Seth21 Posted July 2, 2022 Share Posted July 2, 2022 Hi everyone. https://youtu.be/K6Fsqj5ecjE I'm new here. I made an ASO out of a 4140 mandrel and a 4140 forklift tyne. Just thought I would share some pics and hopefully this is a suitable place to post. Regards Seth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted July 2, 2022 Share Posted July 2, 2022 Welcome! Anvil looks decent. How is it to forge on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted July 2, 2022 Share Posted July 2, 2022 Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming. Glad to have you. Looks good. What is the final weight? And how is the rebound? I can't tell from the photos but if it were mine and if the edges of the table are still sharp and crisp I would ease them a bit on the far side (right side when looking down the length of the anvil and the horn is away from you). Sharp edges will do more damage to work pieces than they help in making a sharp right angle. Show us some of your work and your shop. We LOVE pictures. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted July 2, 2022 Share Posted July 2, 2022 Only relive the right side if you forge from the wrong side! Horn to the left is the way farriers do it. Blacksmiths have it backwards ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted July 2, 2022 Share Posted July 2, 2022 Mine is graduated down both sides, about a 1/4” radius at the horn to 1” at the heel. This gives one more options. I would set up a ruble horn the other way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 2, 2022 Share Posted July 2, 2022 Question: I wonder about the heel angle. I'd have left it solid steel; as it looks too thick to be able to use for things like forks. Of course access to the bottom of the hardy hole is useful to tap stuck hardy hole tooling out; but the rest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seth21 Posted July 2, 2022 Author Share Posted July 2, 2022 Thanks for welcoming me. I haven't used it yet so can't say how it is to forge on. Final weight is 49.6kg I don't know how to test rebound? The hammer certainly bounces 3 or 4 times when dropped from about an inch or so. Let me know how to test rebound and I will certainly find out. The heel angle was for two reasons, 1. To gain access to the underside of the hardy hole. 2. Reduce the amount of grinding required to create the hardy hole. As a newbie I can't really justify any action I take at this stage as I simply don't know enough to recognise the difference between practical and impractical. Thanks for all your input, I look forward to rebound testing when I have learnt how. ATB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted July 2, 2022 Share Posted July 2, 2022 To test rebound drop a 1/2 to 3/4 inch steel ball bearing from 10 inches using a ruler to gauge how far the bearing returns (bounces). If it bounces back to say 8 inches, the anvil has 80% rebound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 2, 2022 Share Posted July 2, 2022 Good answer Seth, heck an excellent one. It's a huge advantage to recognize you don't know enough to know what you don't know. You're going to take to this well. A rebound test is basically what you did with your hammer, you just need to know how to interpret it. The version that's much easier to get right is dropping a bearing ball from a set height and estimating how far it bounces back as a %. The more is better myth has gotten folks to recommending a 1" / 25mm bearing ball. A 12mm or 1/2" bearing ball will tell you just as much, won't ding the anvil and you can carry one in a pocket if you're going to go look at anvils. For reasonably precise estimate do it in front of a ruler, dropping from the 10" mark works well for us, 10cm would be hard to read. No need to drop it from a meter, that's way too high. Dents again. Anyway, that's a rebound test and I see Randy beat me to the submit key. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seth21 Posted July 3, 2022 Author Share Posted July 3, 2022 Thanks for the info guys, I will grab a ball bearing from work and test it. Is there a preffered range of rebound? Is more better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted July 3, 2022 Share Posted July 3, 2022 Yep, more is better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted July 3, 2022 Share Posted July 3, 2022 In this universe conservation of energy prevents the rebound from being more than 100%. 80-90% is very good. 60-70% is OK. Anything less than 50% is pretty poor. All my opinions. I'd never buy an anvil for use that had less than 50% and that would only be if the price was very good. Put a ruler on the anvil and drop the ball bearing for 10". That makes calculating the % easy. Better than having to calculate how much a percent an 8.5" rebound is when dropped from 13". There have been discussions of how much a high rebound anvil helps your forging but the consensus is that the higher the rebound the better the anvil and the easier it is to work hot metal on it. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted July 3, 2022 Share Posted July 3, 2022 Keep in mind that any rebound is better than no anvil at all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seth21 Posted July 3, 2022 Author Share Posted July 3, 2022 I am grabbing a ball bearing from work tomorrow to find out. It is an improvement on the block of mild steel I have been using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seth21 Posted July 4, 2022 Author Share Posted July 4, 2022 I couldn't find anything in inches so I was forced to stick with millimetres. By my calculations the rebound was around 54% I have attached a video so I can be pu Bounce test.mp4 t straight if I'm in error Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 4, 2022 Share Posted July 4, 2022 As mentioned any is better than none and more is better than less. As I have a number of old anvils already my cut off for personal use is 70%. OTOH I've been lugging a 80#chunck of mild steel to demos lately to show new smiths that you don't have to have the *BEST* equipment to get started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlatLiner Posted July 4, 2022 Share Posted July 4, 2022 That's about as good of rebound as I have on my forklift time anvil but rebound isn't everything. My forklift time anvil moves hot steel as easily as my "real" anvils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.J.Lampert Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 better rebound than mty first improvised anvil it will serve you well and welcome aboard M.J.Lampert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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