whitewill1412 Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 My name is Will. I just got started forging. Learning from YouTube and the forums. I have a homemade anvil using railroad tie plates. I also have a small anvil/vise that I bought. It's nice to have the horn for shaping, but I don't plan to be beating on that one. Pretty sure it is cast iron. I've also acquired 2 leg vises. I will post all my tools a little later. Thanks for letting me in the forum. I'm Learning more every day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 Welcome from the Ozark Mountains. Glad to have ya aboard Will, we love pictures of just about anything as long as they are G-rated. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 Welcome aboard Will glad to have you. Tie plates won't make much of an anvil, there's no depth of rebound and stacking a few is worse than just beating on one. If you can come up with a piece of rail 36" long you can make an excellent anvil by mounting it on end after trimming it to YOUR working height. The end of the rail cap is larger than a typical hammer face making it plenty of room to do serious forging, the flange between the cap and flange is thick enough to make both a nice fuller and a swage. The flange has even more good space to grind hardy, butcher, bending forks and horn. A length of shafting or a truck axle on end, flange up make good anvils as well. Your best working height is measured by standing relaxed with your hands hanging at your sides, the distance from your hammer hand to the floor is a good comfortable anvil face height for you. The cast iron anvil vises were more gimics than useful tools, They're generallyt from the time when Sears and Roebuck were selling complete farm packages, including the land, house, barn, etc. kits, tools and part of the equipment maintenance tools was a complete blacksmith shop. Vise anvil, sometimes a grinder, etc. in one cheap curiosity. They won't stand up to much heavier hammering than straightening nails and similar. A couple leg vises are a good score, you can do heavy forging in a properly mounted leg vise. Keep your eyes open and tell everybody you meet you're looking for blacksmith tools, you'll be surprised how many people have old great uncle Iggy's blacksmith tools in an old shed or taking up space in a corner of the garage. Recent popularity in TV reality show knife making has soaked up a lot of the anvils out there but as popularity falls off they're showing up again. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 Good Morning Will, Welcome from the Left Coast. It seems to me, you live in the middle of a VERY ACTIVE Blacksmith Association P.A.B.A., https://paba-site.org/ Check out your local Blacksmith's first. Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming. Glad to have you. I second what Swedefiddle said about getting involved in a blacksmithing group. You will become a better Smith much faster. Some of us learned on our own and it is not the optimum way to do it. I started on my own in 1978 and all I had were books from the library, some really nasty coal, and my own mistakes to teach me. I never met another smith until I had been doing it for 12-15 years. Today there are good books and good videos available. There are some BAD videos on You Tube but some very good ones. I like Black Bear Forge, JPL Services (or own Jennifer), Torbjorn Ahman (from Sweden), and Christ Centered Ironworks. Some folk like Alec Steele but I find his style of presentation to be kind of annoying. There are others that are good but it doesn't take to long to distinguish the good from the bad. And don't forget honest to god print books. I'm old fashioned but I find hard copy books to be a very good way to learn. When combined with good videos you will learn much faster and better than I did. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitewill1412 Posted May 8 Author Share Posted May 8 Yeah I really like black bear forges videos. I like Alec Steele too and I've seen some other good ones that I don't know there names. There is one blacksmithing basics video that was made for DVD on YouTube that was filmed one county over from me in Hookstown PA. That's a real good video. I've watched it a few times and I'll watch it some more too. 20 hours ago, swedefiddle said: Good Morning Will, Welcome from the Left Coast. It seems to me, you live in the middle of a VERY ACTIVE Blacksmith Association P.A.B.A., https://paba-site.org/ Check out your local Blacksmith's first. Neil That's not really that close to me. PA is a big state. But thanks for the suggestion Thank you all for the welcome. I'll probably be on here a lot. Maybe not posting a ton, but reading and learning for sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 Good Morning, I would contact them, there probably is someone else who lives fairly close. The HinterWeb makes someone a ways away, like next door. I am only making a friendly suggestion (lol). Some States have more than one group or association. The benefit of joining Learning Forces, is HUGE. Learn from someone who has already made a mistake or two, it is nothing to be ashamed of. I call it learning. Check out the ABANA web-site. There are a lot of Lessons, available on-line. There also is a Bi-Annual Blacksmith Conference (every 2 years on the even years) in Johnstown. I don't expect you to saddle up and go, but there will be a lot of Tools, Equipment and Suggestions as well as hands-on Demonstrators. Some people we meet, only every 2 years. In Canada we have our Bi-Annual Conference 'CanIRON' on the odd years. See www/caniron.ca You can look at the history of all the previous Conferences at the bottom of the home page 'History' Don't be afraid of making an Anvil out of any shape, large or small, it all works. There are no Blacksmith Police. Go for it and enjoy the Ride, we all are on the same ride. Whatever you have to do a job, it is the right Tool for that occasion. Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 There is a good thread in anvils that shows a ton of "Improvised Anvils" lots of good info there. https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/52308-a-collection-of-improvised-anvils/ I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitewill1412 Posted May 10 Author Share Posted May 10 This is my track plate anvil I spoke of. It's 2 plated epoxied together. I had them lined up perfectly so I could use the holes, but after I got it lined up I put a big cobblestone on top to hold it tight while it dried. Came out the next day and the top plate had slid over a little and the holes were all uneven and it was cured. I just had this mount in the forge to straighten it out a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latticino Posted May 10 Share Posted May 10 Be extremely careful about banging on the section of your mount that is lying flat on the anvil face. It looks like it might be cast iron. If so, it will be extremely brittle and not forgeable at all. The bracket holding it looks to be mild steel and can likely be forged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted May 10 Share Posted May 10 Hi Will, Welcome aboard. I'm about 45 minutes south of Pittsburgh. Look up PAABA. (Pittsburgh area Artist Blacksmith Association). I am a member but at the moment rarely get out to any events. They are a great group and hold meets and events in our area. The website is a little dated but has the main info needed. If you have any questions feel free to call Chris Holt or John Steel for info. The group is very friendly and welcoming. It would be well worth attending a meet to find others closer to you and learn a bit. What kind of forge/fuel are you using? If you need any help or whatnot feel free to let me know. Aric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitewill1412 Posted May 11 Author Share Posted May 11 This is the blacksmithing basics video that I mentioned in an earlier post. Daswulf. I am using a small single burner gas forge. It's pretty nice. Both ends open up so you can fit big things in it. I stuck a whole leg vise in to straighten out the hinge plate parts. I don't know what they are actually called, but it was very loose and I got it much better now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 11 Share Posted May 11 I'd like to see pics of your forge, we have a saying here. "If we don't see it we don't believe it." I'd like a look at a single burner forge that'd take very much of a leg vise. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitewill1412 Posted May 12 Author Share Posted May 12 The whole vise doesn't actually fit IN the forge. You can open the front and back doors and put the vise through to heat whichever section of it that you need to work on. I'll eventually take some pictures. Maybe after work today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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