jlpservicesinc Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 Thomas yes it does and for myself I work in front and to the right. Hip right really. It's 1 step.. Sadly you can see this in the videos when my butt moves in front of the camera.. LOL.. With the horn to the left to use the radius fully you have to stand or lean over the anvil. I've mentioned a few times as to the reason why in my mind it's just a tad better.. A tad better.. I can argue anything is "Good enough" including how someone does or does not stand at the anvil. What i have found is there are slightly better ways.. Anyhow, for the time being heating and beating is the name of the game.. So, smacking it a time or 2 extra is just good fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 What I'm trying to say is: don't get hung up on what other people say---figure out what works best for you and don't be afraid to change if you decide another way works better! Some suggestions seem to me to be a Blacksmithing variation of a snipe hunt... Just unloaded the 100# propane tank into the shop. Looking forward to the holidays! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 Agreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 Sorry Thomas, I wasn't discounting your comments.. Nor singling you out.. Even though now reading it, it seems that way.. It's an interesting concept "Figuring it out".. I've pretty much figure out "Everything" I have ever done in this life.. Cars, deep martial ways, machinist, rock climbing, scuba diving, rally driving, blacksmithing, fabrication, Etc, etc. Now in my 50's I don't want to have to figure anything out.. LOL.. I'd rather do "Show and tell".. I am so down for a method or insight someone can offer that is better than what I do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 I wasn't feeling picked on; just wanted to reiterate that in blacksmithing there may be many right ways to do something! I keep running into people who want the "one true way" to do things and they have trouble understanding that it may be a "one true way" for every unique individual. I too prefer to "not reinvent the wheel"; but realize that when someone tells me the way they do things I may want to do a variation on what they do. I love going to demos and seeing how other people do things; often I agree with them; sometimes I know a way that seems better to me and sometimes I know a way that seems equivalent to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 Because our shop is narrow and hard to work all around the anvils, I solved the problem by having one anvil to the right of the forge, horn to the right (hammer hand) and the anvil across from the forge horn to the left (tong hand). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davor Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 16 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: NO! it depends on what you will be doing in your shop. In the videos I watched, the basic argument on the horn being on the hammer hand side (with my style anvil) is tools in the hardy hole and potential injury if left there while hammering. I didn’t have a hardy hole on my railroad track anvil. Sounds like a reasonable argument so I’ll try it like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 Davor, when I was using a London pattern it moved the hardie hole to the left when the horn is to the right. While I do like that aspect of the hardie hole away from my hammer hand and (sorta) out of harms way.. One should always remove ' A cut off hardie" when not being used. Not only is it the correct and responsible thing to do, but just good basic forge practice. When I am making nails on the London pattern and running 3 bars in the forge I do leave the hardie in every so often but even then I remove it when heading nails as it just moves everything out of the way so i can have free range with the hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarntagforge Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 On 9/11/2018 at 2:37 PM, GrumpyBiker said: You grinded the foot also. The marks on the foot likely came from a blacksmith that made edge tools. After hardening and tempering, he would cut a mark in the foot to see if the tool held up. If it did, he'd do the final grinding. So they're marks of craftmanship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davor Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 Done and tested. It is a huge difference working on a real anvil with a good stand. I need a lot less power for the same effect and nothing jumps around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 Nice. My only suggestion would be to trim the excess off the bottoms ends of the bolts, so that they don't snag on anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 Well why did you ask here if you were just going by what some video was saying? My forging area is basically a square with a coal forge being one side, a gas forge being at 90 to it and 165# anvil and a 468# anvil being the other two sides, the post vises are mounted outside the square. The 165# anvil is horn left, the 468# anvil is horn right. Depending on what I am doing I may flip the 165# anvil around to horn right. The 468# anvil doesn't get moved often... Either way the heavy hammering should be done over the "sweet spot" of your anvil. If you are standing by the horn, (hammer hand side towards horn) and working steel on the sweet spot hardy tooling is not a problem. If you are standing such that your hammer hand comes down over the hardy hole then tooling in it IS a problem. Guess what there is no "one correct answer!" (Going on 40 years of smithing.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davor Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 On 12/15/2020 at 8:01 AM, Davor said: I've made it symmetrical, since I don't know on witch side I'll stand when working on it. I prefer the horn on my tong hand side, but exploring the topic I guess it is better other way round. I wasn’t asking. I was making a statement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob La londe Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Just a simple little metal beating platform.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarntagforge Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 I read lots and lots of comments here and I didn't notice a general discussion about tripods vs 4-legged stands. 4-legged are more stable, and the argument for tripods is that it gives you more room for the feet. Is an argument also that tripods are extremely stable and stable enough? Did no-one find that they thought a tripod wobbled around too much on a concrete floor? I know it's stable if you don't hammer on it, but when you start doing odd stuff like bending and beating from the side or such, is the tripod still stable? And would you trust a 400 lb anvil on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 there are several reason 4 leg stands are not talked about much. Today there is a thought that the tripod offers enough advantages and stability because of the stability while forging directly over it and ability to self level sorta.. I do like that you can get your feet under either a 3 or 4 legged stand if left open, but neither really offer the stability I am after. So, I agree a 3 leg stand is not the best especially if it is not designed right.. JHCC's design is about my favorite.. Old Crew made a really nice stand too. The Blackwidow stand is awesome.. I forge on the side of anvils and use forks and such so the anvil can not move same with forging on the horn.. A tripod will walk for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Quadrapods have issues when you travel and end up working on unlevel surfaces. For a dedicated set up they can be better; however for a dedicated set up you may have dedicated equipment that will take some of the duties---like bending in a 6" post vise rather than the hardy hole of the anvil. I have a series of "stumps" and a tripod stand. I definitely have to plan how I'll do some thing using them. I used to have a quadrapod stand but I was always on unlevel floors back then and I gave it away. I still hope that when I will redo my shop I can bury a treated anvil "stump" and have an anvil securely held and "unmoveable" (the 468# one). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 5 hours ago, jlpservicesinc said: JHCC's design is about my favorite. My tripod started having some travel issues when I first attached the nodding donkey, as it tends to bounce a bit when the swinging hammer reaches the limit of each stroke (both hitting and returning). I'm planning on adding some silicone under the feet to see if that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 (Come to think of it, a shock absorber to cushion the return stroke wouldn't be a bad idea. I remember that the Blacker treadle hammer Everything Mac got a few years back had something similar....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davor Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 7 hours ago, Jarntagforge said: I read lots and lots of comments here and I didn't notice a general discussion about tripods vs 4-legged stands. I decided to make three-legged stand because three legs always contact the ground, no mater how uneven, I can get really close to it with my feet under it. It takes quite a bit of force to topple it, I tried it, also I poured concrete in the legs (because of the thin wall pipes used) so the stand has a bit of mass to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 It's interesting that when I teach an intro to smithing miniclass at the University and haul 4 or 5 anvils over and set them on the commercial concrete pad; they have to wedge the stumps to keep them from rocking. Not a problem on the dirt floor of my shop. The tripod steel stand doesn't have any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deimos Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 Got to work on my anvil stand today, 40x4 flat around the wood, 30x20 bar holding the anvil down. Even without anything between the anvil and the wood this removed 90% of the ring of the anvil. The face of the anvil now stands at about 83cm from the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 A tripod can NOT rock on uneven ground where a quad will rock if the surface is uneven under any foot. Just BB sized uneven rocking irritates me. It's a personal choice, we all have different preferences and there is no rule says you can't have more than one stand. Honest, there isn't. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 Thomas, you'd love the Blackswidow stand.. NO rock and a full 3"channel all around the bottom.. It weighing a few hundred pounds helps too.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan the bodger Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 My first anvil stand ready to go. Pick up some steel tomorrow and start bashing some metal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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