Adam Wa

Just got this beauty from a guy on craigslist. he had it sitting in the garage for years and never even touched it. I opened it and it seems to move smoothly. Got it $235, not bad since another guy I talked to had several and wanted $1500 for a 200lb vise. This one is probably about 50lbs. But glad I was able to snatch it up when I saw it. I found a Northwest Blacksmith Association group in Longview, WA. About a 45 min drive for me. They are having a intro class for making throwing daggers this Saturday. $125 for the class. I emailed them asking if I could get into the class but have not heard anything back yet. Here is hoping I can get in to get some real time in a forge and some experience.

Well plans are still on hold till I can get more funds for now. i sunk my chinch of change into this. If i wanted to go trailer forge, I need a better vehicle like you said in your earlier post. especially since this anvil is heavier than I was expecting to find. i am hoping it is possible to do a forge in a storage unit. but I need to look into it more. would be easier to make one move to a storage unit instead of the much more expensive option of trailer and better vehicle. But to set up I still need to. 1. build a forge 2 get a pair of tongs get some sort of equipment needed, sander, drill press ect. If I can work out of a storage unit great. I could put the forge itself outside the unit when working so it would not be inside the building. It will be propane. A storage unit will be a bit further away from people's houses so hopefully the noise will be a lot less. with the chain wrapped around the anvil it killed the ring entirely. but still going to need to build a stand for the anvil. and I read silicone does the same thing for silencing an anvil. Despite everything. I need to wait a bit and pay myself back a bit before I can sink more cash into equipment.

Well I am back. still no trailer. and after doing more research i would like to get a truck so I wont have towing problems at all down the road. But I just found a awesome anvil and had to have it. guy said he had several people willing to drive from Montana and California to get it. It cost me $3200 (yikes) which was literally all my savings. and now I will definitely need a truck to tow it around. It is a 649lb northern German anvil. I know I could have gotten a lighter anvil. but I could not pass up this beast. might have to get a lighter anvil to work with in short term. moving this thing around was a pain. got a moving truck and my handcart could not move it. it was rated for 800lbs. then i tried to move it down the ramp inch my inch. got to the ramp and saw that the weight limit was 500lbs. so now I had no to way to get it out of the truck. I had to go to harbor freight and get a 2 ton engine hoist and some heavy chain. finally got it out of the truck. any trailer I build will need to be heavy duty. But I am pretty happy to have this anvil. The seller even gave me a hammer to help get me started for free. Now I just need: 1. A new to me truck that can tow heavy stuff. 2. a trailer than can handle a heavy load and I can stand up in. seller had a huge welding trailer he made and I could stand in it and have plenty of room to swing a hammer far overhead if needed. was inspiring. 3. get a tank for my welder gas, and all the tools, needed to start actually forging. It is a long road ahead. but i am not going to stop. little by little I will get what I need. I was just excited about my find and wanted to share and let you guys know I am still in it. Adam

Yea I looked at the first bit, definitely gonna give it a good go through.

Hey guys, thanks for all the replies! As for a easier name, my real name is Adam. just used a name I use automatically whenever I create a forum account. Can't seem to change it now though? I was afraid that you would all say what I feared...and you did lol. I always knew setting a forge up in the garage was a long shot once I heard how thin the insulation was once I moved in, but I was hoping for a miracle anyway. I did look around my area for local smiths and "makers spaces" unfortunately the only makers spaces are for sewing. The smiths offer knife making classes, but they are charging a hefty price. not that I would not pay for a class, but money is tight right now and I need it to possibly get things going first. Since money is tight I cant really afford to rent out a space for a shop either, since I dont have any tools to really put in it right now. That leaves me with the trailer forge! I must admit the more I think about it, the more fun it sounds. Now onto the road blocks: 1. I dont have a truck, I have a 2004 Toyota corolla that has been totaled, fixed, then rear-ended again. my trunk is being held down by a ratchet strap from the inside because it randomly stopped latching last week. so I have to figure out how to get that fixed. The good news here is that a corolla can tow 1500lbs, more than other cars apparently. and 2866lbs if the trailer has breaks. These were just quick google checks but seems to be legit. So I would need to get a tow hitch and a trailer, doable. 2. Covered trailers are crazy expensive. A lot that I am finding are going for 4-5k. I have found some basic trailers for around $750 and $800. [commercial link removed] Like the size of this better, would fit in a garage, but not to narrow. [commercial link removed] much more expensive, but heavier duty. The plan would be to get a welder and make my transform these into my own enclosed trailer. Or just order a axle and get the steel myself and weld the whole thing together from scratch. might be more expensive. but would be a really fun project and learning experience. I already looked and there is a local steel place you can get stock from. A friend of mine is a welder by profession so maybe he can teach me a thing or two. Added bonus of building it yourself is you get to design from the ground up. [commercial link removed] Well I had more points I wanted to make. but I have been taking 5 hours writing this post. looking at potential trailers, building my own, welders etc. Projects take on a life of their own dont they? its 1:30am and I needed to be to sleep at 10pm lol so I will call this post done for now. Thanks again for all the replies and help so far, this forum is a gold mine of experience and people. So glad I found it! Adam

Hello, was really wanting to get into the hobby, been looking at anvils and forges and everything else. but before I purchase anything I am worried about my space to forge in. I rented this apartment especially becasue it had a garage. that was my only real reason for getting a garage. the space will work, but the insulation is next to none. my neighbors bedroom is directly above my garage. And the insulation in the whole complex is so terrible I can hear him clear his throat like we are in the same room. my other neighbor's are always in their kitchen and I hear everything. So I can only imagine what an anvil and grinder etc.. are going to sound like. they have rules against using your garage for anything but storing your car. but out of about 30 garages I have only seen 2 people store their vehicle in them. everyone else has a office or storage or a couch in theirs. so the main thing they care about is dont make noise that will disrupt your neighbor's. So I have to go to considerable lengths to make it as silent as I can. I have read the threads that talk about how to silence the anvil itself. But even then hitting a hammer on it will still cause considerable noise. My idea was to build a room inside the garage. get some 2x6 and frame a room and put 6 inches of insulation in the walls and ceiling and drywall it. I say that like it would be easy, but I have never done anything like that. so I would have to learn how to do that as well. But I am paying through the nose so I could have this garage and start forging. dont want to pay through the nose for nothing. Do you guys think that would work? Or any other suggestions on how I could make it work? The space I have marked out to build in is about 10x9 with a 8.5 feet till the ceiling. only 10x9 because the garage door opener get in the way after that. Thanks for the read and any help you can suggest.