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I Forge Iron

Show me your anvil


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Carefully cut at the upper part of the weld right at the bar to remove it then grind the remaining weld off the faceplate. It will probably have lost a little hardness in that area but it should be fully usable. 

Awesome score for free. I agree with Thomas. Make him a nice gift.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sure looks like a Soderfors but may be one they cast for a different brand or one of the other cast Swedish anvils. What's on the other side? 

If you dust it with chalk, flour, etc. and wipe the surface details like the lettering in this pic will show up better. If you use oblique light to take pictures surface details will stand out better as well. I never use the camera flash on metal unless it'd corroded or covered in dirt. A piece of tissue paper over t he flash will help but any shine will reflect directly back into the lens and hide details.

I have a 125 lb. Soderfors and have never worked on better. About 30 miles from here there's a 450 lb. double bic Soderfors sitting in a yard as a decoration and the owners won't sell for any price. 

<sigh>

Frosty The Lucky.

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I've been using these things:

001.thumb.JPG.b53283c2ecf68343b4ebf1891a95b7f5.JPG

it's a piece of rail (I don't think it's from a normal train, it seems too small) and the back of a weird vise/anvil/drill.

I'm liking the vise back thing, it's strangely quiet when I'm hammering on it. On the side, it says "PATENTED SEPT 22, 1914". Here's an ad for what it looked like when it was new:
image.png.16eb6c37905b4438caa7e5b812606b28.png*not my image, just found it on google*

I don't think I would risk damaging such a cool old thing if I had the front jaw assembly, but I'm thinking it's pretty unlikely that I will ever find one. From what I can tell from researching it a bit, they were not very popular and were not made for very long.

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Marc1, Unfortunately no. Life has been very, hmm, interesting in the bad way last few months, and my gas forge is half built. I ditched the coal forge when we moved into this neighborhood, so I’m forgeless at the moment :-(

I wish I had been forging lately,  it would be a great distraction and outlet.

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5 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

It's quiet because it's cast iron and so an ASO like object and prone to catastrophic failure if hit too hard.

Well, It's what I have at the moment. I am kind of worried that it's just going to crumble under the hammer one day, since it's hollow and not that thick. Only weighs about 20LBS.

5 hours ago, JHCC said:

True: they were more a marketing gimmick than a real tool. Turning your bit of rail on end might help a bit, but definitely keep your eye out for something more substantial.

I've heard people talking about getting a drop from a machine shop, but I don't know of any close to where I live. There is a forklift repair company pretty close though. Would a piece of a fork tine make a decent anvil? And is there a fairly good chance they'll have an old one to sell?

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Brooks Anvil; new to Smithing, going to do some blades and axes hopefully. Just picked this beauty up although i don't know much about it and I don't believe it's that old..20-40 years based on the 51 Kilos. I believe it's a good anvil and has hardly been used. Anyone know much about these Brooks anvils? Should I radius the edges? I plan on cleaning off the paint and keeping it oiled. thanks in advance. ..oh it was 350$ CAD which i believe is a great price as i was the first to say I'll take it and there was about 20 after me.

-cheers,

Julian

anvil1.jpg

anvil2.jpg

anvil3.jpg

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Good brand, "modern", cast steel, made in England.  I like the 1 CWT and 51 Kilos on it.  A good starter size.  Be careful as cast anvils generally are prone to edge damage---another reason people may radius the edges.  Excellent price, about US$2.38 cents a pound, that's bragging rights in this day and age and in that condition!

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Thanks I'm very pleased with the price and condition. I'm not planning any large work at this point so we'll see how it goes whether I radius or not as I don't want any bad chips. Thanks for the response.

pretty sure I'm going to enjoy this forum

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28 minutes ago, arkie said:

Nice HB anvil.  Treat her kindly, now.  Yeah, you might want to secure her down to your base lest it bounce around on you.

 

1 minute ago, Irondragon Forge & Clay said:

Yep, some latex calk around the base would do it 

Still working on what hold-down design I'll go with, and the caulk is a definite.

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