ADHD-forge

The fixture on the side is a magnet to keep the ringing to a minimum :) just somthing i picked up along the way

i'm wondering what i would do with my anvil since it has a large cup in it( about 1cm or 3/8" deep). its from 1866 but that's all that i know about it but i don't want to wreck it by doing something stupid since its a piece off history in my opinion. i read on the forum you should spend about 2000 h on it to see how it preforms but i cant find any straight spot on it. so i'm wandering if i should just get a second straight anvil or thick slab to put along side it and use that for straightening or weld up the cupped part?

i started to make a heat treat oven yesterday with left over fire brick from my gas forge i got the rough part done now it need the heater element and i can finish it and start using it to make stuff

i made these 8 openers over the last 2 weeks and i was reasonable pleased, what i found the most frustrating is when i was punshing the holes and drifting them the rag would curl up on itself and embed itself in the material ( i probably should hot rasp it before i enlarge the hole) and after drifting the hole when i wanted to enlarge the holes over the horn of the anvil i noticed the the material would try twist over itself which is a pain in the a"". probably do to lack of proper technique, butt where learning. it was fun and frustrating

at the moment i made a pair off crappy tongs and a Christmas gift project for the family , candle holders for my mother and sisters in law and a bottle opener for the boys. its all still a bit rough on the edges but i'm pretty satisfied how the came out. it ain't perfect but where learning

this is my little hiding place

hi i'm michael and i'm a beginning blacksmith from antwerp belgium. i got in to forging after taking a class with a couple of friends about a year ago. i have always been interested in forging from a joung age and it isn't far from my profession, i'm a fitter/welder/mechanic and we fix all types of ship to shore and bulk cranes in all the ports in belgium. i have a small blacksmith shop/workshop set up in my garage with a selfmade forge and a 500 pound anvil from 1866 and a 200 pound vis from circa 1900 which i found at a farm.