Brian G. Shacklett Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 It took me all day, and I'm drop dead tired, but I've finally got my anvil mounted up, and a spot cleared around it. The stand is made out of 4x4s cut to 9.5 inches in length. It's buried about 6 inches in the ground. I was hoping for more like two feet, but I ran out of 4x4 material. This seems to do the trick, though. It's pretty stable, and the anvil doesn't ring at all when struck. I'll be swapping the tarp out for canvas, or maybe a pre-made canvas tent of some kind. I think the last thing I need now is a hot cut tool, and I'll be ready to start getting to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LastRonin Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Make a hot cut. That way... you can already BE working. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccustomknives Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Your anvil looks lonely <_<, where's the rest of the stuff? :unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian G. Shacklett Posted June 9, 2014 Author Share Posted June 9, 2014 My forge is indoors until I can actually start working. Everything else will probably grow organically as I find things that I need. I guess a quench bucket is another thing I should have. What else am I missing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 ARGHHHH! this type of question always sets me off; without knowing the details we are supposed to make good suggestions how??? It's like: "I need a new vehicle---what should I get?" Of course I won't tell you if it needs to be ocean going, haul 16 tons of gravel, be an economical commuter, win formula one races; or reach the International Space Station---what should I buy? A quench bucket may be something you DON'T want anywhere near the forge/anvil depending on what you plan to do. If you will be working with medium to high carbon steels I would suggest no quenchbucket or a lidded one. I also would like to know why you think you need one. Old real wrought iron or 1018 steel could be safely quenched. Modern steels are often NOT safely quenchable and normalization would be better. Without information on what you plan to work on, I'd say a 100' square concrete pad, a fork lift and a jib crane to go with the 1000 pound chambersburg. Of course if you are doing small ornamental work a couple of bending forks for your hardy and a swing arm fuller would be better... So perhaps the best starter tool would be some books: The Complete Modern Blacksmith, The Backyard Blacksmith, Mark Aspery's series---if you are in the United States of America you should be able to ILL books at your local public library and "try before you buy" Also meeting other smiths at a hopefully local group can expose you to a lot of simple tooling you can make and how it's used (and they may have books you can look at.) Generally we suggest that constructed anvil supports run the pieces vertically to deal with not losing energy at the interfaces. Again here in the united states the PT supports for highway guard rails make a nice source of wood to work with observing the safety precautions of working with PT lumber of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 bad phone camera but here is an example I made for about US$1 for my mini set up at my rental house: Wood is oak from a scrapped horse trailer--free at the junkyard as they deal only with steel. The sections are held together by 2 allthread used for holding guardrail to PT supports---also sourced from the scrapyard for US 20 cents a pound as were the washers, nuts and the eyes that make it easier to lift. You can see I made the end pieces taller to hold the anvil in place; what you can't see is that I adzed the damaged surface off on one side of the end pieces so the anvil fits inside slightly and doesn't move sideways. (Anvil is not in "using orientation" in the pic as this set up travels for teaching every week and so is in unloaded and waiting till Wednesday orientation.) This was designed for use on concrete or gravel in a shop as it's not rot or termite proof. For uneven floors I can loosen the bolts slightly and *thump* it to follow the contour better and retighten. On the "bottom of the picture, left when properly oriented, is a stock support made from a pipe clamp---you can run the bottom jaw up and down till you get the right height. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Geist Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I'd say first of all a better hammer. You'll get tired of that one pretty fast. Mount the head on a wooden handle (preferably unfinished) or get yourself one already mounted on such a handle and use it instead. That one looks like something you found at Home Depot meant for yuppie homeowners not for any serious work. It'll give you blisters and never feel right. George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian G. Shacklett Posted June 9, 2014 Author Share Posted June 9, 2014 Just to clarify, my question was in response to jmccustomknives' comment, asking where "the rest of the stuff" is. As a newbie, I think "what am I missing" is a pretty reasonable follow-up question. As for what I'm planning to do, my reading has lead me to believe that making nails is a good place to learn proper hammer control, drawing skills, and heat management. Also, I expect I'll be making a pair of tongs at some point. After I get comfortable, I'd like to get some shelf brackets made, and eventually learn to make hinges. After that, I guess I'll just see where it takes me. Anyway, thank you very much for the book suggestions (they're on their way), and the recommendations for building an anvil stand. I truly wish I'd seen your post before building this one, as I was planning to do vertical supports originally, but went with horizontal due to a video I found while researching the subject. Also, I'll take your advice on the quench bucket to heart, and refrain from any such activity until I truly know what I'm doing. George, yes, you're absolutely right. I could tell that the hammer was going to be a poor substitute for a proper hammer when I bought it, but I have a bad habit of waiting until things are perfect before I get started on anything, which usually ends with me never getting started in the first place. I may try to re-hang it, or, more likely, just purchase a proper hammer shortly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccustomknives Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Lol, the longer you stick with smithing the more stuff you will aquire. Check the local flea markets, junk shops for hammers. You can never have enough hammers. Just in making one knife I can use as many as 5 different ones. Tongs, that's another thing you'll need. Those books will get you started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjimmer Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 This is military surplus and the seller is a military blacksmith. Shipping costs will be the main drawback but it's about 25-50% of new UK price. I've seen it and bought a swage block and stand from him. Like new! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Making S hooks and drive hooks will practice a lot of the same things as nails and you end up with useful sellable items... Newbie smith does not specify the direction you are going! A newbie smith interested in making armour has a totally different toolset than one interested in making knives---or making ornamental items, or doing industrial smithing, or working weird alloys, or... That was a nice kit on e-bay but a lot of those tools would never see use depending on what direction you go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Wow, welcome aboard all you guys! Brian, Rjimmer, if you put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. I'm going to beard the Thomas on the slack tub in your current shop. You absolutely need at least one large bucket of water handy, you're surrounded by organics and we all lose a hot piece of work now and then which WILL find the one little piece of dry flammable stuff out of sight. I do agree that having an open container of water near the anvil or forge is inviting disaster. Dropping a hot piece of high carbon steel almost insures it will end up in the water. Start carrying a few bucks in your pocket all the time and hit yard/garage/etc. sales. Hammers especially ones with broken or without handles will be heavily discounted and you'll want to learn to put handles on hammers anyway. Then there are chisels and punches, you see them all the time usually for a few cents each or in handfuls for under a buck. Allen wrenches are good too and usually cheap. Allen wrenches are dandy medium carbon steel and make excellent chisels, punches,strikers, etc. Good tough steel. Pry bars, lug wrenches and such are also good high quality med carbon steel, they make really nice tongs if you don't have a better use. I hope you drive a pickup truck and have an understanding S,O because you want to start watching ditches, roadsides, empty lots, old car dumpsites, etc. for all the MUST HAVE steel laying there. A pickup truck is SO handy for salvaged stock but anything will do in a pinch. Do try not to get grease on or cut up the grandparent's 57 Buick's rear seats though, Christmas may suffer. There are threads here somewhere about good beginning projects and skills sets to aspire to. Oh things you might find handy in your shop. A bench is nice, handy things benches and if it has a shelf under it. . . Ooooh. You will want a post vise eventually anyway but for now a bench vise would look a treat on the bench. While I'm wandering around at garage/yard/etc. sales I keep an eye open for cabinets, wall and base. Base cabinets are the cat's whistle for benches, they already have shelves, drawers, etc. Handy things all. Heck, even wall cabinets aren't out of place in an open air smithy, all you need is something to hang them from. You find those things are yard/garage/etc. sales they just sometimes don't look like wall cabinet hanger ontoers till you get them set up. Another good beginner project would be a hammer rack for your anvil stand. You'll want a tong rack too but that should be o the forge. Hanging tools where you need the most or fastest is good tactics. Hence, hammers hung on or near the anvil and tongs nearest the forge. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjimmer Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 I've been in touch with the man and he is going to make up another set, but this time some of the tools with be unused. He guesses the total weight to be 500Kg, but I would have thought that was on the heavy side. The see new 2013 prices, have a look here: http://anvils.co.uk/images/uploaded/CATALOGUE_JANUARY_2013.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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