cannibal Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Hi, First post but I've been lurking for a little bit trying to read as much as I can. I tried to search around a bit for what I'm about to ask but couldn't find any answers. I have a 75 pound anvil and wanted to know if there's anything I should keep from doing on it. I assume that swinging an 8 pound hammer on it is a no go, but I'm not really sure of the limits of it or if this type of anvil is really up to blacksmithing. It's an NC brand anvil for horseshoes. I picked it up at a garage sale for 20 bucks. I've mostly done cold work on it for various small projects, but have done minimal hot work. I've moved around a bit in the last couple years but have finally settled down and pulled everything out of the storage unit, along with the anvil and my old little breakdrum forge. I want to start swinging a hammer again but don't really know what I'm doing. There's a class i signed up for but that's not for another month. I've been reading all I can but are there any basic projects anyone can recommend for beginners? Sorry if this post is a bit scattered in thought, and if this is not the right place for this post. Billy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Was any of the information in the advice for new blacksmiths thread above of any vallue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cannibal Posted February 20, 2013 Author Share Posted February 20, 2013 Was any of the information in the advice for new blacksmiths thread above of any vallue? It was, it was a good read too. That's what made me look into local programs for getting a proper foundation in the skill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalmangeler Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Good buy on the anvil, I would use it just like it was my only anvil until I had another one. It will not be a efficent as a larger one, but the better you mount it he better it will serve you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcc Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 My ~75 pound anvil has took I'll put on it and has worked fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aessinus Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Hooks make good starter projects & are always handy. Make nice gifts to friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cannibal Posted February 20, 2013 Author Share Posted February 20, 2013 Cool, i'll make sure I mount the anvil solid. I'll be building a garage/shop soon and there's a tree i need to fell. I'll see about keeping the stump in the ground and putting the anvil there. In the mean time I'll need to figure something else out that's a nice solid base to start making some hooks. Thanks for all the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Evers Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Two things to consider. A farriers anvil has a disproportionate mass in the horn. Most shoe work is done there with the face used for flattening and punching nail holes. For this reason, it needs to be solidly attached to a base with some mass. Secondly for heavy work it should be quality steel to stand up. I have no doubt that NC is quality. I believe somewhere on this site were guidelines for anvil to hammer size suggesting about 10:1 max but I could be wrong. I think an 8 pound sledge would be OK. You could call NC @ 800 365 8202 and get their opinion. Or you could just ship it to me, I'll refund the $20 and you could look for something else. By the way that may weigh 75 on a scale, but NC marketed it as 70. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aljeter Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Great buy on that anvil. I have a 70 lbs NC tool anvil myself and it works fine. Its mounted on an oak stump. I have only been working on small items such as a few knives, hooks, leaf key fobs ect..... But I have come across a Peter Wright anvil that is a little bigger. Its has 1-0-15 on the side than I will be using as my main anvil when I get my shop finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cannibal Posted February 20, 2013 Author Share Posted February 20, 2013 "Or you could just ship it to me, I'll refund the $20 and you could look for something else. By the way that may weigh 75 on a scale, but NC marketed it as 70." Jack Evers: I can't imagine what it would cost to ship an anvil. How about I meet you half way? :P You're probably right on the weight, I'm going off memory and that's definitely not my best trait. As for mounting the anvil, I'll likely have to make a wide solid base to attach it to for now. Thanks for the insight on the horn, I hadn't noticed that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cannibal Posted February 20, 2013 Author Share Posted February 20, 2013 Great buy on that anvil. I have a 70 lbs NC tool anvil myself and it works fine. Its mounted on an oak stump. I have only been working on small items such as a few knives, hooks, leaf key fobs ect..... But I have come across a Peter Wright anvil that is a little bigger. Its has 1-0-15 on the side than I will be using as my main anvil when I get my shop finished. I'd really like to get into knife making. It's a long term goal, I think it'll be a while before I can turn out a knife I'd be happy with. I still have a lot to learn before I get to that point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothBore Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 As a point of reference, ... in the Civil War Era, the "Portable Field Forge" that accompanied Calvary and Artillery units, specified a #100 Anvil. Obviously, they felt that was sufficient to their needs. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 A few years ago I went to Alaska. in the museum there was photos of blacksmiths setting up shop re pointing pic axes, shoeing horses and such. There next to the photos where his tools the anvil weighed 50# at the most. and the bellows were about 2' in length. All had to be transported by horse back. The point is you do not need a big anvil the most important thing is that it is connected to the stand and the stand is connected to the earth. That is the key. it will serve you well and it will be easy to move around to go and do demo's after you have some experience under your belt. If you are worried about hitting it with a big hammer look up Brian Brazeal striking anvil. you can always make one of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Take a piece of chalk and go over to you anvil and mark the section of the face where there is metal all the way down to the base: this is the "sweet spot" where hammering is most efficient and the anvil least likely to suffer damage during heavy hammering. So if you need to do heavy hammering (say 3# hammer and up) make sure the workpiece and the hammer blows stay within the sweet spot. You may want to look into a large piece of scrap for a "block anvil" so as to not worry about messing up your good one. Farrier's anvils are generally not as good knifemaker's anvils as they are ornamental work anvils' but they will get you started! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cannibal Posted February 21, 2013 Author Share Posted February 21, 2013 Thank you, all very good information. I didn't know about the portable field forge, i looked up some information on it and i have about 12 tabs open on my browser to take up an afternoon of reading! I didn't know about that "sweet spot" either, but it makes perfect sense once i think about it. I think this anvil will do me well for a long time, even the knife making i would be doing would be considered medium to light work. Thank you all for the input, I really appreciate your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tellburkett Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 I've used an NC big face for 2 years without any problems. I just made knives on it though. The face has held up well. Make sure u strap the crap out of it though or you'll be chasing it around all day...... or picking it up off the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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