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I don't know if it was mentioned previously as I'm responding via email notification, but you may want to consider a mesh basket for the bottom so you can get anything that may happen to fall in out without having to look for it. Yep, Frosty covered it. Pnut

Redundancy is important.

No, but it's more interesting than no seax at all. Think of it as a plan B just in case you're running out of time or options. Pnut

Can you just make it mono- steel?

Even horrible freight sells ammo cans. I don't know if they're mil spec or not. Pnut

The thousand dollar Vulcan was in the antique section on Craigslist. I don't know most of the fine points of anvil manufacturers, and different names that companies sold products under, but it was marked Vulcan and had the arm and Hammer motif. It was advertised as a 100 year old arm and Hammer 200 pound anvil. Pnut

I did not know that. That's counter-intuitive. I would have thought the opposite. Huh, I learn something every time I look at iforgeiron. It's a bit more common here in the states. I think my grandfather's family came from Lincolnshire. Pnut

I just looked at Craigslist posts for my area and there's a 200 pound Vulcan for $1000 dollars and don't try to low-ball him because he knows what these things are selling for. Lol Pnut

My eyes and ears are always on the hunt for anvils "real" or improvised. It will eventually pay off. Pnut

The amount of grinding is what makes me reluctant to start on a "horn". Just grinding a radius on the edge of the cap is a lot more grinding than I thought it would be. The fuller on the web I'm taking slow. I can't help but take it slow as I can only power something under two amps so I bought a 1.8 amp Dremel type grinder. It's slow going for sure but better than a file, trust me. I'm looking at small generators though so I can use an angle grinder on it. Have you tried a grinding disc to rough it to shape and then a flap disc to smooth it out? Pnut One side of my family's name is Kerr.

Any relatively heavy piece of steel with a flat spot a little bigger than the face of your hammer will do. Think about it, the only part of the metal that you can work is directly under the hammer. A large flat face and a horn can make some things easier but the largest benefit of a "real" anvil is the hardy hole but you can make your own hardy hole in a plate or even a log with a hole In it lined up with square tubing will work. Getting back to your question though, no an old anvil, a new anvil I don't think there's much difference. Some say older anvils are a little harder but new anvils have warranties. If you come across a decent used anvil go for it. If not get a new one. When I decide to start saving up for an anvil I'm going to pick out a new one and if I haven't found a used one by the time I have enough for the new one I'll get the new one. If I run across a used one and it's in good enough shape and a fair price before I have enough for the one I picked out I'll gladly buy the used one. I'm a patient person who is good at saving money and I'm not in a hurry to get a "real" anvil as the piece of RR track I have works for me so far. That's my anvil strategy. Make sense? Pnut

At one of the hotels I work at the exhaust ducting in the laundry where I spend most of my time was in need of a good cleaning and I started to notice I would get a headache and feel generally ill whenever I worked at that location. We have since gotten CO detectors for both locations and cleaned the exhaust and I haven't had the problem since. Don't take even low levels of CO lightly as it will cause problems after continued exposure. As frosty said the effects are cumulative. Pnut

I've started to grind a fuller for drawing out on the web of my piece of rail. I don't have another anvil so I thought I could put a larger radius on the web than I would want on the main "face" or cap where the wheel rides. I haven't started trying to make a horn, that's a project for another day. It looks like you're going to have a decent tool for sheet metal work when you get done with it. Pnut

I bust big pieces up with a piece of leaf spring about ten inches long and fist size pieces I put in a cut off 55gal plastic drum and break with a hammer. I've been thinking about putting them in a sack and whacking it but I think this may make a lot of fines and dust. I might try it later today as I have about twenty pounds that needs broken up. Pnut

Yes, 100% the steeper the angle the more effort required and friction to overcome to push it through something. Pnut

Bellows can inhale flammable gasses and detonate also. Pnut

There's a pretty comprehensive PDF regarding sharpening and edge angles. If you look through the topics in this section you'll find it. Pnut

You beat me to it Thomas. With the weather changing I was going to remind people to warm up their anvils and hammers. When I went out the other day it had been down to nine degrees the night before. I thought it best to put a piece of warm steel on the anvil to warm it up while I was getting everything else ready. Pnut

That's what I was wondering. I thought you might have had three inches of coal under the tuyere. I was going to suggest raising the bottom of the firebowl but you have it well in hand. Good job and keep us posted. I cut a notch on the front and back of the box to be able to stick the stock into the center of the fireball. Same result different method. Pnut

They look somewhat similar but the main difference is the Omega character in the logo on top which makes it distinctive enough from the one on the bottom that I wouldn't worry about it. Just my opinion though. Pnut

If it's working for you that's what's important, but doesn't that leave all the coal beneath the tuyere not really contributing to the fireball? Was the reason you raised the tuyere in order to get the fireball level with the top of the table? Pnut

I use the flange or the web to straighten stock with the RR rail. Pnut

Using it will polish up the face. Mount it and get at it. Have you read the jabod threads? You could put one together and be forging in a day or two. No need to wait till the new year. Good luck and remember it's supposed to be fun. Pnut

Seems like you could mitigate a lot of the dangers when replacing the block by mounting it with a short handle like a wood mallet. It would give some stand off distance for your hands in relation to the business end of the hammer, and yes back then children were cheaper than engineers and depending on who was the owner they may also have thought children cheaper to replace than the belts. It was a different time for sure. Pnut A lot will depend on how that particular wrought iron behaves. There's cold short and hot short wi. I didn't know that till recently. I thought you worked it all at near burning temps for mild but nope. Pnut

Yes, I live on the border of three public television markets and watch the Woodwrights shop frequently, I also try to tune in to a program titled A Craftsman's Legacy and a few others. A Craftsman's Legacy has had episodes featuring Lorelei Sims and Kevin Cashen to name two memorable episodes off the top of my head. You never know what you might learn that will prove useful at a later date. I'm quite a fan of PBS. Yes, Peter Ross is an excellent smith who makes it look misleadingly easy. I enjoy watching him work, especially with Roy Underhill commenting and talking with him. It's quite entertaining sometimes. I'm writing this post today as this is the morning both of those TV programs are on one after the other. I'm watching right now. Pnut