first anvil - M&H Armitage Mouse Hole 106#

[xantufrog]

My friend and I are building a home forge after completing an extended blacksmithing class. We found this old survivor hidden away in a shed in the hills. I believe (based on the scan from the Mouse Hole book also attached) that this is a "circa" 1879.

It's even got an old hardie hole tool!

The edges are knackered almost the whole way around - really have just a good edge on the back and on the "table". However, the face itself is flat as glass and has not a dent in it. It's amazing - rings like a bell and throws a dropped steel ball back into the hand like it was a basketball.

I'm excited to give it some new forge time

 

 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Welcome from the Ozark mountains. Looks like a keeper and should serve for at least three more generations, provided no one does any milling, grinding or welding on it's hardened steel face. A wire wheel on an angle grinder won't hurt if you want to clean her up a little and a coat of BLO will keep her looking good.

[xantufrog]

Thanks! Sorry for the ignorance, what is BLO? My plan was to hand steel wool it and rub it with some mineral oil to keep the general surface a little protected from the humidity here, but happy for any recommendations!

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

BLO is boiled linseed oil, although some members like to wax a cleaned anvil.

Btw: you might want to edit your post to remove the quote. Quoting the post just before your reply is frowned upon. The quote feature

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard xantufrog, glad to have you. Mind telling us the origin of your login? 

Your anvil looks pretty good to me, if you find you actually need a sharp edge it's easy to weld a shank to a block of steel with what ever edges you need. Getting the old hardy out might be a challenge, it could well be welded in place for no better reason than it's been in there a long time. 

We're typing at the same time, cool. A wire cup brush in a disk grinder works a treat unless you have excessive amounts of elbow grease. BLO = Boiled Linseed Oil. My favorite protective finish is "Trewax", "Bowling Alley wax" is another good brand. They're carnuba paste wax, the stuff that makes bowling alleys so slick and you have to take big drum sanders to get off when you want it off. I apply it to surfaces around fresh cup of coffee hot and wipe off the excess. Not on the face though, that's better off clean.

Frosty The Lucky.

[xantufrog]

Ah - edited. Sorry!

BLO it is, then (looks like it's more durable than mineral oil from a quick search)

Thanks Frosty! I'm in Atlanta, GA.

It's actually much less rusty than it looks in the sunny picture, really just a thinnest coating - but I'm all for saving elbow grease for bigger battles.

The hardie tool comes right out, believe it or not. I think it wasn't kept in there. In my class, we really just used hand tools (chisels, punches, etc) and anvil surfaces for our work. I assume this hardie wedge is essentially for cutting - driving a deep gouge into the metal and then you can finish the job with just a  final bend of the metal

[George N. M.]

Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming.  Yes, that tool is generally known as a hardy (hence: hardy hole) and is used to cut hot metal in the manner you describe.  They are about $50-75 new.  Don't use it on cold metal.

The advantage to boiled lindseed oil is that it is a drying oil which will form a hard surface over the metal like shellac or varnish whereas something like mineral oil always stays a bit sticky and accumulates dust and gruck.  This is why BLO is commonly used as a finish on forged metal.  It can be mixed with turpentine or another drying agent so that it dries faster.

I hope you and your friend find the craft as rewarding as I have for the last 44 years.  It has been fun in good times and has helped me through tough times.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[ThomasPowers]

Back in the day they had both hot cut hardies and cold cut hardies, the difference being the angle of the "wedge" with the cold version being "fatter".

Of course you can use them for other things too; I have one hardy I use for drawing out the bottom "tusks" for a dragon head. (As well as cutting hot steel.)

I was just fitting a tow hook from a SUV?  for my anvils hardy hole.  I liked the curve and the square cross section end was close enough to size that I just did a little grinding.  Now it fits my 165#  HB and I can adjust the height by using a rod or bolt through the mounting holes.

[xantufrog]

That looks fantastic. I'm so excited for us to get our forge going