OT- Just What I need, another hobbie!

20cows · Post by **20cows** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:45 pm

I got the burner going for my gas forge this evening. I made it from hardware parts from a design I found online.

This is the forge. All I lack now is the blanket inulation

.

The stand also holds my homemade anvil.

pshort · Post by **pshort** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:54 pm

Howdy,
It's amazing what a person can build! Ya done great!
Where can a person read up on this thing?

Thanks for posting,

Paul

20cows · Post by **20cows** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:58 pm

I found it here:

http://www.iforgeiron.com/blueprints-10 ... forge.html

JerryB · Post by **JerryB** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 10:37 pm

Hey 20cows, are you going into hot shoeing, knife making or both? Sure is a good looking rig you built.

20cows · Post by **20cows** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 10:40 pm

I made nearly two dozen branding irons for Christmas gifts. It would've been considerably easier with a forge.

I figure I'll give knife making a try in addition to general metal shaping and such.

claybob86 · Post by **claybob86** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 1:44 am

Sweet! So you're a gunsmith and now a blacksmith, if your last name ain't Smith, maybe it oughta be!

homefront · Post by **homefront** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 6:00 am

20cows, thanks for posting that!

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 6:24 am

You are on the right track. The Kao wool you are looking for can be found on the net. You may find the forge needs to be raised so you can see inside and don't have to bend over all the time. Try it for a while and see first. The Iforgeiron site is a good learning tool. Anvilfire also is another one. Keep it up and learn hammer control. Everything else will come in time.
Gobbler

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 6:28 am

Cool!

Well, no, "hot!"

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:03 am

WOW - never ceases to amaze me what is found on this site. Thanks so much for sharing. I have for years wanted to build a forge and shape some iron. I would love to produce some knives. I will definately look in to the web sites mentioned. I have to go throw some stuff out in the garage to make room for a forge!!

20cows · Post by **20cows** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:46 am

I have to go throw some stuff out in the garage to make room for a forge!!

Yeah... me, too

Post by **Hobie** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:41 am

Neat!

Anybody know of a good source of anvils?

Jeeps · Post by **Jeeps** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:58 am

Hobie wrote:
Anybody know of a good source of anvils?

I think Wile E. Coyote is having a sale soon. 98% acme brand only used once.

20cows · Post by **20cows** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:03 am

Anybody know of a good source of anvils?

No...

That's why I made one.

It's a shaped railroad iron topped with a length of 3" tool bar. It works for now.

Grizz · Post by **Grizz** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:16 am

Great post. I'm curious if you've thought about smelting cast iron and aluminum and sand casting them. Could use a similar furnace oriented up and a crucible...

http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/index.html

http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/oilburners03.html

http://www.angelfire.com/pro2/jason_fou ... urner.html

Anyway, I like metal work a lot and admire your forge. Endless fun.

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:23 am

rjohns94 wrote:WOW - never ceases to amaze me what is found on this site.

It is my turn yet to be the one who gripes about "it's off topic, it's off topic, I'm gonna quit, I don't wanna play any more..."?

rjohns94 wrote:I have to go throw some stuff out in the garage to make room for a forge!!

Actually it IS a cool (hot) project, and I especially like the idea that I may bet my wife to like the idea because I would actually have to clean part of the barn up to do it...! (at least for awhile).

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:26 am

Hobie wrote:Neat!
Anybody know of a good source of anvils?

I got hold of a 24" section of railroad rail for $2 at a farm auction - if there's a railyard near you, they might sell some such thing or be sweet-talked out of it.

20cows · Post by **20cows** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:49 am

I'm curious if you've thought about smelting cast iron and aluminum and sand casting them.

Oh, great, Grizz- ANOTHER HOBBIE!

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:50 am

OT- Just What I need, another hobbie!

...whew, for a minute I thought they cloned Hobie...!

Ben_Rumson · Post by **Ben_Rumson** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 11:33 am

McMaster Carr.com has anvils...But their pricey

dsmith512 · Post by **dsmith512** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:50 pm

Hobie wrote:Neat!

Anybody know of a good source of anvils?

I cannot speak for quality since I've never purchased an anvil before. But here's some from some tool manufacturers that I frequent.

Northen Tool

Wholesale Tools

Harbor Freight

This place has variety and some expensive ones. https://www.anvilbrand.com

kimwcook · Post by **kimwcook** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:17 pm

Yeah, that's the problem with anvils, they're real pricey. I like your home made rail track anvil. I have one but I didn't work a nose on to it. It looks like you've done a good job.

20cows · Post by **20cows** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:50 pm

Thanks, it probably weighs 70 to 80 lbs and has a fair bounce back.

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 7:48 am

If you are looking for an old traditional anvil, be prepared to pay a few hundred dollars and up for one. However if you are patient and shop the farm auctions, garage sales, flea markets and such, they can be found and had for less. There are still a lot of them out there.
If however you are into the "what else will work" frame of mind, then think like this. And anvil is a backing device. It is a heavy object with specific shapes and contours to hit the hot metal against with a hammer. So using this for a definition, any large, heavy iron block will work. The surface that most work is done on is the flat face and the convex, conical horn. These and other shapes can be approximated with other items. Track rail works well. Anchor well and keep the surfaces clean. Your work will show it if the surfaces are rough.
Keep reading as there is a lot to learn about knife making.
Gobbler

Ram Hammer · Post by **Ram Hammer** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:32 am

Great post!! This is something I have wanted to do for years. I'll relate my own saga in searching for an anvil below.

Hobie wrote:
Neat!

Anybody know of a good source of anvils?

I've had my eye open for used anvils for several years now and only just recently found one that wasn't incredibly expensive. I've looked at antique malls while on road trips across Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. I occasionally run across one in these venues but they are usually saddlebacked or generally too rough to use for knife work or priced through the ceiling. Last year I found a Peter Wright anvil that I took a chance on. It originally was a 194 pounds but had been broken off from the hardy hole back and now weighs about 180 pounds. It rings when you strike it with a hammer so I don't think the hardface has separated from the base. It cost me $100 out the door. I have a Chinese cast steel anvil to provide a hardy hole and will use both side by side when necessary.

I ramble on here, but in a nutshell, It has taken me about 5 years of looking to come up with this one which I consider a compromise but will still serve me well.

PS
I have a four foot section of main line rail road track in the Conroe Texas area free to a good home if anyone is interested in making their own anvil.

Grizz · Post by **Grizz** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:33 am

I have a question about anvils... are they made of steel and carefully heat treated? Or are they iron castings with a heat treated surface? Is there something special about their metallurgy?

When I was a kid the Empire mine in Grass Valley sold off its complete blacksmith shop for $200. I begged Dad to buy it but he couldn't see any use that his son could have for a complete blacksmith shop. And thus destiny hangs on a measly two bills...

Ram Hammer · Post by **Ram Hammer** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 5:58 pm

There are a lot of anvils that vary in quality by a huge margin. Most of what you see in the deep discount tool stores are cast steel through and through. I have one about 55 pounds and the surface is not very hard. Quality anvils will be constructed of cast steel or iron with a flat plate of high carbon (heat treatable) welded to the top.

I have seen photos online of the heat treating process after the plate was welded to the top of the cast steel. You can imagine the heat of the fire required to bring a 100+ pound piece of steel up to 1500 degrees F. They used a chain hoist to raise the anvil above a 55 gallon drum full of water and dropped it in for the quench. I don't remember how they tempered it afterwards.

There are still a few companies that make new anvils to the old standards but as you might expect they are expensive. Usually running around 4 to 5 dollars a pound.

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 6:02 pm

Grizz. Many early ones were wrought iron with a shear steel face forge welded on. There were some cast iron with a steel face and some cast steel with a hardened face. Most of today's anvils are one piece cast.
Remember that steel, when it it hot, is much softer than the anvil surface you are working over. Thus, if you work hot metal, even a non hardened surface will hold up pretty well for a while.
Gobbler

mescalero1 · Post by **mescalero1** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 7:18 pm

Have a nice piece of mainrail track as well, the answer to the girlfriend question " why do you keep that old junk "? CAN BE FOUND RIGHT HERE

Yance · Post by **Yance** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:45 pm

Hobie wrote:Neat!

Anybody know of a good source of anvils?

Harbor Freight has a "toy" one...only 55 lb.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... number=806

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:22 pm

Hobie wrote:Neat!

Anybody know of a good source of anvils?

NC Tool. Mostly for shoers, but they'll certainly work for other projects also.

http://blacksmithsdepot.com/Templates/c ... cts/AnvilsBlacksmith Depot. Mostly blacksmithing tools and equip ... : :wink:

Post by **Hobie** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 6:54 am

Grizz,

I feel for you and can only say that MY dad would have bought it for me. Of course he'd be out there every day to see what I'd done, too!

Post by **Hobie** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 1:03 pm

Since we might all need the information and I just find it darn interesting I started "collecting" video on the subject.