Pappaw Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 Hello all: I am just starting out and still have much to learn. Old family post vice, railroad rail anvil and small gas forge. All advice appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 looks pretty good. the tenon on the bottom of your podt vice needs to be secured to the stump. a piece of heavy angle iron with a hole in the bottom for the tenon works, then lagged to your stump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming. Glad to have you. You will have a better anvil if you mount your RR rail vertically and do your work on the end. That puts more steel under you hammer blows. You can rout or chisel out a female hole for the end in your stump or you can build up a box of 2x4s or 4x4s around the rail. One piece of advice I have for you is that when you watch a demonstration either live or on video go out and do the task as soon as possible. That will set it in your muscle memory (what my educator wife calls kinestetic memory, like how to ride a bike). This lasts much longer than just mental memory. Also, find your local ABANA affiliate and join. That will help you learn and progress. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 Welcome from the Ozark mountains. If you add your general location in your profile, we won't dun ya for it, when answers require knowing where in the world you hang your hat. Another way to support the post/leg of your vise, is to bury a heavy piece of steel plate set in concrete with a hole for the acorn/tenon. I have one like anvil said and it works very well and another buried in concrete both will absorb the shock from hammering and keep the vise from twisting when bending stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 Howdy from eastern Oklahoma and welcome to the forum! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 Howdy; will you be at Quad-State next weekend? I'm driving in from New Mexico; so I envy your closeness... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappaw Posted September 20, 2022 Author Share Posted September 20, 2022 (edited) Hmph, I’m so new, I don’t know what Quad-State is. I think I’m done traveling for this summer though. If it’s a blacksmithing event, I guess I’m going to miss it. Enjoy it for all of us, take pictures and report back here. Thanks for the welcome and the advice. Hammering on the end of the rail puts more metal under the hammer? I cut that chunk off with an old power hack saw. Took all day cutting from 3 directions to avoid striking the saw frame. The vise was part of a load that came by wagon drawn from Georgia to Arkansas by my grandfather’s brother. He needed help building a house and clearing land to farm in northeast Arkansas. Fast forward 125 years and there it is in my barn in Michigan, still working just as well as it did way back then. I still plan to attach the vise acorn (?) to the stump base somehow but that project got delayed by the heat and humidity (and bugs!) of this Michigan summer. Should be 38 degrees here Thursday night. I for one am looking forward to fall this year. Like I said, I still have much to do. I appreciate the welcome and advice, I’m happy to be here. Edited September 20, 2022 by Pappaw Add photo of rail power hack saw operation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 Welcome! Quad-State is a big blacksmiths' gathering in central Ohio held the last Saturday of September every year (unless we're in the middle of a global pandemic, of course). Well worth a visit (although I myself will have to miss it this year, alas). Check out the Improvised Anvils thread for some ideas about rail anvils: And this one: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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