Cedar Crest Forge

I would take off all that silly bolting work. Things like that can caue unexpected safety problems. The horn could probably be reforged or milled so that it clamps nicely in a post vise. 275 sounds well overpriced, but this market has gone crazy lately.

1095 is a common alloy, with very clear steps for the hardening and tempering process. I agree with everyone, there is no reason to reinvent the wheel. It's not like this new backyard process will produce a more consistent blade. Collectors like consistency, ie known properties. If they buy a 1095 knife, they expect 1095 performance..exactly as they have read about it.

Why do spiders like anvils so much? Do they like the idea of living in a armoured bunker?

5 hours ago, JHCC said:

Other than Mousehole (The Undisputed King of Anvils)

Mousehole (The Undisputed King of Mousehole)

There, fixed it for you.

Thanks. Hot , yes, but not designed for forge welding.  The forge opening is about 1.4 inches wide and about 2 1/4 inches tall, just enough for a rr spike to fit in and out nicely. It is a beginner forge, good for demos. I have 2 other larger gas forges , but they need repair and or redesign. I am hoping to learn some repair techniques on this site.

I dont think going heavier on plate or plywood will work well for your vise, it will still bend when you least expect it to. It is just a design flaw in step-on style vice stands,  from what I have read. The bend will be between where you standing, and the vise. Maybe 2 2x6s underneath will work, I dont know. I would wait for the experts to come back online. I wouldn't reweld, your weld looks great and you would not gain much.

35 minutes ago, Pr3ssure said:

anyone have some good suggestions?

I'm not the expert but I will throw a few things out at this late hour, to try to help. If you bolt it to the floor, it looses the portability inherent in the design. Without portability, you could just bolt the vise to a heavy shop table instead, and be done with it. I dont think half inch wood will work, it will still bend. Maybe a welded frame of heavy square tubing instead? Or cut up an old dolly and weld it on as the frame, if you have one laying around the yard like I do.

It looks like a hard design to get perfect. 

I haven't posted on this thread before, but I will give it a go:

Tonight I unboxed a new mini-forge from Gene Henrikson, and gave it a test run. It is also known as the 'one brick forge'.

I requested a slight modification, to have tool rests on both sides. So far, it is working great! I have been experimenting with rr spikes lately, marked HC. Rr spikes seem to be a good medium for trying out various twists. I am by no means the expert.

Anvil Collector Fred Moore stopped by as well, and we talked Anvils for a while. It was a good evening.

I need to finish off the blade shape, and bevel the edges. I think I will just make it a drop point hunter style blade.

7 hours ago, Dave Budd said:

i must be in the minority. I've had the vice pinch a few times, but not since I was a kid! ). 

I was thinking the same. And I learned as a kid too..the hard way! On the palm..a few times! But this is a great thread for those that teach blacksmithing, to remind their students of the danger. 

I also learned as a kid not to hold a piece of metal as I was drilling it with the drill press. It took half my glove off as it spun loose and came back around. Good thing I was wearing the glove...

Gazz, thanks for writing all that. Amazing to read; you really brought the legend of the Paley twisting machine to life.

I read on the Paley website that he is going to downsize. I wonder if that means some of this equipment will go up for sale.

I think I read once that Albert Paley, from Rochester,  used an elevator motor for hot twisting. It makes sense since it already has the reduction gearing. A lathe sounds easier to find, but were they really designed to withstand that much force? (144000)

2 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

But we did it very hot indeed and had a custom built twisting wrench with 6' crossbar on it and two fairly stout blacksmiths pushing in a 6+" postvise extremely well mounted such that we could walk around it. 

Sounds like a great shop day! Is there a video?

Kind of looks like the heel already fell off,  and someone glued it back on. 250$ would be a good deposit on a new anvil, instead of this one. 

IMHO, This is an anvil zombie; you don't know what pieces will fall off next. If this was to be your main anvil, walk away, and let it be someone else's problem.

Holland anvil has a warranty, as I recall. For the same price, would you rather buy a brand new car, or meet someone in a parking lot to buy a used car? You can't call up Fisher if the horn falls off.  Not that it would...

According to Josh Greenwood, a sway in an anvil has many uses. Adding bevels on blades, for example. However, you can do that on a new anvil as well, just tilt the blade. The PR looks like it has a lot of sway, it may be harder to resell if you upgrade later on. I personally would not buy it for bladesmithing, because of the sway. I can find better, for the money,

Bladesmiths do use the horns, depending on the blade style, and tang shape.

3 hours ago, Jbradshaw said:

Regarding my logic. 

I fail to see your logic. You try to take company time from a manufacturer to answer questions about your out-of-scope modification of their outdated, decommissioned machine. Then you go online and berate some amazing admins because no one answered you on time.

If I worked for Bader, I would not answer you either. It is a liability to give any information that is outside of the specifications and original design of the machine.

I should buy a B3. My  old Bader has been running great all these years, a fantastic machine, but it is getting old.  I think I deserve an upgrade.

Ethics aside for a minute, a listed, underpriced anvil is rare these days. What makes you think it is truly underpriced?

If there are manufacturers markings, it would be on the long side in the center, not under the horn or heel. Add a few more closeup pictures? It looks like an old mousehole I once had, but better shape. Mine lost part of the faceplate.

The feet design, with the sharp edges, looks antebellum, as mentioned. Are all 4 feet intact?

As for price , he is your friend. Give him a 6 pack of beer, and tell him you owe him one.

So many factors to consider with coal vs gas.

Safety: Do you have an adequate vent system to keep the coal dust out of your lungs? Is the gas forge made with adequate materials to prevent airborne particles?

Purity: Do you want to add carbon to your steel? Are you forging stainless steel? 

coal smell..yes, wonderful! But it also announces your presence to the neighbors. Great for craft fairs, every visiting blacksmith will know you are on site.

Cool. Looks like something a gun smith would come up with.

"..for rust prevention since I've been leaving it outside"

I had this problem with an outdoor anvil,  an antique like yours. The pitting was bothersome, and oil only seemed to slow down the pitting process. I eventually just replaced it with a large train track anvil, and now I don't worry about what happens outside. The good anvils stay inside now.

p.s. You may enjoy watching Alec Steele, episode 26, where he teaches how to make a striking anvil out of mild steel. He uses 60mm though, not 40.

Interesting. I am assuming your anvil will be solid, rather than a plate with supports underneath. So you will weld the plates together, making a solid block, correct? If you weld 1inch spring steel over that, you will be close to the design of the wrought iron anvils with steel face. A sawmakers anvil shape, perhaps? Not bad. How thick would be your "hardfacing with weld" be, in comparison to the 1inch spring plate? Would it be thick enough to resist the force of a sledge trying to dent the soft metal underneath? p.s. You want a smooth surface..I would think that finishing the 1 inch spring plate would be easier than welding and then trying to polish a perfectly flat surface from scratch.

Cool. Re-heat treat the old one then, if they let you keep it. There are some videos on youtube on how to do it. It doesnt look that difficult: A deep fire, a hoist , and some patience.

Ah yes, I remember what that is. I used one in Kindergarten to get those square blocks to fit into the round holes.

Good luck with the sale!

"156kg" 

Does the stamped weight match the actual weight? This would indicate "modifications" that may be making your anvil harder to identify. If you found another 156kg soderfors (in a collection?), you could match dimensions , to help determine if it was cast from the same mold (factory). I know where "a few" are, but am not going there for a while.

So, to revise:

It may be a French cast steel anvil from a little known manufacturer. Or maybe Soderfors trying to sell an anvil into the french market, laughing and saying "we we" as they grind off the edges of the feet and shelf to make it more French looking. 

Interesting. The L in yours doesnt match the style of Hulot Harmel L's either.

I searched the internet for similar feet, but I couldn't find anything with clipped feet like that. Not a single example. They are all squared up on the corners.

Good luck!