you post a photo of the anvil? It might help people give you more relevant advice.

Randell Warren:

Joey van der Steeg has a great guide on youtube about restoring one if you are interested. I restored a few months ago, and found it very enjoyable and rewarding. It wasn't very difficult, just use the right tools and take your time.

The shop looks good, but your Champion 400 blower looks like it's just screaming to be cleaned up!

Thomas, now that you mention his full name, I do remember reading about his "discopter" (VTOL aircraft) a while ago. I didn't know he was a blacksmith though.

Frosty, thank you for that information. I think I'll just rig up a really simple setup as a proof of concept. If it ends up working really well, I'll make a more permanent version. If not, I will have wasted very little time.

David Thomas, I did used to use charcoal, but I stopped because as you mentioned, it's a bit pricey. I am interested in trying the corn though, I'll look into it. Thanks!

2 hours ago, Glenn said:

Simple solution is do not inhale. (grin)

 

But then how do I blow the scale off my anvil?

Thomas, I hadn't ever heard of him, but a similar idea did cross my mind. After thinking about it for awhile though, I decided it wouldn't be a good idea, since the air carrying the smoke particles had already been through the fire, and would have a lower oxygen content than normal air. After a few cycles, it seems like there wouldn't be much oxygen left in the system. Perhaps Weygers' design had a way of avoiding this, or maybe it just wouldn't be a problem at all.

Thanks!

The chimney is 8" in diameter, and about 5.5' tall. It outputs the smoke at a height of about 8.5' above ground level. As I mentioned, the problem isn't usually that the chimney doesn't move the smoke, I think  it's more that the smoke settles back down again. I would add more height to the chimney, but I think that might make it blow over in the wind. There isn't anything within 10 feet that is above the chimney.

I guess I'm just pretty sensitive to the smoke. A small amount makes my throat scratchy and gives me a headache. Might just a box fan be more effective? Would there be some way to add a filter to it so that it captures the smoke particulates? Seems more far-fetched than the burning it off in the chimney, but I just thought I'd ask anyways.

Maybe I'll just end up going back to anthracite...

I'm aware of that, and I have become decently good at keeping it to a minimum, but there is always still some. Especially on days with high atmospheric pressure and little wind, the smoke can still collect over time. Fire maintenance, while very important, wasn't really the intended topic of this thread...

I've been thinking quite a bit about ways to minimize exposure to coal smoke. Even when my chimney is working well, the smoke sometimes will still linger around in a cloud (the forge is outdoors), resulting in me breathing some in. I'd also rather NOT have a nasty cloud in the backyard, given the choice. Here's my idea, as I imagine it working in a perfect world:

Since my chimney is just a side draft from a tall piece of stovepipe, I could cut out a section and make a small hinged door somewhere in the middle of the chimney, and place a grate inside the pipe. Then, before lighting the coal in the forge, I could start a small wood fire on the grate in the middle of the chimney, and maintain it for the duration that I use the forge. Not only would this help with maintaining a strong draft, it would also burn off all the coal smoke that went up the chimney. Hopefully I explained that well enough to get the main points across.

Now the questions:

• Has anyone tried anything similar to this?
• Would the draft of the chimney make it difficult to keep the small wood fire going?
• How "much" heat does it take to ignite coal smoke? Would just a small electric arc be sufficient? What about a candle? Perhaps some testing is in order.
• Would this be dangerous to try?

I'm really interested to hear peoples thoughts about this. Thanks!