Asa Simons

Thank y’all for the input, and thank you JHCC for the enlightening drawing! Perfect!

Thank you for the insight! I don't mind having a loose brick forge, because I can change around the size/shape. If I were to get a surface coating, I assume I would need to make the forge rigid so as to not break the coating? I think I would prefer surface coating over all new soft bricks, because of how fragile the soft bricks are. Asa

That is what I figured after a little digging. I don’t know how those are supposed to work, do you think you could draw a picture? Thanks!

Totally. The fire pot area is confusing me. Obviously the table has been made by someone else, but there are some original parts. The weird thing bolted in the bottom connects to the ash dump/clinker breaker. I believe this, because there are corresponding holes, and slots for the clinker breaker rod. You can see the tapered cut out for the air tube.

It finally happened! A real estate friend called, and said he was selling a house with a coal forge. We drove down there, and he had a forge, anvil and vise. The man was very nice, and gave it all for free! Any advice on the forge? The original blower it is on there, and the clinker breaker/ash dump too, but there is no fire pot, and in its place is a weird depression. What are y’all‘s thoughts on getting this up and running?

Howdy all, this is the forge set I have been using for a while now. It has served me well, but after reading a few posts in this area, I wondered if it could be upgraded in simple ways. I read somebody saying that hard bricks as a floor suck up more heat than necessary. Is this true? It takes a bit to heat up, but after a bit, I can achieve a strong yellow forging heat. The ribbon burner itself works well, and the forge is currently all loose stacked hard fire bricks. Are there any problems that you see in this design? If so, please let me know. The second picture is when the roof and burner has been removed. Thanks, Asa.

Thank you, guys! I like the tool rack idea!

My birthday was today. I was given some amazing gifts! An Oak Lawn BS mini swage, a set of antique top tools, a hardy swage, horseback riding boots, and an Andrew Larson rounding hammer (not in yet). Very grateful for these gifts!

I would love to get into floral elements. I finished some box jaw tongs. It was a project I did with my friend and my brother. Nothing like a couple teens swinging sledge hammers, I love it! The starting stock was 2 rr spikes. The tongs are a little light for my prefrence. They hold 1in by 1/4. Me and another brother forged some feather and wedges to split some marble he got for a killer deal. I made a half round swage for the feathers, and the wedges are rr spikes thinned down. They worked well. We accidentally broke one of the ears off.

Love that fire poker and those roses! I made a mini hammer for a friend.

I would love to have the forge, and the anvil would be a huge upgrade, and could easily be my main anvil for most of my smithing. The vice, well, it is smaller than my other one, so there is no real need for it.

They don’t specify, but I’d say the anvil looks like a Trenton, and it looks at least 100-150lbs. The vice looks, according to the bricks, 3-4 in. I have no real need for the cart, and I have seen those go for 150-300 dollars. I already have a large vice, so I might re-sell the small one, though the “blacksmith-magpie” part of me might find that hard.

Hey all, I know how to tell if the pieces are good in person, but I was wondering if y’all thought this was a fair price. They want $1,100. The forge looks like it has been brazed. It includes the cart too. Cheers, Asa

Thank you so much Goods! I did try that, but for some reason it didn’t work.

Happy Friday all, I once saw a post about a huge Trenton that had had a dovetail milled into it at the waist, where it had been broken before, does anyone know where to find this post? I have searched long and hard, to no avail! Cheers! Asa

Thank you George, that’s good advice. I plan to always have at least a small shop when I’m older. If it all went my way, I’d have a large shop, and make sure my tools get passed down. You best believe I’ll be rolling in my grave if my future kids send my stuff to the scrap yard! I think if I got a 100-150lber, it would be my life long anvil, excluding the possibility of finding some massive one for a killer deal. I would love to start selling small things at craft fairs and farmers markets. Would a bigger, nicer anvil make my forging cleaner and faster, thus making me more money, I’m not sure! I have never forged on something that my Harbor Freight ASO, or my original steel block. Do you think a larger “more traditional” anvil would improve my efficiency/quality? Cheers!

Howdy all, I know we all complain about anvil prices, but my mind gets muddled after reading so many threads. Quite often I see a 100 to 150 pound anvils on Facebook marketplace near me, for about $400-500. They are usually in good condition. I know how to tell whether or not an anvil is good, but I’d like to know if y’all think that’s okay price for something like a hay budden, or Trenton, or if y’all think thats too expensive. I currently use a little harbor freight anvil, which works fine, but something like the ones I’m seeing would be a life long anvil. My head really does get muddled after reading so many posts, and seeing the FBM listings got me thinking if $400 for a 100lb Hay Budden is too much. Cheers, Asa

Great! Thank you. This is where the forum really shines, when people with years experience can point me in the right direction! Thank Y’all, Asa

Happy Sunday, I was gifted a Pennz Oil 16 gallon can yesterday, and I intend to use it for a quench bucket. The inside condition is fine, just some light surface rust. Should I even bother spray painting the inside, or will it be just fine? It will just be filled with water. Cheers! Asa

Finished a set hammer today, and I can’t help feeling that it looks like a durpy hunk of steel. I was battling the problems of A: Not having the right tongs for the job, B: I did it in the brake rotor forge, so it was weird fire management because the piece was quite large. I think it will do its job fine but if y’all have any recommendations, I’d love to hear. Asa

Hi, I have a piece of car hitch material, and I assume that it is a simple mild steel. Because of this, I cant imagine it being very good for a hammer, so I thought I’d make a set hammer. It already has a hole in it that I’m going to drift. One side of the chunk is longer than the other, and I don’t know which side to make into the struck end. Should I use the long end, so that I have more material to compensate for mushrooming? If I use the longer bit for the face, I will have to grind/cut 3/8in of material because of the marring when it was cut. Thanks for the input! Asa

Here it is!

Larry, I have been debating that myself. It’s half novelty, half something he actually might use, so I’ll probably end up sanding it. Hefty, love that die selection. I still have to get around to making one! Any chance you know what brand you anvil is, its geometry has me intrigued.

Love the ideas guys! We have a great scrap yard near us that is bound to have something like a hot water tank. You bet I’ll have my eye out for usable things!

Do you think it has to get all the way up and over the roof? The wind usually blows against that side of the barn. Do I need real chimney pipe, it’s quite expensive.