A newbie anvil question

You are almost in our backyard. I also belong to the Badger Blacksmiths, a club which covers western Wisconsin, from the St Croix River east to about Black River Falls and north up to Catawba, Ridgeland, etc and south to about Pepin. We have members close to you: Stanley, Chetek, Eau Claire, Fall Creek, Glenwood City (Pres), Ridgeland and Menominie.

I live about 10 miles southeast of Baldwin, Wi.

Email me off list or call me at 715-698-2895, or you can call our President, Don Hogenson at 715-265-4701.

Pete Stanaitis

Prometheus wrote:

Reply to
spaco
Loading thread data ...

The problem isn't so much with it being iron (although something harder than iron is nice) as it is with Chinese iron anvils having a reputation of inconsistant casting quality. A poorly cast anvil will tend to absorb the energy from the hammer (which means more work) and may have inclusions that will make the anvil prone to breaking.

I've seen some around here that have had hardface welded to the top. Sometimes to repair badly dented faces, sometimes just to build up the face. It is nice to have something with a little hardness to it so it resists the occasional errant hammer blow.

The big reason folks went from rocks to steel anvils is a rock will eventually crumble/break. If it is cheap enough you may find it usefull to start with.

Reply to
r payne

If you want a good new anvil go to:

formatting link
Postville Rd Blanchardville, WI 53516

Reply to
Rob Fertner

Well, if he's letting those go cheap I'd still not necessarily turn up my nose--it's real hard to take the mass out of an anvil. A 4.5" grinder is cheap (and useful for many things besides, if don't already have one). Weld up the worst holes and gouges, use up a few grinding wheels and a few flap wheels and you could be good to go... --Glenn Lyford

Reply to
glyford

Good tip- thanks!

Reply to
Prometheus

Small world, I guess- I've been known to head up to those parts once in a while myself.

Sounds like that's the way to go, then- I just figured the charcoal was the thing to use, though it would appear that things have changed a bit from old days.

Reply to
Prometheus

Nah, I'll skip that- there's a farmer's co-op that sells propane a few blocks away. If it will last a while, I'm sure I can just get a 100# tank.

Reply to
Prometheus

That sounds like a winner, at least until I can build something bigger and more perminent. I can get that together this weekend!

Reply to
Prometheus

So that I can visualize this better, what you're describing is a box made of or lined from fire brick with a burner inside and holes in the sides to insert the metal that is going to be worked, right? Is the burner like a jet from a propane torch, or is is more like a grill element?

Reply to
Prometheus

I see- so an older iron one cast in the US or Europe (though I doubt many of them go overseas) is probably worth having, but an import is less likely to be worthwhile?

Reply to
Prometheus

Unfortunately, I guess he sold most of them, but it sounds like the lead isn't entirely dry. He said he might know yet another person that has a few stashed away. If need be, I'll go to a scrapyard and find something suitable.

Reply to
Prometheus

The Hybrid Burner site

formatting link
mentioned earlier links to Ron Reil's current (new?) site hosted at Abana.org. Here is the new burner design page, site notes a recent update (on Nov

14, 2006)
formatting link
Reply to
BradK

Prometheus wrote:

Well, the business end of the burner is inside the box. The main body of the burner is outside, and extends into the box through a hole in the side. Definitely more like a propane torch than a grill element, but usually bigger. Ever seen a jet water pump? A venturi burner works a lot like one. Bhob, I wish this system would support visual aids.... A venturi burner is a pipe that mounts to the firebox and extends into the box through whatever refractory material is used. inside the pipe is a nozzle (metering jet) that the LP is fed through, pointing down the pipe coaxially. As the gas flows through the jet at speed, it generates a low pressure area that entrains the surrounding air in the pipe and drags it into the box for combustion. The busuness end is usually a bit larger than the venturi section, which lowers the speed of the gas/air mix and slightly increases the pressure (Bernoulli's Principle) and supplies an 'attachment point' for the flame front to propagate from. The flame floods into the box, heating the air inside and the refractory material and raising the temperature. Temperature is controled by balancing the amount of fire injected with the leakage out the exhaust openings. The more fire you put in, the hotter it gets. Exhaust size (cross-sectional area) is part of the design equation. Too much outlet area is just as bad as not enough burner capacity, and you end up with a box that won't get HOT. Trying to force a too small burner to heat a too large box will result in the gas mozzle 'freezing up' as the moisture in the air condenses on the orfice, driven by the drop in pressure as the gas exits the orfice. (Boyle's gas laws) Clear as mud, no? This is why we rely on real engineers to design these little honeys.

Charly

Reply to
Charly the Bastard

Charcoal and coke have their place -- outdoors. If you don't have an exhaust hood, stick with propane. I prefer to work in my garage where it's darker. And whatever you build, the more you insulate it the better it'll perform.

I'll have to see about post> >

Snip

Reply to
CliffT

Okay- another question for you guys:

I still haven't found an anvil, but have some pretty good leads. Until I find that, inspiration struck, and I remembered the broken 50# (give or take) cast iron bench vise that was in my basement when I bought the house. Dug it out from under the stairs, and it turns out that the base is flat, thick, and big enough to goof around with, so I flipped it over and mounted it to a bench with some big lag screws. It's a sturdy and tough temporary thing to bang on, anyhow.

There are a couple small tools I'd like to make this evening for another project this weekend, but I did not make it to the masonry supplier that carries fire brick before they closed this afternoon. What I *do* have is 15 or 20 old (120+ years old) red bricks reclaimed for a chimney that are left over from when I installed my patio. Specifically, they're the old Menomonie red "rubbing bricks".

Now, I know that regular chimney brick is *not* firebrick, but I do have masonry drill bits that I could use to make a one-shot single brick forge with the propane torch. I need to heat the end of a 1/2" dia A36 hotroll bar enough to hammer it to shape, no problem if I need to hit it harder than is generally required- I'm a big guy with a heavy hammer.

Is there any advantage to trying to use a regular brick for one project, or would it just be wasting my time? If need be, I'll just use the torch freehand like last time- but it would be nice to be able to set it and alternate between two bars, hammering one while the other heats. I also have some 20ga (.063") stainless steel sheetmetal and regular (formaldehyde free) fiberglass insulation to work with, if that might help things along at all.

Any suggestions appreciated- I'm going to run to the hardware store now just in case they carry firebrick, but I figured I'd ask here first, in case they don't.

Reply to
Prometheus

There is a real possibility that regular brick will 'explode' when subjected to a point heat source. Be careful, definitely wear your eye protection. Regular fiberglass isn't all that refractory, it'll probably just melt into a lump of slag under the torch. You're probably better off just heating the end of the bar with the torch until you can get the right materials.

Charly

Reply to
Charly the Bastard

Quite right Mister Bastard, a house brick will crack or go "bang". Thanks for the safety warning.

Only use fire bricks for the fire box.

There is a way to use ordinary house bricks for a forge, but they don't go anywhere near the flames. You basically make a huge planter box filled with dirt. I can provide a pattern if you need one. These forges are large, and not portable.

Regards Charles

Reply to
Chilla

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.