c/blacksmiths

The difference a month makes on a new anvil face

I picked up a beat up old anvil from a farm sale back in March, it had this rough, pitted face that just ate up my hammer blows. Every strike felt dead, like hitting a sack of wet sand, and I was spending way too much time flattening out the marks it left. After a month of grinding it smooth with a flap disc and flattening the top with a file, it's like a whole different tool now. The hammer rebounds so cleanly I almost overshot my first few hits because I wasn't used to the energy coming back. What really got me was how much less effort I'm putting into each swing, I used to finish a day's work with my elbow screaming. Now I can forge a set of three hooks in the same time it took me to do one before. Has anyone else seen that big a jump just from cleaning up an anvil face, or did I just have a really bad one to start with?

1 comments

lopez.simon•9h ago

TIL I forged over 500 tongs in one year without keeping count

I was cleaning up my shop last weekend and started adding up all the tongs I made for customers through 2023. Turned out I hit 512 including the ones I messed up and scrapped. That number surprised me because I never thought of myself as a production smith, just a guy helping out locals in Ohio. Some say you should track every piece for consistency, others say it kills the craft. What's your take on keeping numbers or just letting the work speak for itself?

2 comments

gracewebb•1d ago

That $50 anvil I found at a garage sale cost me more in headaches than it saved me

I picked up a beat up anvil at a farm auction last spring for 50 bucks. Looked fine at first, but the face was way softer than I thought. After a month of work, I noticed dents and mushrooming on the edges. Ended up buying a proper 112 pound anvil from a shop in Ohio for $400. Has anyone else gotten burned by a cheap old anvil they thought was a steal?

2 comments

mila_flores8•2d ago

Found out my forge temperature was way off by 200 degrees

I was messing around with a new digital thermometer last week 'cause my welds kept failing. Turns out my old gauge was reading 200 degrees lower than actual heat. I found the info in a forum thread about thermocouple drift. Checked against a friend's IR gun and yep, mine was toast. Anyone else had a hidden temp issue mess up their work for months?

2 comments

oliver_morgan•3d ago

Just overheard a guy at the supply shop talking about rebar in forge welds

He said he's been sneaking pieces of rebar into his decorative ironwork for 3 years to save money and hasn't told a soul. Has anyone else run into this shortcut and had it fail down the road?

2 comments

avery_lopez•4d ago

Overheard a guy at the lumberyard talking about his granddad's anvil

I was picking up some rebar last Tuesday and heard this younger fella telling his buddy about inheriting a 150 pound anvil from his granddad. Said he was gonna sell it for scrap because it had a chunk missing from the face. I had to step in and tell him not to do that. That kind of damage can be ground smooth or even welded up if you know what you're doing. My own anvil is a beat up old Fisher from the 1920s that I got for 50 bucks at a farm auction ten years ago. It's got a chip on the heel and a slight sway in the middle, but after a little cleanup it works just fine for most of my projects. Made me think about how many good tools get tossed because folks don't know they can be fixed. Has anyone here saved an anvil that looked rough from the start?

2 comments

fox.derek•7d ago

Appreciation post for that old anvil I found at a farm auction

Picked up a 150-pound Peter Wright anvil for $200 at an auction near Lancaster three years ago, and after using it every day since, I’ve never seen a tool hold up that well for that cheap. Has anyone else gotten lucky with a find like that, or am I just spoiled?

3 comments

lane.eric•7d ago

Talked to an old farrier at a swap meet who changed how I look at tongs

He said he's been using the same pair of tongs for 37 years because he never lets them leave his hand mid-project - just sets them down in the same spot every time. Made me realize I've been dropping mine on the floor and bending the jaws out of shape like an animal. Any of you guys got a tool you treat like that?

2 comments

fox.derek•9d ago

Rant: my forge welds keep failing on high-carbon billets

I was trying to stack 1095 and 15n20 layers in my shop in Portland last Tuesday, and after 4 hours of hammering every billet delaminated at the edges. The welds held in the center but blew out on the sides every time. Anyone else fought with scale getting trapped between layers on thick stacks?

3 comments

kaiharris•9d ago

Finally hit 500 forged nails in a single day last Saturday

I've been trying to push my nail-making speed for months and I finally cracked 500 in an afternoon. Did it with a jig I threw together from some scrap angle iron and an old bolt, holds the nail blank for me so I can work faster. What's your best count in a session? I'm trying to see if 600 is even possible without a power hammer.

3 comments

margaret_williams5•9d ago

Spent 3 years hammering cold steel before a old timer set me straight

I used to think you had to heat the metal until it was almost white hot before you could shape it. That's what some YouTube videos showed and I just went with it. One day last fall I was at a swap meet in Tulsa and this 70 year old guy watched me work for a minute. He said 'son, you're burning up your carbon content working it that hot. Look for a dark cherry red instead.' I thought he was crazy but I tried it on a set of tongs I was making. The steel moved way easier and I didn't have to keep reheating every 10 seconds. Now I'm wondering how many other basic things I'm getting wrong. Anybody else have a moment where a simple tip from a old timer changed how you work?

2 comments

the_holly•10d ago

Update: That time I almost had a forge fire at a demo in Knoxville

I was doing a demo at the county fair in Knoxville last month and had a brand new anvil stand made of pressure treated lumber. I didn't realize the wood had a coating that would catch sparks way easier than normal wood. After about 20 minutes of hammering, a spark landed on the corner of the stand and it started smoldering. I had to stop everything and douse it with a bucket. Has anyone else had a close call with treated lumber near their forge?

2 comments

mia748•10d ago

The forge welding debate: flux or no flux for Damascus?

Honestly, I've been watching guys in my shop argue over this for years. Some say you gotta use borax flux or the layers won't stick, but I've been doing dry welds on my 15n20 and 1095 damascus billets for 2 years now. Last week I messed up a stack because I got lazy and used flux, ended up with inclusions I had to grind out. Am I the only one who thinks flux just traps scale and causes more problems? What's your method and why?

3 comments

lindaowens•12d ago

Just realized I had to pick between a coal forge and propane for my shop setup

I spent three weeks going back and forth on this. Went with propane because my landlord said no to the smoke and sparks from coal. First fire-up was last Saturday and the regulator gave me trouble at first, but once I dialed it in I got a nice even heat. Anyone else have to switch their fuel source for space reasons? How'd you adapt?

2 comments

the_tessa•13d ago

Broke a 2 month old forge weld yesterday and switched back to flux.

I was trying to be clever and go without borax on a damascus billet, thinking my prep was clean enough. Got it to welding heat, hammered it, and the whole thing just split apart at the seam. Lost about 3 hours of stacking and drawing out. Went back to using my old flux mix on the next try and it stuck perfect on the first pass. Any of you guys ever had luck skipping flux on high carbon stacks?

3 comments

bettyfox•14d ago

Had to pick between a hand crank blower and an electric one for my new forge setup

Last month I finally got my own forge going in the garage, and I had to decide if I wanted to spend $60 on a vintage hand crank blower from a flea market or $150 on a new electric blower. I went with the hand crank because I thought it would be more authentic and quiet. First fire up, I spent 20 minutes huffing and puffing while cranking that thing like a madman before I got a decent heat. Now I'm wondering if I should have just coughed up the cash for the electric one. Has anyone else made the mistake of going old school just for the vibe?

2 comments

robinj29•15d ago

Found a way to stop my forge welding scale issues

Was having constant scale flaking into my welds on a damascus billet last month. Tried a borax mix like everyone says but what actually fixed it was adding a thin layer of anhydrous borax on top of the regular stuff. Has anyone else experimented with different flux combos for high carbon steels?

2 comments

paige86•17d ago

Took me 5 years to admit my mentor was right about forge welding temps

I used to think I could just eyeball it. Get the steel looking hot enough and smack it together. Kept having welds fail on me for months. Finally broke down and got a digital thermometer probe for my forge. Turns out I was running about 150 degrees too cold the whole time. That old guy kept telling me to watch for the specific color in low light and I blew him off. Now I check every single time. Anyone else stubborn about taking advice until you proved yourself wrong first?

3 comments

allen.charlie•17d ago

That $20 anvil I grabbed at a farm auction near York, PA is a diamond in the rough

Last month I drove out to a farm auction in York, Pennsylvania and picked up a beat up 150 pound anvil for only 20 bucks. It had about a 1/8 inch chip on the heel and some rust, but after cleaning it up I found a Trenton brand stamp from the early 1900s. The face is still dead flat and the rebound is better than my old cast iron one. Has anyone else found real gems at farm auctions or is that just a lucky break?

3 comments

the_robin•18d ago

Just found out that a forge weld requires WAY less heat than I thought

I was reading an old blacksmithing manual from the 1800s last night and it said forge welding works best at around 2300 degrees F, not the 2700 I've been cranking my forge to. No wonder I kept burning my steel on the anvil. Has anyone else been overdoing their welding temps?

3 comments

seth683•19d ago

Wasted $80 on a cheap anvil off Craigslist that rang like a bell

I picked up a cast iron anvil from some guy near Tulsa for $80. Looked fine in the photos but the second I hit it, the ring was deafening and the rebound was terrible. Took me three days of trying to quiet it with chains and magnets before I realized the face was already dented up. I could have saved that money and put it toward a proper forged anvil from a supplier I know now. Has anyone else gotten burned buying used anvils without testing them in person first?

2 comments

kimr10•20d ago

Coal vs propane debate had me stubborn for way too long

I spent 2 years insisting coal was the only real way to forge until I borrowed a friend's propane setup for a weekend project and got cleaner welds with half the smoke, so has anyone else been surprised by a switch they resisted?

3 comments

anderson.david•21d ago

Spent 3 hours on a forge weld and it just fell apart when I quenched it

I was out in my backyard in Phoenix last Tuesday, working on a damascus billet I'd been stacking for weeks. Got it up to a nice yellow heat, hit it like I always do, and when I dropped it in the brine it literally split right down the middle. Turns out I had a bit of mill scale I missed between two of the layers. Has anyone else had this happen with 1084 and 15n20? Feels like I wasted a whole afternoon for nothing.

3 comments

the_parker•25d ago

Vent: Blew $80 on a cheap anvil from a flea market in Ohio

I figured any chunk of steel would work for flattening hot metal, but this thing rang like a bell and dented after three strikes. Turns out it was cast iron with a thin steel face, not a real anvil at all. Anyone else get burned by a fake anvil before you knew what to look for?

3 comments

blakem37•26d ago

Went to a Civil War reenactment last weekend and watched a blacksmith fix a broken wagon wheel with a rock and a rusty hammer

Guy had no forge, no anvil, just a flat rock and a ball peen he pulled out of his truck, and he had that rim seated in under 10 minutes while a crowd of tourists stared like he was a wizard.

3 comments