June 30, 20179 yr Hello Everyone! I would like to share here with latest design of Rolling Anvil set up which I have developed in pursuit of ancient blacksmith spirit of freedom and common sense as well as modern concepts of sustainability and living lightly on the Earth. The Rolling Anvil evolved further and became more light, compact, mobile, efficient and sustainable! The new set up has been combat tested month ago during my return trip from Ukraine to Switzerland (buses and trains) where I did a blacksmith demo at the old castle near Basel. The forge (stainless basin) has been put on trekking poles tripod. The steel mesh hood topped with sieve was used for spark and wind protection. During transportation it is rolled down and put into anvil stand pipe. The blower I use now is cheap 12 DC air pump for blowing matrasses found anywhere on the net. In this case it ran from 10 Amp/H power bank which itself was charged from solar panel. The anvil became a bit lighter (24 kg). The anvil stand (and cart at the same time) can be disassembled into plate and pipe in case it needs to fit in some limited luggage space. In case heavier works are involved a gabion is arranged around the anvil. The set up is highly efficient allowing to heat and forge quite massive pieces like axe or hammer but mobile and compact at the same time. All is needed on place is char coal and this can be found in any supermarket or gas station.
June 30, 20179 yr Nice setup! Well done. The handles of the tripod pieces look like they would get hot and melt......am I seeing that correctly? I like the simplicity of the whole setup!
June 30, 20179 yr Wonderful idea!! I hope a lot of people view this. We need more examples of creative thinking, and working with minimal equipment. Does the anvil travel in the tube or the bag? Al
June 30, 20179 yr Lovely; but I'd like to see it with a bellows; solar panels are not light on the land to manufacture; but bellows can be made from recycled wood and vinyl.
June 30, 20179 yr Author 8 hours ago, Tubalcain2 said: sweet. i could see pulling that rig with a segway... ha- ha! You revelead my plans. I was going to ride myself on that seway. Just need a good battery bank to stick into anvil pipe. I could also run my power grinder and drill from it 7 hours ago, tkunkel said: Nice setup! Well done. The handles of the tripod pieces look like they would get hot and melt......am I seeing that correctly? I like the simplicity of the whole setup! Thanks Tkunkel! No problem with poles. The basin is filled with char coal (fines from the bottom of the bags) and you just keep pouring a bit of water with mug to keep the fire centered and prevent coal waste. The water evaporates and cools the coal below. The basin gets only a bit warm 6 hours ago, PVF Al said: Wonderful idea!! I hope a lot of people view this. We need more examples of creative thinking, and working with minimal equipment. Does the anvil travel in the tube or the bag? Al Thanks! It's in the bag. You take off from bottom plate whenever need to get into the train or bus or manage the stairways.
June 30, 20179 yr Author 5 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: Lovely; but I'd like to see it with a bellows; solar panels are not light on the land to manufacture; but bellows can be made from recycled wood and vinyl. I am absolutely with you Thomas! Spend 10 years working solely on bellows at the museum forge in Kiev. Have had enough fun with it.I I deserve now some little electricity ))))))
June 30, 20179 yr I used to have a large double lunged bellows I could pump with my smallest finger and get to welding temps for billets. Kept repairing it and repairing it over the years and finally when I had to move 2400 km I gave it away to force myself to build a new one; 13 years so far without the new one...maybe when I retire... On the other hand I once inflated a very large air mattress with my hand crank blower; took almost no time at all and without the mosquito whine of the small 12 V pumps! (A friend had forgotten their pump on a week long campout...)
June 30, 20179 yr Author On 6/30/2017 at 9:52 AM, littleblacksmith said: Here's a little dirt cheap portable forge I did. Littleblacksmith Wow! This is great!
June 30, 20179 yr 16 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: On the other hand I once inflated a very large air mattress with my hand crank blower; took almost no time at all and without the mosquito whine of the small 12 V pumps! (A friend had forgotten their pump on a week long campout...) you were on a week long campout, but had a hand crank blower....Only a blacksmith would! 7 minutes ago, dancho said: Wow! This is great! Thank you! so is yours! Littleblacksmith
June 30, 20179 yr Author 10 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: I used to have a large double lunged bellows I could pump with my smallest finger and get to welding temps for billets. Kept repairing it and repairing it over the years and finally when I had to move 2400 km I gave it away to force myself to build a new one; 13 years so far without the new one...maybe when I retire... On the other hand I once inflated a very large air mattress with my hand crank blower; took almost no time at all and without the mosquito whine of the small 12 V pumps! (A friend had forgotten their pump on a week long campout...) But it is so nice to simply press the button and do nothing but watch the fire!
June 30, 20179 yr this is great, thank you for sharing it with us. it is good to see how portable you can go, I made what I consider the smallest practical hydraulic forging press, just over 10 tons but weight 30kg and it has had a few uses since I made it. many years ago I visited Kiev
June 30, 20179 yr In less than 90 seconds he had a queen sized mattress inflated and ready for his wife to rest on. Domestic bliss on campouts cannot be too highly rated.
July 1, 20179 yr Author 7 hours ago, the iron dwarf said: this is great, thank you for sharing it with us. it is good to see how portable you can go, I made what I consider the smallest practical hydraulic forging press, just over 10 tons but weight 30kg and it has had a few uses since I made it. many years ago I visited Kiev Thank you!
July 3, 20179 yr I wonder if this sort of activity fits under busking/entertainment for the purpose of different local bylaws. Where busking is allowed in my city I'd be curious about running a similar setup... hmm. Time to research.
November 29, 20178 yr I'm new to this site and a new aspiring blacksmith and found this post. I love your idea and creative solution! The video from the original post is great too. Thanks for sharing.
November 29, 20178 yr Welcome to IFI and the addiction of hitting hot metal. If you edit your profile you may be surprised how many members are near you and a lot of answers are location dependent.
November 30, 20178 yr Now there's something you don't see everyday. Here in NY State you might find yourself getting some heavy scrutiny from the police while walking down the sidewalk with that set-up I like the idea though and the minimalist approach to show you don't need a shop full of tools to do some forging.
December 1, 20178 yr Your rolling anvil is MUCH nicer than my rolling anvil but my rolling anvil was just so we could get it to the Nephew's house.
December 1, 20178 yr This is the value of IFI, I link to an older thread to show a young man what he realy needs to start smithing in London and boom, a whole new generation of smiths "descover" it.
December 1, 20178 yr I hope this is not received as brown nosing because my intent it true thankfulness. I just am so appreciative of all the experienced blacksmiths who take the time to share what they know to people like me who are new to it all. You take time to explain (sometimes 50 times a year) things and answer questions. Charles Stevens touched on this sharing. In the pre-internet days it would take years to acquire knowledge which now can be accessed here in an afternoon of reading posts & threads. Sure, reading it doesn't mean you can do it or do it well, but at least you know the correct way to do it. Hats off to the curmudgeons and others who take time to share on here! Thank you.
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