greetings from Northern MA

[WELD]

Hi everyone, Tony here from MA.

I'm here for two reasons.

1.I Just recently pulled a pile of blacksmith's tools and stuff out of storage and i want to learn to use them.

2.I collect axes (functional axes) and i would like to feed my own addiction by learning to forge my own styles.

I've been a welder/fabricator for 15 years now, about 5 of them i would call apprentice years. Machinist background and certified welder in aluminum, titanium, stainless and a multitude of other non ferrous metals also. I run a small hobby shop from my home garage and already have some metal working equipment including my miller syncrowave250, millermatic200, cold chop saw, 6" belt sander with 12" wheel, 20ton press, CNC plasma cutter, hand plasma, bench grinders, benchtop lathe and bridgeport. 

as a newb to the forum and blacksmithing I have a few questions right off the bat.

What additional tools/machines should i be searching for to have an efficient and pleasurable time learning the art?

Maybe offer some tips for softening the learning curve?

 

here is a picture of my anvil and some of the stuff that came with it.

What is all this stuff anyways?! haha

Is this anvil useable the way it is or should i plan to resurface or replace the top?

what do you suppose this anvil was used for given all of the checking on the feet and punch marks on the main body?

Thanks in advance, and i look forward to learning more about the art.  

-Tony

 

 

[ThomasPowers]

MA in which country?  We have over 100 of them participating here!

As for the anvil; feel free to do to the face anything you like---but be sure to do the exact same thing to the ways of your lathe or mill.  The hardened face is of limited thickness so any removal of it cuts the use life radically down.  Re-facing it is not a trivial chore and will often cost more than buying another anvil.  We generally suggest you use it for a year before making changes to it.

The tools seem to be swages and bottom fullers that should fit in the anvil's hardy hole, a flatter, curved chisel, punches/drifts, tongs, an anvil---Peter Wright? and a chunk of rail

[WELD]

MA in USA. sorry didn't realize how worldly we were here but after reading more posts i am realizing this.

Thanks, So if i were to re-face i thought i would just fly cut it on the bridgeport till it cleans up, which would cost me nothing but my time. I have access to a surface grinder that i could finish it flush too. 

Would this be a bad way to go about it? The face is a good 1/8" difference from the lowest point to the highest. so a good amount of material would need to come off to clean up.I thought maybe welding a piece on top or build it up with weld. not sure the best route to go on that front.

 

 

[ThomasPowers]

1 Anvils were freehanded under steam hammers; there is no guarantee that the face and the base are parallel I have seen several where they milled the face flat *through* the hardened face at one end due to the slope and so ruined the anvil.

Milling an anvil is almost always about as good an idea as taking a 12 pound sledge hammer and hitting your mill as hard as you can for 1/2 an hour---does this sould like a good way to go?

Smooth is more important than flat in fact a bit of a sway makes straightening things easier than a flat surface.

[ThomasPowers]

Anvils were freehanded under steam hammers; there is no guarantee that the face and the base are parallel I have seen several where they milled the face flat *through* the hardened face at one end due to the slope and so ruined the anvil.

Milling an anvil is almost always about as good an idea as taking a 12 pound sledge hammer and hitting your mill as hard as you can for 1/2 an hour---does this sound like a good way to go?  In 34 years of smithing I have see *3* anvils I though would be improved by milling and dozens that were ruined by clueless people with access to a mill.

Smooth is more important than flat; in fact a bit of a sway makes straightening things easier than a flat surface. I have a book on blacksmithing published in the 1880's and 1890's that wonders why anyone would still be so clueless as to want sharp edges on their anvil as they mark and promote cold shuts in your work.   Welding a plate on the face requires a full penetration weld to get what you want---and then you need to heat treat it which is not just to dunk it in a barrel of water due to the steam jacket issues---one smith used a VFD's high pressure fire hose for instance.  Hardfacing of the face can work but again a lot of time, money and effort with mandatory preheating!  Search on the Robb Gunter method of anvil repair and realize that YOUR ANVIL DOESN'T NEED IT!

Edited September 11, 2015 by ThomasPowers

[TwistedCustoms]

MA in USA. sorry didn't realize how worldly we were here but after reading more posts i am realizing this.

Thanks, So if i were to re-face i thought i would just fly cut it on the bridgeport till it cleans up, which would cost me nothing but my time. I have access to a surface grinder that i could finish it flush too. 

Would this be a bad way to go about it? The face is a good 1/8" difference from the lowest point to the highest. so a good amount of material would need to come off to clean up.I thought maybe welding a piece on top or build it up with weld. not sure the best route to go on that front.

 

 

The anvil pictured is as good as the day it was made! Anything you do to it other than forging on it will destroy it. No mills, no grinders, no torches, no welders!!! Heat up some steel and start hammering, you have a treasure, dont ruin it!

[WELD]

Thanks for that guys. I guess i will run a wire brush over her and start hammering some steel.

Are there ways to identify an anvil's make if it doesn't have any markings on it anywhere? 

-Tony

[notownkid]

You missed the New England Blacksmith conference over last weekend in Wallingford VT.  If you like blacksmithing and live in Mass, might want to check them out. 

[ThomasPowers]

Yes there are ways dealing with things like handling holes, depressions on the base, "look", construction methods, etc---much of which boils down to asking Mr Postman to take a look at it...His book has a section on how to identify an anvil

Edited September 15, 2015 by ThomasPowers