ironstein

I never run across 1 inch plate the size i am looking for. I need a plate roughly 13" by 18". Scrap is so expensive now that people aren't as into giving it away. My plan was to make the plate i need, when i get the anvil, use the plasma to cut the anvil size out of the plate. I have been scavenging around the jobsites, and haven't found anything the size i need. Most of what i have found has been structural pieces which are irregular. I am going to see how my welded plate comes out, if it is warped, i will look into something else.

Thanks for the info Jimmy.

Yeah, i have heard kolswas are great anvils. Cogratulations, did you buy it new?

Hey all, i am looking for suggestions here. I bought some 1/2" plate that i need to weld together to get the size i need, buying a whole sheet was cost prohibitive. I have mig, stick and tig capability, but not for 1/2" plate. My synchrowave 200 can put out the juice with stick leads. I wanted to maybe use my millermatic 180 (good for 5/16, and just run multiple beads. I don't like stick welding much. I got some less than helpful, condescending responses from a welding forum! I know my machines aren't rated for this thickness, just wondering what you have done. I plan on beveling, preheating and welding both sides with multiple passes. It will be used for an anvil stand for a 460 pound foontanini i am buying. Thanks Brian

Thanks Chad. Are the dimensions the same for the 250 and the 460? Yeah the plate, and steel in general is pretty spendy. Thanks for the thought though.

Anybody have the height dimension on the fontanini 460 lb anvil? He has the dimension diagram on his site, but for the life of me i can't read what this one is. I am starting to build a stand and need to know the height so i can get it where i want it. I bought some 1/2" plate today for the anvil to sit on. I had to buy four ten by ten inch plates to weld together. The steel supplier had nothing of the size i wanted, unless i wanted to pay a ton for a four foot by eight foot sheet of 1/2"! Also should i preheat the plate before welding? Anyone have any opinions on welding 1/2" plate for an anvil base?

I bought the last 460 from steve, working out the shipping. He is currently waiting on the foundry to let him know what the price increase will be for the next batch. I can't wait to get it to the shop! Rest assured i will be posting pictures.

I have made a few pairs of rasp spurs. I usually cut the rasp in two even halves. For each half i determine how long the shank and heel bands need to be and cut down the center with my bandsaw stopping where the shank starts. The metal on either side of the cut will be the heel band. I then fold this over and the folded, not cut, end will be the shank. I then weld the shank where the fold meets. Simple as that. This could also be accomplished with an angle grinder with a cut off wheel. Hope this helps. If you don't have a commercial bandsaw, i have seen people use small pipe bandsaws held in a vise to cut metal.

I am ordering the 460 pounder. As soon as my tax money comes in. I am looking forward to a larger anvil and more mass.

Nice looking tools.

Thanks for the info, they came out really nice.

Hey Chad, how's that fontanini holding up? Did you radius any edges yet? I'm thinking of buying the same anvil. Brian

I don't have a picture of the hole immediately after punching. The hole is punched and drifted with the same tool, so the hole winds up being whatever size you like your handle to be entering the tool. The drift i made was out of a jackhammer bit i had. I hardened and tempered the drift after final forging and grinding. I heated the first few inches to a bright orange and quenched in peanut oil while being careful to bump the drift up and down as to not create a "line" of hardness. Then i ran it on a polishing belt real quick and used the leftover heat in the drift to run colors to straw at the tip. It held up well. Yes, spring steel will work well for a punch. Thanks for looking.

Nice old hammer, a straight peen as i recall. The face isn't too bad, a few passes with a flap disc and a polish and she'll be good as new!

Nice work Todd, i really like the twist detail of that bottle opener.

Beautiful work! How did you seat the copper cup to the petals?

Try some kroil if you can find it, that stuff will penetrate and loosen almost anything. http://www.kanolabs.com/google/

Looks like Ruben is getting a bunch of information. Lots of great forging going on!

Ted, well said. Everyones posts about chopper really helped my wife and I a lot. I couldn't have put it better myself, the heartfelt feelings expressed by all in this thread and many others restores my faith in the goodness of people. Like Karen Brazeal always says, the forge attracts the best people!

Josh, alot of times the casing for the fan blades gets stuff in it, or had some sort of stuff in it. i have seen them with wasp nests, mouse nests etc. Could also be the gears. I got my canedy otto blower off ebay, i took it apart to clean it and some of the gears were very well used, after some bushings and adjustments, it works great, but only in one direction, if i rotate it the other way it grinds a bit.

Brian, i had a go at a drift/punch today. I madeit out of jackhammer bit. Then i used it to make a handled hot cutter! I needed the hot cut to cut some thick plate i am using for a sculpture. I made the hot cut out of some of the 4140 you gave me, thanks for that!

I spoke to mr Angele vi email, and he informed me that they currently have no anvils in stock and are trying to figure out a new producer. He told me there are no current american distributors and it is cost prohibitive to sell a single anvil to a u.s. customer at this time. He does not know when they will be available. The first batch sold out and production of the second batch is not squared away at this time. Seems like a super nice guy, he speaks highly of the anvil.

happy belated birthday Sam!

here is a great forum for you guys, there are some awesome bit and spur makers on there, and they are pretty helpful: http://bitsandspurs.freeforums.org/general-discussion-f6.html Check out Larry Fuegens stuff, absolutely amazing!

Hey Alec, check out a thread i started a while back entitled sharpening jackhammer bits for a rental yard. Grant, the gentleman who posted before me left some great information about heat treating and sharpening the bits. Looks like you did a great job on those.