Laynne Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 My shop is not heated, so my question is, has anyone used a magnetic block heater on their anvil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 I have a friend that uses an old clothes iron to warm his anvil before using in the winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laynne Posted December 18, 2017 Author Share Posted December 18, 2017 I like that better. Cheaper and more controlled. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 Yeah, I have a couple magnetic block heaters but keep them on my 100lb. propane tank when it's cold out. If it's cold enough to preheat my anvil I lay a piece of heavy plate, about 2" x 10" x 10 give or take on the barrel stove. I light a fire in the stove, lay the plate on it, plug the engine heaters in and go back in the house, drink coffee and watch TV news or something for an hour or so. When I go back the stove is usually toasty, cold shop but the stove is cranking heat. I lay the plate on the anvil and in a bit light the forge. It's enough to take the worst of the chill of her if not I prop the plate against the forge door. I've considered heating a bucket of sand in the oven and transferring it to canvas sample bags so I could wrap the heat around the anvil. I've never gone to that much trouble for the anvil though. It's a different matter if you're camping in cold weather though, a bag of warm sand by your feet is SOOOOOOO much better than a warm rock or brick! Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lionel h Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 I just heat up a thick piece of scrap plate and lay it on the anvil , then scoot it over when I start hammering Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eseemann Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 I just found out that Mr. Propane will not come out to play when it is 22 degrees outside without a heat source. I can honestly say this is a first for me. Ernest (the cold) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokey07 Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 strange on the 22 degrees, iused to live in S.W. Colo. at 7200 ft and we could have temps as low as 30 below at nite in the winter. had 500 gal propane tank outside and never had a problem. not a lot of nites at that temp. but it did happen on and off. Smokey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 A 500 gallon tank is much different than what most of us use for a forge. There more thermal mass in the 500 gallon tank than a 20 lb bbq cylinder so it’ll be functional longer at lower temps than the grill tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokey07 Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Michael, tks for the clearup on tank size, had a 250 gal for the shop but same would apply for that. Smokey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eseemann Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Michael took the words out of my mouth. the small tank can only get and store so much heat from the sun on a clear day. An external 250 or 500 gal tank (external meaning not covered by a roof or the like) has a much larger surface area to collect sunlight on a clear day and much more mass to hold that energy for later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Also the large vertical tanks have a much greater surface area of the liquid propane so it can vaporize. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Hammer Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 I just don't forge when it's this cold. -8 this morning. If it gets up into the 40's during the winter I'll haul everything out and forge, otherwise I don't get much time to beat the hot metal before it quickly cools. I know that's not too helpful, but sometimes the weather dictates things for those of us who live in the north. When I build a forge, yeah, it's going to be heated with a furnace to keep all the tools at least in the 40's during the winter months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Ah, get your anvil properly warmed up and you can sit on it if you get chilled. Not that I do much of anything in the shop when it's cold anymore I'm a hobbyist and past the first rush of learning the craft. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will W. Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 4 hours ago, Frosty said: Ah, get your anvil properly warmed up and you can sit on it if you get chilled Frosty's Hot Anvil Treatment. Brought to you by Frosty, Master Anvil Tamer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Back in the cold days; we used to hang a cleaned out metal 1 gallon paint can on the horn and heel of the 400 pound anvil and built kindling wood fires in them to heat the anvil up---and we would bicker about who got to sit on the nice warm anvil in between hammering on large projects. Getting you feet off the cold concrete floor made a big difference. When I lived in Ohio, USA, I had to keep my equipment in the basement for security reasons and so when I hauled it out to forge it was reasonably warm to start with. I learned to put down some scrap plywood to stand on to keep my feet warmer and having a nice blaze in a raised firepit nearby would help make things tolerable even with a foot of snow on the ground. Now in extremely cold weather, wind chills below -20 DegF, I built a 1 soft firebrick forge that used a plumber's propane torch to heat it and just forged in the basement: concrete floors and rock wall and very drafty. (100+ year old house). Did a lot of silver hot forging, copper, made the nails for my mastermyr tool chest, etc. Even could forge sitting down... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Hammer Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 My garage is below my house so it's technically heated and stays between 45 - 54 during the winter so like Thomas, I can wheel out warm equipment if the outside temps get pleasant. My basement shop is used for woodworking so I store my forge, anvil, and post vise in there away from the woodworking stuff and just wheel it all out with an old antique barrel cart. All that effort just isn't worth it if the dirt driveway is snowy, icy, or the outside temps are below 40 in the winter. I use the winter to repair tools, tweak equipment, buy new equipment, and think up new projects to do when it's "forging weather" here in NY. I don't mind it though, when I add onto my flintknapping shop to make a forge I'll just extend the heating ducts into the forge and I'll appreciate a nice forge all the more after having moved everything in and out for years. I think paying your "dues" like that really makes a guy appreciate things better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yves Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 The old clothes irons : one on the anvil, one on the side of the blower (Champion 400). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McPherson Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 Long ago, someone shared a picture of warming up the blower grease at -50F. Do what ya gotta do. Bruce Wilcock was in the north of Scotland: on a busy day, the 5 CWT anvil got hot enough from use to set a kettle on and have a "boil-up" at lunch. That is pure hustle from a 60+ year old man! No anvil perching during breaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reeltree Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 On 1/1/2018 at 4:15 PM, Frosty said: Ah, get your anvil properly warmed up and you can sit on it if you get chilled. Not that I do much of anything in the shop when it's cold anymore I'm a hobbyist and past the first rush of learning the craft. Frosty The Lucky. Yeah Im with you,,Im a fair weather tinkerer these days,, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.