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My newest anvil has been living on the floor. It's 125lb, unmarked. I think it's a PW given other anvils I've seen. I'd like to get it set up so I can host 2 people and reduce traffic jams. My first anvil was a 279lb german pattern. I set it up on a properly sized stump. I cut the wood green, debarked, burned, and oiled the stump. I used the leveling method for chainsaw cutting demonstrated by The Essential Craftsman on Youtube. I carved a funny shape out of the bottom, so the stump rests on three "pads" of wood. I carved out the top to fit the shape of the anvil. I used large chain, lag bolts, and turnbuckles to secure it down tight (with some glue in between maybe, I can't recall). Let's bring our attention back to the 1 0 13. My original plan was to make another stump base. I like the first one. It's a moderately heavy stump so it adds to the overall mass. It is secured tight and everything is level. It doesn't walk around on me when forging. (This may be mainly due to the mass of the anvil itself). I can roll and maneuver it around. I could replicate this approach for the new anvil, however the anvil mass isn't nearly as large. I have a (seasoned) large oak trunk sourced, so the base would be heavier for this anvil. The next plan is a section of pipe/ pipe spool that currently resides on craigslist. The owner is asking $150, however I think my value is half, if it works for my application. It is only 8" in diameter. It has a top and bottom "ring-plate/flange". It appears to be professionally constructed. The owner said it weighs about 100lbs. The problem is that it is only 22" tall. For this shorter anvil, I need a base of 28". (For the stump option I was planning for my initial cut size to be 28". This has enough tolerance to find the stump height in the 27"ish range.) The 22" pipe is not enough. I need a way to fabricate and bring the height of the anvil taller. I would like to add 1" immediately by making a base plate for the anvil to rest on top of. Base plate is welded to the top of the pipe. The problem is defined. It needs to be taller. I'll dive into some of my thoughts and concerns, but I'd love to hear ideas in all directions. Is this going to be too "wobbly" because of of the "narrow" diameter of the pipe (8")? Can I flare out a base to increase it's stability? Will this add enough mass on a wide footprint to make up for the stability problem. (I will not be anchoring the anvil into concrete). If am aiming for 27" of base so I need to make up 5 inches. 1" as a top plate for the anvil and 1" as a bottom plate for the welded "legs" to adhere to leaves 3" of height to be made up. The width of the pipe flange adds (maybe) 3" per side. Total flange size is 13.5". 3" legs set at 45 degrees gives an extra 6" of base. Is an 19.5" base sufficient. Is it too large? I could reduce the slope of the legs to 60 degrees. For the legs, I'm envisioning 1" plate cut out with a torch. I can remove material very quickly on the belt grinder, so I don't mind cutting large, rough, and learning as I go. I'd love to brainstorm with others. This pipe may be a great starting point, or a total waste of time. Another note: The pipe would be a great place to fill with sand adding to the mass and likely absorbing noise, vibration, etc. I have 80 lbs of lead I could re-melt into the base. (This may be the winner and it was my last edit to this post. This would make the center of gravity much lower than distributed mass thru the column.) Another question: Do people add rubber to the bottom of steel legs?

I started a few weeks ago building my first forge. I’m wanting to start bladesmithing/tool making. I've built a box forge out of 3/16 plate steel. The internal diameter is 5” x 7” x 12”. Insulated with 2” of rigidized kawool and then 3/4” of Kasto-Lite 30. I am going to cover it with ITC-100 Kiln wash. I had already bought this before learning Plistex would’ve been better. I chose to build a 8” ribbon burner. I used the Wayne Coe instructions for the burner with a few changes. I used his spacing but used drinking straws instead of crayons. And made the pipe entrance from the side instead of rear to save space. I also elected to put the burner on the side and at the top of the forge wall. I had a hard time finding how to pipe it so after lots of looking I finally figured it out. I chose to run 2” pipe down to the blower. The blower is a 2” blower from blacksmith depot. I added a gate valve for air control. The gas entrance is 1/4” piping that I am going to drill and tap into the 2” pipe above the gate valve. The gas pipe will be as follows. 1/4” MPT/FPT 90–>1/4”x3” NPT nipple—>1/4”NPT tee with a 0-30 PSI gauge—>1/4”X2” NPT nipple—>1/4”FPT to FPT needle valve—>1/4” MPT to FPT ball valve—>1/4”x3” Nipple—>1/4” Union—>1/4” MPT to 3/8 Flare Fitting. All the pipe was galvanized so I soaked it in vinegar to remove galvanization prior to welding or heating. I will run from the gas connection to the tank with a 12’ braided 0-30 psi regulator with the gauge. I opted to have the additional gauge on the regulator and after the needle valve to be able to measure and duplicate the tuning as easily as possible. I still need add surround to hold burner and finish the stand. I hope to have it burning be next weekend. If anyone knows where to find the best info on tuning and the proper colors for temps that would be greatly appreciated. I’ve been reading just hasn’t find it yet.

I'm in the process of building my first venturi forge. It'll be a simple forge based off of Michael Porter's book. The main question I have is one I can't seem to find an answer to. I read LP rated teflon tape is a no-no for pressurized gas lines. So properly rated dope paste is what I hear some people use. My question about that is do you use pipe dope on your lines? If so, do you use pipe dope on your high pressure regulator, the line coming from it, the pressure gauge on the regulator, the quick shut off valve, and the backside of your burner where the line connects? I assume the last gets a little too warm for dope to work correctly, but I want to know what you guys do anyway. My concern is dope getting the regulator, gauge, and possibly the burner all fouled up. My other concern is having a gas leak and potentially losing my shop and/or some parts that I was born with. I know that it's a touchy subject, so I'll state for the record that I take full responsibility for everything that goes right or wrong in my shop and on my property. I'm only asking what you folks do for your venturi forges. I am not asking for you to tell me what to do. If you know of a resource I can use to get that information, I would greatly appreciate that as well. Thanks, Patrick

Hey all, I've recently come across a large batch or 1.5" Malleable Iron lock-rings (nuts, threaded washers, depends who u are). I'm wondering if anyone out there has ever worked with malleable iron before? I know the rough details of it, it's a white cast iron, no good, etc,etc..... but I have been able to hot-cut, bend, twist, and shape one of these as a test. I found that at anything above a dull red or maybe up to an orange shade, it seems somewhat useable, above that it can crumble under the hammer. Any thoughts or experience with this? I have 675+ of these... So I'm hoping to make them useful in the shop beyond their original use, which I don't need them for. Thanks to anyone that can help!

I use a very, very dirty coal. however, i can get it for $10.00 per 100#. So, brake drum forge does not work, clinker clogs the grate in minutes. so, without further adieu, the Trough style 55 side blast with chimney. Thoughts? ideas? suggestions? also, for updates about the building of this, check my blog in the blogs area, Toolception; Claw to peen. Thanks! click on the image to zoom in. thumbnail is quite small

This started life as 28 inches of copper pipe and a lot of lurking on here. Will be a wedding present for my brother. Any ideas on how to personalize it? I need to add something wedding like......any ideas welcome.

Hey Folks, I´d like to ask for your advise on a project I want to start soon. My shop is half oudoors so I have a roof over the head but literally no walls. Until now I have always had my forge standing just free and hoped for good wind... But as you can imagine I take quite a lot smoke and dust and I mustn´t damage my body with stuff like that at my age. So I want to install a smoke hood over my forge. The only problem is that I only have a very limited budget of about 180$. So I guess I have to take a DIY-solution. After some research and discussions with some fellow blacksmiths I came to the conclution that this design (I know I ain´t very good at drawing...) would give me the biggest bang for my buck: This is my shop: And this is the design I´d like to try: The hood will be built from an old oil barrel, cut out on the front and bent upside to form a guiding-shield. On top of that the chimney will be installed reaching through the roof of my forge with min. 8" diameter. Would you also advise me to do it like that or do you have a solution (any construction plans) that might be more (cost)effective? I´d be very happy about any advise you give me! - Daniel