Stickman81

Thanks everyone for the kind words. Yes - my few clamps are stored on the cabinet doors. I am soooo out of room in my garage, even though it is large for a two car garage. I try to put things back when I'm done with them but sometimes fail miserably. lol. I did get my roll of flux core wire from Home Depot. I think it's the Lincoln brand. Now I can hardly wait to try gas with the welder in hopes of making a better looking weld. Yes, lol, I do store my helmet in the box. Sort of in hopes of keeping it looking good and not scratching up the lens. I have a few more things to weld on the propane forge and am like a kid waiting to get home from school to play with my new toys, lol. Frosty - I love the re-purpose you did with your cart and toolbox! Thank you!

Greetings! I'm relatively new to IFI and learning about building a forge from a propane tank. As welding will be involved I thought it would be neat to have a welding cart for my welder that I recently upgraded to. I had a HF MIG welder and upgraded to a Hobart 140 Handler. I like the machine, the longer leads for the ground cable and gun and, that I can add a gas mix to the machine down the road. I'm very new to welding and still struggle with making a good looking weld. I seem to have good penetration and everything seems to be "stuck" together well. I looked at a variety of welding carts. The smaller ones were nice and the price was not too bad but, they didn't have the storage that I would have liked. The larger ones with the available storage were just too big for my purposes and where it can be stored in the garage when not in use, so I can still get my truck in the garage. On one of my excursions to Goodwill, I found an inversion chair (I think that's what it's called) for about $20. I picked it up for the metal. On another trip I found a smaller three-drawer Craftsman tool box for about $20 (after senior discount - lol). I recently finished putting it together. I want to build a folding table to weld on that will be mounted on the back of the box. I need to make a couple of hangers for the leads. There is enough storage for me right now. I'm able to put my welding helmet, gas gauges and small metal cut-off saw in the bottom and a few tools and tips in the other drawers. I have about $110 or so into the cart with the metal from the chair, the toolbox, 5" wheels from HF and a diamond plate for the floor where the bottle(s) would sit. My welds aren't great but, some were decent, hahaha. I had a lot of fun building the cart and feel pretty proud of the accomplishment. Stay safe and healthy! Jim

Greetings! Congratulations on your accomplishment! I am basically right there with you. I've stuck a few things together (anvil stand and recently the welding cart) and while the welds don't look too good, it seems to be holding up just fine. And, the projects were a lot of fun! Keep at it with a project of some kind. Best regards!

It was a private purchase from an individual who bought it a short time ago and never used it. He had just sold a brand new, never used forge. I think it was a diamondback, two burner.

This Central Forge anvil seems to be older. I'm not sure but believe it to be steel? I found it by word of mouth as it had not been advertised yet. I don't believe they are making them again but I have not researched that deep in to the anvil.

Interesting and definitely something to consider. Thank you for the link! Thank you!

Thank you for the welcome and the tips! I do have some silicon caulk I can put under the anvil and will do that on my next days off. I finished up the stand today. I'm no welder but, everything seems to be sticking together pretty good and, it was fun. I cut out some bar stock to fit the base of the anvil and welded a shorter bar stock to it and drilled some holes. I think these should hold the anvil in place pretty well. I had some chain that I wrapped around the anvil as well. Now, to figure out how to heat up some metal!

Greetings! New guy here - just joined a few minutes ago and wanted to show off a little bit, lol. I have no experience with blacksmithing but have taken my first steps into this daunting journey. I got what some would call an Anvil Shaped Object (ASO). It's a "Central Forge", 110 LB anvil. It was purchased on the cheap and will likely serve my needs well for years to come. I built a stand for it this afternoon. While I am not a welder, I think it turned out pretty good! I bought a 72" square tube from Home Depot as well as some flat stock. They had a piece of pressure treated pine in the cull pile which was marked down 70%. I used an old Harbor Freight motorcycle chock for the base. I like to re-purpose things and this, IMO, worked out great! I did have to cut down the length of the chock frame and, used part of the cutoff to make the forth side of the base. I cut my legs at about 10 degrees or so and welded them on the frame. I then filled the legs with some play sand and welded on some feet. I cut down a 2x10, set inside the framework of the base and, secured it with a couple of lag bolts. I used my propane torch to give the wood that burned looking finish. I will clean it up and paint the frame tomorrow and, figure out how to keep the anvil from sliding around. I have a few ideas and just need to see if they're doable. ..

Greetings from just south of the ATL! Just signed up to be able to say hello and start to read and ask questions! I am interested in taking my first steps to learning about blacksmithing. I recently bought an ASO. It's a "Central Forge", 110 LB anvil. I feel that I got lucky and snagged it pretty inexpensively. I was pleased to read some positive things about them and knew they had some inherent problems. This afternoon I was able to get an anvil stand built and touch up the anvil on the horn and the top plate to remove some of the tooling marks. It looks a lot better than it did. Now, to decide on purchasing or building my first forge. There is so much information to read its getting a bit overwhelming. I look forward to what the next few months bring with learning something new! Thanks!