phatdaddy

We, as American's, put a lot of emphasis on the type of coal we use. The master smiths from the past used whatever fuel they could get. And look what kind of work they turned out. I use "blacksmith" coal, stove coal, and some boiler coke that is over 100 yrs old. Use what you can readily get at an affordable price.

You can also access the Georgia market bulletin and search the ads online from the GA dept of Ag website. I've seen him advertising different anvils for some time, he must buy them up and resell them. I'd love to check them out but Austell's a good 4 hour drive for me

When your poor, you go with what you got.

I like the foot control if I have a stool to sit on. I use a "dry rig" when tigging stainless and carbon steel. I usually set the machine a little colder when welding intricate pieces.

There is a guy in Austell, Ga just west of Atlanta that usually has anvils for sell. He advertises regularly in the Ga Farmers & Consumers Market bulletin. If you don't get the bulletin, contact the Ga Dept of Agriculture to subscribe. I bought my 1st anvil from him. He had all kinds, brands, & wieghts. He also had an old coal forge and various tools the last time I went up there.

For demo's, we make a hot cut hardie. The hardie hole will be approx 1", the same as my MouseHole. Times are hard right now or I would buy a heavy anvil. I'm using 7018 rods and preheating everything. I'm welding it up like I'm taking a welding test at a nuke plant. The anvil is a long project I've been working on now for several months when on night shift at work. Hopefully to completed after the 1st of the year. Pics will be posted.

I am making an anvil jt for use with my striking team. I am using A-36 3/4" plate welded together for the body and have some forklift forks that I'm going to cut and drift a hardie hole into for the face. Should I use a hard-faceing rod on the face or try it as is. I'm not sure of the alloy in forks but I've heard it's tough. The anvil will be hornless and wiegh in around 300-350 lbs.

Bob's idea is the way I would do it. I was going to post the same thing until I read his.

I mixed some kaolin with some mulcoa dust for a little experiment. It didn't turn out like I wanted. I'll try the playsand next time, thanks for the help. I thought the mulcoa dust would work because I'm told at work that mulcoa is used to make firebrick. Oh well, the white sand and/or porcelin sounds good to me.The worst thing that can happen is it will crack and break loose, I'm getting everything from work (spillage from the conveyor belts) so I'm not out of any money.

I made my firepot to deep and I'm wanting to shallow it up. My question is, what would be better to use, kaolin clay or fireclay ? I can get tons of kaolin for free and would rather use it if it will hold up to the heat. If kaolin will work, will I need to add anything to it?

I have made several firepots using 1/2" A-36 mild steel. I used 7018 rods to weld them up. I've never had a problem with my pot and the folks that got the other one's love them. I used 7018 because they are much smoother and can get x-ray quality welds.