6 hours ago, Tap Tap Bang said:

Today I made a stand for my gas forge.

Not bad though. It'll need spreaders about 1/2 way to the wheels or the legs will really wobble and possibly fail. I made a shelf covered with expanded metal for the spreaders where I can toss hot work, tools, etc. to air cool and be inconveniently positioned enough nobody's likely to touch them. 

On my large forge stand I put telescoping helpers low enough below the forge mouth so 3,000f fire brick laid flat matches the forge floor. The old forge is silly too large and the helpers extend about 10" out from the opening and is always extended about 5" which lets me lay K-26 IFBs on edge to close the forge as necessary. 

I like where you put your tong rack better than my old shop forge, mine are too close to the opening and the bits get dangerously HOT which means you have to bend over in front of it to grab them by the reins. Not very good, I keep them on my little steel table next to me and so not as convenient as I'd like.

I found a steel serving cart at a yard (boot?) sale that serves as the stand for the NARB forge. I have to use a piece of concrete backer board to protect it from the forge's heat or it warps which lets me lay hot tools and work directly on the cart. NARB's openings are about 2 1/2" high so fire brick laid flat matches the opening nicely so that forge doesn't need telescoping helpers to hold long work. It also has a full length / width sheet steel shelf just high enough I can put a 20lb. propane tank on it. I can't run NARB on a 20 lb. tank though or it'll slush up in about 30-45 minutes. As it works out it has gobs of room for cooling work, hot tools and more. That was a lucky score, one of my most useful.

I really miss going yard saling but I already have too much stuff. 

Frosty The Lucky. 

One of the things I put on my forge cart is a piece of metal that curves out at the bottom (I used an old snow shovel blade) right under the door opening. If anything falls down the front, this kicks it out to the front, keeping it from falling into the cart itself. 

So, a lot of torch cutting today. 

Next step: grinding!

 

Went to put a handle on my wee hammer. The only piece of hickory i have has a swirl in the grain. So looking around i found a maple stave i cut last summer to make a bow with, it has a nice crack in it from drying so i had set it aside. Still has a nice section at the bottom a bit less than 2" round and straight for about 36". 

So i got my wood then could not find my drawknife. So of course i grab a piece of coil spring stick it in the fire. It is down and dirty, not very pretty but it works. And working is what is i was wanting. Just couple pieces of dowel burned on with some epoxy. I will eventually give them some shape or maybe a better connection but it is getting the job done so far. 

 

Built a custom anvil stand for a young blacksmith today. It's always surprising how much longer it takes to fab something up when you're working with heavy-gauge materials: 3/4" plate, 3/16th tube, and 3/8th" gussets and feet. He's delighted with the pics, can't wait to pick it up. He says he does mostly hobby ornamental forging. Looking forward to meeting him. When he comes over, we're going to spend some time improving his welding ability.

Matt.

3/4" plate?!?  Why? A heavy stand adds nothing to an anvil's effectiveness so long as the stand is rigid.

IIRC the plate on my tripod anvil stands is 3/16" with 2" x 4" rectangular tubing. 

Frosty The Lucky. 

13 minutes ago, Frosty said:

3/4" plate?!?  Why? 

Frosty The Lucky. 

Mainly because I had it, he's putting a 160lb anvil on top, and I don't know how hard he's going to use it. I try to avoid stuff coming back to the shop.

I get your point though.

Tried something new tonight and used a swage to forge a triangle spike then wondered about getting a twist in it.   I didn't think that my normal twisting wrench would offer a tight enough grip to get an even twist.   I had a rusty pair of nippers hanging on the wall that I modified  and got a really even twist.   Best part is that they can get a grip on multiple sizes.   

1 hour ago, Frosty said:

A heavy stand adds nothing to an anvil's effectiveness so long as the stand is rigid.

I disagree. While it’s true that greater mass doesn’t make a difference with straight-down hammering, it definitely helps when there’s any kind of lateral force on the anvil: drawing out or bending over the edge of the anvil, bending a heavy workpiece in a bending fork in the hardy hole, etc. 

Chad, I'm gonna have to add the triangle twist to my candy cane notes. I feel like if I twisted it tighter than you have here, it might just work...

If your shop floor is concrete a thin wipe of dry silicone calking on the bottom of the feet will prevent it from turning when using a bending fork. No I don't mean glue it to the floor. If the shop floor is dirt, drilling a hole in a couple feet of the stand and spiking it down prevents it moving. That or getting the stock hotter. 

Chad: I'd sure like a better look at the bits of your tongs. Please.

Frosty The Lucky. 

 

That certainly works; as always, there's more than one way to skin a cat*. My point is that a heavy stand definitely does add to an anvil's effectiveness, even if there are other ways to achieve the same goal. Sometimes these things are a matter of what works better in one person's shop as opposed to someone else's, or even simply a matter of taste.

* This originally referred to the challenges of removing the tough skin from a catfish, not from a domestic feline.

14 hours ago, Frosty said:

3/4" plate?!?  Why?

Why not?  As a blacksmith, I was taught that it's impossible to overbuild something.   Don't feel bad, Hickory Wind Forge, here's a picture of my anvil, 2" plate....

I hope I didn't just give you a brief feeling of inadequacy...
Have a good day.


One should keep in mind,

we are all both the Blacksmith

and iron in the fire.

And I should add that the legs are filled with sand/gravel and oil, to reduce ringing and to increase mass for the benefits that JHCC has already pointed out.  And when working the horn, the added mass does limit the moving around.  (I also have hard rubber pads on the feet, and it still sometimes slides on the concrete if I'm really whacking around the horn with the 4# hammer when scrolling thicker stock...) 
I will say that our shop floors are epoxy painted (bad idea for a forge, but it was like this when we moved in), so perhaps this concrete is slicker than just plain concrete....

Consider also the 1/2" plate stands I posted about last month, photographed in Jonathan Nedbor's shop in the Hudson Valley:

Well well, Jonathon Nedbore. I grew up 15 minutes from his shop. Never got to work with him but I've got a rivetor's coal forge that came from him. Last I saw, (years ago) the lawn in front of the shop was piles of metal with paths between.

Thanks BillyO. If there's one thing I've learned fabbing, it's that some people are born to break stuff, and it's best to thwart them. I'm starting an 8'x12' truck deck this week for a crew that is notorious. Every possible component has been upgraded to the next thickness - even the rubrails. And the warranty ends the moment they touch it.

-Matt.

On the anvil stands, FWIW, I've noticed that Jennifer has an extra thick base plate on her's as are the stands made from Uri Hofi's designs. BillyO's tool tray also looks similar to Hofi's. I am planning on using both ideas when I make a new stand.

--Larry

Dang Billy that is one nice anvil and stand. Good idea with silicone on the feet.

I took 17” of 1-3/4”x3/8” leaf spring and made a bridge. Didnt mean to cut across the little horn but its not too deep. Need to clean it up and grind a bevel on an edge

 

Coffee scoops and a silly donkey head and just for fun my real donkey Cecil. 

Nice coffee scoop Matt and I really like the forged donkey head. I'm assuming you took the pic the first time he saw himself in a mirror? 

I love donkeys I've rarely met an unfriendly one and Cecil looks like a love bug. 

Frosty The Lucky. 

3 hours ago, Momatt said:

Coffee scoops

Nice!!! I might have to do one.   I was digging through my damascus scraps for a hook for a friend, I just might have to make a damacsus/copper coffee scoop....

Frosty I agree donkeys are usually quite nice. We have two horses that don’t accept him as a very good equine, but he sticks with them over the cows.  Cecil is gentle and sweet.  I need to get him a donkey friend. 

Billy, I am working on a steel scoop too.  The copper is much easier to work as you can work it cold over the bearing or trailer hitch whichever you are using. I like a trailer ball as it’s easy to square up the bolt part and stick in hardy. Steel was hard to dome even hot (used a big hammer and placed swage on anvil). If you have a press no trouble. 

Love the donkey, both of them. 

I am not a huge fan of the copper bowl coffee scoop, but that is my personal opinion, the work is quite nice and i am wanting to know how you did the finial that connects the bowl to the handle? 

Forged a flux spoon today, (my first) far from perfect. But I'm happy with how it turned out.

First job this year.I will install the gate in the spring, there is a lot of snow, it is impossible to get to the place. Delivered a table to the customer and installed a clock on the wall.

Bbq fork, but not happy with the fork part.

It feels to small and off (cannot put my finger on it as well)

I really like the aesthetics of it. The set looks nice. I really like long square tapers, a simple clean crisp line.